The Old Established Route Via Central Vermont Railroad Line. This is the Popular Route between New York and Montreal.

Boston: Rand, Avery & Co. Railway Printers, [ca. 1870s]. Chromolithographic broadside with map, 21.125” x 13.25” plus margins, with inset map measuring 8.75” x 6.25”, in original frame. With an early label on the verso of the frame, reading “Wm F. Smith, Agent Central Vermont Railroad, 417 Broadway, New York.”.

An apparently unrecorded and very pleasing broadside, issued by the Central Vermont Railroad, the main connection between the cities of the northeastern U.S. and Montreal during the era of passenger rail travel.

From 1848 to 1995 the Central Vermont Railway (CV) operated in Vermont proper and, via connections, in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York, as well as Quebec. During the heyday of passenger rail travel—lasting into the 1930s and ‘40s—the CV formed a connection between Montreal and such cities as Boston, New London, Connecticut, and New York. The route connecting Quebec with Connecticut passed along the shores of Lake Champlain, through the Green Mountains, and along the Connecticut River valley. The line included such trains as the “Washingtonian” “Montrealer,” “Ambassador,” “New Englander,” “Vermonter,” etc. Many of these trains included sleepers, diners, parlor cars, and coaches.

Printed in an exciting variety of typefaces and colors, this handsome broadside incorporates a map of the Central Vermont routes and its numerous connections, which extend from Philadelphia to Montreal, and throughout the heart of the Northeast. The connecting railroads include the New York Central & Hudson; the New York, New Hampshire & Hartford; the New London Northern, and others. The Vermont Central’s express trains are advertised here as featuring Wagner and Pullman Palace Drawing-Room Cars and Elegant Sleeping coaches; prospective travelers are encouraged to “Make a note of it.” The right column advises: “If you go to Rutland Burlington St. Albans, Ogdensburg Montreal Quebec and Intermediate Points secure modern comforts quick time and lowest rates of fare offered by this line.” Tickets could be obtained at all first-class ticket offices in New York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. The company’s principal New York office was located in Manhattan—the office of company agent William F. Smith, whose label appears on the back of the frame. Listed at the bottom are three other company managers and agents located in Vermont.

A generally profitable operation, the Central Vermont competed with the Rutland & Burlington R.R. (later Rutland R.R.) for much of the mid-nineteenth century. The feud between the two railroads reached a boiling point in 1858 when a disgruntled Vermont state legislature—hounded by an irate public—forced cooperation between the rival railroads. From the early 1860s onwards the VC expanded its reach through direct acquisition or takeover of other lines. When it leased its rival Rutland R.R. in 1870, it became New England’s largest railroad—spanning over 900 miles. Thereafter it went into decline. The broadside offered here was issued when the Vermont Central was more or less at the zenith of its operation.

A very rare broadside advertising this important railroad, with no copies recorded in WorldCat.

REFERENCES: Central Vermont Railway, “The Green Mountain Route” at american-rails.com

CONDITION: Very good, light rubbing and minor loss to the title lettering in “Vermont.”