NEB&W Layout Guide - VergennesLast Update: 2008-11-16
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    More on Vergennes in the the Vergennes Photo Gallery. Also see the Vergennes Partnership.
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This area is based on Vergennes, VT on the Rutland RR.
Charles Vergennes was the Foreign Minister of France at the time of
the American Revolution. He was instrumental in helping to secure
aid from France for the Americans, support that was crucial for our
ultimate victory.
The Otto Creek flows north from Rutland, VT and at Vergennes, tumbles down over falls to the level of Lake Champlain. Thus the lower section of the Otto Creek was navigable at far inland at this point, while the falls provided water power for early industries. Vergennes is actually incorporated as a city, claiming to be the smallest city in the U.S. The Kennedy Brothers Furniture Company is housed in the former Sheffield Farms Creamery. According to Win Grant of Kennedy Bros., the main cinder block section was built in 1909 (the year that creameries were constructed all up and down the Rutland line), with the brick addition added in 1931. Sheffield Farms shipped milk to New York City. On July 25, 1950, as rail service deteriorated, the Sheffield Farms became a Hood plant, as the milk run to Boston was shorter. It became Kennedy Bros. July 9, 1959. Dairymen's League (the gray wood building), was built in 1926. It continued as an active creamery past the demise of milk trains, switching from milk cars to highway trucks. Standard Oil had a siding and facility in Vergennes which was retired in 1934. Shade & Roller Co. was a company that shipped wooden dowels off the team track in the '40's. Probably as their name suggested, these were used for making shades and rollers. Feed came in from the West, while fertilizer was shipped from Boston. In 1936, Thomas Mack Coal Co. was added on a siding right behind the depot. In 1938, Ralston Purina added a warehouse on an extension of a siding of the Thomas Mack Coal Co. Ralston Purina's warehouse later became a Hood's Farm Store. Thomas Mack became Jackman Fuels in 1946. The stockyard was retired in 1950. This scene is one of the oldest on our layout, finished in 1977. For the last decade, we have been planning on how we want to rebuild it to incorporate the Rt. 7 underpass, a run-around and other track changes, and scenery closer to the rolling farmland of mid-Vermont. Although passenger service ended on the Rutland in 1953, in 1999 the Green Mountain RR started service to this portion of the line. Mr. Grant also said the State of VT wants to move the station (built in 1852) to nearby Ferrisburg, which is not going over too well in Vergennes. On our version, the track in the foreground represents the Rutland's Addison Branch.
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