Alouette (train)

The Alouette was a passenger train jointly operated by the Boston and Maine Railroad and the Canadian Pacific Railway between Montreal, Quebec and Boston, Massachusetts.^[1] The Alouette began service on April 26, 1926, operating on a daytime schedule with coach and parlor car service.^[1] At Newport, Vermont passengers could transfer to Quebec Central Railway trains bound for Sherbrooke and Quebec City. For passengers originating from Boston on the night train counterpart north, the Red Wing (#325/#302), the train would join with the New York-Quebec City Connecticut Yankee to complete the trip to Quebec City.^[2]

Alouette

Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Northeastern United States/Quebec
First service	April 26, 1926
Last service	1956
Former operator(s)	Boston & Maine Canadian Pacific Railway
Route
Termini	Boston, Massachusetts Montreal, Quebec
Distance travelled	338.7 miles (545.1 km) (1949)
Average journey time	10 hours, 40 minutes (northbound) 10 hours, 15 minutes (southbound)
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	5 (B&M), 211 (CP) (northbound) 20 (B&M), 212 (CP) (southbound)
On-board services
Seating arrangements	Coach seating
Catering facilities	Buffet parlor car, only in CP section (1949)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map Legend 0 mi Montreal 2 mi 3 km Westmount 5 mi 8 km Montreal West 30 mi 48 km Saint-John 43 mi 69 km Farnham 56 mi 90 km Cowansville 69 mi 111 km Sutton 74 mi 119 km Abercorn QC VT Richford 77 mi 124 km Canada U.S.A. border VT QC 85 mi 137 km Glenton 91 mi 146 km Highwater QC VT North Troy 94 mi 151 km Newport 108 mi 174 km Orleans 117 mi 188 km Barton 122 mi 196 km West Burke 135 mi 217 km Lyndonville 143 mi 230 km St. Johnsbury 151 mi 243 km pre-1954 route Inwood 158 mi 254 km Barnet 161 mi 259 km VT NH McIndoes 164 mi 264 km Wells River 172 mi 277 km Woodsville Bradford 185 mi 298 km Fairlee 191 mi 307 km Plymouth Thetford 198 mi 319 km Norwich 208 mi 335 km Ashland White River Junction 212 mi 341 km VT NH Meredith Lebanon 217 mi 349 km Canaan 230 mi 370 km Laconia Potter Place 251 mi 404 km Franklin 263 mi 423 km Tilton Concord 282 mi 454 km Manchester 299 mi 481 km Nashua 316 mi 509 km NH MA Tyngsboro 323 mi 520 km Lowell 329 mi 529 km Winchester 347 mi 558 km Boston 355 mi 571 km This diagram: view talk edit

Until late 1954, the train operated over Canadian Pacific trackage to Wells River, Vermont, where it entered the Boston and Maine for the remainder of the way to Boston via Plymouth, New Hampshire and Concord, New Hampshire on the division that the B&M had acquired with the purchase of the Concord and Montreal Railroad in 1895.^[1] After the Boston and Maine abandoned its trackage north of Plymouth, the train was rerouted via White River Junction, Vermont. The train continued to travel via Wells River, St. Johnsbury and Newport, Vermont, before completing the trip to Vermont.^[1][3]

In 1956, the Alouette switched to using Budd Rail Diesel Cars, eliminating the buffet-parlor car. The train lost its name and its original number and became #31 north and #32 south and it no longer had food concession service. The overnight Red Wing was numbered #29/#30 and retained its sleeping cars and only offered breakfast exclusively to its sleeping car passengers.^[1][4][5] The overnight Red Wing had its last run on October 24, 1959. From April 25, 1965, the Boston & Maine pulled out of its cooperation, and the Alouette successor #31/32 only operated on the Canadian Pacific Railway's Montreal to Wells River, Vermont segment. That remaining segment ended service on October 30, 1965. This ended a tradition of Boston to Montreal trains, dating back to 1887.^[6]

References

1. Holland, Kevin (2004). Passenger Trains of Northern new England in the Streamline Era. Lynchburg, VA: TLC Publishing. p. 117. ISBN 1-883089-69-7.
2. Boston and Maine April 1946 timetable, Table 1 http://streamlinermemories.info/Eastern/B&M46TT.pdf
3. Boston and Maine timetable, 1958
4. Boston and Maine timetable, October 28, 1956, Equipment section
5. Official Guide of the Railways, December 1957, Boston and Maine section, Tables 1, 2
6. Old Time Trains, 'B&M CPR Pool' http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/photos/us/bm_cpr_pool.htm

External links

• 1957 schedule of the Alouette and Red Wing, with consists, at 'Streamliner Schedules'