Track 12: CT Passenger Stations, W-WE
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Use link for CTTRAXMAP on Track 11 to locate stations, rail and trolley lines, and POIs.
Use link for CTTRAXMAP on Track 11 to locate stations, rail and trolley lines, and POIs.
WALDO [> SCOTLAND]
WALKLEY HILL [CV, 1871]
At a distance of 23 miles from Hartford, this was established as a flag stop in 1871 between HADDAM and HIGGANUM. Down the hill from the home of the first CV president, James C. Walkley, and thought by some to be his private station, it was used by the public as well, at times heavily. The station agent also handled steamboat dockings at Rock Landing on the east side of the Connecticut River and sold tickets there to passengers wishing to board at WALKLEY HILL. An October, 1872 newspaper article said agent George E. Russell had sold 407 tickets since June 8. Reportedly, these riders had to provide their own passage across the river! This depot had the only locomotive water column between Middletown and Old Saybrook. The WALKLEY HILL station burned in 1887 [MM] and no photos have been found yet. [REFS:; HDC/10/26/1872/04; DC/10/23/1872; HDC/04/23/1873/02; RRC8.438 (1874)][picadd,rev050113]
At a distance of 23 miles from Hartford, this was established as a flag stop in 1871 between HADDAM and HIGGANUM. Down the hill from the home of the first CV president, James C. Walkley, and thought by some to be his private station, it was used by the public as well, at times heavily. The station agent also handled steamboat dockings at Rock Landing on the east side of the Connecticut River and sold tickets there to passengers wishing to board at WALKLEY HILL. An October, 1872 newspaper article said agent George E. Russell had sold 407 tickets since June 8. Reportedly, these riders had to provide their own passage across the river! This depot had the only locomotive water column between Middletown and Old Saybrook. The WALKLEY HILL station burned in 1887 [MM] and no photos have been found yet. [REFS:; HDC/10/26/1872/04; DC/10/23/1872; HDC/04/23/1873/02; RRC8.438 (1874)][picadd,rev050113]
WALLINGFORD/H1 [H&NH, 1838]
According to Dave Peters, the residence seen on the left served as the first station in town along the single-tracked H&NH. This is an 1852 inset added to the Bailey bird's-eye map of 1905 [click here]. The scene looks east, with the churches on Main St. in the distance. [REFS: R1.349]
According to Dave Peters, the residence seen on the left served as the first station in town along the single-tracked H&NH. This is an 1852 inset added to the Bailey bird's-eye map of 1905 [click here]. The scene looks east, with the churches on Main St. in the distance. [REFS: R1.349]
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WALLINGFORD/H2 [H&NH, 1848]
Piecing together the evidence, we are listing a new depot at this location. The image at left is from the Bailey bird's-eye map of 1881 [click here] and our arrow points to the building opposite the Wallingford Wheel Co. where the newspaper said the station stood in 1870. What relationship other than the almost exact location, this structure bore to the previous station is unclear, but the snippet at right from the 1848 annual report says that real estate was purchased and a station was built in that year. Additional testimony comes from R&LHS notes that say a Springfield contractor by the name of Smith made an 4/3/1848 offer to construct a depot at Wallingford for $1,805, as well as a station at Berlin for $1760, or $3550 for both. We are inclined to think that this house-like building and possibly the adjacent switch shed was Smith's work, though it looks nothing like BERLIN2. Assuming we are correct, this is the depot that would serve until the next one was built in 1871. There were calls for a new station already by 1870 when a rather mysterious robbery occurred. The Register remarked that "... if the thief had taken the rickety old depot on his back and walked off, the people would have rejoiced over the event, but to creep through a window and steal about $50 of the company's money, is another matter..." The "stout looking man, poorly clad" was reportedly spied in the vicinity and seen later in Yalesville where he "took the cars for the north." One late improvement that was noted here was the installation of Hall's electric signals wherein "the bell rings promptly when the approaching train is within a half a mile of the station." [REFS: HNHAR13.1848.14; CR/05/28/1870/02; CR/10/08/1870/02; CR/09/24/1870/04; CR/10/08/1870/02; HDC/10/20/1870/04; CR/11/05/1870/02; B621][rev042013]
Piecing together the evidence, we are listing a new depot at this location. The image at left is from the Bailey bird's-eye map of 1881 [click here] and our arrow points to the building opposite the Wallingford Wheel Co. where the newspaper said the station stood in 1870. What relationship other than the almost exact location, this structure bore to the previous station is unclear, but the snippet at right from the 1848 annual report says that real estate was purchased and a station was built in that year. Additional testimony comes from R&LHS notes that say a Springfield contractor by the name of Smith made an 4/3/1848 offer to construct a depot at Wallingford for $1,805, as well as a station at Berlin for $1760, or $3550 for both. We are inclined to think that this house-like building and possibly the adjacent switch shed was Smith's work, though it looks nothing like BERLIN2. Assuming we are correct, this is the depot that would serve until the next one was built in 1871. There were calls for a new station already by 1870 when a rather mysterious robbery occurred. The Register remarked that "... if the thief had taken the rickety old depot on his back and walked off, the people would have rejoiced over the event, but to creep through a window and steal about $50 of the company's money, is another matter..." The "stout looking man, poorly clad" was reportedly spied in the vicinity and seen later in Yalesville where he "took the cars for the north." One late improvement that was noted here was the installation of Hall's electric signals wherein "the bell rings promptly when the approaching train is within a half a mile of the station." [REFS: HNHAR13.1848.14; CR/05/28/1870/02; CR/10/08/1870/02; CR/09/24/1870/04; CR/10/08/1870/02; HDC/10/20/1870/04; CR/11/05/1870/02; B621][rev042013]
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WALLINGFORD/H3 [H&NH, 1871]
A newspaper article indicates that activity commenced in February, 1871 on this long-awaited station when it reported that "Superintendant Reed has staked off the ground for a new depot at Wallingford" and later in the month: "A special train with a corps of laborers arrived... and the men were soon at work excavating for the foundation of the new depot. The work was commenced with the characteristic precision of every movement in connection with the road. The picks, bars, and wedges soon made their way through some twenty inches of frozen ground, and before night enough ground was removed to show that the work was commenced in earnest." Mr. C.A. Dickerman of New Haven got the contract for the depot buildings and by August it was "under cover." The "large and handsome structure, built of brick, and arranged in a tasty and convenient manner" opened to the public on 11/4/1871. The image at left is also from the bird's-eye map of 1881 [click here] and highlights the striking image of this station and the matching freight house that was built shortly afterward across the tracks. Saved through the valiant and persistent efforts of Dave Peters, it was renovated and restored to its original grandeur and still serves the community today. It received an NRHP designation in 1993. [REFS: HDC/11/30/1870/02; NA/02/08/1871/03; CR/02/11/1871/02; CR/02/25/1871/02; HDC/03/07/1871/02; CR/04/29/1871/02; BDA/08/09/1871/04; HDC/11/07/1871/04; R101][rev042013]
A newspaper article indicates that activity commenced in February, 1871 on this long-awaited station when it reported that "Superintendant Reed has staked off the ground for a new depot at Wallingford" and later in the month: "A special train with a corps of laborers arrived... and the men were soon at work excavating for the foundation of the new depot. The work was commenced with the characteristic precision of every movement in connection with the road. The picks, bars, and wedges soon made their way through some twenty inches of frozen ground, and before night enough ground was removed to show that the work was commenced in earnest." Mr. C.A. Dickerman of New Haven got the contract for the depot buildings and by August it was "under cover." The "large and handsome structure, built of brick, and arranged in a tasty and convenient manner" opened to the public on 11/4/1871. The image at left is also from the bird's-eye map of 1881 [click here] and highlights the striking image of this station and the matching freight house that was built shortly afterward across the tracks. Saved through the valiant and persistent efforts of Dave Peters, it was renovated and restored to its original grandeur and still serves the community today. It received an NRHP designation in 1993. [REFS: HDC/11/30/1870/02; NA/02/08/1871/03; CR/02/11/1871/02; CR/02/25/1871/02; HDC/03/07/1871/02; CR/04/29/1871/02; BDA/08/09/1871/04; HDC/11/07/1871/04; R101][rev042013]
WALLINGFORD/E1 [> EAST WALLINGFORD1]
WALLINGFORD/E2 [> EAST WALLINGFORD2]
WAPPING [> SOUTH WINDSOR]
WAPPING [> SOUTH WINDSOR]
WAREHOUSE POINT1 [H&NH, c1850]
We do not yet know if this was an original stop when the line to Springfield was opened in 1844. A New Haven, Hartford and Springfield RR 10/1/1845TT shows no station between WINDSOR LOCKS and THOMPSONVILLE, but an 1851TT does show it, and the location is seen on this 1855HC map. We have no photo of the first depot that sat, like its successor, on the east side of the tracks on the curve coming off the bridge over the Connecticut River. Rail from the north was laid to this point in September, 1844. While at least one article suggests that the bridge may not have been finished until late in 1846, the H&NH annual reports say that it was there for the opening of the Springfield extension on 12/9/1844. Apparently one of the seven spans, probably the center, of the wooden bridge was a draw, mandated by the legislature. The 1845 annual report says that this stipulation, "for which no use has yet been discovered"(!) was one reason the construction cost of the line exceeded estimates. Interestingly, this station is named for the community to the south in the town of East Windsor, but this stop, well north of the border, was in the town of Enfield. Warehouse Point as a shipping locale dates back to Colonial times since navigation above the adjacent Enfield Falls was only possible with the building of the west-bank canal for which Windsor Locks was named. A canal on the east side of the river was also considered, even after the railroad opened and dominated freight traffic here, but never came to fruition. [REFS: MC/09/11/1844/02; HNHAR10.1845.4; MC/11/25/1846/02][rev120212][rev042013]
We do not yet know if this was an original stop when the line to Springfield was opened in 1844. A New Haven, Hartford and Springfield RR 10/1/1845TT shows no station between WINDSOR LOCKS and THOMPSONVILLE, but an 1851TT does show it, and the location is seen on this 1855HC map. We have no photo of the first depot that sat, like its successor, on the east side of the tracks on the curve coming off the bridge over the Connecticut River. Rail from the north was laid to this point in September, 1844. While at least one article suggests that the bridge may not have been finished until late in 1846, the H&NH annual reports say that it was there for the opening of the Springfield extension on 12/9/1844. Apparently one of the seven spans, probably the center, of the wooden bridge was a draw, mandated by the legislature. The 1845 annual report says that this stipulation, "for which no use has yet been discovered"(!) was one reason the construction cost of the line exceeded estimates. Interestingly, this station is named for the community to the south in the town of East Windsor, but this stop, well north of the border, was in the town of Enfield. Warehouse Point as a shipping locale dates back to Colonial times since navigation above the adjacent Enfield Falls was only possible with the building of the west-bank canal for which Windsor Locks was named. A canal on the east side of the river was also considered, even after the railroad opened and dominated freight traffic here, but never came to fruition. [REFS: MC/09/11/1844/02; HNHAR10.1845.4; MC/11/25/1846/02][rev120212][rev042013]
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Richard A. Fleischer Collection
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WAREHOUSE POINT2 [H&NH, 1870]
An article in the Courant says that "On Friday Charlie lord (sic) of Windsor Locks, while at work upon the new depot in Warehouse point (sic), lost his footing and slid from the ridge to the caves, a distance of twenty feet, and then fell to the ground, some 30 feet. He got up, lighted his pipe, and took a smoke in commemoration of the event. No bones were broken, but he thinks he would have preferred coming down the ladder, and will try to do so the next time." We are happy that Charlie emerged unscathed from this tumble, the report of which is the only reference in any source yet found to when this this stately brick structure was erected. This information contradicts the claim in Michael C. DeVito's photo caption that says this depot was built in 1872. This same source says that the station was heavily damaged in the 1938 hurricane and taken down the next year, a date that, though plausible, is still unverified. The val photo at lower left is dated 8/11/1916. [REFS: HDC/11/09/1869/02; DeVito, Diary of a trolley road, p14; R102][rev042013]
An article in the Courant says that "On Friday Charlie lord (sic) of Windsor Locks, while at work upon the new depot in Warehouse point (sic), lost his footing and slid from the ridge to the caves, a distance of twenty feet, and then fell to the ground, some 30 feet. He got up, lighted his pipe, and took a smoke in commemoration of the event. No bones were broken, but he thinks he would have preferred coming down the ladder, and will try to do so the next time." We are happy that Charlie emerged unscathed from this tumble, the report of which is the only reference in any source yet found to when this this stately brick structure was erected. This information contradicts the claim in Michael C. DeVito's photo caption that says this depot was built in 1872. This same source says that the station was heavily damaged in the 1938 hurricane and taken down the next year, a date that, though plausible, is still unverified. The val photo at lower left is dated 8/11/1916. [REFS: HDC/11/09/1869/02; DeVito, Diary of a trolley road, p14; R102][rev042013]
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WASHINGTON1 [SRR, 1872]
The stereo image at left (and its close-up at middle), taken by the nearby Bennett firm of New Milford, is of the first station here. The photo at right, though grainy, also shows this elaborate structure that handled passenger and freight service and perhaps other commercial activity as well. This one-and-a-half-story depot burned on 4/9/1895, fire having spread from the Watts Bros. general store that was struck by lightning. Both buildings were totally destroyed but valuables were rescued from the depot before the flames consumed it. [REFS: NHER/04/10/1895/01; D154; R102]
The stereo image at left (and its close-up at middle), taken by the nearby Bennett firm of New Milford, is of the first station here. The photo at right, though grainy, also shows this elaborate structure that handled passenger and freight service and perhaps other commercial activity as well. This one-and-a-half-story depot burned on 4/9/1895, fire having spread from the Watts Bros. general store that was struck by lightning. Both buildings were totally destroyed but valuables were rescued from the depot before the flames consumed it. [REFS: NHER/04/10/1895/01; D154; R102]
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WASHINGTON2 [NYNH&H, 1895]
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Max Miller Collection
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ICC Collection/National Archives
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WASHINING [CW, 1872; opened as FOLEYS]
This was the first CW stop west of CANAAN, about a mile east of the TWIN LAKES station. This probably began as a flag stop named FOLEYS, seen on a 4/2/1872ETT and not thereafter through 1907, though we find it in the GHDs in the intervening years. In 1909, the Courant said that a BLAKES SUMMIT flag stop had been established here and a side track put in for the convenience of Twin Lakes campers on the south and east shores of the upper lake. Even then it does not show up on a CNE 6/5/1910TT but it does appear as BLAKE'S SUMMIT on a 1914TT. By 1916, presumably pursuant to the ICC's 1915 order to rename stations for safety reasons, the stop would become WASHINING, the name of the upper lake. Interestingly, the 'twin lakes' are not physical twins at all, but were named in Native American lore for the Mahican twin maidens, Washinee and Washining. The photo at left presumably shows the structure that the Courant reported was built in 1909 with BLAKE SUMMIT on the signboard. The PUC inspection photo is dated 10/19/1927. Assuming the signboard reads WASHINING, we have a rare occurrence of images showing the same structure with two different station names. The val map at right shows the layout of the crossing in 1916, with the station sitting in the northeast quadrant. We find this stop listed on timetables in the late 1920s and perhaps still used seasonally, but usually with not even an 'f' for a flag stop. [REFS: HC/06/26/09/15; 1882, 1890, 1900, 1903, 1907TTs: no; HC/09/09/1909/11; D42+][rev042013]
This was the first CW stop west of CANAAN, about a mile east of the TWIN LAKES station. This probably began as a flag stop named FOLEYS, seen on a 4/2/1872ETT and not thereafter through 1907, though we find it in the GHDs in the intervening years. In 1909, the Courant said that a BLAKES SUMMIT flag stop had been established here and a side track put in for the convenience of Twin Lakes campers on the south and east shores of the upper lake. Even then it does not show up on a CNE 6/5/1910TT but it does appear as BLAKE'S SUMMIT on a 1914TT. By 1916, presumably pursuant to the ICC's 1915 order to rename stations for safety reasons, the stop would become WASHINING, the name of the upper lake. Interestingly, the 'twin lakes' are not physical twins at all, but were named in Native American lore for the Mahican twin maidens, Washinee and Washining. The photo at left presumably shows the structure that the Courant reported was built in 1909 with BLAKE SUMMIT on the signboard. The PUC inspection photo is dated 10/19/1927. Assuming the signboard reads WASHINING, we have a rare occurrence of images showing the same structure with two different station names. The val map at right shows the layout of the crossing in 1916, with the station sitting in the northeast quadrant. We find this stop listed on timetables in the late 1920s and perhaps still used seasonally, but usually with not even an 'f' for a flag stop. [REFS: HC/06/26/09/15; 1882, 1890, 1900, 1903, 1907TTs: no; HC/09/09/1909/11; D42+][rev042013]
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WATERBURY1 [NRR, 1849]
This was "a meager affair" that was built after the station had been in a hotel by the tracks for a period of time. The 1852NH map [left] does not identify the depot at the foot of Bank St. yet but the 1856NH map [OHS] at right shows it, with Bank St. now extended past the track. That would agree with Pape's History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley [1:95] which puts the date for the building of this first station at 1857. More research needs to be done to clarify this. The HP&F opened in 1855 to a junction with the NRR just above the Bank St. station. With no other depot seen, the two roads probably shared Bank St. until the HP&F built WATERBURY2. [REFS: WA/01/03/1908/03]
This was "a meager affair" that was built after the station had been in a hotel by the tracks for a period of time. The 1852NH map [left] does not identify the depot at the foot of Bank St. yet but the 1856NH map [OHS] at right shows it, with Bank St. now extended past the track. That would agree with Pape's History of Waterbury and the Naugatuck Valley [1:95] which puts the date for the building of this first station at 1857. More research needs to be done to clarify this. The HP&F opened in 1855 to a junction with the NRR just above the Bank St. station. With no other depot seen, the two roads probably shared Bank St. until the HP&F built WATERBURY2. [REFS: WA/01/03/1908/03]
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WATERBURY2 [HP&F, c1860?]
We do not know exactly when this HP&F station was built, but it likely came too late to be on the 1856NH map shown in the previous listing. The important photo at left shows WATERBURY2 standing alone at this location, verifying the fact that it was the earlier part of the composite structure seen below as WATERBURY4. Our red arrow points to it in the shot from the 1876 Bailey bird's-eye map at right. This depot was sometimes said to have been on West Main St. but it actually sat at the nearby intersection of Meadow St. and the lower end of Willow St. The train in the map shot is on the NRR track and has just departed the WATERBURY3 station on Bank St. [blue arrow] and is headed for points north. [rev042013]
We do not know exactly when this HP&F station was built, but it likely came too late to be on the 1856NH map shown in the previous listing. The important photo at left shows WATERBURY2 standing alone at this location, verifying the fact that it was the earlier part of the composite structure seen below as WATERBURY4. Our red arrow points to it in the shot from the 1876 Bailey bird's-eye map at right. This depot was sometimes said to have been on West Main St. but it actually sat at the nearby intersection of Meadow St. and the lower end of Willow St. The train in the map shot is on the NRR track and has just departed the WATERBURY3 station on Bank St. [blue arrow] and is headed for points north. [rev042013]
WATERBURY3 [NRR, 1868]
The newspaper reported in mid-1867 that the NRR had purchased the Adams Hotel with the intention of building a depot there on the land. Ground was broken on 6/8/1867 and the station was occupied for the first time on 1/23/1868. The Courant reported that the "handsome and substantial-looking structure" was built of Croton brick with granite trimmings, was 118 feet long, two stories tall and surmounted by a tower in the front. It had sitting rooms "fitted up in an elegant manner, being wainscotted with solid oak, trimmed with black walnut, and furnished with neat and comfortable chairs arranged around the sides, the seats composed of slats of oak and black walnut." The paper went on to say that, though owned by the NRR, the depot would be used "conjointly" with the HP&F. How this sharing worked or why it was necessary is not clear, since the HP&F had its own station, unless some shuttle service ran between the two depots. Forty-odd years later, that 'ancient and honorable' among Waterbury buildings, the old passenger station on Bank Street" would have outlived its usefulness and demolition would begin on 7/18/1910 after WATERBURY7 opened. The land here was purchased by the Waterbury Farrel Foundry and Machine Co. for expansion of its manufacturing facilities, some of which buildings remain even today at Liberty and Bank Sts. [REFS: CH/05/04/1867/02; CH/06/08/1867/03; HDC/01/07/1868/02; HDC/01/24/1868/02; WA/01/03/1908/03; HC/02/21/1908/07; CRC56.1908.36; WA/07/22/1910/03]
The newspaper reported in mid-1867 that the NRR had purchased the Adams Hotel with the intention of building a depot there on the land. Ground was broken on 6/8/1867 and the station was occupied for the first time on 1/23/1868. The Courant reported that the "handsome and substantial-looking structure" was built of Croton brick with granite trimmings, was 118 feet long, two stories tall and surmounted by a tower in the front. It had sitting rooms "fitted up in an elegant manner, being wainscotted with solid oak, trimmed with black walnut, and furnished with neat and comfortable chairs arranged around the sides, the seats composed of slats of oak and black walnut." The paper went on to say that, though owned by the NRR, the depot would be used "conjointly" with the HP&F. How this sharing worked or why it was necessary is not clear, since the HP&F had its own station, unless some shuttle service ran between the two depots. Forty-odd years later, that 'ancient and honorable' among Waterbury buildings, the old passenger station on Bank Street" would have outlived its usefulness and demolition would begin on 7/18/1910 after WATERBURY7 opened. The land here was purchased by the Waterbury Farrel Foundry and Machine Co. for expansion of its manufacturing facilities, some of which buildings remain even today at Liberty and Bank Sts. [REFS: CH/05/04/1867/02; CH/06/08/1867/03; HDC/01/07/1868/02; HDC/01/24/1868/02; WA/01/03/1908/03; HC/02/21/1908/07; CRC56.1908.36; WA/07/22/1910/03]
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Copyright Howard's Hobby
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WATERBURY4 [NY&NE, 1880]
The photo at left shows a tripartite structure. We think the wing to the left was the station that the NY&NE built in 1880 and joined by means of the center portion with WATERBURY2, to combine to make what we are calling WATERBURY4. The connecting element, as seen in another photo, has the word 'Restaurant' over the entrance. The additions likely enabled the railroad to separate the passenger operations from the baggage and freight, as well to serve meals to hungry travelers. The NY&NE was on the verge of historic success in the completion of the road westward to the Hudson River in 1881, after 25 years of attempts by the HP&F and BH&E had fallen short. MW&CR trains would also use this station from April 5, 1889 until August, 1890, when they resumed terminating at Dublin St. In the photo at right, a train is about to cross the NRR diamond to head toward Danbury and, in the center shot, the consist is going to Hartford past the station whose distinctive turret is seen in all the photos. This Meadow St. depot would close on 3/29/1908, along with WATERBURY3 and all operations would move to WATERBURY6. [REFS: NHER/10/04/1880/04; B16; S15][lowleft add050413]
The photo at left shows a tripartite structure. We think the wing to the left was the station that the NY&NE built in 1880 and joined by means of the center portion with WATERBURY2, to combine to make what we are calling WATERBURY4. The connecting element, as seen in another photo, has the word 'Restaurant' over the entrance. The additions likely enabled the railroad to separate the passenger operations from the baggage and freight, as well to serve meals to hungry travelers. The NY&NE was on the verge of historic success in the completion of the road westward to the Hudson River in 1881, after 25 years of attempts by the HP&F and BH&E had fallen short. MW&CR trains would also use this station from April 5, 1889 until August, 1890, when they resumed terminating at Dublin St. In the photo at right, a train is about to cross the NRR diamond to head toward Danbury and, in the center shot, the consist is going to Hartford past the station whose distinctive turret is seen in all the photos. This Meadow St. depot would close on 3/29/1908, along with WATERBURY3 and all operations would move to WATERBURY6. [REFS: NHER/10/04/1880/04; B16; S15][lowleft add050413]
Phil Wooding/C.B. McCoid Collection
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Phil Wooding/C.B. McCoid Collection
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WATERBURY5 [M&W, 1888]
The Dublin St. station was the original terminus of the line in the Brass City. In 1889, track was extended to Meadow St. so that the then-MW&CR could reach the NY&NE's WATERBURY4 station after a lease agreement was inked. The connection was made largely by means of an expansive, circular trestle loop over Waterbury city streets, the Naugatuck River, and the NRR. The bottom photo from the 1980s looks north toward Washington Ave., the loop having been completely rebuilt after the 1955 floods to continue to serve the Scovill Mfg. Co. which was adjacent to the Dublin St. station. The photo at upper left is the only view we have seen of the passenger end of this station, with dormers on the hip-roofed head house facing Dublin St. The one at upper middle is a snippet from the Landis and Hughes 1899 panoramic map showing a pastoral, pre-industrial setting. The shot at upper right is from the Scovill newsletter and, not surprisingly, implies that the depot was serving as the company 'grocery store' ca. 1920. The photos at lower left and middle date to the 1920s and 1930s and no longer show the head house, which may have been removed when passenger service ended under the NYNH&H in 1917. This station survived a 4/17/1929 fire and, according to Snow, continued to receive LCL freight until July, 1950. At lower right is an aerial shot from the 1950 with the station at the red arrow surrounded by the massive factory complex. Dublin St. would become Hamilton Ave. ca. 1909, possibly through the efforts of the Hamilton Avenue Improvement Association to upgrade that part of the city and broaden the ethnic identity of the area. Though Scovill is still in business today [click here], the factory complex was abandoned and buildings on the 90-acre site were demolished in 1996 after being vacant for 20 years. From the ashes rose the Brass Mill Center Mall in 1997 with the Sears front parking lot marking where WATERBURY5 once stood. [REFS: HC/08/06/1910/13; NL20.6.3; S27][rev042013]
The Dublin St. station was the original terminus of the line in the Brass City. In 1889, track was extended to Meadow St. so that the then-MW&CR could reach the NY&NE's WATERBURY4 station after a lease agreement was inked. The connection was made largely by means of an expansive, circular trestle loop over Waterbury city streets, the Naugatuck River, and the NRR. The bottom photo from the 1980s looks north toward Washington Ave., the loop having been completely rebuilt after the 1955 floods to continue to serve the Scovill Mfg. Co. which was adjacent to the Dublin St. station. The photo at upper left is the only view we have seen of the passenger end of this station, with dormers on the hip-roofed head house facing Dublin St. The one at upper middle is a snippet from the Landis and Hughes 1899 panoramic map showing a pastoral, pre-industrial setting. The shot at upper right is from the Scovill newsletter and, not surprisingly, implies that the depot was serving as the company 'grocery store' ca. 1920. The photos at lower left and middle date to the 1920s and 1930s and no longer show the head house, which may have been removed when passenger service ended under the NYNH&H in 1917. This station survived a 4/17/1929 fire and, according to Snow, continued to receive LCL freight until July, 1950. At lower right is an aerial shot from the 1950 with the station at the red arrow surrounded by the massive factory complex. Dublin St. would become Hamilton Ave. ca. 1909, possibly through the efforts of the Hamilton Avenue Improvement Association to upgrade that part of the city and broaden the ethnic identity of the area. Though Scovill is still in business today [click here], the factory complex was abandoned and buildings on the 90-acre site were demolished in 1996 after being vacant for 20 years. From the ashes rose the Brass Mill Center Mall in 1997 with the Sears front parking lot marking where WATERBURY5 once stood. [REFS: HC/08/06/1910/13; NL20.6.3; S27][rev042013]
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WATERBURY6 [NYNH&H, 1908]
Its location shown at the yellow arrow, this temporary wooden structure was first authorized by the railroad commissioners in 1893 to be used when the other two downtown stations were closed and demolished. The new Union Station finally opened in 1909, after 15 years in the planning. The map from the 1891 Waterbury city directory shows the location of all Waterbury's railroad stations. Starting from the lower right, there is WATERBURY5 [green arrow], the 1888 MW&CR station on Dublin St., WATERBURY3, the NRR Bank St. station [red arrow] is shown opposite the site of WATERBURY1, "the meager affair" built by the NRR in 1849 [click here]. WATERBURY2/4, the HPF/NY&NE composite station [blue arrow] is seen on Meadow St., standing exactly where WATERBURY7, the 1909 Union Station, would be built. [rev042013]
Its location shown at the yellow arrow, this temporary wooden structure was first authorized by the railroad commissioners in 1893 to be used when the other two downtown stations were closed and demolished. The new Union Station finally opened in 1909, after 15 years in the planning. The map from the 1891 Waterbury city directory shows the location of all Waterbury's railroad stations. Starting from the lower right, there is WATERBURY5 [green arrow], the 1888 MW&CR station on Dublin St., WATERBURY3, the NRR Bank St. station [red arrow] is shown opposite the site of WATERBURY1, "the meager affair" built by the NRR in 1849 [click here]. WATERBURY2/4, the HPF/NY&NE composite station [blue arrow] is seen on Meadow St., standing exactly where WATERBURY7, the 1909 Union Station, would be built. [rev042013]
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WATERBURY7 [NYNH&H, 1909]
This station, the associated track improvements, grade crossing eliminations, and yard and signal towers were in the planning stages from 1894 until the station finally opened on July 11, 1909. The new Union Station was built immediately adjacent and just south of the site of the old NY&NE station, our WATERBURY4. Designed by the distinguished McKim, Meade and White architectural firm, the station was later purchased by the Republican-American newspaper and is still owned by them. The station was honored with an NRHP designation in 1978. Its 240-ft clock tower is modeled after the Torre del Mangia at city hall in Sienna, Italy. [REFS: HC/11/14/1894/05; NHAR37.1908.8; WA/07/13/1909/07; R103+]
This station, the associated track improvements, grade crossing eliminations, and yard and signal towers were in the planning stages from 1894 until the station finally opened on July 11, 1909. The new Union Station was built immediately adjacent and just south of the site of the old NY&NE station, our WATERBURY4. Designed by the distinguished McKim, Meade and White architectural firm, the station was later purchased by the Republican-American newspaper and is still owned by them. The station was honored with an NRHP designation in 1978. Its 240-ft clock tower is modeled after the Torre del Mangia at city hall in Sienna, Italy. [REFS: HC/11/14/1894/05; NHAR37.1908.8; WA/07/13/1909/07; R103+]
WATERBURY8
Small Metro-North shelter south of WATERBURY7
WATERFORD/N1 [NH&NL, 1852]
Located on Great Neck Rd: IHW95
WATERFORD/N2 [NYNH&H, 1873]
[REFS: CRC21.1874.19]
Small Metro-North shelter south of WATERBURY7
WATERFORD/N1 [NH&NL, 1852]
Located on Great Neck Rd: IHW95
WATERFORD/N2 [NYNH&H, 1873]
[REFS: CRC21.1874.19]
Edward J. Ozog Collection
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WATERFORD/N3 [NYNH&H, 1895]
This station was built in 1895 by the NYNH&H. Is there anything better than a good depot shot with some great locomotives as a bonus? Such is the case with the lower right photo. Someone better versed than we are perhaps can better describe what is going on but it looks like the train on the eastbound track has priority over the one "in the hole." Tower 110, just behind the photographer, is undoubtedly monitoring these movements. The two crew members standing on the front of the latter engine look eerily like figureheads on the sailing ships of old.
This station was built in 1895 by the NYNH&H. Is there anything better than a good depot shot with some great locomotives as a bonus? Such is the case with the lower right photo. Someone better versed than we are perhaps can better describe what is going on but it looks like the train on the eastbound track has priority over the one "in the hole." Tower 110, just behind the photographer, is undoubtedly monitoring these movements. The two crew members standing on the front of the latter engine look eerily like figureheads on the sailing ships of old.
WATERFORD/C1 [CVT, c1880?]
The earliest timetables of the original NLW&P show no station in this town. A helpful article in 1883 says that the WATERFORD station, the nearest to New London at the time, was four miles away, which puts it at Smiths Cove on today's Richards Grove Rd. The Illustrated History of Waterford [p94] says the early depot here, presumably the first, was about 8-feet square and "hard to find in a winter snowstorm by the trainmen." It burned in 1894 according to information the book gives from the New London Day without citation. [REFS: NHER/09/13/1883/01]
The earliest timetables of the original NLW&P show no station in this town. A helpful article in 1883 says that the WATERFORD station, the nearest to New London at the time, was four miles away, which puts it at Smiths Cove on today's Richards Grove Rd. The Illustrated History of Waterford [p94] says the early depot here, presumably the first, was about 8-feet square and "hard to find in a winter snowstorm by the trainmen." It burned in 1894 according to information the book gives from the New London Day without citation. [REFS: NHER/09/13/1883/01]
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Tim Satterlee photo
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WATERFORD/C2 [CVT, c1895]
Based on the 1894 burn date of the earlier station, we have put the replacement at 1895. The photo at upper left has been thought by some to be BARTLETTS, but the similarity of the view at upper middle makes us think that this structure actually stood at the end of Richards Grove Rd. Officially WATERFORD, this stop may also have been known locally as QUAKER HILL and also as RICHARDS GROVE. On the 1893 topo map at upper right, the red arrow points to where this station was, the green arrow to the grove location, and the blue arrow to the Quaker Hill district. At lower left, picnickers are seen enjoying the grove grounds in a photo from Robert Bachman's History of Waterford. This view from the south shore of Smiths Cove extends all the eastward to the CVT causeway in the extreme right. The grove was also served by an interurban line, as shown on the 1914 Shore Line Electric Rwy map at lower middle. Bachman says that the shore leave boat from the Groton naval base across the Thames used to bring sailors to the Quaker Hill trolley station to catch cars to points north and south. Trolley service was converted to bus on 3/18/1934. This station has been replaced by what looks like a pavilion in the 1934 aerial shot at lower right. We think CVT passenger service moved northward across the cove to SCOTCH CAP, which supplanted the older stop on later timetables. [rev042013]
Based on the 1894 burn date of the earlier station, we have put the replacement at 1895. The photo at upper left has been thought by some to be BARTLETTS, but the similarity of the view at upper middle makes us think that this structure actually stood at the end of Richards Grove Rd. Officially WATERFORD, this stop may also have been known locally as QUAKER HILL and also as RICHARDS GROVE. On the 1893 topo map at upper right, the red arrow points to where this station was, the green arrow to the grove location, and the blue arrow to the Quaker Hill district. At lower left, picnickers are seen enjoying the grove grounds in a photo from Robert Bachman's History of Waterford. This view from the south shore of Smiths Cove extends all the eastward to the CVT causeway in the extreme right. The grove was also served by an interurban line, as shown on the 1914 Shore Line Electric Rwy map at lower middle. Bachman says that the shore leave boat from the Groton naval base across the Thames used to bring sailors to the Quaker Hill trolley station to catch cars to points north and south. Trolley service was converted to bus on 3/18/1934. This station has been replaced by what looks like a pavilion in the 1934 aerial shot at lower right. We think CVT passenger service moved northward across the cove to SCOTCH CAP, which supplanted the older stop on later timetables. [rev042013]
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WATERTOWN [W&W, 1870]
The original station is shown in the photo at upper left. The addition that more than doubled it in size is marked by different roof shingles and the second chimney in the photo at right. The bird's-eye image at middle is from the Bailey map of 1918 and shows the station at the center of the bustling activity on Depot St., always one of our favorite places in any town! [REFS: CRC56.1908.49; D102+]
The original station is shown in the photo at upper left. The addition that more than doubled it in size is marked by different roof shingles and the second chimney in the photo at right. The bird's-eye image at middle is from the Bailey map of 1918 and shows the station at the center of the bustling activity on Depot St., always one of our favorite places in any town! [REFS: CRC56.1908.49; D102+]
Dave Peters Collection
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WATERVILLE1 [NRR, 1849]
The 1893 map [middle] illustrates the close proximity of the two stations here, with the 1849 NRR station west of the HP&F's 1855 depot. As seen on the other map, this depot sat at the foot of Chapel St. on the east side of the track. The view in the 8/23/1916 val photo, thus, looks south toward Waterbury.
The 1893 map [middle] illustrates the close proximity of the two stations here, with the 1849 NRR station west of the HP&F's 1855 depot. As seen on the other map, this depot sat at the foot of Chapel St. on the east side of the track. The view in the 8/23/1916 val photo, thus, looks south toward Waterbury.
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Mattatuck Museum
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WATERVILLE2 [HP&F, 1855]
The val photo at upper left was taken on 8/22/1916 and the val map [add050413] at middle shows the layout of this station area. The shot at upper right reportedly dates to the 1950s and that would make the building 100 years old if it were original to the HP&F, which is probably not likely. The structure looks like it has seen better days and changes have taken place with the removal of the chimney and the added door. The image at lower left [add050413] shows the rear of the structure and what appears to be a ramp to get freight shipments down to street level. The red arrow on the present day map at lower right shows the location of the NRR depot at the red arrow and the blue arrow points to the location of WATERVILLE2, which would be renamed EAST WATERVILLE some time between our rev7/8/1907 and rev6/12/1910TTs. [rev050413]
The val photo at upper left was taken on 8/22/1916 and the val map [add050413] at middle shows the layout of this station area. The shot at upper right reportedly dates to the 1950s and that would make the building 100 years old if it were original to the HP&F, which is probably not likely. The structure looks like it has seen better days and changes have taken place with the removal of the chimney and the added door. The image at lower left [add050413] shows the rear of the structure and what appears to be a ramp to get freight shipments down to street level. The red arrow on the present day map at lower right shows the location of the NRR depot at the red arrow and the blue arrow points to the location of WATERVILLE2, which would be renamed EAST WATERVILLE some time between our rev7/8/1907 and rev6/12/1910TTs. [rev050413]
WAUREGAN1 [N&W, 1859]
The first station here was not established until 1859. The Wauregan Manufacturing Co. was chartered in 1853 and its owner, James S. Atwood, [click here] "took great pride in the village which he saw, under the fostering care and ownership of the company, develop into one of the model hamlets of the vicinity." Residences for employees, a dairy farm, electric light company, general store, post office were constructed over time, as well as a building that contained a firehouse and jail, with a reading room and library on the upper floor. An article we chanced upon says that WAUREGAN1, on the "Newport(!) and Worcester road" burned in July, 1882 and "all the books, papers, tickets, etc., were destroyed." [REFS: HDC/06/24/1853/02; 1851TT: no; 1858TT: no; 1871TT: yes; CWN/07/12/1882/02]
The first station here was not established until 1859. The Wauregan Manufacturing Co. was chartered in 1853 and its owner, James S. Atwood, [click here] "took great pride in the village which he saw, under the fostering care and ownership of the company, develop into one of the model hamlets of the vicinity." Residences for employees, a dairy farm, electric light company, general store, post office were constructed over time, as well as a building that contained a firehouse and jail, with a reading room and library on the upper floor. An article we chanced upon says that WAUREGAN1, on the "Newport(!) and Worcester road" burned in July, 1882 and "all the books, papers, tickets, etc., were destroyed." [REFS: HDC/06/24/1853/02; 1851TT: no; 1858TT: no; 1871TT: yes; CWN/07/12/1882/02]
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WAUREGAN2 [NY&NE, 1883]
[REFS: CRC31.1884.21]
[REFS: CRC31.1884.21]
WEATOGUE1 [NH&N, 1848?]
As seen on the 1855HC map. [REFS: CRC34.1886.57: new shed ala REYNOLDS BRIDGE]
As seen on the 1855HC map. [REFS: CRC34.1886.57: new shed ala REYNOLDS BRIDGE]
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WEATOGUE2 [NYNH&H, 1894]
[REFS: CRC42.1894.20: "small but neat;" D111]
[REFS: CRC42.1894.20: "small but neat;" D111]
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WELTONS [NYNH&H, 1887]
According to Henry P. Stearns in a Shoreliner article on the Watertown and Waterbury RR, this flag stop was established in May, 1887 and was about opposite where the the Ray Garnsey garage stood on Main St. in 1950. The station does not, however, appear on timetables we consulted until 1894, thereby dating it to the NYNH&H era after the 1887 NRR/W&W lease in April of that year. The real estate map is dated 12/30/1912 at lower left shows the platform and shelter on the north side of the track where today the intersecting Welton St. on the GE map at upper right seems to pin down the location. While the name Welton was prominent historically all over the area, we do not know whether there was any local connection here with that family that caused the street to be so named and the station to be created. The W&W was built with the backing of the NRR and later purchased by it to tap the industrial traffic of Oakville and Watertown. The shelter is typical NRR style, found also at BALDWINS and as CAMPVILLE3 [see B,C stations]. According to Karr, passenger service ended on the Watertown branch ca. 1925. [REFS: 1890,1892,1893TT: no; 1894TT: yes; 1923TT: yes; K63; SL11.2.24]
According to Henry P. Stearns in a Shoreliner article on the Watertown and Waterbury RR, this flag stop was established in May, 1887 and was about opposite where the the Ray Garnsey garage stood on Main St. in 1950. The station does not, however, appear on timetables we consulted until 1894, thereby dating it to the NYNH&H era after the 1887 NRR/W&W lease in April of that year. The real estate map is dated 12/30/1912 at lower left shows the platform and shelter on the north side of the track where today the intersecting Welton St. on the GE map at upper right seems to pin down the location. While the name Welton was prominent historically all over the area, we do not know whether there was any local connection here with that family that caused the street to be so named and the station to be created. The W&W was built with the backing of the NRR and later purchased by it to tap the industrial traffic of Oakville and Watertown. The shelter is typical NRR style, found also at BALDWINS and as CAMPVILLE3 [see B,C stations]. According to Karr, passenger service ended on the Watertown branch ca. 1925. [REFS: 1890,1892,1893TT: no; 1894TT: yes; 1923TT: yes; K63; SL11.2.24]
Cheshire CT Historical Society
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Cheshire CT Historical Society
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Dave Peters Collection
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Cheshire CT Historical Society
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WEST CHESHIRE [M&W, 1888]
Later called TUCKER, this station stood high above today's Rte. 70, Cheshire's West Main St., at the junction of Rte. 68. The station was perched on the east cliff at The Notch, so-called for the break in the trap-rock ledge which allowed passage to the north and west. The ca. 1900 photo at upper left shows the station and platform at the top of the stairs that came up from the road. Also apparent is the huge amount of fill that the railroad dumped into The Notch to elevate the road bed. Snow dates the train photo at upper middle to ca. 1889, shortly after the M&W opened, with a consist rolling west out of the station. Looking through the underpass, you can see the bottom of the stairs. The street view at upper right likely dates to between 1900 and 1904 and looks east, since the tracks of the Cheshire Street Rwy, approved by the railroad commissioners on 8/7/1905, are not seen yet. It does show the bottom of the staircase and the train-signal pole by the track. The 8/30/1916 val photo at lower left is a close-up of the structure that seems identical to CHESHIRE STREET, SOUTHINGTON ROAD, and other depots on the line. Reflecting the 1917 discontinuance of rail passenger service, the photo at lower middle shows no stairs any more but does picture the trolley heading toward Waterbury, as it would do until 1934. The snippet from the 1915 val map [click here] at lower right shows the passenger station [green arrow], the freight depot and siding [red arrow], the dashed lines [blue arrow] marking the roads abandoned when the railroad filled in The Notch leaving only the narrow underpass where at least one trolley-automobile accident occurred in 1931. According to notes left by the late Nelson Tucker, whose family homestead at 1142 Tucker Rd. lay between the trolley and railroad ROWs, the renaming as TUCKER was due to mix-ups in freight and mail that came to the WEST CHESHIRE station on the MW&CR instead of to the CHESHIRE station on the Canal line. His family had no objection to the freight and passenger stations, as well as a trolley stop, named after them! Among his other reminiscences, which are found at the Cheshire Historical Society, was the fact that trains loaded with summer beach-goers returning to the Brass City from New Haven had to be separated by his house into sections to get home over Waterbury Mountain. Once the trolley line opened, this traffic shifted to the interurbans which, in turn, doomed the MW&CR. A 1918 highway map in our collection shows WEST CHESHIRE as TUCKER, a change we find occuring in timetables between 1914 and 1915. Rail passenger service ceased on 6/24/1917 and the station structure was reportedly sold after the ICC granted permission to abandon the line entirely on 2/25/1924. A photo in our collection gives 1886 and 1921 for the build and renaming dates and says this station was sold and removed in 1924, the latter date the only one we can agree with. [REFS: CRC53.1905.35; HC/03/19/1931/22; S26,27,30] [rev042013]
Later called TUCKER, this station stood high above today's Rte. 70, Cheshire's West Main St., at the junction of Rte. 68. The station was perched on the east cliff at The Notch, so-called for the break in the trap-rock ledge which allowed passage to the north and west. The ca. 1900 photo at upper left shows the station and platform at the top of the stairs that came up from the road. Also apparent is the huge amount of fill that the railroad dumped into The Notch to elevate the road bed. Snow dates the train photo at upper middle to ca. 1889, shortly after the M&W opened, with a consist rolling west out of the station. Looking through the underpass, you can see the bottom of the stairs. The street view at upper right likely dates to between 1900 and 1904 and looks east, since the tracks of the Cheshire Street Rwy, approved by the railroad commissioners on 8/7/1905, are not seen yet. It does show the bottom of the staircase and the train-signal pole by the track. The 8/30/1916 val photo at lower left is a close-up of the structure that seems identical to CHESHIRE STREET, SOUTHINGTON ROAD, and other depots on the line. Reflecting the 1917 discontinuance of rail passenger service, the photo at lower middle shows no stairs any more but does picture the trolley heading toward Waterbury, as it would do until 1934. The snippet from the 1915 val map [click here] at lower right shows the passenger station [green arrow], the freight depot and siding [red arrow], the dashed lines [blue arrow] marking the roads abandoned when the railroad filled in The Notch leaving only the narrow underpass where at least one trolley-automobile accident occurred in 1931. According to notes left by the late Nelson Tucker, whose family homestead at 1142 Tucker Rd. lay between the trolley and railroad ROWs, the renaming as TUCKER was due to mix-ups in freight and mail that came to the WEST CHESHIRE station on the MW&CR instead of to the CHESHIRE station on the Canal line. His family had no objection to the freight and passenger stations, as well as a trolley stop, named after them! Among his other reminiscences, which are found at the Cheshire Historical Society, was the fact that trains loaded with summer beach-goers returning to the Brass City from New Haven had to be separated by his house into sections to get home over Waterbury Mountain. Once the trolley line opened, this traffic shifted to the interurbans which, in turn, doomed the MW&CR. A 1918 highway map in our collection shows WEST CHESHIRE as TUCKER, a change we find occuring in timetables between 1914 and 1915. Rail passenger service ceased on 6/24/1917 and the station structure was reportedly sold after the ICC granted permission to abandon the line entirely on 2/25/1924. A photo in our collection gives 1886 and 1921 for the build and renaming dates and says this station was sold and removed in 1924, the latter date the only one we can agree with. [REFS: CRC53.1905.35; HC/03/19/1931/22; S26,27,30] [rev042013]
WEST CORNWALL1 [HRR, 1842]
Contrary to what has been believed traditionally, there was a first station here that burned mid-year in 1871. The location is seen on the 1854LC map. [REFS: CWN/11/03/1871/02]
Contrary to what has been believed traditionally, there was a first station here that burned mid-year in 1871. The location is seen on the 1854LC map. [REFS: CWN/11/03/1871/02]
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WEST CORNWALL2 [HRR, 1871]
The newspaper said late in 1871 that the "depot at West Cornwall which this company have recently erected on the site of the one destroyed by fire a few months since, is certainly not only a neatly and substantially built depot, but the general arrangement of all its parts for convenience in doing the work of the station is commendable." The plans for the new structure were credited to long-time HRR station agent Crandall. WEST CORNWALL2 still stands in 2012. [REFS: CWN/11/03/1871/02]
The newspaper said late in 1871 that the "depot at West Cornwall which this company have recently erected on the site of the one destroyed by fire a few months since, is certainly not only a neatly and substantially built depot, but the general arrangement of all its parts for convenience in doing the work of the station is commendable." The plans for the new structure were credited to long-time HRR station agent Crandall. WEST CORNWALL2 still stands in 2012. [REFS: CWN/11/03/1871/02]
WEST CROMWELL [M&C, 1885]
This was a flag station on the M&C between WESTFIELD and CROMWELL. [REFS: HC/01/18/1899/11]
This was a flag station on the M&C between WESTFIELD and CROMWELL. [REFS: HC/01/18/1899/11]
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WEST HANOVER [NYNH&H, c1900?]
If there ever was an obscure location, this is it. Though we have yet to see it on any timetable, Snow has it on his map at upper left and the 1914 Connecticut Co. trolley map at upper right has it as well, though EAST HANOVER and WEST HANOVER seem to be reversed. The distant bridge over the track seen in the photo at lower left seems to correspond to the 1893 topo map at lower middle where our blue arrow points to a highway overpass. The val map at lower right does show a siding here but nothing more at that time and no indication of anything abandoned. There was manufacturing in this area, both at EAST HANOVER and CHESHIRE STREET, powered by small canals fed by the Quinnipiac River. WEST HANOVER seems to have been a lightly patronized, factory stop handled by conductor's order, as was the case with TORRINGFORD STREET. [rev042013]
If there ever was an obscure location, this is it. Though we have yet to see it on any timetable, Snow has it on his map at upper left and the 1914 Connecticut Co. trolley map at upper right has it as well, though EAST HANOVER and WEST HANOVER seem to be reversed. The distant bridge over the track seen in the photo at lower left seems to correspond to the 1893 topo map at lower middle where our blue arrow points to a highway overpass. The val map at lower right does show a siding here but nothing more at that time and no indication of anything abandoned. There was manufacturing in this area, both at EAST HANOVER and CHESHIRE STREET, powered by small canals fed by the Quinnipiac River. WEST HANOVER seems to have been a lightly patronized, factory stop handled by conductor's order, as was the case with TORRINGFORD STREET. [rev042013]
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WEST HAVEN/M1 [NY&NH, 1848]
This seems to have been a flag stop from the opening of the NY&NH in December, 1848, with the first timetable listing that we find not until 6/2/1851. The structure looks not to have been cross-gabled like MILFORD1 or STRATFORD1, but was otherwise similar in appearance, with a street-side gable and board-and-batten siding. The photograph, likely dating to the 1870s or 1880s, shows a substantial addition, probably for freight, on the east end. The depot was located at what we know as the southeast corner of Wood St. and Washington Ave. opposite the West Haven Buckle Co., founded in 1853 and whose building still stands in 2012. The 1852NH map shows the depot at the red arrow, between today's Campbell Ave. [left] and First Ave. [right], with Washington Ave. not having been built yet. An 1895 article in the Register says that "the depot which formerly stood just east of Washington Avenue has been moved to a point about midway between Campbell Avenue and Washington Avenue, about 100 yards south [railroad west] of its former location," as part of the four-tracking improvements in 1895. It came as a surprise to us that the Consolidated would move a forty-year-old structure in the midst of all the new stations it was building at the time, but the article states the fact very clearly and it goes on to say that the railroad now owned pretty much all the property 30 feet both sides of the ROW from the West River meadows to here. Encountering "some hitch" in buying the buckle company land, it obtained parcels around it and constructed an access road from Campbell Ave. to the new depot site. The 1911 railroad real estate map at right shows a footprint that includes the smaller wing on the east side of the station, thus verifying that it is WEST HAVEN1 in its new location. Another lucky news-article find, this one from 1914, tells us that "the station of the New York New Haven and Hartford railroad beside the eastbound tracks was burned with its contents today. The station building was a frame structure, comparatively small. It was built about 50 years ago. The fire is believed to have started from an overheated stove. The loss is estimated at about $4000." Thus the stage was set for the building of WEST HAVEN4 shortly thereafter. [REFS: CR/03/17/1849/04; NHER/11/11/1895/06; HC/02/27/1914/16]
This seems to have been a flag stop from the opening of the NY&NH in December, 1848, with the first timetable listing that we find not until 6/2/1851. The structure looks not to have been cross-gabled like MILFORD1 or STRATFORD1, but was otherwise similar in appearance, with a street-side gable and board-and-batten siding. The photograph, likely dating to the 1870s or 1880s, shows a substantial addition, probably for freight, on the east end. The depot was located at what we know as the southeast corner of Wood St. and Washington Ave. opposite the West Haven Buckle Co., founded in 1853 and whose building still stands in 2012. The 1852NH map shows the depot at the red arrow, between today's Campbell Ave. [left] and First Ave. [right], with Washington Ave. not having been built yet. An 1895 article in the Register says that "the depot which formerly stood just east of Washington Avenue has been moved to a point about midway between Campbell Avenue and Washington Avenue, about 100 yards south [railroad west] of its former location," as part of the four-tracking improvements in 1895. It came as a surprise to us that the Consolidated would move a forty-year-old structure in the midst of all the new stations it was building at the time, but the article states the fact very clearly and it goes on to say that the railroad now owned pretty much all the property 30 feet both sides of the ROW from the West River meadows to here. Encountering "some hitch" in buying the buckle company land, it obtained parcels around it and constructed an access road from Campbell Ave. to the new depot site. The 1911 railroad real estate map at right shows a footprint that includes the smaller wing on the east side of the station, thus verifying that it is WEST HAVEN1 in its new location. Another lucky news-article find, this one from 1914, tells us that "the station of the New York New Haven and Hartford railroad beside the eastbound tracks was burned with its contents today. The station building was a frame structure, comparatively small. It was built about 50 years ago. The fire is believed to have started from an overheated stove. The loss is estimated at about $4000." Thus the stage was set for the building of WEST HAVEN4 shortly thereafter. [REFS: CR/03/17/1849/04; NHER/11/11/1895/06; HC/02/27/1914/16]
Dave Peters Collection
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WEST HAVEN/M2 [NYNH&H, 1895]
This small structure was built on the westbound side in 1895 with the four-tracking as a companion to WEST HAVEN1 in its new location. Both of these photos look toward New Haven. WEST HAVEN/M2 is seen by itself in the 10/26/1916 val photo at left and across from WEST HAVEN/M3 in the photo on the right. [REFS: CRC42.1894.17; RHA 1928]
This small structure was built on the westbound side in 1895 with the four-tracking as a companion to WEST HAVEN1 in its new location. Both of these photos look toward New Haven. WEST HAVEN/M2 is seen by itself in the 10/26/1916 val photo at left and across from WEST HAVEN/M3 in the photo on the right. [REFS: CRC42.1894.17; RHA 1928]
Dave Peters Collection
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C. Dunn Collection
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WEST HAVEN/M3 [NYNH&H, 1914/1915]
This station replaced WEST HAVEN1 on the eastbound side of the New York main line, 1914-1915. This was due to the burning of the old station on 2/26/1914, with the June, 1915 annual report mentioning that a new station has been built by that time. The 10/26/1916 val photo at left, therefore, must show this station when it was nearly brand new. This stop is still on our 1923TT but is gone on the 11/18/1928TT, the next one we have, and we do not know the final disposition of this station. It is on the 1940 Building List as structure #1551 to be retired and removed but we have no subsequent information. We have seen a reference somewhere that locals wanted service restored to this community with the construction of the VA Hospital in the 1950s but that apparently never came to fruition. [REFS: NHAR44.1915.10; AFE 30280-6]
This station replaced WEST HAVEN1 on the eastbound side of the New York main line, 1914-1915. This was due to the burning of the old station on 2/26/1914, with the June, 1915 annual report mentioning that a new station has been built by that time. The 10/26/1916 val photo at left, therefore, must show this station when it was nearly brand new. This stop is still on our 1923TT but is gone on the 11/18/1928TT, the next one we have, and we do not know the final disposition of this station. It is on the 1940 Building List as structure #1551 to be retired and removed but we have no subsequent information. We have seen a reference somewhere that locals wanted service restored to this community with the construction of the VA Hospital in the 1950s but that apparently never came to fruition. [REFS: NHAR44.1915.10; AFE 30280-6]
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WEST HAVEN/M4 [MN, 2012]
Rail service is returning to West Haven after an absence of nearly a century, this time in the shadow of the Armstrong Rubber Co.'s defunct tire factory on Saw Mill Rd. Ground was broken on 11/10/2010 for a new station here, north of the tracks at Hood Terrace, formerly known as Railroad Ave., at a cost of over $100M. While we personally advocated for a smaller structure here and an additional stop on Marsh Hill Rd. in Orange that would have replicated the old Woodmont station, for a much smaller total price tag and convenience for more motorists, West Haven won the battle for the only station the state was willing to build at the time. Even then we don't know why these Taj Mahals have to to be put up, when simpler structures, adequate parking lots, AND, most importantly, dedicated peak-hour shuttle service would take the most automobiles off the road. At least train service is coming back and the 700 parking spaces should relieve some of the pressure at Union Station in New Haven where garage capacity has long been inadequate. WEST HAVEN5 is ahead of schedule and may be completed by August, 2013. [REFS: NHR/04/10/2010/??; NHR/11/10/2010/??][leftadd05013]
Rail service is returning to West Haven after an absence of nearly a century, this time in the shadow of the Armstrong Rubber Co.'s defunct tire factory on Saw Mill Rd. Ground was broken on 11/10/2010 for a new station here, north of the tracks at Hood Terrace, formerly known as Railroad Ave., at a cost of over $100M. While we personally advocated for a smaller structure here and an additional stop on Marsh Hill Rd. in Orange that would have replicated the old Woodmont station, for a much smaller total price tag and convenience for more motorists, West Haven won the battle for the only station the state was willing to build at the time. Even then we don't know why these Taj Mahals have to to be put up, when simpler structures, adequate parking lots, AND, most importantly, dedicated peak-hour shuttle service would take the most automobiles off the road. At least train service is coming back and the 700 parking spaces should relieve some of the pressure at Union Station in New Haven where garage capacity has long been inadequate. WEST HAVEN5 is ahead of schedule and may be completed by August, 2013. [REFS: NHR/04/10/2010/??; NHR/11/10/2010/??][leftadd05013]
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Archives & Special Collections, UConn Libraries
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WEST HAVEN/D [NH&D, 1871]
This was the NH&D's 1871 station on Front St. in the Allingtown section of West Haven. The location is shown on the 1891 Price & Lee New Haven City Directory map at left. We have not yet found a photo of whatever stood here but there are several references to the structure which was vandalized and nearly destroyed in 1874. It should be noted that the rail line crossed on a bridge here and most likely the station was at street level with stairs up to the track. The real estate map at right shows stairs on the east end of an elevated platform. WEST HAVEN2 continued to be a flag stop at least until our 1911TT, but it was gone by that of 1914. [REFS: WHJ/04/01/1874/02; NHER/11/01/1883/03][rev042013]
This was the NH&D's 1871 station on Front St. in the Allingtown section of West Haven. The location is shown on the 1891 Price & Lee New Haven City Directory map at left. We have not yet found a photo of whatever stood here but there are several references to the structure which was vandalized and nearly destroyed in 1874. It should be noted that the rail line crossed on a bridge here and most likely the station was at street level with stairs up to the track. The real estate map at right shows stairs on the east end of an elevated platform. WEST HAVEN2 continued to be a flag stop at least until our 1911TT, but it was gone by that of 1914. [REFS: WHJ/04/01/1874/02; NHER/11/01/1883/03][rev042013]
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Dave Peters Collection
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WEST MYSTIC [NL&S, 1858]
This station still wears the compass ornament that refers it to the NYP&B period of ownership. This structure was for sale and looked to be in good condition for its age when we visited in May, 2010. It has been turned 90 degrees from its original position along the tracks that see plenty of Northeast Corridor action every day.
This station still wears the compass ornament that refers it to the NYP&B period of ownership. This structure was for sale and looked to be in good condition for its age when we visited in May, 2010. It has been turned 90 degrees from its original position along the tracks that see plenty of Northeast Corridor action every day.
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WEST NORFOLK1 [CW, 1871]
This station has long been a source of mystery and no pictures have been found thus far. It was a flag stop at the opening of the CW, and though we have found no actual mention of a depot being built, several newspaper articles show that this was soon an agency station handling passengers, freight and mail. Our red X on the 1874 map at middle marks the depot location and we also note the name 'E.T. Butler' in the upper right corner. It was likely the residence of the Egbert T. Butler who was the foremost promoter of the CW in the 1860s and the recipient of appropriate accolades when the railroad opened Norfolk to the outside world in 1871. The map in the CW real estate atlas at right shows this station in the northwest quadrant of the diagonal grade crossing and indicates the subsequent renaming as HAYSTACK in pencil as well. An especially revealing 1875 article sheds a little light on the first depot here when it tells of the passing of an older gentleman, James C. Swift, while sitting in a chair in the waiting room. Upon hearing a noise, Agent Murphy returned from "the small apartment in which is his office" to find the man about to fall the floor and dead a few minutes later of an apoplectic fit. So thus we get some idea of a full-service station, which may also have been quite a bit busier than we thought since granite quarries, probably encouraged by the coming of the railroad, were reported as "recently opened" in 1874. A 14-ton block that was dressed to say 'Hoosac Tunnel, 1874' and destined to grace the western portal of that great project was taken from here. It required eight yoke of oxen, one pair in front of the block and the others on the rear, to get it down the "uninterrupted descent" of the steep mountainside. The railroad also took rock from a quarry at nearby Stony Lonesome for its own construction purposes. The NY&NE 1880 appraisal of CW properties said the structure here was in fair condition and valued it at $500, comparable to some 30x40-ft freight depots elsewhere. In 1891, the newspaper said that "the sale of tickets has been discontinued at West Norfolk station, and hereafter passenger trains will only stop there on a signal," and by the time it burned on 11/7/1896, the depot was said to be an "old and dilapidated structure and unoccupied." The water tank, seen at upper left, is the only image we have of any structure at this location. Said to be "one of the largest and best on the line," it was destroyed along with the station in the 1896 fire thought to have been started by tramps. It too had been valued at $500 in 1880. While Nimke said this tank stood at COLEBROOK, Lee Beaujon and Al Weaver concur that the location was here looking east from Ashpohtag Rd. Lee explains that the tank housing, thought to be unique on the CW, had a furnace on the lower level to keep the water from freezing at this high altitude. The shot at lower left shows a similar structure out of state. This West Norfolk heated tank was once thought to be the only one in Connecticut, but the railroad commissioners reported that the HRR built "9 new frost-proof water tanks and houses" in 1875 for use all along its line, so there may have been other such tanks used elsewhere as well. See STEPNEY2 for one possible location. The consensus is that the train in the photo is heading west. The #5, the Norfolk, was an 1871 Rogers engine, thus giving from that year to the 1896 as a date range for this photo. [REFS: HDC/12/21/1871/02; HDC/07/24/1874/02; CWN/08/21/1874/02; HDC/08/26/1874/02; CWN/08/28/1874/02; WH/10/02/1874/02; CWN/11/20/1874/02; CWN/10/08/1875/02; CRC23.1876.8; CWN/06/10/1891/04; WH/11/11/1896/08; C133; Fisher, SL, p124] [rev042013]
This station has long been a source of mystery and no pictures have been found thus far. It was a flag stop at the opening of the CW, and though we have found no actual mention of a depot being built, several newspaper articles show that this was soon an agency station handling passengers, freight and mail. Our red X on the 1874 map at middle marks the depot location and we also note the name 'E.T. Butler' in the upper right corner. It was likely the residence of the Egbert T. Butler who was the foremost promoter of the CW in the 1860s and the recipient of appropriate accolades when the railroad opened Norfolk to the outside world in 1871. The map in the CW real estate atlas at right shows this station in the northwest quadrant of the diagonal grade crossing and indicates the subsequent renaming as HAYSTACK in pencil as well. An especially revealing 1875 article sheds a little light on the first depot here when it tells of the passing of an older gentleman, James C. Swift, while sitting in a chair in the waiting room. Upon hearing a noise, Agent Murphy returned from "the small apartment in which is his office" to find the man about to fall the floor and dead a few minutes later of an apoplectic fit. So thus we get some idea of a full-service station, which may also have been quite a bit busier than we thought since granite quarries, probably encouraged by the coming of the railroad, were reported as "recently opened" in 1874. A 14-ton block that was dressed to say 'Hoosac Tunnel, 1874' and destined to grace the western portal of that great project was taken from here. It required eight yoke of oxen, one pair in front of the block and the others on the rear, to get it down the "uninterrupted descent" of the steep mountainside. The railroad also took rock from a quarry at nearby Stony Lonesome for its own construction purposes. The NY&NE 1880 appraisal of CW properties said the structure here was in fair condition and valued it at $500, comparable to some 30x40-ft freight depots elsewhere. In 1891, the newspaper said that "the sale of tickets has been discontinued at West Norfolk station, and hereafter passenger trains will only stop there on a signal," and by the time it burned on 11/7/1896, the depot was said to be an "old and dilapidated structure and unoccupied." The water tank, seen at upper left, is the only image we have of any structure at this location. Said to be "one of the largest and best on the line," it was destroyed along with the station in the 1896 fire thought to have been started by tramps. It too had been valued at $500 in 1880. While Nimke said this tank stood at COLEBROOK, Lee Beaujon and Al Weaver concur that the location was here looking east from Ashpohtag Rd. Lee explains that the tank housing, thought to be unique on the CW, had a furnace on the lower level to keep the water from freezing at this high altitude. The shot at lower left shows a similar structure out of state. This West Norfolk heated tank was once thought to be the only one in Connecticut, but the railroad commissioners reported that the HRR built "9 new frost-proof water tanks and houses" in 1875 for use all along its line, so there may have been other such tanks used elsewhere as well. See STEPNEY2 for one possible location. The consensus is that the train in the photo is heading west. The #5, the Norfolk, was an 1871 Rogers engine, thus giving from that year to the 1896 as a date range for this photo. [REFS: HDC/12/21/1871/02; HDC/07/24/1874/02; CWN/08/21/1874/02; HDC/08/26/1874/02; CWN/08/28/1874/02; WH/10/02/1874/02; CWN/11/20/1874/02; CWN/10/08/1875/02; CRC23.1876.8; CWN/06/10/1891/04; WH/11/11/1896/08; C133; Fisher, SL, p124] [rev042013]
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ICC Collection / National Archives
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ICC Collection / National Archives
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WEST NORFOLK2 [PR&NE, 1896]
After the first station burned, it was replaced but it seems not to have been manned. Lee Beaujon says that ETTs started in 1905 to show agency stations with the D or N for day and night telegraph operators and those he has from 1905 until 1917 do not show any operator or telegraph code for here. That information, however, conflicts with a newspaper article that refers to a station agent, "who dispenses shoes and heavy hardware between trains and who is the recognized horseshoe pitching champ of that region between East Canaan and Doolittle pond..." We can only speculate that the railroad had an informal arrangement for a caretaker to look after the station on a part-time basis. The subject of the article is actually the changing of the station name and the newspaper quips that the 127 persons in West Norfolk would slumber on 6/5/1915 "only to wake up the next morning in Haystack. The rusty old sign on the depot will be missing, and a new one reading 'Haystack' will be there in gaudy gold letters. By that sign Haystackers will know their community has metamorphosed." The upper left photo may well be the railroad commissioners looking over the grade crossing that would be eliminated by the bridge [upper middle] in 1908 after several bad accidents here. As best we can tell, this second depot stood on the same spot as the earlier one, that is northeast of the crossing, though it may have been relocated slightly from its 1896 placement when the when the bridge was put in. The 1916 val map at upper right shows a frame (wooden) passenger station designated 'FP' standing right by the overpass. The ICC field notes [lower left] describe this station as 10'6"x15'6" with a height of 12 feet and a tin roof and the station sign with the "gaudy gold letters" was valued at the tidy sum of $6.00! The shot at lower middle was taken by a photographer looking eastward from the bridge over Ashpohtag Rd. and it shows the 25-car passing siding on the left that the CNE installed around 1910. Vic Newton's otherwise fastidiously correct maps have the passing siding west of Ashpohtag Rd. The 1938 abandonment map [lower right] shows this as 'formerly HAYSTACK' with the station footprint gone. The removal of the bridge and the regrading of the road has obliterated much of the evidence of what stood here. What happened to WEST NORFOLK2 is not known. [REFS: RRC16.347 (6/12/1906); CRC55.1907.47; CRC56.1908.52; ICC F-1611; N3.60][rev042013]
After the first station burned, it was replaced but it seems not to have been manned. Lee Beaujon says that ETTs started in 1905 to show agency stations with the D or N for day and night telegraph operators and those he has from 1905 until 1917 do not show any operator or telegraph code for here. That information, however, conflicts with a newspaper article that refers to a station agent, "who dispenses shoes and heavy hardware between trains and who is the recognized horseshoe pitching champ of that region between East Canaan and Doolittle pond..." We can only speculate that the railroad had an informal arrangement for a caretaker to look after the station on a part-time basis. The subject of the article is actually the changing of the station name and the newspaper quips that the 127 persons in West Norfolk would slumber on 6/5/1915 "only to wake up the next morning in Haystack. The rusty old sign on the depot will be missing, and a new one reading 'Haystack' will be there in gaudy gold letters. By that sign Haystackers will know their community has metamorphosed." The upper left photo may well be the railroad commissioners looking over the grade crossing that would be eliminated by the bridge [upper middle] in 1908 after several bad accidents here. As best we can tell, this second depot stood on the same spot as the earlier one, that is northeast of the crossing, though it may have been relocated slightly from its 1896 placement when the when the bridge was put in. The 1916 val map at upper right shows a frame (wooden) passenger station designated 'FP' standing right by the overpass. The ICC field notes [lower left] describe this station as 10'6"x15'6" with a height of 12 feet and a tin roof and the station sign with the "gaudy gold letters" was valued at the tidy sum of $6.00! The shot at lower middle was taken by a photographer looking eastward from the bridge over Ashpohtag Rd. and it shows the 25-car passing siding on the left that the CNE installed around 1910. Vic Newton's otherwise fastidiously correct maps have the passing siding west of Ashpohtag Rd. The 1938 abandonment map [lower right] shows this as 'formerly HAYSTACK' with the station footprint gone. The removal of the bridge and the regrading of the road has obliterated much of the evidence of what stood here. What happened to WEST NORFOLK2 is not known. [REFS: RRC16.347 (6/12/1906); CRC55.1907.47; CRC56.1908.52; ICC F-1611; N3.60][rev042013]
WEST REDDING [> REDDING]
WEST SIMSBURY [> STRATTON BROOK]
WEST SIMSBURY [> STRATTON BROOK]
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Archives & Spec Colls, UConn Libraries
WEST STREET [RRR, 1863?]
Also called VERNON JUNCTION, WESTWAY. This station was on the Rockville RR, which opened from VERNON to ROCKVILLE in 1863. Inasmuch as this line was built for through connections to Hartford, we do not know exactly when this stop was established, but it shows up on an NY&NE timetable by 1873 and it later became the end point for the Connecticut Central's 1876 line from MELROSE. As early as 1865, a survey that anticipated the CC for a line connecting Rockville directly with Springfield via Ellington and Somers was made to a point called GIFFORDS, which may have been here. The small structure at locator number '2' on the 1877 Bailey map [click here] at upper left seems to be the most precise indicator of what the depot looked like and where it was. The undated photo at lower left shows a covered platform that appears to straddle the two tracks with the station down at the far (east) end. Perhaps the canopied platform was added to the building on the 1877 map. That would make the view looking northeast, the track in front of the platform the one to VERNON and the track in back of the platform the one that went to MELROSE. The upper middle image is from the 1895 Bailey map of Rockville [click here] and the map at right is ca. 1900. On both of these, it is difficult to determine exactly which building is the depot. This station would host electric cars on both tracks from 1906 to 1914, with service lasting another 10 years on the Rockville line. Karr says all passenger service ended ca. 1929 at what must have been a heavily utilized transfer point at one time. [REFS: HDC/05/15/1865/02: Giffords; K84; SL13.2.28][rev042013]
Also called VERNON JUNCTION, WESTWAY. This station was on the Rockville RR, which opened from VERNON to ROCKVILLE in 1863. Inasmuch as this line was built for through connections to Hartford, we do not know exactly when this stop was established, but it shows up on an NY&NE timetable by 1873 and it later became the end point for the Connecticut Central's 1876 line from MELROSE. As early as 1865, a survey that anticipated the CC for a line connecting Rockville directly with Springfield via Ellington and Somers was made to a point called GIFFORDS, which may have been here. The small structure at locator number '2' on the 1877 Bailey map [click here] at upper left seems to be the most precise indicator of what the depot looked like and where it was. The undated photo at lower left shows a covered platform that appears to straddle the two tracks with the station down at the far (east) end. Perhaps the canopied platform was added to the building on the 1877 map. That would make the view looking northeast, the track in front of the platform the one to VERNON and the track in back of the platform the one that went to MELROSE. The upper middle image is from the 1895 Bailey map of Rockville [click here] and the map at right is ca. 1900. On both of these, it is difficult to determine exactly which building is the depot. This station would host electric cars on both tracks from 1906 to 1914, with service lasting another 10 years on the Rockville line. Karr says all passenger service ended ca. 1929 at what must have been a heavily utilized transfer point at one time. [REFS: HDC/05/15/1865/02: Giffords; K84; SL13.2.28][rev042013]
WEST SUFFIELD1 [CNE, 1900]
R&LHS papers include a 12/29/1899 voucher for payment of $1,470 to Beers & Trafford, Millerton, NY contractors, for a station at WEST SUFFIELD plus one at FEEDING HILLS for an equal amount. The latter station is pictured in this val photo that was probably taken in 1916. Based on the fact this structure is substantially smaller than the depot in our next listing, we have added this entry for WEST SUFFIELD1. A newspaper reporter riding the line on the opening of the Springfield branch in August, 1902 in fact says that "the little stations at Feeding Hills and West Suffield were passed without a stop..." and we are taking that as further evidence of the diminutive size and similarity of both. Fire is the usual suspect when a depot disappears but we have found no mention, other than the railroad commissioners saying in December, 1903 that "new station buildings have been erected at Tariffville, East Granby, and Suffield on the Springfield branch..." [REFS: SR/08/03/1902/05; HC/10/20/1902/12; CRC51.1903.22][rev022013]
R&LHS papers include a 12/29/1899 voucher for payment of $1,470 to Beers & Trafford, Millerton, NY contractors, for a station at WEST SUFFIELD plus one at FEEDING HILLS for an equal amount. The latter station is pictured in this val photo that was probably taken in 1916. Based on the fact this structure is substantially smaller than the depot in our next listing, we have added this entry for WEST SUFFIELD1. A newspaper reporter riding the line on the opening of the Springfield branch in August, 1902 in fact says that "the little stations at Feeding Hills and West Suffield were passed without a stop..." and we are taking that as further evidence of the diminutive size and similarity of both. Fire is the usual suspect when a depot disappears but we have found no mention, other than the railroad commissioners saying in December, 1903 that "new station buildings have been erected at Tariffville, East Granby, and Suffield on the Springfield branch..." [REFS: SR/08/03/1902/05; HC/10/20/1902/12; CRC51.1903.22][rev022013]
Tom Hassenmayer Collection
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ICC / National Archives
WEST SUFFIELD [CNE, 1903]
Nimke says this station, still standing in 1930, was built in 1901 but the railroad commissioners say in their 1903 report that a depot was built during the year at "Suffield on the Springfield branch." With its increased length and height, freight wing and operator's bay, we hardly think it could have been built for $1,470 and, moreover, that it is unlikely that the earlier station was remodeled. Either the old one burned or was sold to make way for a larger WEST SUFFIELD2 that was needed to handle business on the newly opened branch. The depot is seen at the red arrow on the 1916 ICC val map. [REFS: CRC51.1903.22; HC/11/14/1903/05; D53; N3.15][rev022013]
Nimke says this station, still standing in 1930, was built in 1901 but the railroad commissioners say in their 1903 report that a depot was built during the year at "Suffield on the Springfield branch." With its increased length and height, freight wing and operator's bay, we hardly think it could have been built for $1,470 and, moreover, that it is unlikely that the earlier station was remodeled. Either the old one burned or was sold to make way for a larger WEST SUFFIELD2 that was needed to handle business on the newly opened branch. The depot is seen at the red arrow on the 1916 ICC val map. [REFS: CRC51.1903.22; HC/11/14/1903/05; D53; N3.15][rev022013]
Max Miller Collection
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WEST THOMPSON [N&W, 1840]
The N&W opened its line in 1840 but we do not yet know when this stop was established and when the depot(s?) were built.
The N&W opened its line in 1840 but we do not yet know when this stop was established and when the depot(s?) were built.
WEST WILLINGTON1 [NLW&P, 1850]
This stop, which is in the town of Willington, was first called TOLLAND AND WILLINGTON and is found as such on a 12/3/1866 NLN timetable. We have another copy of this photo that says it is from the 1890s, indicating that the changing of the station name to just TOLLAND and still later to WEST WILLINGTON came afterward, perhaps in the early 1900s when it is seen as such on a 6/24/1900 CVT timetable. Woodward says the brick combination station seen here was authorized by the NLW&P directors in 1850 at a cost of $1,700. This depot burned and was replaced in 1894 by the one in the next listing. Interestingly, the end brackets are very similar to NORWICH1 on the N&W. [REFS: CRC42.1894.24; R106; W37]
This stop, which is in the town of Willington, was first called TOLLAND AND WILLINGTON and is found as such on a 12/3/1866 NLN timetable. We have another copy of this photo that says it is from the 1890s, indicating that the changing of the station name to just TOLLAND and still later to WEST WILLINGTON came afterward, perhaps in the early 1900s when it is seen as such on a 6/24/1900 CVT timetable. Woodward says the brick combination station seen here was authorized by the NLW&P directors in 1850 at a cost of $1,700. This depot burned and was replaced in 1894 by the one in the next listing. Interestingly, the end brackets are very similar to NORWICH1 on the N&W. [REFS: CRC42.1894.24; R106; W37]
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Max Miller Collection
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WEST WILLINGTON2 [CVT, 1894]
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NHRHTA Collection
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Dave Peters Collection
WEST WINSTED [CW, 1872]
This CW station was just about three quarters of mile west of downtown. On the map shot, note that the eagle-eyed artist even captured the unique, trapezoidal water tower that was just east of the depot that was located south of the track. Click here and pan to the left on the full map. According to Bob Adams, a donation of land by George Dudley in June, 1872 and the underwriting of costs by by him and others brought this station about. An article in the Winsted Herald said it was to be fully occupied in early July. The 80x22-ft building is described as "very elegant and commodious," with an 8-ft wide platform running around it, "covered with a roof supported by braces very neatly formed and trimmed." Inside, the ticket office occupied the center, with gents and ladies rooms on either side and baggage rooms and freight office on the ends of the building. Above the central portion, there was a 22x25 second story intended as the agent's residence. The building was said to be painted with a handsome shade of light brown and trimmed with a darker shade. The 1880 NY&NE appraisal of CW properties said this two-story structure was worth a whopping $2,150, the most of any of its buildings. The depot served its purpose until 1905 when the NYNH&H abandoned all the town's CNE stations and thereafter just used the NRR's downtown WINSTED3 depot. WEST WINSTED remained in railroad service thereafter and a photo in Nimke shows it still standing in 1927. It reportedly was torn down on 3/29/1929. [REFS: WH/06/21/1872/04; HDC08/16/1872/02; RRC16.334 (8/3/1905); D31; N3.49][rev123112]
This CW station was just about three quarters of mile west of downtown. On the map shot, note that the eagle-eyed artist even captured the unique, trapezoidal water tower that was just east of the depot that was located south of the track. Click here and pan to the left on the full map. According to Bob Adams, a donation of land by George Dudley in June, 1872 and the underwriting of costs by by him and others brought this station about. An article in the Winsted Herald said it was to be fully occupied in early July. The 80x22-ft building is described as "very elegant and commodious," with an 8-ft wide platform running around it, "covered with a roof supported by braces very neatly formed and trimmed." Inside, the ticket office occupied the center, with gents and ladies rooms on either side and baggage rooms and freight office on the ends of the building. Above the central portion, there was a 22x25 second story intended as the agent's residence. The building was said to be painted with a handsome shade of light brown and trimmed with a darker shade. The 1880 NY&NE appraisal of CW properties said this two-story structure was worth a whopping $2,150, the most of any of its buildings. The depot served its purpose until 1905 when the NYNH&H abandoned all the town's CNE stations and thereafter just used the NRR's downtown WINSTED3 depot. WEST WINSTED remained in railroad service thereafter and a photo in Nimke shows it still standing in 1927. It reportedly was torn down on 3/29/1929. [REFS: WH/06/21/1872/04; HDC08/16/1872/02; RRC16.334 (8/3/1905); D31; N3.49][rev123112]
Dave Peters Collection
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J.J. Harness Collection, NHRHTA
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WESTBROOK1 [NH&NL, 1852]
Two views in a 1916 valuation photo at left and a 3/19/1930 val photo on the right. The depot location, north of the track, is shown on the 1859MC map. This wooden, combination station was built in 1852 by the NH&NL and wore the distinctive compass emblem that the NYP&B affixed when it leased the line from 1858 to 1862. Used for freight after WESTBROOK2 was built, it still stands in 2011, moved away from the tracks and turned 45 degrees from its original position. The recent photo at lower right shows it as it appears today with the rail line in the distance. [REFS: R107]
Two views in a 1916 valuation photo at left and a 3/19/1930 val photo on the right. The depot location, north of the track, is shown on the 1859MC map. This wooden, combination station was built in 1852 by the NH&NL and wore the distinctive compass emblem that the NYP&B affixed when it leased the line from 1858 to 1862. Used for freight after WESTBROOK2 was built, it still stands in 2011, moved away from the tracks and turned 45 degrees from its original position. The recent photo at lower right shows it as it appears today with the rail line in the distance. [REFS: R107]
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WESTBROOK2 [NYNH&H, 1906]
The photo at left is a Benton and Drake from the 1930s. It looks west and shows the new station on the south side of the track and WESTBROOK1 on the north side. The Courant crowed enthusiastically in 1906 that "the new station is a beauty!" and gave a detailed description. It remarked about the low slanting roof, long coversheds and dark green exterior over a foundation of pressed brick. The old "barnlike" building, it said, was now being used for freight. Ironically, as John Roy points out, the old station has outlived the newer one. We do not yet know the fate of WESTBROOK2. Service was discontinued in April, 1936, according to a letter from the NYNH&H, then in bankruptcy proceedings, asking approval from the PUC on 12/13/1936. The building itself may have succumbed to the hurricane of 1938 that doomed BRANFORD3. [REFS: CRC53.1905.5; NHAR34.1905.7; HC/07/07/1906/02; R107]
The photo at left is a Benton and Drake from the 1930s. It looks west and shows the new station on the south side of the track and WESTBROOK1 on the north side. The Courant crowed enthusiastically in 1906 that "the new station is a beauty!" and gave a detailed description. It remarked about the low slanting roof, long coversheds and dark green exterior over a foundation of pressed brick. The old "barnlike" building, it said, was now being used for freight. Ironically, as John Roy points out, the old station has outlived the newer one. We do not yet know the fate of WESTBROOK2. Service was discontinued in April, 1936, according to a letter from the NYNH&H, then in bankruptcy proceedings, asking approval from the PUC on 12/13/1936. The building itself may have succumbed to the hurricane of 1938 that doomed BRANFORD3. [REFS: CRC53.1905.5; NHAR34.1905.7; HC/07/07/1906/02; R107]
WESTBROOK3 SLE, 1990]
Small plexiglass shelter that has served here since 1990 for Shore Line East. Construction activity for WESTBROOK4 is in the works. In the upper right corner of this shot, you can see the south end of WESTBROOK1 on the north side of the tracks.
Small plexiglass shelter that has served here since 1990 for Shore Line East. Construction activity for WESTBROOK4 is in the works. In the upper right corner of this shot, you can see the south end of WESTBROOK1 on the north side of the tracks.
WESTCHESTER1 [NHM&W, 1873]
This station stop was established by the NHM&W when it opened in 1873. We have no photos yet of the first station.
This station stop was established by the NHM&W when it opened in 1873. We have no photos yet of the first station.
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Copyright NHRHTA
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WESTCHESTER2 [NYNH&H, 1894]
The NHRHTA data sheet shows what appear to be the plans for the second station here, with a date of 1894. This station may have been moved about 40 feet north of the old location, probably as part of the realignment of the Air Line in 1911. That project stretched from Portland to Columbia and involved the elimination of 23 grade crossings and the re-channeling of Ten Mile River and of Dickinson Creek under the Lyman Viaduct. The railroad commissioners reviewed 75 blueprint maps filed with them and gave their permission on 7/7/1911, with the NYNH&H to pay all the expenses. This was in contrast to the usual sharing of costs with municipalities, either by law or because of their initiation of the changes to be made. The val map [click here] snippet shows the layout in 1915. [REFS: CRC59.1911.15; RRC12.246]
The NHRHTA data sheet shows what appear to be the plans for the second station here, with a date of 1894. This station may have been moved about 40 feet north of the old location, probably as part of the realignment of the Air Line in 1911. That project stretched from Portland to Columbia and involved the elimination of 23 grade crossings and the re-channeling of Ten Mile River and of Dickinson Creek under the Lyman Viaduct. The railroad commissioners reviewed 75 blueprint maps filed with them and gave their permission on 7/7/1911, with the NYNH&H to pay all the expenses. This was in contrast to the usual sharing of costs with municipalities, either by law or because of their initiation of the changes to be made. The val map [click here] snippet shows the layout in 1915. [REFS: CRC59.1911.15; RRC12.246]
WESTFIELD1 [M&B, 1850]
This was probably established when the Middletown RR opened in 1850, perhaps just as a flag stop since only BERLIN and EAST BERLIN are seen on a 2/20/1867 timetable. The first actual reference to a station here comes in 1859 when "black hearted villainy" caused someone to try derailing a train that had "just passed the Westfield station" heading for Middletown by leaving a large log on the track. The actual location of the 'Westfield society' was somewhat to the south on today's Rte. 217, centered around the Congregational Church [click here]. The station was just below the Middletown's border with Cromwell that is formed by the stream known variously as the Sebethe, the Little, or the Mattabesett River, as shown on the 1874 map. We have no picture yet of the first structure that was replaced by "a new station house" in 1875. [REFS: MC/08/10/1859/02; MC/12/08/1875/02; DC/12/27/1875/02]
This was probably established when the Middletown RR opened in 1850, perhaps just as a flag stop since only BERLIN and EAST BERLIN are seen on a 2/20/1867 timetable. The first actual reference to a station here comes in 1859 when "black hearted villainy" caused someone to try derailing a train that had "just passed the Westfield station" heading for Middletown by leaving a large log on the track. The actual location of the 'Westfield society' was somewhat to the south on today's Rte. 217, centered around the Congregational Church [click here]. The station was just below the Middletown's border with Cromwell that is formed by the stream known variously as the Sebethe, the Little, or the Mattabesett River, as shown on the 1874 map. We have no picture yet of the first structure that was replaced by "a new station house" in 1875. [REFS: MC/08/10/1859/02; MC/12/08/1875/02; DC/12/27/1875/02]
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WESTFIELD2 [NYNH&H, 1875]
The second station was built here in 1875, at which time the newspaper remarked about how the Consolidated road was caring for the Middletown branch line, with well-maintained track and rail bed, courteous station agents at BERLIN and MIDDLETOWN, a newly appointed one here where apparently none had been before, and the engine Connecticut heading the trains. The new station, according to one article, was "a neat and tasty building, with a warm and comfortable waiting room." By 1876, a Little River post office was established at the depot and Station Agent J.W. Nichols, in the custom of the day, was iikely the postmaster. Things settled down until discontent with the NYNH&H shipping rates to Meriden led to a call for a new railroad from the Silver City to the Connecticut River, with the primary intent of obtaining coal at cheaper prices. Westfield would, thus, become a junction point with the Meriden & Cromwell RR in 1885 and the crossroads of even more traffic when the M&C was extended to Waterbury in 1888 and rechristened as the Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River RR. The Consolidated was antagonistic to this project and objected to any grade crossings or connections with its affiliated lines. Here, this meant the M&C had to build a bridge to go under the Berlin branch. Perhaps captured in no other photo, the bridge is seen in the distance in the shot at upper left taken from the Little River crossing where a collapsed bridge threw an MW&CR train into the water in January, 1891. Also seen on the embankment to the left of the bridge is a building that seems to correspond with the photos we have of WESTFIELD2. Reorganized as the Middletown, Meriden and Waterbury RR in 1898, the line would be obtained through surrogates by the NYNH&H which discontinued the portion from Westfield to Cromwell and brought trains to Middletown instead. Service commenced on 1/2/1899 after a link to the Berlin branch was installed. On the 1915 val map at lower middle, the red arrow points to the undergrade bridge that apparently still stood at the time; the track to Cromwell, removed in 1903, is shown as a dashed line. The red arrow on the val map at lower right indicates where the connection was made between the two branches. The blue arrow on both maps points to WESTFIELD2, which may have served both lines when they were independent, though that supposition may bear further investigation. The val photo at upper middle looks west and is dated 8/10/1916. The PUC photo at upper right looks east. The dark area north of the tracks is the location of the undergrade bridge, no longer seen and removed sometime between 1915 and the 10/26/1927 date of the photo. The Benton and Drake shot at lower left is dated 6/22/1929. Both show the the Meriden line now coming in at the grade crossing. Electric service from from Meriden to Middletown was initiated on 7/8/1907 at the same time it debuted on the Berlin line. The headline in the Courant said "Say Goodbye to the Dinky" at the inauguration of the service when there would be 29 trains total to Berlin and 38 to Meriden from Middletown six days per week and a few less on Sundays. With the third-rail system outlawed in 1906 because of electrocution hazards, trolley wire was strung overhead on the two branches which converged at Westfield. With freight trains restricted to night operation, Connecticut Co. trolleys, guided by NYNH&H 'pilot' personnel, used the track to Middletown during the day, in later days apparently sharing it with NYNH&H steam passenger trains. In spite of precautions, there was one fatal accident on 10/10/1913 between a trolley and a steam train at Westfield. Our research has clarified that a 1984 Shoreliner article speculates correctly about a postcard view of this crash in which a Meriden-bound trolley that failed to wait at NEWFIELD crashed into a tender-first steam train headed for Middletown. Electric service on the Berlin branch was discontinued in 1927 in favor of an increased steam train schedule, with trolleys still running from Westfield to Meriden. The latter were cut in 1932 and physical abandonment of the track from Westfield to York Hill Quarry came at the end of 1937, bus service used thereafter on U.S. Rte. 6A, today's Rte. 66. Westfield, while it never became a big main line station, achieved a certain distinction for its uniqueness as a junction without intersecting tracks, the later connection of the two branches, the multiplicity of the types of service and equipment hosted, and the 70 or so daily traffic movements it saw in the early years of the last century. [REFS: C/12/08/1875/02; DC/12/27/1875/02; NHER/01/03/1884/01; CRC31.1884.9; HC/01/13/1891/06; NHER/10/01/1892/01: MA?; DN/06/11/1897/08; HC/11/25/1898/00; HC/12/26/1906/13; HC/07/05/1907/05; HC/07/08/1907/16; HC/05/08/1909/16; HC/01/06/1913/12; HC/10/12/1913/05; HC/11/06/1913/12; HC/11/11/1916/05; HC/11/20/1927/C9; ICC Finance Dkt 11653; PUC Dkt 6519; SL15.1.6][rev032113]
The second station was built here in 1875, at which time the newspaper remarked about how the Consolidated road was caring for the Middletown branch line, with well-maintained track and rail bed, courteous station agents at BERLIN and MIDDLETOWN, a newly appointed one here where apparently none had been before, and the engine Connecticut heading the trains. The new station, according to one article, was "a neat and tasty building, with a warm and comfortable waiting room." By 1876, a Little River post office was established at the depot and Station Agent J.W. Nichols, in the custom of the day, was iikely the postmaster. Things settled down until discontent with the NYNH&H shipping rates to Meriden led to a call for a new railroad from the Silver City to the Connecticut River, with the primary intent of obtaining coal at cheaper prices. Westfield would, thus, become a junction point with the Meriden & Cromwell RR in 1885 and the crossroads of even more traffic when the M&C was extended to Waterbury in 1888 and rechristened as the Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River RR. The Consolidated was antagonistic to this project and objected to any grade crossings or connections with its affiliated lines. Here, this meant the M&C had to build a bridge to go under the Berlin branch. Perhaps captured in no other photo, the bridge is seen in the distance in the shot at upper left taken from the Little River crossing where a collapsed bridge threw an MW&CR train into the water in January, 1891. Also seen on the embankment to the left of the bridge is a building that seems to correspond with the photos we have of WESTFIELD2. Reorganized as the Middletown, Meriden and Waterbury RR in 1898, the line would be obtained through surrogates by the NYNH&H which discontinued the portion from Westfield to Cromwell and brought trains to Middletown instead. Service commenced on 1/2/1899 after a link to the Berlin branch was installed. On the 1915 val map at lower middle, the red arrow points to the undergrade bridge that apparently still stood at the time; the track to Cromwell, removed in 1903, is shown as a dashed line. The red arrow on the val map at lower right indicates where the connection was made between the two branches. The blue arrow on both maps points to WESTFIELD2, which may have served both lines when they were independent, though that supposition may bear further investigation. The val photo at upper middle looks west and is dated 8/10/1916. The PUC photo at upper right looks east. The dark area north of the tracks is the location of the undergrade bridge, no longer seen and removed sometime between 1915 and the 10/26/1927 date of the photo. The Benton and Drake shot at lower left is dated 6/22/1929. Both show the the Meriden line now coming in at the grade crossing. Electric service from from Meriden to Middletown was initiated on 7/8/1907 at the same time it debuted on the Berlin line. The headline in the Courant said "Say Goodbye to the Dinky" at the inauguration of the service when there would be 29 trains total to Berlin and 38 to Meriden from Middletown six days per week and a few less on Sundays. With the third-rail system outlawed in 1906 because of electrocution hazards, trolley wire was strung overhead on the two branches which converged at Westfield. With freight trains restricted to night operation, Connecticut Co. trolleys, guided by NYNH&H 'pilot' personnel, used the track to Middletown during the day, in later days apparently sharing it with NYNH&H steam passenger trains. In spite of precautions, there was one fatal accident on 10/10/1913 between a trolley and a steam train at Westfield. Our research has clarified that a 1984 Shoreliner article speculates correctly about a postcard view of this crash in which a Meriden-bound trolley that failed to wait at NEWFIELD crashed into a tender-first steam train headed for Middletown. Electric service on the Berlin branch was discontinued in 1927 in favor of an increased steam train schedule, with trolleys still running from Westfield to Meriden. The latter were cut in 1932 and physical abandonment of the track from Westfield to York Hill Quarry came at the end of 1937, bus service used thereafter on U.S. Rte. 6A, today's Rte. 66. Westfield, while it never became a big main line station, achieved a certain distinction for its uniqueness as a junction without intersecting tracks, the later connection of the two branches, the multiplicity of the types of service and equipment hosted, and the 70 or so daily traffic movements it saw in the early years of the last century. [REFS: C/12/08/1875/02; DC/12/27/1875/02; NHER/01/03/1884/01; CRC31.1884.9; HC/01/13/1891/06; NHER/10/01/1892/01: MA?; DN/06/11/1897/08; HC/11/25/1898/00; HC/12/26/1906/13; HC/07/05/1907/05; HC/07/08/1907/16; HC/05/08/1909/16; HC/01/06/1913/12; HC/10/12/1913/05; HC/11/06/1913/12; HC/11/11/1916/05; HC/11/20/1927/C9; ICC Finance Dkt 11653; PUC Dkt 6519; SL15.1.6][rev032113]
WESTOVER [> HOSKINS]
WESTPORT1 [NY&NH, 1848]
The 1868 map of the Saugatuck area of town shows the railroad station on the east side of the river, not the west side as at present, the change probably having been made with the four-tracking of 1893. We have no photo yet of this station, which if it followed the pattern of most all the other early NY&NY depots, was the cross-gabled Gothic type, like STRATFORD1, NORWALK1 and others.
The 1868 map of the Saugatuck area of town shows the railroad station on the east side of the river, not the west side as at present, the change probably having been made with the four-tracking of 1893. We have no photo yet of this station, which if it followed the pattern of most all the other early NY&NY depots, was the cross-gabled Gothic type, like STRATFORD1, NORWALK1 and others.
WESTPORT2 [NYNY&H, 1873]
A newly found Constitution article says that "the new depot building at Westport will be ready for use May 1st." We assume it was also east of the Saugatuck River. We have no photo yet. [REFS: MDC/03/12/1873/03]
A newly found Constitution article says that "the new depot building at Westport will be ready for use May 1st." We assume it was also east of the Saugatuck River. We have no photo yet. [REFS: MDC/03/12/1873/03]
Dave Peters Collection
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WESTPORT3 [NYNH&H, 1891, EB]
This stop was called WESTPORT AND SAUGATUCK in later days, perhaps to reflect the move to a location west of the river at this time.
This stop was called WESTPORT AND SAUGATUCK in later days, perhaps to reflect the move to a location west of the river at this time.
Archives & Spec Colls, UConn
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WESTPORT4 [NYNH&H, 1895?, WB]
This is the station on the westbound side was built as part of the 1890s four-tracking project. The image at left is dated 8/2/1955. [REFS: R107]
This is the station on the westbound side was built as part of the 1890s four-tracking project. The image at left is dated 8/2/1955. [REFS: R107]
WESTWAY [> WEST STREET]
WETHERSFIELD1 [CV, 1871?]
No photos of this station survive that have been found yet. It is also unclear what its fate was and when it was replaced
WETHERSFIELD1 [CV, 1871?]
No photos of this station survive that have been found yet. It is also unclear what its fate was and when it was replaced
Robert Lingane Collection
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Dave Peters Collection
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WETHERSFIELD2 [NYNH&H, ca1890?]
This is the old freight house converted to use as a combination station.
Click here to continue...
This is the old freight house converted to use as a combination station.
Click here to continue...
