Rouses Point station

Rouses Point station is an Amtrak intercity train station in Rouses Point, New York, served by the single daily round trip of the Adirondack. The station building is a former Delaware and Hudson Railway constructed in 1889, with a one low-level side platform on the east side of the track. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 as Rouses Point Railroad Station.

Rouses Point, NY
Rouses Point station in July 2017
General information
Location	68 Pratt Street Rouses Point, New York United States
Coordinates	44°59′41″N 73°22′16″W / 44.9948°N 73.3712°W / 44.9948; -73.3712
Owned by	Canadian Pacific Railway
Line(s)	Canadian Subdivision
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Construction
Parking	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak: RSP
History
Opened	1889
Rebuilt	2014 (renovated)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Saint-Lambert toward Montreal Adirondack Plattsburgh toward New York
Former services Preceding station Delaware and Hudson Railway Following station Terminus Main Line Chazy toward Albany Preceding station Napierville Junction Railway Following station Lacolle toward Delson Main Line Terminus Preceding station Amtrak Following station Montreal West toward Montreal Adirondack rerouted 1986 Plattsburgh toward New York
Former services at Rutland Railroad station Preceding station Rutland Railroad Following station Terminus Main Line Alburgh toward North Bennington or Bellows Falls Cantic toward Montreal Green Mountain Flyer / Mount Royal Alburgh toward New York or Boston Champlain toward Ogdensburg Ogdensburgh–​Alburgh Alburgh Terminus Preceding station Canadian National Railway Following station Cantic toward Montreal St. Johns services Terminus
Rouses Point Railroad Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Architect	Delaware and Hudson Railroad
Architectural style	Romanesque
NRHP reference No.	04001454^[1]
Added to NRHP	January 5, 2005

History

The Northern Railroad (later the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad) opened between Ogdensburg and Rouses Point in 1850, with a wharf on Lake Champlain at Rouses Point. In 1851, the Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad was extended south from Canada to a wharf just to the north of the Northern's wharf.^[2] That year, the Vermont and Canada Railroad (V&C) began operating a railcar barge from the Northern wharf to Alburgh, Vermont, where its line continued to Burlington. It soon gained control of the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain. Not until 1868 did the line complete its bridge across the lake to Rouses Point.^[3]: 172

After several reorganizations, the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain and the V&C became part of the Central Vermont Railway (CV) in 1873.^[4] In 1876, the Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) extended its mainline north to Rouses Point, where it connected with the Champlain and St. Lawrence for access to Montreal.^[4] The D&H station was located at Pratt Street, just south of the diamond crossing of the CV, which had a separate station at the junction.^[5]

 

Early 20th century postcard of the station

The Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain became independent again in 1877.^[4] In 1883, it constructed the Lamoille Valley Extension eastwards from Rouses Point, with a new drawbridge parallel to the CV bridge. The line connected with the St. Johnsbury and Lamoille County Railroad at Maquam, Vermont. The CV immediately moved to regain control of the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain, which occurred in June 1884. Service on the extension ended that July, and it was abandoned in 1888.^[3]: 352

In 1889, the D&H built a new station in the then-popular Romanesque style. It is a one-story red brick structure with a hipped slate roof and dark stone trim. A round tower with a steep conical roof is at the southern end. The east façade has a Syrian arch door and two similar windows.^[6][7] Around that time, the CV built a new station slightly further east near Pratt Street, which allowed trains to turn north on the line to Montreal.^[8]

 

The Adirondack at Rouses Point in 1989

The CV lost control of the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain during bankruptcy in 1896.^[4] In 1901, the Rutland opened its Island Line from Burlington to Rouses Point, using gauntlet tracks to share the CV bridge. That year, the Rutland acquired the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain.^[3]: 43 The Napierville Junction Railway opened north from Rouses Point in 1907, giving the D&H a faster route to Montreal. CV passenger service to Rouses Point ended in 1929.^[3]: 170

Rutland passenger service to Rouses Point lasted until 1953.^[3]: 44 The final service was the Mount Royal and an Ogdensburgh–Alburgh mixed train; the Green Mountain Flyer had been cut back to Burlington in 1951.^[9][10] D&H passenger service continued until April 30, 1971. Amtrak, which took over intercity passenger service in May 1971, resumed service on the D&H with the Adirondack in 1974. Amtrak initially used the D&H station, but later switched to a former express office just to the north.^[6]

In 2002, the D&H sold the station to the Village of Rouses Point for $5,000.^[7] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 5, 2005.^[1] An accessible platform was built in 2010.^[11] A rehabilitation project was completed in 2014, allowing the station building to serve as Rouses Point History and Welcome Center.^[7]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Atlas of Clinton County, New York. F. W. Beers, A. D. Ellis & G. G. Soule. 1869. pp. 15–16.
3. Lindsell, Robert M. (2000). The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press. ISBN 0-942147-06-5.
4. Worthen, S. S. (May 1968). "The Rouses Point Gateway" (PDF). Canadian Rail. No. 199. pp. 115–120. ISSN 0008-4875.
5. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Rouses Point, Clinton County, New York. Sanborn Map Company. October 1884. p. 1.
6. Mary Racicot; Eleanor Martinsen; Linda M. Garofalini (August 2003). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Rouses Point Railroad Station".
7. "Rouses Point, NY (RSP)". Great American Stations. Amtrak.
8. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Rouses Point, Clinton County, New York. Sanborn Map Company. January 1891. p. 2.
9. "Curtailment of R.R. Passenger Service Approved". The Barre Daily Times. September 19, 1951. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
10. The Green Mountain Lake Champlain Route. Rutland Railway. April 26, 1953 – via Wikimedia Commons.
11. "Work planned at area train stations". Press-Republican. April 30, 2010.

External links

  Media related to Rouses Point station at Wikimedia Commons

• Rouses Point, NY – Amtrak
• Rouses Point, NY – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)