Trains Dismantled to Make Way for Rail Trail

by Amy Kolb Noyes

MORRISTOWN - It's the end of an era. The last train cars left on
Morristown's tracks were dismantled and began to be hauled away last
week. The State of Vermont hired CJ Rail Services, a contractor out of
Scarborough, ME, to get rid of the plow train (or flanger) and flat cars
parked by the old train station, and the engine left by the old engine
house, in Morristown.
Fed Janci, principal of CJ Rail Services, said the state contracted them
to get rid of the rolling stock in advance of the tracks being pulled up
to make way for a rail trail. CJ Rail Services dismantles obsolete and
wrecked trains all over New England. Janci and his crew used blow
torches and crowbars to take apart the old trains. Janci said this is
his second working trip to Morristown. Five or six years ago he
dismantled an engine stored inside the engine house.
Janci said the other engine parked at the engine house is privately
owned by a man in Hardwick. However, after the tracks between Morristown
and Hardwick washed out, the owner could not relocate his engine. Janci
said the owner will be taking the shell to that engine. The move will
require a truck to haul the shell and a crane to load and unload the shell.
Janci acknowledged the other trains he was dismantling were also likely
privately owned. However, he said, when it comes down to moving the old
trains from where they sit, the owners are not interested in the hassle
or expense. He said parts of the train cars dismantled from the train
station section of tracks will be going to a railroad museum in St.
Johnsbury.