“36 Miles of Trouble,” was published in 1959 by Victor Morse. It has been reprinted several times. It is the history of the West River RR. This line began as “The Brattleboro and Whitehall RR.”
This was a narrow-gauge railroad that ran from Brattleboro, through Jamaica, to South Londonderry. Wrecks, derailments, wash outs, and trains stuck in deep snow were all too common.
Oct. 18, 1923 Bellows Falls Times
Wonder Railroad
“Vermont may truly claim to have the ‘Wonder Railroad’ of New England. The West River branch of the Central Vermont Railroad, running for 36 miles through the valley termed the Switzerland of America, boasts of one train a day which makes the trip from South Londonderry to Brattleboro in four hours and one minute. No railroad in the country approaches the West River branch for convenience. Nine stations are distributed in the valley between the start and the finish of the trip. Everyone in the section knows the train schedule by heart, and if they find they have insufficient time to make one of the stations they simply repose on the bank by the track, and when the West River comes pounding along they haul themselves to their feet and flag the train by raising their hands, and Engineer Pearson never fails to stop for he knows everyone in the valley.
“Old West River always stops for at least five or six minutes at each station for often it is inconvenient for the traveler to be at the station when the train is due. It is said that a youngster once ran up to the waiting train at one of the stations requesting that the engineer ‘wait a few minutes’ as Pa was shaving and would be along in a few minutes.
“Another time it is said a farmer’s wife in West Townshend came down from the farm and asked the engineer to please hold the train for a few minutes as she had promised to send a dozen eggs to Williamsville and had but 11, but she knew she would have the 12th very soon as the hen had just climbed onto the nest.
“A Mrs. Kidder was on her way to Brattleboro via the West River one day and became car sick along the way. Leaning her head out of the window to get a breath of fresh air, the jerking qualities of the train caused her to lose her false teeth. Before word could be relayed to the engineer the train had traveled a mile and a half. The engineer obligingly threw the old engine in reverse and backed up the mile and a half with Mrs. Kidder and the conductor standing on the platform. Mrs. Kidder spied the teeth and was soon reunited with them, and the train continued on its way.
“In deer hunting season, it is customary to stop the train to allow passengers to shoot deer that can be seen along the track.”
This week’s old saying is used when someone tries to make you see things their way about an issue you don’t care about. “It’s not my pig. It’s not my farm.”