Green Mountain Railroad
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| Reporting mark | GMRC |
|---|---|
| Locale | Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York |
| Dates of operation | 1964 to present– |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Headquarters | Burlington, Vermont |
| Website | www |
The Green Mountain Railroad (reporting mark GMRC) is a class III railroad operating in Vermont.
GMRC operates on tracks that had been owned by the Rutland Railroad and Boston and Maine Railroad. The railroad operates on a rail line between North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Rutland, Vermont. Corporate colors are green and yellow.
Once owned by F. Nelson Blount, the founder of Steamtown, USA, GMRC controlled the tracks that were used for Steamtown's excursions between Riverside Station in Bellows Falls and Chester, Vermont. After Blount's death in 1967, GMRC changed hands, and a bitter relationship between two organizations developed.
The Green Mountain Railroad was formed in early 1964 when F. Nelson Blount, who also operated a museum of steam locomotives, called Steamtown, USA, in North Walpole, New Hampshire, convinced the State of Vermont to acquire 52 miles (84 km) of track between Bellows Falls and Rutland, which he would operate as the Green Mountain Railroad. Also in 1964, incorporation papers were filed for the "Steamtown Foundation for the Preservation of Steam and Railroad Americana". The first order of business for the non-profit charitable, educational organization was to acquire the Blount collection at North Walpole, and relocate it to property once owned by the Rutland Railroad, in Bellows Falls.
In 1966, the GMRC obtained trackage rights over Boston and Maine track between Bellows Falls and North Walpole, allowing the GMRC access to servicing and storage facilities for locomotives, which had previously been lacking. Blount was killed when his private airplane hit a tree during an emergency landing in Marlborough, New Hampshire, on August 31, 1967. He had held the controlling interest in the GMRC, owning 746 of the 750 shares of the company. In 1968, in response to Blount's death, 49% of the railroad's shares were sold to private investors, with the remainder being held by Robert Adams, president of the railroad from 1968 until 1978. By 1976, the relationship between Steamtown and GMRC was strained as the two organizations fought over maintenance of the tracks, which were owned by the state of Vermont.Steamtown relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1983, and shortly afterward GMRC began offering its own passenger excursions on diesel-powered trains over the same stretch of track.
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Wikipedia