St. Albans station (Vermont)

The trainshed and office building in the early 20th century

The Vermont and Canada Railroad, under control of the Vermont Central Railroad (VC), began service between Essex Junction and Rouses Point through St. Albans on January 10, 1851.[2] The original VC combination depot (passenger and freight services in one building) has two platform tracks.[3] In 1862, the VC began construction of a major expansion of its main shops in St. Albans, hometown of VC president John Gregory Smith.[4]

Among the buildings constructed were a new station and adjacent office building, which were begun in 1866 and completed in June 1867. The brick station building, measuring 70 feet (21 m) by 22 feet (6.7 m), was attached to a four-track trainshed.[4] The three-story red brick Second Empire office has two square towers at its southern corners. Both the towers and the main building have mansard roofs. The office building included indoor plumbing and hot-air central heating. Most passenger facilities were located in the station building, but the office building included a customs office on the first floor.[4]

The trainshed and office building in 1956

The Vermont Central was reorganized as the Central Vermont Railway (CV) in 1873. On July 1, 1873, the CV-owned Missisquoi Railroad (later the Richmond Branch) opened as a branch line from St. Albans.[2] The struggling CV became part of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1896.[3] The Grand Trunk was in turn merged into the Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1923.[2]

Four chimneys on the south facade of the office building were removed in 1915.[4][3] A tower on the southwest corner of the trainshed was removed in 1923.[3] Passenger service on the Richmond Branch ended on November 11, 1938.[2] The CN demolished the station and trainshed in 1963, and passenger service ended with the discontinuance of the Montrealer on September 6, 1966.[4][2][5] A local preservation group was formed in 1970; with the office building and remaining yard facilities placed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 21, 1974, as the Central Vermont Railroad Headquarters.[3]

The Amtrak station building in 1987

Amtrak took over intercity passenger service in the United States in 1971. A revived Montrealer began serving St. Albans on September 29, 1972.[2] A small brick building north of the former trainshed, constructed around 1900 as a switch tower and yard office, was put into use as the new station building.[3][4] The Montrealer was suspended from April 6, 1987, to July 19, 1989. It was curtailed to St. Albans as the Vermonter on April 2, 1995.[2] The Vermonter uses the remaining wye connection of the 1990-abandoned Richmond Branch north of the station to reverse direction.[2] The CV was sold and renamed as the New England Central Railroad (NECR) in 1995; the NECR continues to use the office building as its headquarters.[2][3]

In March 2020, the station was temporarily closed and Vermonter service was suspended indefinitely north of New Haven, both part of a reduced service plan due to the coronavirus pandemic.[6][7]