The Newfane Railroad Station was one of ten stations built in 1880 as part of the Brattleboro & Whitehall Railroad. The Railroad’s promoters hoped it would one day connect from Londonderry west to the New York Central in Whitehall, New York. However, only 36 miles of the narrow gauge railroad were ultimately constructed, from Brattleboro to South Londonderry, Vermont. It generally follows Route 30 and the West River through Dummerston, Newfane, Townshend, West Townshend, Jamaica and Winhall.
The Newfane Railroad Station was one of five “water stations” on the route and Newfane’s was one of two that was housed within a building. The water was necessary to replenish the steam engines, and the Tank House stands about 100 yards north of the Depot.
The design of the Depot was similar to that of most of the other depots on the West River Railroad, with a small waiting room/ticket office and baggage/freight room, and like most of the other stations, also provided telegraph operations. In 1880, Brattleboro’s Vermont Phoenix newspaper described the Newfane Station as “two very tasty buildings.”
Newfane’s first station agent and telegraph operator was local resident Joseph J. “J.J.” Green. He was killed in 1886 in a tragic accident. While riding a train south, the railroad bridge at “three bridges” in Brattleboro collapsed into the river under the weight of train. (The original Diary of J.J. Green is on display in the Railroad Museum.) His wife then served as the station agent and telegraph operator, until about 1892. The third and last station agent at Newfane was Walter C. Ballou, who was related to the Greens. He served from 1892 until the railroad ceased operation, and was probably the longest running station agent of the West River Railroad.
“The West River Railroad put the Valley on the map,” recalled Merton Coleman, of Williamsville. Indeed, the story of the West River Railroad dominated the region’s history for over half a century. During its operation from 1880 to 1936, the West River Railroad played a critical role both economically and socially. A passenger trip was scheduled to take two hours — a vast improvement over the two days by horse and buggy. In 1905, the narrow gauge was replaced with standard gauge tracks and around the same time, the Newfane Depot was expanded to accommodate the increase in freight traffic.
The value of the railroad was often overshadowed by accidents, weather-related delays, and damage from flooding, and became infamously known as the “Thirty-Six miles of Trouble.” The extensive damage caused by the Flood of ’27, as well as reduced demand with the introduction of the automobile resulted in the line’s ultimate demise. After the Flood of 1927, the railroad line north of Newfane was closed until 1931. The repairs were funded by a loan from the State, which was not repaid, so the State took control of the railroad and its lands, and shut the line down in 1936. The rails were removed by the late 1930s, and much of the railroad track beds reverted to the abutting property owners.
