Buildings & Structures

	The repair shops and trolley barn were located at the corner of North Westminster and Forest Streets.1,2,3,4,5 Most of the trolleys and related equipment were stored at the trolley barn, but one trolley or the freight motor would often be kept in the Rutland Railroad's Freight House in Bellows Falls overnight. The freight house colapsed in the sumer of 1999 as construction crews were prepairing to repair it. The carbarn burned in 1924 and the foundation was reused by the bus and trucking company that took over.4 The site is now used by a welding company.3,6
The Saxtons River Trolley Station is now the home of the Volunteer Fire department.3,5,6	The Highlands Restaurant on US rt.. #5 includes part of an old trolley pavilion.2
	Click on the road sign for information on Barbers Park.

The Saxtons River Historical Society and the other people I met while exploring the line first hand all helped to motivate me and line up information.

Power Failure and Ice Cause an Accident.
In 1921 a spectacular freight accident occurred. The freight motor was pulling a load of 80000 feet of pulp-wood from Saxtons River to Bellows Falls when a power failure caused the breaks to fail. The train went out of control on Pine Street Hill colliding with a flatcar and the company's snowplow. The snowplow was tossed about 20 feet in the air and all of four cars were derailed. An other account of the same accident indicated that the night before there had been a fire and that water had frozen over the rails adding to the problem.^2,5

Here are some exerpts from my notes, Tracing the trolley line from Saxtons River back to Bellows Falls, one can see that many of the buildings along Main Street in Saxtons River were there when the trolleys ran. Mrs. Louise Luring of the Saxtons River Historical Society, said that the trolley did not come in to town on the Main Street bridge, but rather it crossed the river elsewhere and came up Maple or Pine Street. Just beyond the bridge over Saxtons River there is a restaurant and a dirt road to the right. I parked just beyond the intersection and walked down a dirt road which quickly faded into grass, herbs, flowing plants and small trees. Hoping that I might get a glimpse of the remains of either wood/lumber mill or the bridge, I peered though the bushes at the river. A lady came out from an unusual looking home. She asked me if I was here to inquire about the property. After explaining that I was interested in the history of the road and her unusual home, not that I wanted to buy sell the property, she was very receptive to my inquiry and explained that her husband who had died a year ago or so, knew a lot about the trolley. She pointed to the level part of the garden and lawn and said that is where the trolley ran. She also mentioned that her husband had collected things relating to the trolley company and remembered the trolleys passing by when he was a little boy. He grew up here, she said. When asked if she knew where the trolley bridge had been, she nodded. She pointed towards the thickening woods, to what looked like an animal trail or a fishing trail, indicating that the trail was what was left of the trolley line. Then she said the mill is that way too. There is not much is left for one to see where the bridge used to be. Just the abutments. The mill has mostly collapsed. One can see the piles of wood that used to be structures related to the mill complex adjacent to the Saxtons River. I took some photographs and thanked the lady and went on my way. I have to stop by again as I never got her name. I'd like to thank her and give credit where it is due.

Special thanks to Saxtons River Historical Society, for showing me much of their collection of photographs and sharing with me some of their written documents as well. Mrs. Louise Luring was my personal tour guide for the Historical Society's collections, many thanks.