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
Start	Boston, Massachusetts
End	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 Boston Lowell Manchester New Hampshire Nashua Manchester Concord Tilton Laconia Meredith Ashland Plymouth Woodsville New Hampshire Vermont St. Johnsbury Lyndonville West Burke Barton Orleans Newport North Troy Highwater Richford Abercorn Vermont Quebec Sutton Cowansville Farnham St. Johns Montreal West Westmount Montreal

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 ites sleeping car passengers.[1][4][5] The overnight Red Wing had its last run on October 24, 1959. From April 25, 1965 the Boston & Mine 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