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The Banner and Reformer (hi. week presents a view of thech I. Iiu«» ui d *he hotel which i«» l.«ii:ud „l IU terminus of the old Bennlogtoo unu (•laateribu: y railroad lu the l***rt of the Urwn Mountain., MD feet above the level of the He.. Th. road built In 1H72 by the Bennington ami Glastoohury railway ami lumbar coin-pany, of which T. W. I’arlc was U*e principal owner. The road wan nine mile. In length ami one of the moil picturesque In New Airland. In some place, the (Trade waa 2S0 feet to U« mile.The club house eat well arranged for partlr* and excursions and for a couple of year. liberally patron-lied. It-as burm.I a few month, ago, but Uie hotel I* yet .landing, though In a dilapidated condition.Tbetv* wa- a continual change of scenery from tie- time a train left the ouuklrt. of the village until It. arrlv-al at lu dewtinatioa. Tourl.U and excursionist. who traveled over It nnild not exprt-s. their pleasure In strong enough terms.The road wa. badly - a*h«.l out by the gn-al freshet of l«W. and again in It*0. *nil ha. never been rebuilt, but | It I. hoped that licfore n.-u.y ywan another Iron highway may he running | In Uib. one of the moat attractive .pots i in Venn'*-1. The view was taken up the railroad looking ea.t. —After lu ehandonmenl hy Uw lien-nington and Glastonbury lumber company It wa. oiterated for a few yean j by Urt- Bennington ajid Woodford electric railway company. Tbl. com-pany built the Caeino ami opera housw half way between this village and Glastonbury, and aUo built Uw club botiM al Uw terminus, which ««* formerly Uw old oa-mill of the Gla.ten-bury company.For thnw .ucce-.ive summer* the llennington and Woodford electric railway «»• In operation. WlUiout attempting to trace IU history from It. inception In 1WS to its downfall In the Hood of IftM. further than to note that the project was primarily intend*! to tioom Camp Comfort as a summer re-•«*rt for city people, which It falM ut-torly to do. because Uw manager at the outset piled lu many carload, of excursionists upon Uw people al Uwciunp. -he came rtther for quhtudv and cv»t, we ui.y rvtoi with fond ire-o I lections to the delight, of tlw trip from th. fool'd North-it la ihe vilage of Bennington to Uw terminus at the Club bouse, nine tulles up Uw Woodford and Glastonbury valley..When .1 wa. found that cottager, ui d excursionists could not he made t-. assimilate, or to recreate In coo moo, a resort called the Casino -a* established a half mile lower down Uw line. Tbl. was a victualing, dancing and musical noort. as well as a picnic ground, and the task year Uw road was in operatlOu a Uu-alre of considerable pretention* was added and vaudeville entertainment. given there It «aathe last year, too, Uiat the club hou-e and hotel at the Slastenbury end were completed and the bonding of tlw rails continued to that point. But all this Is ancient history. How the manager spent roost of his time at the Murray Hill hotel In New York raising money to .Ink either In this enter-prise or in his own |wcket, how many contracted hills In Bennington and Woodford went unpaid, doe. not concern us now. Most of us have forgotten the bad repute of Uw management, but not the delights afforded us by Uw trips on hut and sultry day. In town to the pure and bracing air of the mountain.All aboard! Tlw crank turned, the trolley wheel •puttered, and we were off. The bMM created by motion gave u« back our breath. That was ali. But after crossing the trestle at llw Hathaway bridge we lagan to scent the mountain air. We ran In and out of shade and sunshine, and tlwn tRrough woods, and then whirled hy the abandoned Iron furnace. U.en o.er a rickety and ticklish trestle, named Uw Garrity crossing, and turned into Uw Woodford valley, called by the native, the hollow. What a fall in the temperature .as th* re—full ten degree*. If one. . Then n high bridge was negotiated, and we struck a scattered settlement. Crossing two oilier trestles, we pulled up at the Casino. Home got off here, but most of u. kept our seals. Crossing two more trestles we stopped at t amp Comfort. This W a semi-private station. The hotel and twenty to thirty cottages groupedamong pin*, in au alcove of Uwrooun-tain where wells up one of pure*'. cold water springs In the state, was sacred 10 city sojourners, e halt for a wo-, u.mt only, lor we are country cattle-b.iked for tlw terminus.And here at the vnd was a hotel and u two-story club house forty by on* hundred feet on the foundation, squatting at Uw very toe of a huge mountain foot, from elUwr side of which Bowed at reams that united In one )u«» below the building. From the broad verandas of the club house Use view down the valley was lwautlful, and H was always restful to sit there and .moke ami Uiink, for one could think a* well as smoke despite Uie romping children all about, or the laugh anjt prattle of the young and gay.From Uie Garrity crossing to lha Glastonbury end the valley lies bat a few hundred yards wide between mountains on either side that rise more or Jr.. abruptly from a hundred to three thousand lowering feet. In thia valley run. the Walloomsac, a rippling brook In summer days, hut a deluge of water. Uiat leave nothing lu Ita shifting course but laiwlder* that Its (o.erful embrace has rolled from cubes into sphere, .hen the winter'a snow ha. suddenly melted on the wale, sheil, or Uw windows of heaven have opened and let down a deluge of rain— and this has, twice happened, once In 1*1* ami one* in !»*-. both In the month of October. The road crossed and racroaned this stream many tiroee, and so after the flood corn* In “VS. there was no longer any road.It wa. Uie sad ending of a pleasure route that was appreciated most when It was destroyed, and It has been fondly hoped that the llennington and Hooslck Valley road would some lima extend lu iron a* far as the Casino at least, which it could safely do by skirting the foot of the mountain south and east of the river above the Furnace bridge. Give u* hack at least the Casino, and a mean, to reach It, and we will he content. We will crowd the cars In summer lime, and so will Uw people of Hoosh k Falls and thnw along the linn when once they have tastod and to.b-d the OXOM of the Woodford valley.
Newspaper Details
Bennington Banner And Reformer
Bennington, Vermont, US
Thu, Jan 15, 1903
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Tim W.
PA, USA 18 Dec 2016
Other Publications Near Bennington, Vermont
The Bennington Daily Banner
Bennington Manchester Journal
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Bennington Banner And Reformer
Bennington Evening Banner
