With the slump in demand for architectural granite, and especially large stones, caused by changes in building construction techniques and then the Great Depression, the railroad ceased operations and abandoned its track in 1934.

The Green Mountains of Vermont have long been known for the quantity and quality of their granite and marble, but the weight of the stone combined with difficulty of carving granite largely prevented the development of a stone-cutting industry in northern Vermont until some marble quarries opened in the Hardwick area in the middle of the 19th century.

[4][5] The construction of the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway to Hardwick in 1872 (it later became the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad) enabled the shipping of quantities of northern Vermont stone to the outer world[6][5] and facilitated the growth of the local granite industry.

[2][8]: 3  Rough-cut granite was brought from the quarries to and through the town in heavy horse-drawn wagons, which caused congestion and damaged roads and bridges.

[10][7]: 224  While the finer-grained granite of Barre was preferred for monuments and gravestones, the coarser-grained Woodbury stone found a market in "architectural" uses such as buildings and paving.

[3] As demand grew, the granite-finishing operations in Hardwick began to look farther afield for sources of the raw stone.

While some quarries had been opened in nearby Woodbury,[11] transportation of the stone to the finishing sheds was problematic: it was slow and difficult, and caused significant damage to the roads.

[8]: 4  It once took an 18-horse team three days to move a large column of rough granite from the quarry to Hardwick (a distance of 6 miles (9.7 km) or more, depending on the route), after which 20 road culverts needed to be rebuilt.

[12] Transportation was somewhat easier in the winter, as the frozen ground would not give way, and snow allowed the use of sleds, which encountered less friction.

In a process that continued until 1904, the trestles were subsequently replaced with "grout" or waste stone, which was used to fill the ravines.

This company brought Italian immigrant labor from Boston, preferring this source to the local farmers who also had farms to tend.

[6]: 25  The main line passed thirteen listed "stations" functioning as waypoints for calculating shipping costs but not a single company-owned building on the entire route.

[22][23] The directors of the railroad promised equal treatment of all local granite companies and free construction of siding tracks during 1897.

[8]: 8–9 [5]: 3 Despite official concerns, there were no train collisions on the railroad, and its injury and fatality record was better than the Vermont statewide average.

Small amounts of lumber, merchandise, household goods, coal, and "miscellaneous items" accounted for the rest of the freight.

[26]: 29 Although the original directors of the railroad were largely aligned with the Fletcher quarrying interests, the later purchase of stock by the new owners of the Woodbury Granite Co. allowed them to take control of the company.

[6]: 27 [26]: 24  The railroad’s earnings varied widely with the demand for granite, but on at least one occasion the profits were sufficient to justify paying a 6% dividend on common stock and 12% on preferred.

The main line crew performed the quarry switching as well as the runs up and down the mountain, and consisted of a conductor, engineer, fireman, and two brakemen (one at each end of the train).

[26]: 24  The Shay locomotives used considerable amounts of water, which could be replenished at three points along the route: the stream by Buffalo Crossing, a low spot between Burnham Hill and Foster Summit, and a tank at the quarries.

[26]: 25 The yard area around Buffalo Crossing had such facilities as a coal pit, a car repair shop, a sawmill and electric power plant.

Improved roads allowed for transportation by truck, and the smaller pieces of granite that were increasingly becoming the industry norm did not require railroads to move them.

resumed control of the spur that had been leased to the H&W, which remained in service as long as there was a need to ship granite by rail.

[8]: 6  A larger and heavier machine than its predecessor, it enabled the railroad to run longer trains from the quarries to the finishing sheds.

[1] The railroad bought 38 flatcars in 1904, after the Woodbury Granite Company secured its first large contract, for the Pennsylvania State Capitol.

Larger flatcars (up to 80,000 pounds[37]) and the well car, with air brakes and automatic couplers, could be used for interstate traffic and on other Vermont railroads.

[26]: 20–21  Hopper or gondola cars were used to transport such small-sized materials as crushed stone, paving block, and coal.

[6]: 23 The general manager of the Hardwick & Woodbury, Edward H. Blossom, designed a special car for shipping large granite blocks.

Each pair of these rods supported an oak bar, 4 × 6 inches (10 × 15 cm), running the width of the car (approximately 8 feet or 2.5 m).

This included such circumstances as stock certificates of, for example, the Virginia Alberene Corporation (see photo), which used a short-line industrial railroad to move blocks of soapstone.

Facing a rebuttal, he allowed that the Hardwick & Woodbury might not be as long as the mighty New York Central but, he maintained, it was "just as wide.