The Alouette was a passenger train jointly operated by the

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

and the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

between

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts. The ''Alouette'' began service on April 26, 1926, operating on a daytime schedule with coach and parlor car service. At Newport, Vermont passengers could transfer to

Quebec Central Railway The Quebec Central Railway was a railway in the Canadian province of Quebec, that served the Eastern Townships region south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, Ea ...

trains bound for

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. For passengers originating from Boston on the night train counterpart north, the ''Red Wing'' (#325/#302), the train would join with the New York-Quebec City '' Connecticut Yankee'' to complete the trip to Quebec City. Until late 1954, the train operated over Canadian Pacific trackage to

Wells River, Vermont Wells River is a village in the town of Newbury in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population was 431 at the 2020 census. The village center is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 5 and 302. The village center (the portion n ...

, where it entered the Boston and Maine for the remainder of the way to Boston via

Plymouth, New Hampshire Plymouth is a New England town in Grafton County, New Hampshire, United States, in the White Mountains Region. It has a unique role as the economic, medical, commercial, and cultural center for the predominantly rural Plymouth, NH Labor Market A ...

and

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...

on the division that the B&M had acquired with the purchase of the

Concord and Montreal Railroad The Concord and Montreal Railroad was a railroad incorporated in 1889 out of a merger between the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad and the Concord Railroad. Ownership The Boston, Concord and Montreal had previously become the Northern Di ...

in 1895. After the Boston and Maine abandoned its trackage north of Plymouth, the train was rerouted via

White River Junction, Vermont White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,528 at the 2020 census, up from 2,286 in 2010, making it the largest co ...

. The train continued to travel via Wells River, St. Johnsbury and Newport, Vermont, before completing the trip to Vermont. In 1956, the ''Alouette'' switched to using

Budd Rail Diesel Car The Budd Rail Diesel Car (RDC), also known as the Budd car or Buddliner, is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit (DMU) railcar. Between 1949 and 1962, 398 RDCs were built by the Budd Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The cars ...

s, eliminating the buffet-parlor car. The train lost its name and its original number and became #31 north and #32 south and it no longer had food concession service. The overnight ''Red Wing'' was numbered #29/#30 and retained its sleeping cars and only offered breakfast exclusively to its sleeping car passengers. The overnight ''Red Wing'' had its last run on October 24, 1959. From April 25, 1965, the Boston & Maine pulled out of its cooperation, and the ''Alouette'' successor #31/32 only operated on the Canadian Pacific Railway's Montreal to Wells River, Vermont segment. That remaining segment ended service on October 30, 1965. This ended a tradition of Boston to Montreal trains, dating back to 1887.Old Time Trains, 'B&M CPR Pool' http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/us/bm_cpr_pool.htm

References

External links

1957 schedule of the ''Alouette'' and ''Red Wing,'' with consists, at 'Streamliner Schedules'
{{CP named trains International named passenger trains Railway services introduced in 1926 Railway services discontinued in 1956 Named passenger trains of the United States Named passenger trains of Canada Passenger rail transport in Quebec Passenger rail transportation in Vermont Passenger rail transportation in New Hampshire Passenger rail transportation in Massachusetts Passenger trains of the Boston and Maine Railroad Canadian Pacific Railway passenger trains