The "Corkscrew" Railroad

When wealthy North Bennington resident Trenor Park purchased the Bennington-Rutland Railroad, he found that the railroad barons of the Troy and Boston Railroad refused him access to their New York lines. Rather than fight this monopoly, Park built a rail line from Bennington to Lebanon Springs, NY, where he could transfer his trains to southbound rails while bypassing Troy. The dozens of tight turns over 40 miles of hilly terrain gave this stretch of railroad the name Corkscrew. Passenger service was canceled in 1931 and the line was officially abandoned in 1953. Remnants of the old rail bed can be seen where it crossed the highway at this point.