Puzzle for December 14, 2025: Union Station Interior
Our examination of the river confluence at White River Junction led me to dig a little deeper, and I found this wonderful photo of the interior of Union Station.
When I hear the phrase “the glory days of the railroad,” I compare this restaurant in Union Station to the current situation at the Amtrak station. This unfortunate reality has been played out many times and in many places.
Imagine how much the railroad changed Vermont, New Hampshire, and the country as a whole. Prior to June 26, 1848, when the railroad first came to White River Junction, people were much more isolated. For example, before the railroad, people from Texas to Kentucky to points north drove herds of turkeys to market, traveling roughly 10 miles a day.
But to Boston? Driving turkeys? (see related post and puzzle at Wild Turkey)
I used this as an example of the railroad replacing the drives. But turkey drives continued into the 1920s and 1930s, until trucking became an undeniable options.
Further study is needed!
The railroad station in White River Junction is now in its fourth iteration. The current building was constructed in 1937. It was built on the foundations of Union Station, which had been built in 1880 and burned in 1911.
That leaves a gap of 26 years without a proper station due to an internecine dispute between railroads. Apparently, they used a freight barn in the meantime, although I’m not sure “the meantime” is meant to cover 26 years…
At its peak, 50 passenger trains came or left from White River Junction each day, and the number of freight trains often exceeded that. One source estimated 500 passengers a day passed through the station. At the time, there was a newspaper article exploring the idea of a subway; not with train cars, but a subterranean tunnel connecting the station to downtown, much like the present one in Lebanon. With 50 trains a day, the tracks often blocked foot traffic. It is easy to imagine there were unfortunate incidents. But I now know that there was a tunnel, usable into sometime in the 1970s. Apparently it was used at one time mostly to transport the mail back and forth between the post office and station.
Thanks for reading.
Cameron Cross
There is or was a tunnel between the train station and the Coolidge block. The Hartford Class of 1973 did some renovation work on the station and the tunnel. It was spooky and cool.
I just posted this on the wild turkey post but I had a distant relative who drove turkeys to markets in Boston and other areas. She, Mrs. Florence Snow of Bridgewater, won 6 awards at the 1938 Northeastern Poultry Producers Council Exposition in New York City. Both for dressed and Live turkeys. This was after losing 250 turkeys in the 1938 hurricane.