Editing Island Pond, Vermont (section)

===The railroad===

Island Pond became an important [[railroad]] center in 1853 when the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] established international connections between [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], and [[Portland, Maine]]. The half-way point in the Portland-Montreal railroad line, this town became a booming railroad center with a [[Railway roundhouse|roundhouse]], shops, and all the facilities associated with train operations. In 1923 the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada was [[bankrupt]] and taken over by the Canadian government and operated as the [[Canadian National Railways]]. With the Canadian government directing the railroad, political considerations soon outweighed the economics of the railroad; commerce was displaced from the port of Portland to the Canadian ports of [[Halifax, Nova Scotia|Halifax]] and [[Saint John, New Brunswick|St. John]]. The importance of the Portland line then began a decline which was never to be reversed. Island Pond's days as a major railroad town were over by the late 1950s due to the elimination of [[steam locomotive]]s. By 1960 [[passenger train]] service to Portland had ended, and three years later the [[diesel locomotive]] shop was closed. In 1966 barely a skeleton staff of people worked in Island Pond after the roundhouse closed.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Cook|first=Roger.|title=Vermont time machine|magazine=[[Classic Trains]]|publisher=[[Kalmbach Media]]|volume=24|number=3|date=Fall 2023|pages=20-27}}</ref> Canadian National continued to operate freight service to Portland until 1988; the following year the line was sold to a [[short-line railroad|short line]] operator, the [[St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad]], which provides service to this day.

[[File:Common Sense Café 28 Cross Street Island Pond VT May 2013.jpg|thumbnail|left|Common Sense Cafe at 28 Cross Street next door to Yellow Deli--both owned and operated by the Twelve Tribes.]]