The lines of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) operated in the State of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

were set up as a separate company to comply with Interstate Commerce Commission regulations and were considered a Class I U.S. railroad (in 1950, railroads with operating revenues over $1 million). The company operated of railway in Vermont.

History

The CP's lines in Vermont were composed of the former

Newport and Richford Railroad Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia * Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on th ...

, leased to the Canadian Pacific in 1881, along with of former

Boston and Maine The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, ...

trackage from Newport to Wells River. A portion of the Newport Subdivision route between Newport and Richford follows the Mississquoi River through Highwater and Glen Sutton in the Canadian province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. The Newport-Wells River, in conjunction with the Boston and Maine, served as a through route between

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, and Boston, Massachusetts. The CP, together with the B&M, operated a day passenger train, the '' Alouette'', and a night passenger train, the '' Red Wing'', over this route. The Vermont lines did not connect with another CP subsidiary in the United States, the Canadian Pacific Lines in Maine. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the company reported financial losses for a few years, in contrast to other Canadian-owned lines in the U.S. In 1950, the freight revenue from this line was $1.9 million, with an additional $162,000 in passenger receipts, qualifying it as a Class I railroad in the United States. Service came to a temporary halt on Friday August 27, 1966, when sixteen

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...

s in Canada stopped work in a nationwide strike action to demand higher pay rates.

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

put forth a back-to-work bill the following Monday, and union leaders opted to honor the Parliament's request, officially ending the strike on September 2 (although some scattered railroad workers still refused to return to work, and many local union chapters enacted a work slowdown action). Vermont filed an opposition to the B&M sale to Guilford Transportation in 1981 citing the potential for predatory competition to CP and the Lamoille Valley Railroad.

References

* Defunct Vermont railroads Former Class I railroads in the United States {{US-ClassI-rail-transport-stub