Portland, Rutland, Oswego and Chicago Railroad
Encyclopedia
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, proposed as the first step of a transcontinental railroad
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
. The plans were made by John A. Poor
John A. Poor
John Alfred Poor was an American lawyer, editor, and entrepreneur best remembered for his association with the Grand Trunk Railway and his role in developing the railroad system in Maine. He was the older brother of Henry Varnum Poor of Standard & Poor's, who was his partner in some business...
of Portland in the 1860s, but he died in 1871 before they could be finalized.
History
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
on March 6, 1868 and in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
on July 3, 1868. The companies were authorized to build a railroad from Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
west to Danbury, New Hampshire
Danbury, New Hampshire
In 1800, there were 165 people living in Danbury, according to the first official census.As of the 2000 census, there were 1,071 people, 435 households, and 310 families residing in the town. The population density was 28.6 people per square mile . There were 596 housing units at an average...
on the Northern Railroad. From Danbury to White River Junction, Vermont
White River Junction, Vermont
White River Junction is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the town of Hartford in Windsor County, Vermont, United States...
, the line would use the Northern Railroad, and it would use the full length of the Woodstock Railroad west to Woodstock, Vermont
Woodstock (town), Vermont
Woodstock is the shire town, and capital, of Windsor County, Vermont, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,232. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock and Taftsville.-History:...
. The Rutland and Woodstock Railroad was chartered to continue the line to Rutland.
The New England and Oswego Railroad was chartered in 1870 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, as a connection from Fort Ann
Fort Ann (town), New York
Fort Ann is a town in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 6,417 at the 2000 census...
on the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad
Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad
The Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad was chartered on April 14, 1832. It completed between Troy and Ballston Spa on March 19, 1836. The Delaware and Hudson Canal Company leased the line on May 1, 1871, and it was consolidated into the Delaware and Hudson Railroad effective January 30, 1945....
's Saratoga and Whitehall Railroad west to the port of Oswego
Oswego, New York
Oswego is a city in Oswego County, New York, United States. The population was 18,142 at the 2010 census. Oswego is located on Lake Ontario in north-central New York and promotes itself as "The Port City of Central New York"...
on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
. Between Rutland and Fort Ann traffic would use the R&S's Troy, Salem and Rutland Railroad, Rutland and Whitehall Railroad
Rutland and Whitehall Railroad
The Rutland and Whitehall Railroad is a defunct railroad which operated in the state of Vermont. The railroad, also known as the Castleton Company, received its charter from Vermont in 1848 and opened in 1850....
and Saratoga and Whitehall Railroad.
Lake Ontario Shore Railroad
The Lake Ontario Shore Railroad was a short-lived common carrier railroad in New York that was absorbed by the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad.- Construction :...
, Canada Southern Railway
Canada Southern Railway
The Canada Southern Railway was a railway in southern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. It adopted the Canada Southern Railway name on December 24, 1869. In 1904 the railway was leased to the Michigan Central Railroad for 99 years; in 1929 it...
and Michigan Air-Line Railroad
Michigan Air-Line Railroad
The Michigan Air Line Railroad was a planned railroad across southern Michigan, connecting the Canada Southern Railway to Chicago, Illinois. Only part of the line was built, and it was split between the Michigan Central Railroad and the Grand Trunk Railway.-History:The Grand Trunk Railway was...
to Chicago. In July of that year, five of the six independent companies along the line agreed to merge, and a meeting was scheduled for September 29 to try again. However, John A. Poor died on September 5 and the project died. Interestingly, the three companies west of Oswego went on to become part of the New York Central Railroad
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
system.