|
|
********************
BRADLEYS [HAMDEN]
BRADLEYS. This Hamden stop appears on early Canal line timetables. The
probable location is seen on 1852NH map.
********************
BRADLEYS [MIDDLEBURY]
BRADLEYS. This stop seems to have been established in the town of Middlebury between 1882 and
1884. It was not on the list of stations on this line when ir opened in 1881, but it was in use long enough
by 1885 that public protest convinced the railroad commissioners to deny the NY&NE's
request to eliminate it. What structure was here, if any, is not yet known
and this stop may have been replaced by the nearby OSBORNTOWN depot, later renamed to ALLERTON FARMS: see A stations. The newspaper reported a head-on collision of two freight trains here about two miles
west of Naugatuck in 1899, still calling the station BRADLEYS at that time. [REFS:
RRC26.468 (5/15/1884); CRC32.1885.21; CWN/03/16/1899/03]
********************
BRADLEYS [ORANGE]
BRADLEYS. According to a Palladium article, this Orange stop, along with ALLINGS CROSSING, was discontinued when TYLER CITY opened midway between them on 6/1/1872.
Created less than a year earlier when the NH&D opened, it is doubtful that any structure stood here on today's Racebrook
Rd., just south of New Haven Ave. As shown on the 1912 NYNH&H real estate map, this thoroughfare was known earlier as
Bradley Ave. for the family that owned the sprawling farm, much of which was sold for the creation of Tyler City itself. See Track 4B, MP4.45.1
for more on this part of the NH&D right of way. [REFS: NHJC/11/20/1871/02; NHDP/06/06/872/04][add10/18]
********************
BRANCHVILLE1
|
| Edward Blackman photo |
|
| Dan Foley photo |
BRANCHVILLE1. The white house at upper left and seen
in the background of the other photos was the first depot here. This stop was originally known as BEERS
STATION or RIDGEFIELD STATION. As shown on the 1856FC map, it was on the
D&N main line at the point that was to become known in 1870 as Branchville when the track to the center of Ridgefield
opened. Initially, the railroad intended to build a station here, but then decided to rent space instead. In the words of
Sherman Beers, who had already made land available for the right of way, the lease was for "the front two rooms
in the basement in the dwelling house now occupied by me, together with the room or office between the said front two rooms
and now occupied as a bar room... for the uses and privileges of a passenger house and ticket office for said railroad
company." The postcard at lower left reportedly dates to 1900. Our thanks to Brent Colley [click here], who submitted this Beers material and other information as well. [REFS: HDC/06/20/1870/04]
********************
BRANCHVILLE2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
BRANCHVILLE2. At bottom
right is the 1915 val map showing this station by the track and the Beers home, which did the depot honors here until 1905,
behind it. Both are marked in yellow. The Ridgefield branch diverges to the northwest from the Danbury main line on the map.
The upper left photo looks south, other two look north. [REFS: CRC53.1905.25; R36; SL17.4.26]
********************
BRANFORD1
BRANFORD1. The 1852NH map on the left, already shows the NH&NL that opened in the very same year but does not yet indicate a station here. How reliable this is as an indicator is unclear but the map does show one in place
for MADISON. The 1854NH map on the right does denote a depot here and shows it standing on the north side of the track. Based
on the fact that BRANFORD2 was on the south side of the track, that it looks too substantial for a first station when compared,
for example, to EAST HAVEN1, and that the second station's presumed 1858 vintage was six years into the operation of the
NH&NL, we are concluding that there was a BRANFORD1 that preceded the next station. We owe a great debt of thanks to Jane
Bouley of the Branford Historical Society [click here] for the photos, maps, and data, much of which we have incorporated into this thorough examination of the town's main
railroad station. Would that we had such luck and success everywhere!
********************
BRANFORD2
|
| Branford Historical Society |
|
| Branford Historical Society |
|
| Branford Historical Society |
BRANFORD2.
The earliest station that has survived in town images is seen in the two upper shots. We assume it was built by the NYP&B along with other depots while it controlled
the NH&NL from 1858 to 1864. The Stonington road's signature 'compass' detail, while not in sight in the photos,
was caught when the bird's-eye map artist sketched the depot on the 1881 map at lower right. Thank
you, Mr. Bailey! An 1885 article in the Register anticipating the elegant new brick BRANFORD3 said it would replace
the "old brown wooden structure" and a 1939 article in The Branford
Review said that this new one was built on the opposite side of the track, thus north, to the old
one that stood on the south side. That location is verified on both the 1868 [lower left] and 1881 maps. This station was may
have been used briefly as a freight depot in this location before being razed or moved to allow the construction of the bridge
that eliminated the Kirkham St. grade crossing just to the west. According to the railroad commissioners, a new freight depot
was built in 1887, the one seen to the east at Montowese St. The theory, advanced by Carr, that BRANFORD2 became the new
freight station is possible if it was moved and the commissioners misspoke. [REFS: HDC/07/15/1863/02; NHER/08/24/1885/04; CRC36.1888.19;
BR/08/17/1939/01; Carr, Early History of Branford, p48]
********************
BRANFORD3
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
|
| Branford Historical Society |
|
| Branford Historical Society |
|
| Branford Historical Society |
BRANFORD3. The architect's plan at upper left is dated
October, 1886. In early November, 1887, a Register article reported that work was
rapidly progressing on the new depot and another article late in the month said that it was likely not going to be opened
until a grade crossing matter west of the station was resolved, making it sound like the structure was nearly ready then.
No actual article about the opening has been found but the 1888 report of the railroad commissioners issued in January, 1889
said it had opened since their last report, hence a very late 1887 or early 1888 debut is probable. Click here for the 1905 bird's-eye map showing the depot and the freight station built at the same time on Montowese
St. to the east, and click here for the 1915 val map of this area. The two center photos explain what happened to
the old station. The approach to the bridge built to eliminate the Kirkham St. grade crossing, a contentious issue in town
affairs for years, took the space where BRANFORD2 sat. It is seen in the center left photo possibly
in use as a freight station for a very brief time in 1888 before it was removed. Articles in the Branford News and The Branford Review
have helped clarify the fate of the grand, turreted BRANFORD3. The latter says that it was "in urgent need of repairs"
after damage from the 1938 hurricane and that contractors were bidding in August, 1939 on the demolition job since it was
the railroad's intention "to wreck the station and erect in its stead a shelter, similar to to the one at Leetes
Island." See L stations for discussion of what that meant. The removal of BRANFORD3 was contemplated even earlier because
only two trains per day were stopping here to take commuters to work in New Haven. The elderly gentleman
in the photo at lower right, with camera and tripod, is Louis H. Benton. Chauffeured by the young Irving N. Drake, whose
touring car is usually seen in the photos, Benton took pictures of thousands of railroad stations all over New England in
the late 1920s and early 1930s. Drake is seen 'walking the rail' in our NORTH CROMWELL photo. Carlton Parker, another
noted rail photographer, may have been on this trip to catch this rare image of Benton. [REFS: NHER/08/24/1885/04; NHER/11/02/1887/03; NHER/11/26/1887/03;
CRC35.1887.17; NHAR16.1887.7; NHAR17.1888.7; CRC36.1888.19; NHER/02/25/1889/01: bridge done already; NHER/06/28/1892/01:
case closed; BR/08/17/1939/01; BN/08/20/1939; NL6.6.6; NL20.4.10]
********************
BRANFORD4
|
| Branford Historical Society |
|
| Branford Historical Society |
BRANFORD4. The faded grandeur of BRANFORD3 was replaced by this simple, open-faced shed. The 1965 aerial map at upper left shows the outline from the sky. The photo at upper right may be right after this shed was finished, judging by the automobile and with baggage carts still on the
platform to the left! The photo at lower left was taken by Charlie Gunn in the 1950s and that timing is borne
out by the vintage cars parked adjacent to the shelter. This humble replacement met its own end when
the Courant reported in 1970 that the "old Branford depot" was demolished
by a Boston-New York freight train that derailed on 3/22/1970, with 25 of the 86 cars leaving the tracks that were torn up
for a quarter of a mile. A boy who had just waved to the engineer heard the crash seconds later and said it "sounded
like the end of the world." The aftermath is pictured at lower right. [REFS:
HC/03/23/1970/02]
********************
BRANFORD5
|
| Branford Historical Society |
BRANFORD5. The estimated date of this photo is ca. 1979 and the folks
at BHS say it was the next station here, this one on the south side of the tracks. An article we happened upon in the Courant said Penn Central was planning to raze shelters still standing and otherwise abandon
service on the Shore Line in 1973. This structure may have come along with the creation of Amtrak in the 1970s when there
was local service and the Beacon Hill stopped here until it was reportedly discontinued
in 1981 [click here and here]. [REFS: HC/03/27/1973/13]
********************
BRANFORD6
|
| Branford Historical Society |
BRANFORD6.
This plexiglass enclosure stood once again on the north side of the tracks and was probably put up at the first incarnation
of Shore Line East service in 1990. We cannot determine specifically when P&W got trackage rights on the NEC but here
it is seen passing this shelter some time after its rebirth in 1973.
********************
BRANFORD7
BRANFORD7. According to Wikipedia, this Shore Line East station opened on
8/8/2005. Our photo was taken on 8/2/2010. The station now is west of the Kirkham St. bridge that caused so much controversy
a century ago.
********************
BRANFORD DRIVING PARK
|
| Max Miller Collection |
|
| New Haven Register |
|
| Connecticut State Library |
BRANFORD DRIVING PARK. It is perhaps a little-known fact that the Branford Steam RR began as a spur track to this horse-racing and agricultural fair venue, seen at upper right. Newly found articles reveal that trains started running from
New Haven to this station on 8/16/1900, leaving people "at the park gates without change of cars." The Branford
Park Association was chartered in 1895 and the property was subsequently purchased by manager/entrepreneur/politician, Louis A. Fisk, who refurbished the facility for a Memorial Day, 1900
grand reopening. Initially, people were brought by stage, bus, or 'barge'
vehicles from either the BRANFORD depot or PINE ORCHARD2, the new station on the relocated Shore Line,
but Fisk wanted trains run directly to the park and work on a spur track was begun on 7/10/1900 from
the old NH&NL line that had been retained by the NYNH&H for access to the Stony Creek RR. He had hoped that the spur
would be completed in time for what the Register reported
as the "most extensive automobile tournament ever held in America," wherein two-, three-, and four-wheeled vehicles,
both gasoline- and steam-powered, one even said to resemble a baby carriage,
were to compete "for international supremacy" on 7/25/1900. Stymied briefly by an injunction, Fisk was quoted as saying "I'll have a spur track for my patrons or I
will get you from Union station here in airships" and, by August 16 at least,
he made good on his promise when the paper said "the special train went on to the new park station" for the first
time. By 1905 the irrepressible Fisk was illuminating his park with arc lamps, search lights, and
mirror reflectors and promising a day and night "hippodrome" of racing events. The Branford Steam R.R. was incorporated on 3/19/1903 by Fisk and two partners to take over the spur, the name chosen to differentiate it from the Branford Electric Rwy that had opened on 9/3/1900. Since
the spur was to be utilized only for park events, grade
crossings were allowed and one source says the right was given to operate trolley cars, though the incorporating act specifies
steam power and there is no evidence of electric cars ever having been run. Subsequently, Fisk became
interested in quarrying trap rock on Totoket Mountain in North Branford and was granted permission in 1905 for an extension,
dubbed the Damascus RR for this section of Branford, that was later folded into the BSRR. Through his
influence as a state legislator, he was able to get permission for the new entity's crossings, with the exception of the Boston Post Road, also to be at grade. The one at the heavily traveled Rte. 80 was even passed over gubernatorial veto and this coup
forced the Shore Line Electric Rwy, about to open in 1911, to lower its gradient and construct a bridge
to go under the still-unbuilt BSRR to avoid the dangerous grade crossing of a steam and an electric road. While further permission to build to a tidewater terminus at Juniper Point was received in 1909,
the newspaper said as late as 1910 that no BSRR construction on either end had begun. For some reason, perhaps tiring of the
decade-long project, Fisk sold both the quarry and the BSRR in 1914 to his partners, principal of whom
were members of the Blakeslee construction family, who incorporated as the New Haven Trap Rock Co. Interestingly, when Rte 80 was paved with "bituminous macadam" in 1933, it was realigned
to use the old SLER ROW, thus eliminating the grade crossing by having Rte. 80 pass under the BSRR as the trolley once did.
Notwithstanding the 2006 CTDOT replacement of the 1914 bridge, seen at lower right, the BSRR is pretty
much now as it was completed then, the tidewater terminus as well as the old NH&NL interchange, now connecting with the
P&W and Amtrak, still in place in 2012. While the SLER is gone, part of the
Branford Electric Rwy is perpetuated by Shore Line Trolley Museum today [click here]. Though we don't know how long the trains actually ran to the BRANFORD DRIVING
PARK station or even how long the races lasted, the final newspaper reference we see is in 1940 when Ben Kennard was running
the property as the Pine Orchard Riding Academy. The 1934 aerial map at middle left shows the racing
track still very much intact. The red arrow points to the building that may have served as the arrival center and depot, seen
in the 11/8/1923 PUC inspection photo at upper left, and the blue arrow points to the railroad bridge
over the Boston Post Road. The 1915 val map [click here] at lower left shows the old NH&NL ROW as 'Original Center Line' still in place only this far from the west to
connect with the 'To Quarry' line, the BSRR spur. The southern extension
to Juniper Point, belonging to another company, is not shown on the NYNH&H val map. The image at middle right is a chance
Internet hit in research that has assembled what may be the definitive bibliography on the fascinating Fisk, the park, and
the BSRR [click here and here]. With its peculiar origins, special privileges, and its evanescent evolution, this railroad went,
in just the first 15 years of its existence, from personal railroad spur, to common-carrier,
to private industrial steam railroad and still operates in the latter capacity today over a century later. [REFS: NHER/04/01/1895/01; NHER/08/04/1899/08; NHER/08/31/1899/02; HC/05/26/1900/02; NHER/05/30/1900/15; NHER/07/10/1900/08;
HC/07/26/1900/02; NHER/07/24/1900/02; NHER/07/26/1900/05; NYT/07/26/1900/05; NHER/08/17/1900/10; NHER/09/04/1900/08; NHER/09/12/1900/09;
HC/12/28/1901/05; RRC37.485 (12/31/1901); HC/12/31/1902/04; HC/01/23/1903/13; Spec Laws, 1903-31; RRC9.106 (9/24/1904); HC/05/29/1905/02;
HC/06/16/1905/11; Spec Laws, 1905-481; HC/05/28/1906/17; HC/06/04/1907/07; HC/07/02/1910/07: trolley cars; Spec Laws, 1907-236;
Spec Laws, 1909-104; HC/03/05/1909/06; HC/03/29/1910/06; HC/02/11/1911/06; HC/04/05/1910/11; RRC13.52 (6/30/1910); HC/07/02/1910/07;
CRC58.1910.9; CRC59.1911.44+; HC/02/28/1911/05; PUC1.1912.xlv; HC/04/28/1914/12; HC/06/20/1912/07; HC/06/26/1912/05; HC/02/07/1914/04;
HC/04/28/1914/12; PUC3.1914.36; NLD/05/06/1915/11; MDJ/05/12/1915/03; Spec Laws,
1915-343; HC/08/04/1933/07; HC/07/25/1937/D7; HC/07/13/1940/SM3; NHR/05/26/1963/4/01; NHR/07/26/1987/B5; NHR/12/31/2005/B2;
Hill, p421][upp&lowright adds, rev1/29]
********************
BREAKWATER
BREAKWATER, as seen on the 1915 val map. This station in the town of Ledyard is on
the N&W Groton extension, completed by the NYNH&H in 1899. This stop may be the same as POQUETANUCK.
********************
BRICK YARD
BRICK YARD. The 1915 val map shows just a platform here on the east side
of the track adjacent to the East Windsor Brick Co. This was not an original station on the Connecticut Central when it opened
in 1876 and we do not yet know precisely when it was established, but it is on our 1907TT as a flag stop for one of the two
trains daily each way between Hartford and Springfield on this branch. The stop is in the town of South Windsor.
********************
BRIDGEPORT1
BRIDGEPORT1. In going through the Fairfield County Historical Society records [click here] that we recently came upon, we found the following statement:
"About 1846 the Housatonic Railroad company removed their depot for both for passenger and freight from near Fairfield
avenue southerly to a point near the present elevator." The FCHS records go on to say that the
railroad's first operational base was at Porter's Point, identified in Orcutt
as the location of a farm once owned by Samuel Porter at the foot of Gold St. The snippets are from
the Bailey 1875 bird's-eye map [click here]. The one on the left shows the Porter farm location.
The right shaft of the double arrow points to what FCHS calls the "long car house" that remained
here for years after 1846 and the left shaft points to a small structure that
we have discounted as being the first depot because it is too small and a bit too far from Fairfield Ave.
The single red arrow on both snippets points to what we
think was the first HRR depot, shown just north of the 1861 station we now have designated as BRIDGEPORT3. Late in 1860,
when that station was about to open, the Courant referred to the old one as a "shanty"
and in 1879, the Journal Courier reported that "the old
passenger depot of the Housatonic railroad in Bridgeport is being torn down." While both may refer to the larger BRIDGEPORT2,
it is perhaps more likely that this small structure is the one they meant, perhaps
being used by the NY&NH after the HRR vacated it and in later days for a baggage and express office for all three
railroads. It is worth noting that Mr. Bailey has once again
come to the rescue with a representation of Bridgeport that we may never have
had otherwise and that includes an accurate rendering of the
1848 swing-span bridge, the first of the four that the railroad would use to cross the Pequonnock River here, as well as the Park City's old Congress St. bridge to
the north. [REFS: HDC/12/29/1860/02;
NHJC/08/12/1879/02; FCHS Reports and Papers, 1882-1897, p152,154
(Porter, p6,7); Orcutt, A History
of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, 1.553]
********************
BRIDGEPORT2
BRIDGEPORT2. The FCHS clue that the HRR moved its depot south
to where the grain elevator was ties nicely into the 1856FC map
[top right] and the 1850 Sidney & Neff map at CHO [top left].
They both show an L-shaped depot at Water and Union Sts. on the east side of the tracks that
now terminate there instead of at Porter Point. This second
station would be used by the NY&NH and the NRR when they both opened in 1849. The HRR's 1850 annual report says that the
rents the other two roads were paying were "proportionate to the occupancy" of the HRR terminal property and amounted
half the interest on the cost of the facilities, indicating a 25/25/50 split. The 1867
Beers map [lower left] shows the 1846 BRIDGEPORT2 location at the bottom red arrow and the 1861 BRIDGEPORT3 depot at the upper
red arrow. A Courant article in 1865 mentions that HRR employee, William McGrath,
was severely injured while working at "the old depot," which we interpret as meaning Union St. Though we have yet found no photographs, the lower right shot from the 1875 Bailey bird's-eye
map shows the appearance of a rather ornate building at the lower red arrow, standing right below the tall structure marked
'F', which is the grain elevator. Newspapers
in 1846 noted the new construction and applauded the strides the HRR made after its early financial troubles. The Albany Evening Journal said that the company "have
erected spacious Depot Buildings at their termination in Bridgeport" and the Palladium,
quoted in the Republican Farmer, reported that the company "was erecting, at
the lower end of the wharf a depot, which in its dimensions will equal, if not surpass, any structure of the kind in the country."
According to FCHS records, when Pres. Lincoln visited in March, 1860, "he arrived at the old depot, then at the foot
of Union street" and we know he later gave a speech at what is now McLevy Hall a few blocks away. He was probably the last visitor of importance to this station because BRIDGEPORT3 would open
less than a year later. BRIDGEPORT2, the lower portion at least, was later turned into a car house and the footprint presents such an appearance on the 1867 Beers map with
tracks leading into it. An 1880 map shows HRR offices here, probably on the north end of the building but by 1884 the structure is gone and the space
filled in with more tracks leading to expanded HRR facilities just to the south. [REFS: RF/09/15/1846/03; AEJ/11/21/1846/02;
HRRAR1850.11,12; HDC/10/20/1865/02; NHJC/08/12/1879/02; FCHS p1050, (Lincoln, xvi)][rev9/6]
********************
BRIDGEPORT3
BRIDGEPORT3. This station opened on January 1, 1861 and, contrary to most claims, was not the first station
in the Park City where the HRR had operated since 1840. According to the NY&NH 1860 annual report, the HRR and the NRR declined an offer to
participate at "joint fair proportional expense" in the erection of a station for "the mutual accommodation
of the three Companies." The NY&NH then applied to
the railroad commissioners on its own for an "up-town"
location at Fairfield Ave. and Water St. where the older HRR
depot was still standing. The Courant said in November, 1859 that the railroad commissioners had given their approval and that
the depot would be built the following spring. Some delay or other resulted in a report in September, 1860 that a "new
railroad depot, 200 feet long by 23 wide, and two stories high, for the N.Y. and N.H. Railroad Company, is under contract
at Bridgeport." Though there is a newspaper reference in 1867 to an otherwise undocumented Naugatuck passenger station
and one in 1873 to a Housatonic depot, we assume that the other roads
abandoned BRIDGEPORT2 in 1861 and began to pay rental for use of the new NY&NH depot, a union station that was never really
referred to as such. In 1890, the Register reported that the charge to the HRR was
a surprisingly modest $300 per year. In 1880, a 31-ft
addition was put on the south end of this station to give the Adams Express Co. more space. The improvements included lengthening
the platform to 550 feet and erecting a covershed over it like the one at the recently built NEW HAVEN4. The expansion seems
to also have added another chimney to what appear to have been the four
original ones, as seen in the ca. 1870 stereopticon-card image at upper left. The
old track arrangement is seen in it as well, with the HRR crossing the NY&NH right at the station to reach its freight
depot on the harbor. A later cross-over would be a bit further on, past the station at the grain elevator, the towering structure
seen in the distance. Difficulties over the roads crossing here would be contested bitterly in the late 1880s, to the point
of armed combat by crews and the tearing up of tracks. An amicable rearrangement of deeds and property rights in 1890 actually
left the HRR owning the station, a short-lived victory until 1892 when the Consolidated leased the HRR. The photo at upper right is imprinted as 1868 in other copies but we used this one to show it mistaken for NORWALK5, which had a Mansard roof unlike BRIDGEPORT3.
Both middle views are some time after the addition, which can
be seen in the portion without the covershed on the west end. The image at lower left is probably ca. 1900 and shows pedestrians,
trolleys and streetcar tracks behind the station on Water St.
[REFS: RRC2.104 (11/22/1859); HDC/11/28/1859/02; NYNH AR1860, p6; NLDC/09/14/1860/02; HDC/09/19/1860/02; HDC/10/09/1860/02;
HDC/12/29/1860/02; HDC/04/24/1867/08; PS/05/14/1873/02; NHER/10/11/1880/01; NHER/09/03/1888/04;
NHER/01/13/1890/01; HC/03/03/1890/08; FCHS, p1006; SL28.3.6+]
********************
BRIDGEPORT4
BRIDGEPORT4. This undated sketch shows the street-level station on the eastbound side of the tracks put up by the NYNH&H in
late 1891 or early 1892. This was in some ways occasioned by the release of BRIDGEPORT3 to the HRR after which there was the
expectation that the NYNH&H would build its own new station. The Palladium
ran a small item in October, 1891 saying that published reports that the NYNH&H was about to build a completely new depot
"more costly and elaborate than any other on the road" had been denied by General Mgr. Tuttle. He said nothing would
be done about a permanent structure until the four-tracking and elevation project was completed. In the meantime, however,
he did say that the company was going to erect a "temporary wooden depot on the south side of the tracks, something after
the plan of the depot at Westport" to afford comfortable accommodations to travelers taking trains across from the main
station. It was expected to cost about $4,000. For this purpose, Tuttle said in July that the NYNH&H was going to purchase
land between BRIDGEPORT3 and the Pequonnock River from the Miller and Strickland Co. coal dealers. The footprint of the station
is seen in the map. In the sketch, all we can see is the covershed from this angle, but whatever was built foreshadowed the
oversized eastbound station and train shed that debuted in 1905. [REFS: TR/08/23/1891/04; NHDP/10/07/1891/??; HC/04/03/1891/06;
HC/07/14/1891/06]
********************
BRIDGEPORT5
BRIDGEPORT5.
This was the temporary structure that was used from February, 1904 to August, 1905. It apparently stood in the empty space
between the new permanent station and the new railway express building, as seen
in the postcard to the right. With the track-elevation project finally completed, the newspaper said early in 1904 that "work
on the structure of this [new] station cannot be begun until the present one is entirely abandoned and torn down" and
that "one by one the tenants of Bridgeport's chief relic of the past, the railroad station, have moved out,"
leaving only the ticket office and the news stand which would probably move out within the week. The article went on to say
that the "temporary station has been in readiness for them some time" but problems with the new "overhead"
tracks down by the grain elevator, a location already referred to in our previous Bridgeport entries, had prevented their
use for several weeks. Apparently, extra fill was needed between the huge stone walls
to stabilize this particularly soft mud-flat area. It is hard to visualize railroad operations at this point in time, but
it sounds like somehow trains on street-level tracks were still serving BRIDGEPORT3,
likely on either side of the four new elevated tracks stood ready on the massive stone-enclosed embankment that still cuts
through the city today. Eighteen months later when the new station was about to open, the paper said in August, 1905 that
the "temporary station on the east end of the new building will be closed and removed in a few days." The paper
went on to say on that "a big gang of men will be engaged in the task" that evening of transferring railroad property
from the temporary station to the new one. References to BRIDGEPORT5 are scant and we have found no photo and very little
visual record of any of the massive construction project that elevated the tracks in Bridgeport and other municipalities along
the New York Division. The only image we have found is from an unidentified newspaper ca. 1940 with captioning that reads
"Do you remember 'way back when -- There were 'wooden cars and iron men?'
Here they are over 30 years ago, filling in the great ditch made with stone walls to elevate the tracks of the New Haven road.
The location is Crescent avenue, east of East Main street and as far as the camera lens could see the 'iron men' are
pitching off the dirt a spoonful at a time and in unison." With more photos like these, what a fascinating exhibit
or article could be put together about this memorable chapter in Connecticut railroad history! [REFS: BEP/01/25/1904/01+;
BEP/08/19/1905/01][add9/7]
********************
BRIDGEPORT6
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
BRIDGEPORT6. Ground was broken on 4/4/1904 for this
station to replace the 1861, Civil War-era BRIDGEPORT3 and to accommodate the elevated, four-track main line. That $4M project had just been finished, with the first train running over the new viaducts on 1/31/1904. The foundation for BRIDGEPORT4 was granite and the exterior was buff brick. A 115-ft tower at the Golden Hill St.
side of the station was adorned by four copper gargoyles and a red slate roof topped the entire Romanesque structure that
was designed by architect Warren R. Briggs. A street level tunnel connected the main station with the eastbound platform and
a long ramp up from Fairfield Ave. served, more or less, as the main entrance. The top two views look east and the others
look west, the one at lower right on the old HRR that caused this station to be built with its unique V shape. The 160x70-ft
waiting room had terrazzo and marble floors and a painted metal ceiling. There were freight, passenger and express elevators
and over a thousand electric light bulbs illuminated the station and its surroundings. These improvements also included the
opening of a new rolling lift drawbridge across the Pequonnock River. Until the old bridge was demolished, the swing span
was left open, eliminating the old walkway and forcing pedestrians to use the Stratford Ave. or Congress St. bridges. As impressive as this station was, it was later said to
have been too small and out of date within a decade. In the 1950s, NHRR Pres. McGinnis said it should be blown up and a new
station built in East Bridgeport where there was more room for parking. While closed in the mid-1970s and being considered
for other uses, it was destroyed on 3/20/1979 in a suspected arson fire. [rev9/10>
The postcard on the upper right reportedly dates to 1907, with the red arrow pointing to the 1904 SS-28 Fairfield Ave. tower.
According to Dale Martin, this was eliminated when the Peck tower, SS-60, debuted on the bridge just east of the station.][REFS: HC/07/17/1903/09; HC/08/07/1903/14: new bridge;
BEP/02/01/1904; BEP/03/04/1904; HC/05/06/1904/15: old bridge being torn down; CRC53.1905.25; BEP/08/14/1905;
HC/08/15/1905/05; BEP/08/19/1905/01; HC/03/21/1979/1A; NL19.1.8; R36]
********************
BRIDGEPORT7
|
| Copyright NHRHTA, Inc. |
BRIDGEPORT7. This was the 1905 station and train shed on the eastbound
side of the tracks. We presume that the morning outbound Naugatuck line trains tied up here for the night but we don't
know much about the internal configuration of this structure. Although we grew up in Bridgeport in the day, we don't recall
that there was any part of this building used as a waiting room. Rather, we think passengers stayed at the main station and
descended to the concourse that spanned the width of the station beneath the tracks and came up stairs on the east side to
get trains there. Public entrances to the 1905 station were on Water St., on the north end of the main station where you drove
in under the Berkshire line overpass at the foot of Golden Hill St., and on the
south end via the Fairfield Ave. pedestrian ramp that was touted as quite an innovation
when it debuted. Ah, memories! The 1915 val map at lower left [add10/28] shows the elaborate, dare we say intermodal, transportation complex
that the NYNH&H built for the Park City. BRIDGEPORT7 is at the red arrow and a streetcar loop circles around the back
of the station through what we once knew as just a parking lot, under the elevated tracks, and into the
carbarns that had a clever pass-through arrangement to Congress St. The express building, utilized by Adams before the Railway Express Agency was created, is seen west of the trolley
barn complex that was only recently torn down.
********************
BRIDGEPORT8
BRIDGEPORT8. Designed by Antinozzi Associates and built by Kepetan, Inc., this station
straddles Water St. and is still in service in 2011. It was completed in 1975.
John Roy [p.36] says BRIDGEPORT6 was closed in June, 1973 and passengers were
accommodated minimally in the meantime. The photo at right [add9/7] is probably
from the 1980s.
********************
BRISTOL1
BRISTOL1. The snippet on the left is from the 1878 Bailey bird's-eye map [click here] and, when compared to the stereopticon view at right, it seems as if Mr. Bailey has misinterpreted the roof gables. A
similar situation occurred with NEW BRITAIN1 on his 1875 map in that town wherein we were led to think
that were new structures in both municipalities until further research proved us wrong. BRISTOL1
was built in 1850 by the HP&F and, with
its tall center gable, it is similar to the company's NEW BRITAIN1 and TERRYVILLE1
depots [see N,T stations]. This one apparently stood until an "equinoctial" storm of snow, rain, hail, thunder
and lightning about 1:00 a.m. on the morning of 3/20/1886. The same wide-ranging weather event also destroyed FARMINGTON1 and damaged CHESHIRE [see C,F stations],
all by fires thought to be the result of ungrounded telegraph wires that conducted lightning into the buildings. Though there were newspaper reports in 1881 and 1882 of a new depot coming for Bristol and the Courant
said the station burned in the storm was a year or so old, the Bristol
Weekly Press, more creditable by proximity, states that depot that burned "was renovated thoroughly
a year or two ago," not built at that time. This leads us to believe that
BRISTOL1 was destroyed by the storm, not a subsequent station that we otherwise have no record of being
constructed. The span of 19 months that it took to plan and build a new permanent station also appears to
argue against an intervening one, which could have been rebuilt almost immediately if recent plans were
still in hand. In fact, the Press said that
on Saturday, the same day of the fire, "a small temporary depot was begun up the track and finished on Sunday."
While the newspapers commended the NY&NE
on its speed in constructing a replacement, local appreciation turned to petitions
in July from leading businessmen to Pres. Charles Peter Clark about why it was
taking so long to build a new permanent depot. [REFS: HDC/05/25/1881/01; HDC/09/18/1882/02;
NHER/03/20/1886/01; HDC/03/22/1886/03; NHER/03/22/1886/04; BWP/03/25/1886/04; BWP/07/29/1886/02; D129]
********************
BRISTOL2
BRISTOL2 was the small replacement depot built after BRISTOL1 burned. It was
said to be "up the track" which most likely meant a little west of the earlier structure. In March, 1887, a year
after the fire when a new depot was reported to finally be in the offing, the Press
said "it is now about a year since the old station was burned, and the public has had to put up with a dry goods box
all this time, and not always good humoredly. A year is a long time to wait and much inclement weather makes it seem longer
still." A dry goods box, indeed! This small depot would be used until 10/1/1887 when BRISTOL3 opened. We have no picture
yet of this structure that we are aware of but, as frugal as railroads were in those days, it may yet show up in another photo
if it was put to further use after it ceased serving passengers. [REFS: BWP/03/17/1887/04]
********************
BRISTOL3
|
| Boston Public Library |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
|
| Bristol Public Library |
BRISTOL3. Impatient
for the new station, the Bristol Weekly Press was quoted
in February, 1887 as wondering "what about that fine new depot that was to be built?" and further saying humorously
that, if the derelict, soon-to-be-replaced NEW BRITAIN1 was being brought here by the NY&NE, there should be a vigorous
protest! The contract for Bristol's new station was signed on 4/25/1887. An original copy can
be seen in the Bristol History Room at the city library, which is well worth a visit [click here]. When BRISTOL3 opened on 10/1/1887, the Press noted it with just a single sentence: "The depot came into use last Saturday."
The "incandescent electric lamps" touted
in a previous article notwithstanding, there was considerable envy and resentment of the magnificent, towering, brick edifice
with porte cochere in New Britain that so overshadowed Bristol's simple, one-story depot. When
it came time in 1898 to reposition BRISTOL3 south of the tracks for the Main St. grade crossing elimination project, the paper
said with dripping sarcasm that "Bristol's elegant passenger station, in which we all take so much pride, is to be
moved across the tracks next Sunday. The regrettable feature is that it is to go only a few feet south. The advisable thing
to do, when once it got started, would be to keep it on a southerly course until it reached Cuba. It could then be covered
with corrugated iron and converted into a place of detention for Spanish prisoners. Then Bristol would take a pride in it
that was not ironical. However, the building will do duty for years, probably. Mr. Fred Linstead has the contract for moving
it." References to the Spanish-American War aside, the town was not happy with its depot! Another sore subject was the
dangerous Main St. grade crossing and an 1899 Courant article gives
details on that. In 1889, a law was passed stipulating that railroads in the state had to eliminate one grade crossing annually
for every 60 miles of mainline track operated. The NY&NE failed to satisfy this requirement in 1891 and the railroad commissioners,
acting within their statutory powers, chose this crossing to be eliminated to make up for the others not done. The then-estimated
$100,000 cost led the NY&NE to fight the order and the borough of Bristol all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court [click
here], which in 1894 upheld the statute and affirmed the commissioners' actions. The
new lessee of the line, the NYNH&H, still had to be prodded to undertake the massive excavation to lower
Main St. When the new iron bridge was completed on 1/1/1901, the project was finally finished. The shot at upper left, from the George E. Norris
bird's-eye map of 1889 [click here], shows the depot
shortly after it opened
in its new location, northeast of the Main St. crossing. The val photo at upper right is dated 8/21/1916 and the dotted
lines on the 1916 val map at middle left reflect the realignment of the right of way in 1900. The post card view at middle
right shows Prospect Park created in 1906 from the land where the tracks once were. The historic
shot at lower left dates to between 1898 and 1900 and shows the agent's bay temporarily not at trackside! How that was
addressed on the other side of the building is not yet known because the old tracks on the north side of the depot, which
show a third-rail electric car here, would not be relaid south of the station until November, 1900.
In March, 1954, the Press reported
that BRISTOL3 been had been purchased from the NYNH&H on 10/26/1953 by developer Allen M. Heflin
who sold the land, including the park, to local banks. With accommodations made for passengers at the freight station across Main St., BRISTOL3
passed through a succession of humble uses in the 1960s. It opened in 1970 as the Iron Horse and later the Bristol Station Restaurant, flanked
by two rail cars, one of which was the former Merchants Limited diner. The last
operation closed about four years later and fire struck the dining car on 8/8/1975. The depot
was spared the flames but was said at the time to so little resemble a station inside as to not be worth preserving, though
the local historical society made some efforts. It was razed, in an altogether too familiar scenario, for a parking lot. Demolition
began on 5/15/1976. The photo at lower right shows the depot after it was closed in April, 1954. The stairway that was necessitated
by the 1900 excavation project and was only covered in 1911 after numerous slip-and-fall incidents, is now boarded up. The
gabled structure to its left on the sidewalk housed a stone drinking fountain, a public amenity
built in 1901 on a patch of land leased to the city by the NYNH&H. In the contract, also in the Bristol History Room,
it specifies that "the
lessee shall pay as rent the sum of one dollar on the 8th day of every August," probably just enough to make it all legal and symbolically conclude decades of public
complaint, legal action, and railroad improvement in Bristol. [REFS: NHER/03/20/1886/01; HDC/03/22/1886/03; CRC35.1887.16; HDC/02/05/1887/04; BWP/03/10/1887/04; BWP/03/17/1887/04; HDC/06/23/1887/04; BWP/09/29/1887/04; BWP/10/06/1887/04;
HC/10/25/1899/05; HC/11/15/1899/03; BRP/11/11/1900/01; HC/11/24/1900/12; HC/12/08/1900/12; HC/01/02/1901/10;
HC/08/23/1901/16; BRP/03/29/1906/02; HC/07/29/1911/18; BRP/03/10/1954/??; BRP/01/23/1960/01; HC/10/04/1970/20J;
HC/08/10/1975/2B1;
HC/02/25/1976/61B; HC/04/03/1976/25A; BRP/05/15/1976/01;
D130]
********************
BRISTOL4
BRISTOL4. With BRISTOL3 sold in 1953 and soon to be out of railroad service,
other arrangements had to be made. The decision was to turn the freight house across Main St. into a
combination station like the old days. The Press of 3/10/1954 said that the railroad
had until April 26 to make room for the ticket office, Railway Express Agency, and the taxi office at the freight house.
The coversheds, which we have seen in a much earlier val photo, pre-dated these changes. The lounge in the freight house, seen in the photo at left, served as the final passenger
station in Bristol until the last Budd car pulled out in 1960. The freight station itself would later become a source of friction
between the railroad and the city until it was torn down by Conrail in 1977. [REFS: BRP/01/23/1960/01; HC/04/23/1977/27; HC/08/02/1977/19A]
********************
BRISTOL PARK
BRISTOL PARK. This was a minor, seasonal, and probably short-lived stop
created in 1887 by the NY&NE for the new fairgrounds of the Bristol Park Association. They had taken over the Hickory
Park property from the earlier Pequabuck Association who had started running an agricultural fair back in 1865. Speculation
was that the revived effort was to see the railroad run a 600-ft spur into the park to deliver the animals as well as the
fair-goers, but we do not see any evidence that this was done. Several newspaper articles refer to a 'fair station'
from which the attendees could walk the short distance and cross the bridge over the Pequabuck River to enter the fairgrounds.
We have put the red X at the likely spot for the station on all three maps, dated from left to right, 1893, 1940, and 2011.
We are not sure exactly how long the fair and the horse racing that was a part of the activities lasted but Hickory Park was
sold to A.J. Muzzy, a successful Bristol merchant, in 1900 and it was turned into housing lots with the adjacent Muzzy Field
retained for public use. In 1914, land to the north was donated by Bristol industrialist A.J. Rockwell for Bristol's first
public park. In an iconic American corporate success story, his New Departure company [click here] would start out making doorbells in 1888 and progress to bicycle components, ball-bearing
products, and even taxi cabs and automobiles. Rockwell Park received an NRHP designation in 1987 [click here] and still serves the public today. Although tangential to the park, the agricultural-fair
history of the land in this area is not noted at all in the NRHP nomination research. [REFS: HDC/10/10/1867/04;
HDC/05/16/1887/04; HDC/09/26/1887/05; HC?09/24/1888/08; BP/08/23/1900/01; HC/02/24/1916/11]
********************BROAD BROOK1
BROAD BROOK1. This stop is in the town of East Windsor. We can't
be completely sure but this depot seems smaller to us and we have put this image here as being of the first station. The dating
of the bird's-eye map is said to be between 1876 and 1880, the former date coinciding with the opening of the Connecticut
Central RR whose train is coming into the station from the south. The station is clearly shown on the west side of the track.
To our surprise, the 1893 Hurd map places the depot on the east side of the track. Is the mapmaker in error or the bird's-eye
map artist or are both correct and there were two different stations here, a situation complicated by the fact that the val
map in our next entry shows the station back on the west side of the track. For now, we are assuming that the 1893 mapmaker
got it wrong.
********************
BROAD BROOK2
BROAD BROOK2. The 1915 val map at left shows the arrangement of the station grounds and
adjacent area at that time, the depot being on the west side of the track. The photo on the upper right is a Benton and Drake
from the 1930s with the signature touring car in view. The one on the upper left looks to be slightly later based on the automobile
fender glimpsed there. Both photos look south.
********************
BROOKFIELD1
BROOKFIELD1. Store-like in appearance, it is seen at top left and in the distance shot to the right of center
and was probably located as seen on the 1856FC map. Stations were, unfortunately, not always labeled on these county maps.
This stop reportedly handled mostly freight but there was passenger service here from the start of the HRR in 1840. We have
been told [LR] that this first depot was sold to the Brookfield Iron Works which operated nearby but other reports say it
burned. An article in the Courant in 1864 reported a fire in the store at the Knapp's
hotel building where the railroad, telegraph, and post office was located but says the building was saved. The val photo shows
the structure as railroad property and still standing in 1916. The 1912 real estate map at lower right was quite a surprise in that it shows the station here still at the same location
a half century later. Consequently we have had to discount the story in the Danbury Times
which said in 1869 that the HRR was bringing down the superstructure of its 20x50-ft Pittsfield depot to
be placed on a new foundation here. We have also removed the former BROOKFIELD2 entry. [REFS: HDC/03/28/1864/02; RRC6.11 (5/16/1868);
PS/08/12/1869/02,03; DT/10/07/1869/02]
********************
BROOKFIELD2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
BROOKFIELD2. The Courant
reported in 1913 that the new station here was to be built about 50 feet east of the old location on the newly aligned right
of way. [REFS: HC/03/14/1913/03; NHAR44.1915.10]
********************
BROOKFIELD JUNCTION1
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
BROOKFIELD JUNCTION1. According to the venerable Newtown
Bee, this structure was to be "moved to the west, across the branch... [to]
serve as a freight depot" when DANBURY4 was brought here in 1889. We have long wondered whether, in fact, the
smaller structure was the older station that was brought down from Stockbridge, MA by the HRR late in 1869 and reassembled
here for the use of both the HRR and the NYH&N. It was said to measure 13x30 feet. We are not sure how accurate that measurement
was, but the article seems like good evidence, with no other building on the property, that this is the long-lost
BROOKFIELD JUNCTION1. See Track 10, MP10.2.7 for more. An 1887 newspaper article mentions that this was an agency station
and the office was hit in an overnight robbery, making us wonder how, with all the activity at this important junction, the
HRR could have made do all those years with such a small structure. The arrival of the next depot, which was brought up from
Danbury, must have been quite a relief to the station agent. [REFS: DT/11/18/1869/02; DT/12/02/1869/03;
DEN/10/08/1887/03: agent, office, robbery; NB/04/05/1889/02; Check LR59808]
********************
BROOKFIELD
JUNCTION2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
BROOKFIELD JUNCTION2 was built as DANBURY4 in 1886 and was moved here early
in 1889 to replace the first station here that was used thereafter as the freight depot. See Track 10, MP 10.6.5 for more.
********************
BROOKS [CHESHIRE] > BROOKSVALE
********************
BROOKS [COLEBROOK] >
COLEBROOK
********************
BROOKSIDE PARK
|
| historyofredding.com |
BROOKSIDE PARK. This stop was virtually synonomous with REDDING, but we have chosen to list it separately because of its own history and identity. While some
sources say it was about a half mile south, these 1911 real estate maps show the access point to the park on
the easterly side of the D&N to be a few hundred feet from REDDING2 [see R
stations]. Traversed by the Saugatuck River crossed on a bridge just in from the
entrance, t his 25-acre parcel appears to have been a camp meeting ground going back at least to 1851
when the newspaper said that "a Camp Meeting will be held near the Norwalk road
[D&N], in Ridgefield, one mile west of the Methodist church, commencing Monday, Sept. 1st." Though the Register foreshadowed the creation of the railroad park in 1874, the railroad commissioners say it was in 1880
when the D&N "ventured the experiment of purchasing and fitting up in an attractive manner a grove on the line of
its road at Reading [sic] station," similar to HIGH ROCK GROVE or PARLOR
ROCK [see H,P stations]. In 1881, the Register
called it a "fortunate hit" for the railroad, recouping $8,000 of the $12,000 expended in just two years of operation,
and the commissioners added that this business was "being mostly done on regular trains, and causing but little addition
to its ordinary operating expenses." With its commanding views and amenities, the pavilion was said in 1882 to be capable
of accommodating 3,000 worshippers. Obviously, there was money to be made in what the commissioners called "The Excursion
Business" in 1880, a new phenomenon here of railroad tourism to recreational destinations that had already been proven
profitable abroad. Apparently, the NYNH&H carried on the tradition at this location at least until 1899 when the last
newspaper item we found said that Connecticut Sunday School Association held a rally here. The park property still appears
intact on the 1911 maps and on the 1915 val map [click here], as well. Cornwall said in a 1986 Shoreliner that two granite pillars still marked
the entrance across the road from the REDDING2 at that time, presumably at the Passageway seen on the map, and Brent Colley's HistoryofRedding website [click here], says they are there today in 2011. Although possible, it seems unlikely there
was any separate BROOKSIDE PARK station south of the entrance gate seen in the postcard.
[REFS:
CR/08/30/1851/03; NHER/08/21/1874/02; NHDP/07/31/1878/02; NHER/12/09/1881/04; CRC27.1880.11; CRC28.1881.14; NHER/08/11/1882/04; NHER/07/21/1883/02; NHER/08/20/1885/04; NHER/09/01/1899/10; SL17.4.26]
********************
BROOKSVALE1
BROOKSVALE1. Also known
as BROOKS and BROOKS VALE. This was probably an original NH&N stop from 1848, 12 miles up the Canal line from Long Wharf.
It is shown on the 1868 map on the east side of the track. The Cheshire Historical
Society has a copy of a document, which reads in part, that "When the Railroad went through the Brooks Farm, it was stipulated
there would be a station and a mail-arm at the road crossing." The Brooksvale post office, with Edwin M. Brooks as postmaster
was established in 1858. Though the railroad commissioners approved the abandonment of this stop as of 6/2/1874 and it drops off the
timetables, it reappears by 1894 as BROOKSVALE, a flag stop 11.97 miles north of New Haven. At some point by the early 1900s, the BROOKSVALE1
structure was sold to the Thayer family who moved it as quarters for domestic help on their nearby property. A
Palladium article that we found recently indicates that this structure in 1874 was
sizeable enough for the Rev. Dr. Horton of Cheshire Academy to speak here "to an interested audience." How large
that assembly was and how big BROOKSVALE1 was are tantalizing questions for which we yet have no answers. It certainly seems
as though the station must have been larger than BROOKSVALE2, our next listing. [REFS: 1851TT, 1858TT, HDC/10/23/1858/02; 1858GED yes; HDC/09/10/1860/02; NHDP/09/16/1874/04;
RRC9.4,6,24,202; RRM1876-1912: no; 1879GHD: no; 1894TT; RAM1904+: yes; 1907TT, 1909TT]
********************
BROOKSVALE2
|
| Courtesy of the McKee Family |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
BROOKSVALE2. This flag-stop structure is rather unique in design, fully enclosed,
and larger than most of the others which are merely open-fronted shelters, and on the east side of the track like its predecessor.
The photo with the rowboat is ca. 1900 looks southeast and shows the railing for the roadway bridge over the canal in the
upper left corner. The railroad crossing was at grade. Sixty-plus years after it was abandoned and replaced by the railroad,
the canal had segments still fed by local streams as represented on the val maps and flowing even today. We have highlighted
the station and platform and the boat location on the map. The boat was owned by Thayer teenagers, Gordon (b1886) and Thornton
(b1890). The former was quoted in a 1964 Register article as remembering how mail
was thrown off the train from New York at 8:20 a.m. and locals would have their New York papers by 9:00 a.m. after sorting.
Thayer recalled further that “the eastbound (to New Haven) train snatched the mail pouch from the metal arm at 11:20
a.m. and it was possible to have a reply to a letter received in the early mail back in New York City the same day."
The post office here was discontinued on March 31, 1913. Passenger service on the Canal line ended in 1926. The fate of the cozy little station is unknown.
********************
BROWNS1
BROWNS1. Similar to WELTONS, just up the line on the Watertown branch, this stop appears on
our timetables from 1894 until 1923 and it probably lasted until passenger service ended on the branch around 1925. According to a 1980 Shoreliner
article, it was located in Waterbury just below the Brookside Home, the social services
housing facility that once stood in the vicinity of Waterbury's Municipal Stadium. Comparing the maps, the station was
located in the northwest quadrant of the crossing at Huntingdon Ave. The home
was probably built on the site of the old Waterbury town farm, the almshouse, as shown on the 1912 NYNH&H real estate
map. That institution dated back to 1839 and in 1870 was authorized to give up some of its land for the W&W right of way,
seen in several photographs crossing the lawn in front of the property. The style of the shed matches others on the NRR at
REYNOLDS BRIDGE and WELTONS. [REFS: CWN/10/26/1899/03; D99; K63; SL11.2.24][rev10/17]
********************
BROWNS2
BROWNS2. According to a Courant article, the only reference we have come across, a new station was to be built here a half mile south
of the old in 1918. Corroborating that change, we find that this station was 1.92 miles from Waterbury on our 1911TT and only
1.4 miles in 1923. The new location was probably at East Aurora St., as shown on the snippet from our CTTRAXMAP. Why the change
and what happened to the first station has yet to be discovered. [REFS: HC/07/20/1918/03]
********************
BUCKHOUTS PARK
BUCKHOUTS PARK was a residential enclave along the Housatonic River and
this stop was 2.9 miles above BALDWINS according to our 1923 timetable. It was not labeled on the 1915 val map but we were
able to locate it on a 1968 copy updated with changes subsequent to 1916, a snippet of which is shown here. The map image shows the stop on the northern edge of Milford, just below the Orange border, though
the 1918 Courant article cited below as well as the PUC decision said it was in Orange.
No shed or platform is seen, only a gate and opening in the fence and planking across the track. Just when after 1915 this
stop was established is unclear, but the PUC denied the NYNH&H request to discontinue it in 1918. The decision said there was "a substantial rural settlement"
here without streetcar service, that the demands for accommodation were "fully as great as if not greater than at the
time the station was established" and that continuing to stop trains on flag "should work no serious harm upon the
company." The first reference we find to BUCKHOUT PARK, without the S, is in a state agricultural publication for 1914
listing a farm for sale near this station. It shows up on the 1919 ICC Valuation Order No. 3 list of stops but, since it is
not on the 1928 NYNH&H Official List of Officers, Stations, Agents, it likely
fell victim to the passenger service cutbacks of 1924. [REFS: RAM1915: no; HC/12/06/1918/12; PUC Docket 2869 (11/26/1918)]
********************
BUCKLAND1
********************
BUCKLAND2
********************
BULLS BRIDGE [> SOUTH KENT]
********************
BULLUS
|
| Max Miller Collection |
|
| Max Miller Collection |
BULLUS. We do not know much about this stop. It is not treated as a station on the 1915
val map, with the structure seen here only described as a shed. Steam service on the MW&CR resumed on 1/2/1899 [Snow,
p25] but under a new incarnation as the Middletown, Meriden & Waterbury RR. With
the tracks from Westfield to Cromwell judged too expensive to upgrade (and removed in 1903) and Middletown judged a more profitable
terminus, trains now turned east at WESTFIELD [see W stations] on the Berlin branch. The Courant
tell us that electric service replaced steam between Middletown and Meriden by the mid-1907 and on our 6/8/1907 timetable
it shows the line beyond EAST MERIDEN JUNCTION [see E stations] as being operated
by the Connecticut Co. A September, 1927 Courant article says
trains on this line were being considered for replacement by buses and Snow [p27] verifies that bus service along today's
Rte 66 was instituted at that time, but he says train service was maintained as far as Westfield until
1932 because of no suitable bus connection. In these 1927 PUC inspection photos, however, no overhead
trolley wires are to be seen. Was there a return to steam for the last years here or were gas rail cars
used? And that still doesn't explain the status of BULLUS, perhaps only a occasional stop for a picnic grove said to have
been located nearby. [REFS: NHER/12/08/1898/05; HC/12/28/1906/13; HC/07/08/1907/16; HC/02/29/1908/10; HC/09/27/1927/08]
********************
BURLINGTON
BURLINGTON.
This was the Canal line station on the branch that was extended to PINE MEADOW in 1870 and NEW HARTFORD in 1876. [REFS: D116+]
********************
BURNHAMS
|
| Leroy Roberts Collection |
BURNHAMS. This stop was probably established around 1882 when it first shows up on the RRMs. The 1915 val map shows the tiny shelter in the photograph standing on the west side of the track in a view that looks north toward
Springfield on the Connecticut Central line that opened in 1876.
*******************
BURNSIDE1
BURNSIDE1. This station was first called SCOTLAND for the community in the town of East
Hartford, as seen on the 1855HC map. The station is marked by the red arrow.
********************
BURNSIDE2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
BURNSIDE2.
The photo on the right dates from the 1920s or 1930s, with the air brakes and automatic couplers on the car, so we have
labeled this as the second station here, on the assumption there was an earlier one. The commissioners mentioned "considerable
improvements" here in their 1877 annual report, perhaps meaning that the station seen here was built at that time. [REFS:
CRC24.1877.20]
********************
BURRVILLE
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
BURRVILLE, with its location seen on
the 1854LC map. The val photo at upper left is dated 8/25/1916. This station, along with several others on the NRR from Waterbury
to Winsted, closed in 1926. This station was first known as ROSSITERVILLE. [REFS: HC/06/20/1926/A12; D97]
|
|
|
