- 1840
- “Montréal and Vermont Railroad” chartered to build a line
between Brattleboro, VT & Montréal, Québec.
- 1844
- M&V builds from Iberville, Québec to Burlington, VT.
- M&V negotiates trackage rights on the under-construction
Vermont Central from Burlington to Montpelier
- 1845
- “New London Northern Railroad” chartered to build from
New London, CT to northern NH, VT.
- 1846
- NLN & VC agree to build a joint line from New London to
Fitchboro, CT.
- 1851
- Unnamed logging railroad built from the Sandwich Mountains
to the sawmill at Termite, NH (south of Wonalancet, NH) and log
dump at Parsons Vale, NH (north edge of Squam Lake, about 10
miles west of Sandwich.)
- 1854
- NLN builds line from New London, CT to Hartford, continuing
north via Springfield, MA to Greenfield, MA
- 1855
- The Parsons Vale & Termite Mill logging railroad decides
to build east out of New Hampshire to the seaport at Portland,
ME. (getting lumber to the Pemigewasset was slow in summer,
virtually impossible in winter, and chartered railroads had
much of the easily graded ROW in that direction locked up)
- 1857
- “Parsons Vale and Termite Mill Rail Road” chartered.
- built from Parsons Vale to Portland, ME.
- 1858
- First train, Termite Mill to Portland.
- 1859
- Manchester Northern builds Manchester to Concord
- 1860
- MN builds Concord to Lowell.
- 1861
- MN builds Lowell to Haverhill, Boston.
- 1865
- Work begins on MN line to Thetford and Montpelier, VT (rope
hauled inclines over Mount Cube & Thetford Hill)
- 1866
- PV&TM exhausts Sandwich range timber supply, abandons old
logging railroad north of Parsons Vale
- PV&TM renamed to “Plymouth & Portland Railway”
- P&P builds Parsons Vale to MN interchange at Plymouth, NH
- First MN train to Thetford.
- PV&T builds from Portland to Augusta.
- 1867
- First MN train to Chelsea, VT.
- MN begins work on on Manchester to Brattleboro line.
- P&P merges with MN, renamed to “Boston & Vermont Railway”
- 1868
- First B&V train to Brattleboro.
- B&V leases the Concord & Rochester Railroad.
- 1869
- B&V purchases NLN, renamed (after many contentious shareholder
meetings) to “Parsons Vale & Termite Railroad”
- M&V bankrupt, purchased by PV&T, renamed the “Montreal and
Parsons Vale Railroad”
- First train, Portland to Augusta.
- Mount Cube inclines replaced with a Fell rack railway
- 1871
- PV&T leases Portland & Rochester Railroad
- 1872
- branch built from Thetford to Woodsville.
- 1875
- M&PV starts building into Canada, but gets tangled in legal
battles with the Canadian Northern, other roads.
- 1877
- 5% Stock swap with CdFQ&TR.
- 1879
- PV&T leases Suncook Valley Railroad, extends it north to
Barnstead.
- 1880
- M&PV merges with Montreal and Southern Railway,
selling all US trackage to the PV&T in exchange for stock.
- 1885
- Starts construction on the line west from Brattleboro to Schenectady,
Troy, and Albany, NY.
- 1888
- First train, Brattleboro to Albany.
- 1891
- PV&T, Boston & Albany, Boston & Maine, and New York, New
Haven & Hartford form the South Loren Railroad in
Boston.
- 1896
- PV&T introduces modern numbering scheme (#1 was an Baldwin
0-6-6-0 Fell Mallet)
- 1900
- Joint PV&T – NYNH&H passenger trains from New York City to
Portland start running.
- 1909
- Parsons Vale Rapid Transit organized to build from Concord to
Parsons Vale
- 1909
- Electrification of the Terminal de Montréal’s branch from
Montréal to Mariesville, PQ (600VDC, matching the voltage of
the Montreal & Southern Counties, which it had trackage rights
on.)
- 1910
- Electrification (2400VDC) of the Terminal de Montréal’s
Montréal-Est industrial district.
- 1912
- Electrification (2400VDC) of the PV&T’s mainline from Manchester
to Brattleboro.
- 1914
- World War 1; USRA administration.
- 1915
- Flooding on the Pemigewasset destroys bridges & washes away
much of the PV&T’s line from Plymouth to Franklin, NH.
- PV&T negotiates trackage rights on the PVRT from Franklin
to Holderness, NH
- 1918
- TdM electrifies Montréal to Philipsburg at 3000VDC.
- 1919
- The PV&T changes their electrifaction to to 3000VDC, extends it
to Portland.
- 1920
- Electrification of the lines from Manchester to Lowell & Boston.
- 1925
- “Parsons Vale Line” starts being painted on rolling stock
instead of “Parsons Vale and Termite”
- 1928
- The Boston & Maine attempts a hostile takeover, which
results in the PV&T forming a takeover-resistant
railroad trust to control it.
- PV&T HQ moved from Concord to Boston.
- 1929
- Electrified from Swanton to Montpelier, VT
- (followed almost immediately by …) the Great Depression.
- 1930
- Electrified Plymouth to Montpelier, VT
- 1931
-
- 1932
- Electrification from Portland to Plymouth.
- 1933
- Electrification from Portland to Augusta.
- 1936
- Lincoln, Wonalancet & Conway Interurban Railway
purchased, reorganized as the Lincoln, Wonalancet and Conway Railroad.
- 1937
- LW&C converted to 3000VDC.
- 1940
-
- 1941
- World War 2
- 1942
- PVRT converts Holderness-Franklin mainline to 3000vdc,
abandons the Franklin to Concord and Holderness to Parsons
Vale side of the road interurban segments in favor of PV&T
trackage rights.
- The Albany-Hudson Fast Line finally gives up the ghost and
is dismantled for steel to help the war effort.
- 1943
- The PV&T (with the assistance of the War Production Board) negotiates
trackage rights on the B&M from Wells River to Plymouth.
- (as wells as …) trackage rights on the Montpelier & Wells River
between those two named cities.
- 1946
- SVT converted to 3000VDC.
- Last New York to Portland passenger train.
- 1948
- PV&T electrifies the B&M from Wells River to Plymouth (postwar
industrial flight was starting to bite into the B&M’s more lightly
trafficked lines, so the lease fees were worth cooperating with
That Other Railroad.)
- 1949
- PV&T electrifies the M&WR from Wells River to Montpelier
- 1950
- SLR purchased.
- Leased the M&WR’s Montpelier to Wells River line.
- 1951
- Last non-Fell PV&T steam locomotive (class 6 #6) retired.
- 1951
- Blue and white paint scheme introduced.
- PVRT discontinues Concord-Laconia passenger service.
- The northern segment of the Suncook Valley Railroad was dieselised.
- 1955
- The B&M abandons Plymouth to Wells River, selling the trackage to the PV&T.
- The PV&T line from Plymouth to Montpelier via Mount Cube & Thetford is abandoned.
- Last steam operation on the PV&T (the Mount Cube mallets; the last adhesion steam
was retired in 1951.)
- 1960
- Abandoned the Suncook Valley branch north of Gossville.
- 1961
- Merges with the LT&L and TdM.
- Last Boston to Montréal passenger train.
- 1962
-
- 1963
- Last TdM revenue steam.
- The Bangor & Québec abandons their international line from
Bangor to Greenville, embargoes it from Brassua Junction to
Lynville, PQ.
- All interurban passenger service in the United States
withdrawn except for Portland to Montréal.
- PRVT Winnisquam bridge collapses, isolating the Laconia branch.
- 1965
- PVRT officially abandons the Laconia branch.
- PV&T leases the PVRT.
- 1966
- The trust reorganizes their railroad holdings, converting the TdM & LT&L into
direct trust subsidiaries instead of PV&T subsidiaries.
- 1967
- The trust moves their HQ from Boston to Montréal, reflecting the
LT&L’s increasing influence on the company.
- 1971
- The PV&T purchases the Hoosic Tunnel & Wilmington Railroad
(and electrifies it in 1973.)
- 1978
- PV&T abandons the old B&V mainline between Concord & Gossville, NH.
- 1983
- PV&T purchases the Delaware & Hudson, kicking off the
acquisition spree that converts it into a modern class 1
railroad.
- 1989
- PV&T purchases the Bangor & Aroostook, abandoning about half
of the BAR’s northern Maine trackage and starting some fairly
extravagant marketing to bring back shippers on the other half.
- 2010
- The Delaware & Hudson is converted to a direct trust subsidiary.
- 2016
- Assumed the lease on the Brunswick & Rockland Railway.