Powerhouse: (Satellite)
 |
| Street View |
I was going to skip this photo because the truss seems rather insignificant. But then I read that the bridge went over one of the first canals dug in the USA.
 |
| Dave Blaze Rail Photography posted 601 Shoving Out An unexpected bonus while in Bellows Falls for GMRC 405 was the appearance of New England Central Railroad local 601 down from White River Junction. Alas we were busy shooting the Alco on the bridge to North Walpole when we heard them so didn't get them nosing into the tunnel to clear the connection switch to the VRS. They spent a while switching up on the Patch Track and with their work done they are shoving out with a big cut of around 30 cars back onto their own property south of the diamond. This is about MP B0.3 at the end of modern day VRS' Falls Running Track of the Bellows Falls Subdivision which is the original Rutland Railway Green Mountain mainline. They are crossing the truss bridge over the Bellows Falls Canal, one of the nation's first canals, which opened in 1802 to allow navigation on the Connecticut River to bypass the 52 ft high Great Falls. By 1858 the canal was no longer used for navigation, having been supplanted by the railroads, but instead provided water power to six adjacent mills. Eventually the lower end of the canal with the locks was filled in and the upper end here was widened in conjunction with the opening of the Bellows Falls Hydroelectric plant in 1928. The 49 megawatt station continues in use today and since 2017 has been owned by Great River Hydro LLC which owns 13 hydroelectric power facilities and 3 storage-only reservoirs along the Deerfield and Connecticut Rivers. Village of Bellows Falls Rockingham, Vermont Friday August 19, 2022 |
This bridge originally carried the Rutland Railroad (RUT). It now carries the Green Mountain Railroad (GMRC) and the New England Central Railroad (NECR). Rutland used to terminate in Bellows Falls with a connection to Boston & Maine. B&M was on both sides of the Connecticut River south of town and on the east side of the river north of town. GMRC/RUT goes up the west side of the river north of town.
 |
| 1927 Bellows Falls Quad @ 62,500 |
The canal used to provide water power for several mills. It now provides water for a hydropower plant.
The plant has "49 megawatts of generation capacity with three General Electric generators with Francis waterwheels," [GreatRiverHydro]
 |
| GreatRiverHydro |
 |
| GreatRiverHydro |
About a block west of here the railroad goes through a tunnel.
 |
| Steven J. Brown via Dennis DeBruler |
No comments:
Post a Comment