Rutland’s O&LC Division in the Early 1940’s

Rutland’s O&LC Division from Alburgh, VT to Ogdensburg, NY was a fairly busy railroad in the 1940’s.  There was a daily passenger train that left Alburgh for Ogdensburg in the morning and returned during the afternoon.  Daily milk trains #7 and #8 operated to and from Ogdensburg and through freights #9 and #10 operated between Alburgh and the NYC interchange at Norwood.  And locals operated between Malone and Alburgh and Malone and Ogdensburg.

This time book gives a look at some of these daily operations.  The book belonged to Harry Vernon Rockwood, born in 1909.  Though it isn’t certain what position he held between 1940 and 1945, in 1948 he was a conductor judging by consists of the milk trains.  By 1957 he had left the Rutland and worked for the New York Central out of Malone, presumably as a result of fewer positions available on the Rutland by that time.

The four leaf clover was found inside the book.  Although it is just speculation, I like to think of it as a good luck charm of a railroader knowing the dangers faced on every trip.

You can download the entire book here:
Rutland O&LC Time Book 1940 – 1945

Let’s begin with December 1940.

Several trips are made on trains 9 and 10, the NYC interchange traffic trains to Norwood.  Most of the time these trips still ended at Ogdensburg, although not all of them.

As you see, an extra turn to Norwood was also run over the 13th – 14th using Consolidation #18, a common engine on the Alburgh – Malone local later.

And some shifts were spent working the Alburgh yard switcher on engine #109.  R.W. Nimke states that this engine was the normal Alburgh yard switcher, and the time book supports this.

 

 

 

 

 

February 1941 finds a regular turn on trains 9 and 10.  This shows the frequency of tying up at Norwood vs. Ogdensburg.

At the end of the month, he was bumped off this run.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April to May 1941 found frequent trips on the extra turn from Alburgh to Norwood.  It appears this train often operated in advance of 9 & 10.

One turn was made on the milk trains at the end of April.

And a couple of shifts were put in on the Alburgh switcher.  The trip on May 17 looks different, on an extra turn that left Alburgh and returned in the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

August 1941 was spent alternating on the Alburgh yard switcher and making the run on the passenger trains 3 & 6 to Ogdensburg and back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, for the remainder of the years covered, he held the local from Malone to Alburgh and return, MA-2 and AM-1 (run as extras).  Malone was the home terminal for this train.

Instead of writing station names, he began using Rutland station numbers.  0 is Ogdensburg, 61 is Malone, and 122 is Alburgh.  You can find a list of them here (or they are based on the miles from Ogdensburg.)

Power for this local was always a  Consolidation although several different road numbers made appearances on the job.