Island Pond is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Brighton in Essex County, Vermont, United States. The population was 750 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area.
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, with corporate headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It cost an estimated $160 million to build. The Grand Trunk, its subsidiaries, and the Canadian Government Railways were precursors of today's Canadian National Railway.
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company was an American subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Railway, later of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding company, the Grand Trunk Corporation. Grand Trunk Western's routes are part of CN's Michigan Division. Its primary mainline between Chicago and Port Huron, Michigan serves as a connection between railroad interchanges in Chicago and rail lines in eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. The railroad's extensive trackage in Detroit and across southern Michigan has made it an essential link for the automotive industry as a hauler of parts and automobiles from manufacturing plants.
The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad, known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short-line railway operating between Portland, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean, and Montreal, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Canada–US border at Norton, Vermont, and Stanhope, Quebec, and is owned by short-line operator Genesee & Wyoming.
The Maine Central Railroad was a U. S. class 1 railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to 1,358 miles (2,185 km) when the United States Railroad Administration assumed control in 1917. The main line extended from South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada–United States border with New Brunswick, and a Mountain Division extended west from Portland to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and north into Quebec. The main line was double track from South Portland to Royal Junction, where it split into a "lower road" through Brunswick and Augusta and a "back road" through Lewiston, which converged at Waterville into single track to Bangor and points east. Branch lines served the industrial center of Rumford, a resort hotel on Moosehead Lake and coastal communities from Bath to Eastport.
The International Railway of Maine was a historic railroad constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) between Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, and Mattawamkeag, Maine, closing a key gap in the railway's transcontinental main line to the port of Saint John, New Brunswick.
The railroad history of Portland, Maine, began in 1842 with the arrival of the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad (PS&P). Most of the rail activity in Portland concerned agricultural goods bound for export and European import freight. But Maine's largest city also enjoyed 125 years of continuous passenger rail service from 1842 until 1967, and has been served by Amtrak since 2001. For most of Portland's history, passenger train schedules were designed with intercity travel—to Boston, Montreal, Nova Scotia, and points west—rather than daily commuting.
The Portland Terminal Company was a terminal railroad notable for its control of switching (shunting) activity for the Maine Central Railroad (MEC) and Boston & Maine (B&M) railroads in the Maine cities of Portland, South Portland, and Westbrook.
The Mountain Division is a railroad line that was once owned and operated by the Maine Central Railroad (MEC). It stretches from Portland, Maine on the Atlantic Ocean, through the Western Maine Mountains and White Mountains of New Hampshire, ending at St. Johnsbury, Vermont in the Northeast Kingdom. The line was abandoned in 1983 by MEC's successor, Guilford Transportation Industries (GTI). Guilford retained a stub between Portland and Westbrook. A section in New Hampshire remains in use by heritage railway Conway Scenic Railroad.
5 ft 6 in (1,680 mm) is a broad track gauge, used in India, Pakistan, western Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Mechanic Falls station was a historic railroad station in Mechanic Falls, Maine. The station, located on Elm Street, was built in 1883 by the Grand Trunk Railroad linking Mechanic Falls with Montreal and Portland, Maine. The village was named Mechanic Falls in honor of mechanics who worked there during the industrial revolution. The village grew especially after the arrival of the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad toward the end of 1840. The railroad opened the village to several business ventures between Portland and Montreal.
Berlin station is a railroad station in Berlin, New Hampshire, United States. It was built in 1917 by the Grand Trunk Railway, long after the arrival of the Railroad in 1845, the reason being that Berlin was not on the railroad's main line further south at Gorham, New Hampshire.
Bethel station was a Grand Trunk railroad station in Bethel, Maine. The passenger service at the station was closed in 1953. In addition to passengers, trains carried mail and Railway Express Agency shipments. Trains 16 and 17 passed through Bethel daily stopping at each station on their way between Portland, Maine and Island Pond, Vermont. In September 1960, passenger train service ended on the Grand Trunk between Portland and Island Pond.
Gorham station is a former Grand Trunk Railway station in Gorham, New Hampshire, United States. It was built in 1907, long after the arrival of the railroad in 1851. The existing station was the third depot. The first was in the White Mountain Station House, which was built by the railroad on what is now the Town Common. When it later became the Alpine House, a small depot was built just east of the hotel. Eventually the Alpine House was moved across Main St. to become the Mt. Madison Inn. Thus a new depot was built in 1907, with a 400' platform.
The South Paris station was a historic railroad station in South Paris, Maine. The station was built in 1883 by the Grand Trunk Railroad linking South Paris with Montreal and Portland, Maine. Trains began regular operation between Portland and the depot on the Paris side of the town line with Oxford at Widow Merrill's crossing October 8, 1849, even though the station was listed as "North Oxford" in timetables. The first train into South Paris village was a contractor's engine called the Jenny Lind on January 1, 1850. It ran carefully across temporary bridgework up to where the station was being built, as a means of satisfying the investors worries from Paris Hill to counter their threat of withdrawing their support and money if there was not a train in the village proper on that date. The Androscoggin bridge was completed March 15, 1850, with regular service to Portland from the present day station grounds to Portland beginning on the 18th. On December 30, 1879, the Norway Branch Railroad opened, running from Norway village on a line 1.45 miles long to connect with the Grand Trunk Railroad at South Paris.
Oxford station was a historic railroad station in Oxford, Maine. The station was built in 1883 by the Grand Trunk Railroad linking Oxford with Montreal and Portland, Maine. The village grew especially after the arrival of the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad toward the end of 1840. The railroad opened the village to several business ventures between Portland and Montreal. The railroad passes through the midst of the town, in the same general line with the river, and has a station a short distance south of the centre.
Coaticook station is a historic building in the small town of Coaticook, Quebec, Canada, close to the border with the United States. The first station, which was on the west side of the tracks, was completed in 1853 by the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad. The current building was constructed on the east side of the tracks in 1904 by the Grand Trunk Railway. The two storey wooden frame building has a single storey conical roofed southerly end and a small extension on the north end. One of the façades includes a two-story bay window topped by a gable-pediment. The old station is located in a semi-wooded area in a residential area of the town.
The Island Pond Historic District encompasses a portion of the village of Island Pond in the town of Brighton, Vermont. The village was established in the 19th century as the halfway point in the Grand Trunk Railway, an international railroad connecting Portland, Maine and Montreal. Island Pond was a major service center for the railroad, and became a commercial hub of northeastern Vermont. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
