Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6others remain pristine. Washouts revealed beautiful chunks of scrap granite fill used to solve the same problem years earlier. Like an old farm house, this rail line has had many owners with many different approaches to maintenance. Just as peeling off layers of wall paper gives you a feel for their individual styles, each structure along the trail tells its own story. Some structures are fused together with mortar and pride, their construction dates etched into the stone as reminders of good years. Others are relics of lean times, slapped together with old rail lengths or whatever was handy back when materials were costly and labor cheap. Problems that were put off have resurfaced adding both time and cost to the project. Even in the face of these setbacks, the project has moved on and the first two sections are open for year-round recreation. In the East, the trail spans from the Three Rivers Trail in St. Johnsbury through to Channel Drive on the Far end of Joe’s Pond in West Danville. As soon as the land dried out from the spring melt, we had our crew resume work. They started with the bridges and cattle passes. Old decking and rail ties were torn up and replaced with new, sturdy lumber. Crumbling stone was removed and new concrete poured in its place. Once all of the outstanding engineering questions were resolved, the crew pressed on. With the major structures repaired, they turned their focus to ditching. Day by day, each bucket of material removed saw the return of the historic ditch lines. When the water finally drained from the trail, areas that had once been a soggy mess quickly firmed up. The trail was then ready for the next steps. Areas of railroad ballast that were clogged with dirt and leaves were cleaned out in preparation for grading. The grader came through, digging up the ballast to be rolled out again by a compactor for the final, fine grading. After all these steps were completed, the paver came through followed by the vibrating compactor, laying out and firming the material that is now the top surface of the trail. The final steps to complete the trail were the signs and universally accessible crossings. Concrete and truncated domes (the yellow bumpy things) were installed to alert visually impaired users of impending road crossings. Where the trail crosses major roads at less than a 90° angle, the pedestrian crossings will be off set for better visibility. The signs and mile markers provided the final touches to inform all users of where they are and how to interact courteously with each other. In the west, the LVRT reconnects Morristown, Hyde Park, Johnson and Cambridge. This section has posed different challenges than is eastern counterpart. Like the ST.J & L.C. before us, we have had to deal with washouts from water running down onto the trail and the Lamoille River rising up to meet it. Despite these setbacks, progress was steady. The ditches have been restored and are shedding water properly. The top coat has been paved down to provide the final surface for recreation of all types. Much work went into restoring the bridges, cattle passes, and other structures. Old boards and rotting ties were removed and replaced with new materials. New railings were installed on each of the bridges. While they each presented their own challenges, perhaps the Needle’s Eye Bridge in Morristown was the most unique. To repair the structure, the bridge was lifted out as one solid piece to get at the crumbling stone and concrete abutments. The old material was removed and new concrete was poured in its place. Once the concrete had set, the new bridge was placed back in its original position and secured in place. Looking towards the near future, the trail will wind through the bucolic fields of Franklin County before reaching its Western terminus at Lake Champlain. The Lamoille County Railroad once sought to span the length of Vermont with their rail line, connecting the State from east to west. While that dream once seemed lost, we have labored over the course of many years to rework that dream into a new reality. Not only will this trail serve as a unifying force to bring together communities across Vermont, it will also be... A bridge to our past and the path to our future. The information for this article as well as the beautiful historical photographs are from: Lewis, Edward A. Vermont’s Covered Bridge Road: The story of the St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County Railroad. Strasburg: The Baggage Car, 1974. Print Looking west into an oncoming storm from Willow Crossing in Johnson.