its line from South Ashburnham, Massachusetts (where it met the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad) to the New Hampshire side of Bellows Falls; the bridge across the Connecticut River was completed that June. The Rutland and Burlington Railroad was completed from Bellows Falls to its namesake towns on December 18, 1849; it met the previous two railroads at the north end of the island formed by the canal. The Vermont Valley Railroad opened from Bellows Falls (including a tunnel under the town square) to Brattleboro, Vermont in 1851. This placed Bellows Falls at the junction of two major trunk lines: Boston–Burlington via Rutland and Fitchburg, and New York–Montreal via New Haven and White River Junction. Boston–Montreal traffic also passed through Bellows Falls until around 1853, when the Vermont Central began using the Northern Railroad as its main Boston connection. The railroads constructed a two-story brick station in the southeast corner of the railroad junction on the island. The island also housed freight houses, a roundhouse, and other railroad structures. A one-story brick Railway Express Agency (REA) building with a cupola on its roof was built next to the station between 1878 and 1885. Mergers A series of acquisitions and leases resulted placed the Sullivan County Railroad, Vermont Valley Railroad, and Rutland Railroad (successor to the Rutland and Burlington) under the control of the Vermont Central by the end of 1870. These moves left the Vermont Central deep in debt; it was reorganized as the Central Vermont Railroad (CV) in 1873. By 1880, still struggling, the CV leased the Sullivan County and Vermont Valley to the Connecticut River Railroad (with the CV retaining trackage rights); the CV itself would be leased by the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) in 1893. The Cheshire Railroad was acquired in 1890 by the Fitchburg Railroad, which was in turn leased by the B&M in 1900. The CV canceled its lease of the Rutland Railroad in 1896. The B&M and CV ran north–south service through Bellows Falls, while the B&M and Rutland collaborated on east–west traffic on the Boston–Montreal route via Bellows Falls. The station building was renovated in 1891. The second station On December 21, 1921, much of the station was destroyed by a fire that began in the station's kitchen. It was replaced in 1922-23 with a one-story brick building on the same site. Construction was handled by H. Wales Lines of Meriden, Connecticut. The