Track 16 - CT Passenger Stations

CAMPVILLE2. We think that the photo on the left, said to have been taken in the Torrington area, may be a rear view of the second station here. The bridge in the middle left would be over the Naugatuck River, which ran behind the station at a point just above where the NRR crossed to the river's west bank. Click here for the topographic map and look below 'Harwinton.' While the stream seems a little narrow for the mighty Naugatuck, this may be just a matter of perspective. There appears to be a road in the lower foreground that is also seen on the map. We don't know how the woman and the dog in the lower right figure into the photo, but they do make this a more interesting scene.

CANAAN1, as shown on the 1854LC map. The map clearly shows the depot west of the track and north of Main St. Our understanding was that the first station was in the Our House hotel, about 100 yards north of CANAAN2, the present station, and east of the track. The photos seem to bear this out. We wonder if there was an intervening depot from at least ca. 1854 to 1872 where the map shows.

CANAAN2. The newspaper said that this union station would be jointly built by the HRR and CW [HDC/12/14/1871/02] and that by late next year it was being called "the model depot of Connecticut" [HDC/10/26/1872/04], though "Wallingford and Windsor people would probably dispute the claim." Handsome structures had just been put up in their towns in 1871 and 1870, respectively. Heavily damaged by arson in 2001, CANAAN2 is being restored to her former elegance, thanks to many groups and individuals who appreciate the rich history this structure represents [click here]. The view in the photo on the right looks north up the HRR line.

CANNON1 is not actually shown on the 1856FC map but probably is the building we have indicated. This was an original D&N stop from 1852. The station burned in October, 1890, in a fire reported to have been the work of an incendiary. This is according to a newspaper article [NHER/10/03/1890/01] The article, interestingly enough, is mistitled to read that the HRR freight station in South Norwalk, the byline town, had burned, which we first thought to mean WILSON POINT. The article text clarifies that the fire started in the grocery store "across the way" from the CANNON1 station and soon took the railroad building. It says that the freight depot was destroyed, as well as the waiting room and telegraph station, in what was a combination depot perhaps similar in appearance to D&N stations BETHEL1 and WILTON1.

CANNON2 was erected sometime between the inspections of the HRR's D&N branch by the railroad commissioners in late 1891 and early 1892 [NHER/10/22/1891/04; NHER/06/09/1892/04]. This stop was named for D&N builder Charles Cannon, who coincidentally died shortly after CANNON2 was built [HC/12/30/1892/06]. In December, 1915, the post office here was renamed so as to avoid confusion with Canaan, and the railroad followed suit by changing the name of the station to CANNONDALE.

CEDAR HILL1. An article with three photographs appeared in the newspaper late in 1909 describing the past, present, and future stations at Cedar Hill [NHU/10/24/1909/09]. Newspaper photos on microfilm often do not reproduce well, as is the case here, but one can make the shape of the depot that seems to match our photograph. Cedar Hill Jct. had been a stop since the 1871 opening of the NHM&W [PTH418.1871.20]. There was a call for a small station to be built here at least by 1885, when a letter to the newspaper said it would be a convenience for people wishing to visit East Rock, Whitneyville, Fair Haven, or just the northern part of New Haven [NHER/01/26/1885/01]. By 1888, the railroad concurred and men were working on the foundation for CEDAR HILL1 with completion expected in the late fall [NHER/08/31/1888/04. A Palladium article [NHDP/01/29/1889] gives quite a detailed description of the 65x22-ft building with its slate roof that projected 14 feet out all around it. The article expected the station to be opened in February. [add7/25]. The latter Register article also mentioned that the NYNH&H had purchased a large tract of the salt marsh here at State and James Sts. which would be filled in for freight yards. This would ultimately become the location of the Conn. Co. car barns by 1911 and still is Connecticut Transit property today. [REFS: CRC36.1888.19; CRC37.1889.18]

CEDAR HILL2. The construction of CEDAR HILL1 unfortunately forestalled the expansion of area streets that New Haven had been contemplating for years and at least one report said that the railroad built the depot in the dead of night to get the jump on the city. The map at the left appeared in the newspaper [NHER/12/17/1905] and shows that the proposed extension of Humphrey St. was up for discussion again, either through the station property to meet Lombard St. or somewhat lower to meet Alton St. The Manufacturer's Street Railway had its yard, not shown on the map, exactly in this lower area. Controversy about disrupting that and about bridging the railroad over Humphrey St. would cause delays in finishing the project until 1911. The railroad considered abandoning the location completely, with trolley service now cutting into local steam railroad traffic. The public, however, objected and the railroad commissioners ruled that a new station had to be built. During the transition, CEDAR HILL1 was closed and the Union article cited above said that a "makeshift" station, "an old passenger car and a disposed tool car coupled on a siding and bearing in handsome gilt and black the words 'Cedar Hill'" was in use. In this dark image, we can see the outline of the coach and tool car and we can also just make out the "gilt" NYNH&H lettering.

CEDAR HILL3, as built and the sketch that appeared in the newspaper with the Union article cited above. Construction was expected to start on October 11, 1909 with contractor William Patterson in charge and completion anticipated in about four months [NHEL/10/08/1909/13]. According to the Evening Leader, plans were drawn up by C.W. Lord, architect for the New Haven road, and the building was to have a concrete foundation, walls of terra cotta and brick, a green tiled roof, and stone trimmings. It was to be "heated by steam, with up to date plumbing" and "fitted with the largest electric globes." The cost was expected to be about $6,500. The location was said to be "across James St. from the present station but on the same side of the tracks," as seen on the map above. As built, it stood on the opposite side of the tracks, north of Humphrey St., just above the 'RR' on the map. This was just before the massive redevelopment of Cedar Hill yard just above here [HC/03/04/1911/07], which perhaps occasioned the change of location for CEDAR HILL3. This station still has several trains stopping on our 1923TT timetable but no service on our 1937TT.

CENTERVILLE1. Often seen as CENTREVILLE, this was an original station on the NH&N and is indicated by the red arrow on the 1852 NH map [right]. It is usually designated on timetables as a flag stop. We have no photo yet of whatever structure may have been here. The yellow block on the today map [left] shows its location along what was originally the route of the old Farmington Canal that paralleled Whitney Ave., then Cheshire Tpke., through this part of Hamden.

CENTERVILLE2. There was a new stop here after the Canal line was relocated westward in 1880. Reports are that it was where the Arthur Murray dance studio is today at 2838 Old Dixwell Ave. That would seem to be in error since the line was routed too far to the west for that location to be possible. We have crossed that out on this revised map and put a new gold block at the more likely spot on the east side of the railroad bridge crossing over Dixwell Ave. This flag stop was approved for abandonment on 1/24/1905 due to trolley competition. We have no photo yet of CENTERVILLE2. [CRC53.1905.5]

CENTRAL VILLAGE, location seen on the 1856WC map.

The CHAPLIN depot was about eight miles east of Willimantic, between the NORTH WINDHAM and HAMPTON stops. A 1/8/1887 NY&NE station list, found in the road's correspondence with the railroad commissioners, corroborates Karr's claim [p110] that this stop was first called GOSHEN and it seems also to have been known alternately as CLARKS CORNER [below: see] for most of its existence. The 1895 photo on the right shows stationmaster Elmer Claslin Jewett, who would later purchase this station and move it to his property when CLARKS CORNER2 was built.

CHARTER OAK PARK1. This was the HP&F stop created in 1874 for the horse-racing track and Luna Park amusements. The state fair would also be held on these West Hartford grounds where Flatbush and Oakwood Avenues intersect. Two platforms apparently served initially as CHARTER OAK PARK1 [HDC/07/30/1874/02] and trains began stopping here shortly thereafter [DC/08/17/1874/02] for fairs and special events during season. The 1893 map [right] clarifies the location of the park between the PARKVILLE and the ELMWOOD stops, the latter originally called WEST HARTFORD, and the present day map shows the streets today and where we presume this and the NYNH&H's OAKWOOD AVE. stop [see O stations] was located on the parallel railroad lines that ran along the Hartford/West Hartford border.

CHARTER OAK PARK2 station is seen here in this 1916 shot with a group from Pratt and Whitney, a foreshadowing of the later purchase of the park to move P&W operations here from downtown Hartford [HC/01/24/1940/06]. On opening, the park facilities were said to be second to none in the country, the grandstand reportedly modeled on the one at Saratoga. The 60-ft wide New Park Ave. was cited as "a good approach for driving" for those not coming by train to this attraction that was said to be the pride of Hartford, even though it was just outside the city limits. Additional rail service was supposedly coming from a new station being established on the NYNH&H. We have seen no new stop added on any timetables, but a newspaper article [HDC/05/16/1883/01] mentions an OAKWOOD [see O stations] depot, likely named after the park and said to be located by the main entrance. The park reportedly closed in 1918 and the horse-racing track shut down in 1940, according to the book Hartford Trolleys, [p50].

CHERRY BROOK was a CW flag station in the town of CANTON, named simply CHERRY in 1915 per the ICC's safety program. Differences in the roof overhang notwithstanding, we think that both photos in Lord's Country Depots [p24] show the same structure, the only one ever to stand at this stop. This was not an opening day stop [HDC/12/21/1871/02] and we have yet to determine when it was established. The structure was reportedly sold and removed in 1930 [LR].

CHESHIRE. The depot is marked, appropriately enough, with the letter 'C' in this 1882 Bailey map shot. The railroad commissioners said it was remodeled in 1886 and apparently expanded as well, since the structure on the map looks considerably smaller than it does in this and other photos that were presumably taken later. Many thanks to the Cheshire Historical Society [click here] for permission to use their photos posted here and elsewhere.

The 1915 valuation map on the left puts the CHESHIRE STREET station, correctly, in that town, while the 1893 topographic map, with the tick mark above the C, seems to put it in Meriden. More importantly for our purposes, the full val map [click here] pinpoints the location of the Hough's Mill crossing and the HOUGHS MILL [see H stations] stop that appears on the August, 1888 timetable [Snow, p14].

The middle photos are both westward-looking views of the MW&CR crossing of the Quinnipiac River and the overgrade highway bridge for Cheshire Rd. The photo on the right is from Snow [p10]. The CHESHIRE STREET station is out of sight to the right just before the railroad bridge crossing the river. No stop at all appears at this location point in 1900 [Snow, p29].

The highway reconfiguration to eliminate the grade crossing west of Hough's Mill [MDR/06/06/1889] may have resulted in the renaming of roads in the area and this stop being called CHESHIRE STREET. So named, it is on our 7/8/1907 Form C timetable with two weekday trains stopping here daily each way. By the same timetable for 6/4/1911, there is a lone 7:30am train from Meriden and a single 5:10pm return from Dublin St., with all the intermediate stations marked as flag stops. This last train was probably run to accommodate commuting workers, especially those bound for the jewelry factory that operated here ca. 1912 when an extra car had to be put on. Rail service from Meriden to Waterbury ended in 1917 and the track came out in 1924 [Snow, p26+].

CHESTER1. The Valley Railroad has this building as their yard office at the former site of the GOODSPEED passenger station. According to Max Miller, the VRR's unofficial but uniquely knowledgeable historian, it is the remaining portion of the 1871 CHESTER1 depot [click here] and John Roy [p40] reiterates this. This depot stood above the cove at the northeast corner of the Dock Rd. crossing, as shown on the map above. In 1874 the railroad wanted to eliminate it in favor of the LORDS FARM flag stop just to the south on the map. See both stops on the 1871 timetable. The railroad commissioners gave their approval but the town challenged the decision [DC/09/15/1874/02]. The case went all the way to the state Supreme Court [41 Conn. 348] and the abandonment was forestalled. With an amended plan, CHESTER1 was discontinued and the railroad commissioners said that "trains now make South Chester their only stopping place in that town [CRC22.1875.19]. This station, according to Max, closed on 11/5/1874 and went on to become part of a private residence until the remaining portion was donated back to the Valley RR.

CHESTER2. This station started out as LORDS FARM, a flag stop on the 1871 timetable above, a "station in the same town a short distance below" CHESTER1 on opening day [HDC/08/25/1871/02]. The first mention of this station as SOUTH CHESTER is in a newspaper article which indicates that tickets were being sold there as of July 14, 1872 [DC/08/14/1872/02]. A humorous incident was noted when some newlyweds were expected at this stop where a "chariot" made from a hack attached to a "couple of gaily decorated oxen" awaited to take them to their honeymoon destination [HDC/11/13/1872/04]. The pair mistakenly detrained at CHESTER1 and had to be transported by a gentleman named 'Bummer' to meet their own wedding entourage! The controversy over which depot would remain was resolved in 1874 when this one was chosen and CHESTER1 abandoned [HDC/10/23/1874/02]. The photo at the lower right is CHESTER2 in its present incarnation as a private residence, its enlarged girth apparently due to pushing out the walls under the overhang and the brick facing added to the original Carpenter Gothic structure.

CHESTER3. The QUINNIPIACK [see Q stations] depot was donated to the Valley RR in 1976, refurbished, placed at the site of CHESTER2, and renamed as its successor. Photo on left was taken on 8/2/2010.

CHEWINK. The ca. 1902 railroad commissioners map shows that this was a stop east of NORTH WINDHAM. When it was created and what purpose it served is unknown and we have not seen it on any timetables. A newspaper article [NHR/12/11/1882/01] mentions the collision of two freight trains "at Chewink turnout, Goshen." Chewink Rd. on the present day map is the most likely location of this stop at the intersection of what is now the Air Line Rail Trail.

Al Weaver sent us these photos. The one on the left shows the CLARKS CORNER, aka CHAPLIN, depot that was moved to the property of stationmaster Elmer Claslin Jewett, his home seen in the photo on the right. Jewett bought the depot from the railroad when CLARKS CORNER2 was built in 1901. This stop was first known as GOSHEN, then CHAPLIN [see listing above], for the town near whose border it sits. As shown on a 1928 employee timetable [SL28.2.12], the NYNH&H last called it CLARKS CORNER, the village name which alternated with the others throughout the station's existence. The attractive little structure is now owned by the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum [click here].

CLARKS CORNER2. The upper left image shows the the old and the new stations. The captioned dates reveal that the new combination depot was built in May, 1901 and that the old station was not yet moved in June. Stationmaster Jewett stands to the right. The lower items are the front and reverse sides of a post card to Irving Drake, of the Benton and Drake team that took photographs of railroad stations all over New England. The card is not postmarked. It says that the view is ca. 1916 but the station looks as if new in 1901. [REFS: CRC47.1899.30: calls stop CHAPLIN, CRC48.1900.21 calls it CLARKS CORNER; CC on SL28.2.12 1/23/1928ETT]

CLARKVILLE [HC/06/20/1903/13: Intnl Tobacco Co. wants new flg stp 3/4 mi ea v NO BLMFD; HC/11/04/1915/17: sta in use; d17 calls it CLARKSVILLE, >GRIFFINS 1915]	BLOOMFIELD	CNE	1903

CLAYTON [hpf9/18/1872tt; sl28.1.9 1889nyne tt; ram08]	NEW BRITAIN	HPF	1850

CLINTON1 [r41: later used for frt]	CLINTON	NHNL	1852

CLINTON1. The station image on the upper left is from the 1876 O.H. Bailey bird's-eye map of Clinton. Click here to access the full map. The item to the right is from the 1859MC map. John Roy says this depot was used as the freight house after CLINTON2 was built. The structure is still standing, though no longer in railroad service. Our photo, at left, was taken in the 1980s.

CLINTON2. The item at upper right is interesting to us because it is dated, although the month before '19, 1902' is not seen and because it also contains the informed comment that this station was of a pattern also used at some nearby locations. A look at LEETES ISLAND2, MADISON2, and FAIR HAVEN2 proves that this is true in this area ca. the 1890s and, as we know from examining many station photos, that this style structure was often built in other places as well. This station is apparently no longer standing [R41].

COLEBROOK1 [HDC/12/21/1871/02: not on opng sched ; HC/10/11/1899/08: ol sta blt b people, rr rplces now w C2]	WINCHESTER	CW	187180

COLEBROOK2 [d32: >LAWRENCE 1915]	WINCHESTER	PRNE	1899

COLLINSVILLE1 was of Italianate design by Henry Austin, built in 1850 for the NH&N terminus here. The map image seems to agree with the architect's rendering. The bay was added later and we note that the tower and spire which are still seen on the roof here are gone in most of the photographs, presumably taken after the 1878 date of this Bailey map. The photo on the lower right is the rear of the station. This was the last of the trio of Canal road stations that Austin designed. The others were PLAINVILLE1 at that terminus and, of course, the larger and more ornate Elm City 1848 Union Station, NEW HAVEN2 [see N stations]. The map shot here and the ones in the next two items are from the 1878 Collinsville map. Click here to access it from the LOC collection.

COLLINSVILLE2 was the CW station that opened late in 1871 to serve the town, but a half mile to the north. When the branch into town was completed, probably in 1874, this became COLLINSVILLE JCT, later to be called HIGH SREET JCT. The profile of this structure is similar to the Austin station in this town and may have been deliberately designed to match it. The photo to the left shows the junction looking north, the mainline on the left to follow the Farmington River up to Satan's Kingdom and Pine Meadow and the siding and line to Hartford on the right.

The shot from the 1878 Bailey map accurately shows the line dead-ending just beyond the COLLINSVILLE3 station. Track was only brought into town after public complaint about having to go a half mile north to take the train. Thereafter, a horse-drawn car, as seen on the map, brought people up to the junction from the the hotel that served as the first 'downtown' CW passenger station. The junction wye probably came early in 1874 [HDC/11/11/1873/04] and COLLINSVILLE3 is mentioned by the middle of the year [HDC/06/13/1874/04], but even then only freight was coming into town by steam railroad [HDC/05/20/1874/04]. The horse-car operation reportedly continued until the 1890s and we do not know exactly when the steam trains took over, as clumsy as the reverse-move arrangement was. We also note that the photo and the sketch of COLLINSVILLE2 do not agree, both in the roof line and in the direction the station faces. This makes us wonder if the one in the photographs came later as COLLINSVILLE4. The locomotive in the shot on the lower right was renumbered by the CNE as the 223 in 1907 [Fisher, SL128]. That gives us something of a starting date for the station that is seen in the all the photos, if it is determined that the one came before it.

COLLINSVILLE JCT [<COLLINSVILLE2: see]

COLUMBIA JUNCTION	WINDHAM	NYNHH	ren 1893

COLUMBIA JUNCTION was the new name for AIR LINE JUNCTION in 1893, when the NYNH&H upgraded the facilities here [HC/03/31/1893/06]. This was perhaps to distinguish it from AIR LINE JUNCTION [see A stations] at Cedar Hill in New Haven. The six-stall roundhouse and 60-ft Armstrong turntable were put in at this time. In this 3/18/1924 shot, the station may either be the passenger car or the building whose edge is seen to the right of the roundhouse.

CONNECTICUT RIVER2 [crc35.1887.17; rrc38.26 abd	OLD SAYBROOK	NYNHH	1887
5/6/07 w new Conn. River bridge]

CORNWALL BRIDGE1, as seen on the 1854LC map.

COS COB2. The 1913 map [add9/7] shows the location of the station on the north side of the tracks. We know from the picture below that COS COB3 was on the other side of the tracks but the map omits it. The Cos Cob power plant is marked by the circle to the right on the edge of the harbor.

COTTAGE GROVE [HDC/06/03/1873/02,04: frame t b put up today by CG Co. f new mfg ctr; on sl23.4 cne 1912tt]	BLOOMFIELD	CW	1873

COUCHS [sl17.4.25: mp 14+ btw BRNCHVLE and SANFRDS]	RIDGEFIELD	DN	18800

CRESCENT BEACH? [NHDP/03/17/1873/04: new depot t b erctd b SL at CB in Niantic, H Cruttenden land; pre-1888??]

CRESCENT BEACH1 [crc36.1888.19: new flag stop; shltr]	EAST LYME	NYNHH	1888

CRESCENT BEACH2 [hc/08/09/1892/03; hc07/23/1892/03 depot ops 8/6]	EAST LYME	NYNHH	1892

CRESCENT BEACH AND BLACK POINT [rplce CB,BP]	EAST LYME	NYNHH	19000

CROMWELL3. We think the old freight house was converted to a combination station. This image certainly looks like the building in the distance behind the photo of CROMWELL1. The railroad commissioners report the change here in 1890, making it sound like a new station was built 600 feet south of CROMWELL1 [RRC14.118 (5/20/1890)]. We need to check further on this.


				TylerCityStation.Info Track 16 - CT Passenger Stations



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