Vermonter

The Vermonter is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between St. Albans, Vermont, New York City, and Washington, D.C. It replaced the overnight Montrealer, which terminated in Montreal, Quebec until 1995.

History

Montrealer

The Vermonter was preceded by an overnight train between Montreal and Washington that was known as the Montrealer. In the days before Amtrak the Montrealer was a service of the Boston and Maine Railroad. Another train, the Ambassador ran the same route during the daytime, but terminated in New York City. Both services used the Boston and Maine's Connecticut River Line south of Vernon, Vermont, rather than the current route over the New England Central.

Vermonter

The Vermonter replaced the Montrealer on April 1, 1995, bringing daytime Amtrak service to Vermont.

Business Class was added to replace the sleeping cars that were taken out of service upon the change to the Vermonter. The route was changed to allow travelers from Vermont to once again stop in Springfield and Hartford. This was made possible by the use of cab cars or locomotives on both ends so that the train could travel east from Springfield to Palmer, Massachusetts, and reverse direction to continue north on the Central Vermont. This detour added an hour of running time, but at the time was judged more practical than seeking to use the direct route over the former Boston and Maine Railroad owned by the Guilford Rail System. The train travels from Washington to New Haven on the Northeast Corridor, where electric locomotives are substituted for the diesel locomotives used north of that location.

Ethan Allen

Ethan Allen (January 21, 1738 [O.S. January 10, 1737] – February 12, 1789) was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of the U.S. state of Vermont, and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga early in the American Revolutionary War along with Benedict Arnold.

Born in rural Connecticut, Allen had a frontier upbringing but also received an education that included some philosophical teachings. In the late 1760s he became interested in the New Hampshire Grants, buying land there and becoming embroiled in the legal disputes surrounding the territory. Legal setbacks led to the formation of the Green Mountain Boys, whom Allen led in a campaign of intimidation and property destruction to drive New York settlers from the Grants. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, Allen and the Boys seized the initiative and captured Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775. In September 1775 Allen led a failed attempt on Montreal that resulted in his capture by British authorities. First imprisoned aboard Royal Navy ships, he was paroled in New York City, and finally released in a prisoner exchange in 1778.

Ethan Allen Express

The Ethan Allen Express is a 241-mile (388 km) passenger train service operated by Amtrak between New York City and Rutland, Vermont, via Albany, New York. The scheduled total trip time is 5.5 hours. Operations are subsidized by the state of Vermont, and the train is popular among vacationers travelling to the ski resort area of Killington, Vermont. The Ethan Allen Express is named for the American Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen.

History

When Amtrak's Vermonter began operating in the central and eastern portions of Vermont with state funds in 1995, the western side of the state pushed for train service to Rutland as well. Federal funds were secured to rebuild the Clarendon & Pittsford Railroad line to permit speeds up to 59 miles per hour (95 km/h). Service was initiated in December 2, 1996. It was the first train on that route since 1953. Notably, the Rutland–Whitehall segment had not seen a passenger train since 1936.

Until May 2002, the train included a baggage car for skis and unboxed bicycles as well as checked baggage.

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven (local /nuː ˈheɪvən/, noo-HAY-vən), in the U.S. state of Connecticut, is the principal municipality in Greater New Haven, which had a total population of 862,477 in 2010. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of the Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, which in turn comprises the outer limits of the New York metropolitan area. It is the second-largest city in Connecticut (after Bridgeport), with a population of 129,779 people as of the 2010 United States Census. According to a census of 1 July 2012, by the Census Bureau, the city had a population of 130,741.

New Haven was founded in 1638 by English Puritans, and a year later eight streets were laid out in a four-by-four grid, creating what is now commonly known as the "Nine Square Plan", now recognized by the American Institute of Certified Planners as a National Planning Landmark. The central common block is New Haven Green, a 16-acre (6 ha) square, now a National Historic Landmark and the center of Downtown New Haven.

September 3

September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 119 days remaining until the end of the year.

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