(1885 - 1893 horse drawn)

The first horse car line to open in Vermont ran from the Central Vermont depot at the intersection of Lake and College Streets in Burlington. Then, it continued diagonally and upgrade to Main Street. On Main Street the line continued upgrade to Church Street. Where it then turned North on Church to Pearl Street. The tracks lead east on Pearl Street to North Winooski Avenue. Then North on North Winooski Avenue to River Side Avenue. The line then went along River Side Avenue to the Winooski - Burlington Bridge over the Winooski River. Once across the river, the line continued upgrade on Main Street in Winooski to the Central Vermont Railway overpass.

(1895 - 1896 horse drawn)

In 1895 The Military Post Street Railway began operations as a horse - drawn railway. The rails went from upper Main Street in Winooski to Fort Ethan Allen. This line was extended to the Central Vermont station in Essex Junction. Both the Military Post Railway and the Burlington Horse Railroad Company were organized, owned and built by the same people.

> The joining of two trolley lines by hook or by crook in 1896.

The Central Vermont had always made it difficult for people going to or from Burlington as they were in competition with the Burlington & Rutland. The CV's Essex Jct. to Burlington branch, would not allow the two traction lines to be joined. They were separated by the span of the Main Street overpass, in Winooski.

"One night John J. Flynn, director in charge of the construction of the trolley line ordered his work force to over power the guards the CV had posted at the overpass. While the guards were thus incapacitated, the workers then quickly laid down rails on the overpass, and the new line was complete. While the method may not have been legal, it was effective!"

Birth of a new company... Burlington Traction Company

Buildings and Structures

The trolley barn and maintenance complex still stands by the intersection of North Winooski Avenue and Riverside Drive. Vermont Transit uses the entire complex for maintenance and overnight parking garage for their busses.

The power house also remains standing in Vergennes, VT, on the falls of the Otter Creek, 20 or so miles away from Burlington. Power is still produced at this site. The electricity was sent to Burlington by wires mounted on telegraph poles along the Rutland & Burlington Railroad's main line.

The final days of traction in Burlington

The Public Service Commission told Burlington Traction to expand its North Avenue line in 1927. When BTC did not extend the line, the PSC then granted the local bus company, Burlington Rapid Transit Company permission to operate bus a route in direct competition with that trolley route.

In 1929, Burlington Rapid Transit Company bought out Burlington Traction to acquire other trolley routes and remove the competition.

Later that year, on the last day of operations, in August of 1929, trolley number 5 was burned in the middle of the intersection of St. Paul and Main Streets. Many people rode the trolleys for free that day, before the "Abandonment Celebration", that included the unusual public burning of the trolley car.