My hometown is Windsor, Vermont. It’s the birthplace of Vermont in 1777 where the constitution was signed and the state became an independent republic (long before Texas, Tony) before becoming the 14th state in 1791. And while Windsor is somewhat notable for other things like the second oldest operating post office, the patents on a number of the precision machine tools that helped the industrial revolution, and the bottling plant of Boston based Harpoon Brewery, I think its greatest contribution was Vermont itself. You’re welcome… that said, I figured all things Vermont were fair game.
The flatcar itself I ultimately decided to go with a prototype from the Central Vermont, the only one in the late steam era of the railroad. I was half-tempted to model Rutland flatcar 2753 as a companion to Tony’s DRGW 21158 which brought the carved block of marble that became the tomb of the unknown soldier to Washington DC. But the CV’s original terminus in the south was Windsor and the Rutland is really Elroy’s baby. The flatcar itself is a rather unremarkable 36’10” 60000lb fishbelly center sill on arch-bar trucks. 77 cars were built in 1923 and used mostly used to haul blocks of granite from the quarry in Barre, VT (where one of my great-grandfathers worked until his death in 1941.) There’s one preserved example at the Danbury Railway Museum in Danbury, CT.
For the load, I needed something to really represent the state. Plenty of things come to mind, like maple syrup, dairy farms, and covered bridges. However, when I was in Alabama introducing myself as a Vermonter, our contribution to popular culture would always come up in the form of Broken Lizard’s 2001 cult classic: Super Troopers. It’s a comedy chronicling the misadventures of a troop of the fictitious Vermont Highway Patrol, inspired by our real life state police. Seeing as how pop culture has been not entirely accurately been portraying the state since the 1944 jazz standard Moonlight in Vermont, I figured I’d go for something a little more real. Since I model the steam era, the car is my take on a 1947 Ford Sedan in the original Vermont State Police livery. I patterned it after “Monty” a restored car of the same vintage used at public events.
For my hobo, I was going back and forth on a stoic dairy farmer or a dirty hippie, but in the end I felt like the flatcar and cruiser needed its own State Trooper to escort it. He is carrying a bottle of pure Vermont Maple syrup, both in reference to a major product of the state and as a nod to the syrup chugging scene from the film.
