|
********************
GALES FERRY
|
| Edward J. Ozog Collection |
GALES FERRY. Postcard, at bottom, mailed 11/29/1907.
********************
GAYLORDS BRIDGE [> MERWINSVILLE]
********************
GAYLORDSVILLE [> MERWINSVILLE]
********************
GEORGETOWN1
|
| historyofredding.com |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GEORGETOWN1. Its
location was on the east side of the track, as seen on the 1856FC map. According to Brent Colley's informative website
on Redding history [click here], the first depot was on Old Mill Rd. in Wilton. This original station
was two-story. On the first floor was the railroad depot, post office, and grocery store run by Silliman Godfrey. The second
floor was used at different times as a meeting hall by various organizations and for manufacturing purposes by local companies,
including Gilbert and Bennett Co. as a sieve shop. At some point in the late 1800s, a freight wing was added on the northern end. In the photo to
the left we can see the depot behind the northbound train that has just departed. This station caught fire from the conflagration
that destroyed the adjacent Gilbert and Bennett wire mill in 1899 and was partially burned [NHER/08/18/1899/01]. About 40
feet of the the "long, rambling building of wood" was cut away yielding the separate passenger and freight stations
seen in the photographs, both apparently taken after the fire. The
top right image is a postcard, with the notation that GEORGETOWN1 was "Vacated on December 30, 1908."
********************
GEORGETOWN2
|
| historyofredding.com |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GEORGETOWN2. The separate GEORGETOWN1 depots were replaced by a new, brick combination station. The railroad commissioners reported
in 1908 that there was a new station here at a new location.
The NYNH&H annual
report issued in June of 1908 said the work was in progress and reported in the next year that the new station had been completed.
We find no mention of this event in the newspapers. Peter Cornwall pointed out that this new station was just to the north,
over the line into Redding, a somewhat unusual situation with the old station being very near the border. Passenger service
lasted into the early Penn Central years and the station was already gone when Cornwall was writing in the 1980s. The postcard
at upper right reportedly dates to 1919. [REFS: CRC56.1908.47; NHAR37.1908.8; NHAR38.1909.7; SL17.4.25; 1969TT: yes]
********************
GIBBS [>
FITCHVILLE JUNCTION]
*********************
GIFFORDS [> WEST STREET]
********************
GLEN FOUNDRY
New flag stop established one mile above COLLINSVILLE.
[REFS: FVH/07/26/1883/04]
********************
GLENBROOK1 [NC]
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
"
|
| Max Miller Collection |
|
| Max Miller Collection |
GLENBROOK1 seems to us to be the only possibility for placing the photo
at top left in proper historical context. This stop is on the first RRM in 1876, as
are SPRINGDALE and TALMADGE HILL. The structure seen here may be the first built by the the NCRR or even a later one put up by the NYNH&H after
it got control of this tiny branch in 1883. Coincidentally, a newspaper article of that year mentions the station. Based
on the tenor of the Mendel's poster ad on the shed wall, the photo at top left probably dates to the latter part of a
range from 1872 to 1920. The former date is when the Times said that Jacob Mendel began checking parcels in the first
Grand Central Terminal. His lucrative business became a New York City institution until 1920 when his family was outbid by
J.P. Carey & Sons for the terminal rental space. We have highlighted the
station on the 1915 val map at lower left that shows it in the southeast quadrant of the crossing at Glenbrook Rd. The tiny
oblong box toward the right end of the platform may be the shed pictured here, though it is not marked 'FP' for frame
(wood) passenger depot, as is the custom on other val maps. The 1912 NYNH&H real estate map at top right shows the depot in the southwest quadrant. Assuming both maps are correct, the station was moved between those
dates, possibly as part of a track or street realignment. Of the two PUC inspection photos, the eastward view [middle left] is dated 1/16/1919 and the south-looking
shot [middle right] is from 9/11/1924. [REFS: NHER/07/14/1883/04;
NYT/02/01/1920/09]
********************
GLENBROOK2 [WB]
|
| Connecticut Historical Society |
GLENBROOK2. This handsome station was on the main line to New York and was reported to be under construction in 1885.
We think this was a new station stop since no reference or timetable shows one prior to this time. A Register article says that 'new' depots were being built in three places. One was a replacement, DARIEN2
being built for DARIEN1, which burned in April of 1885 [see D stations], and we have already verified that the second one, EAST NORWALK, was
a completely new stop in 1885 [see E stations]. We think that this station, last of the trio, was also a brand new one. The
1893 map shows the location of the two GLENBROOK stations by that time, this one being on the westbound side of the main line.
The copy of the photo at top right has a date of 1892 in the bottom corner. The photo at lower left
shows a train
heading toward Stamford and passing GLENBROOK2, the corner of which can be seen behind the engine. The freight house is up
ahead. SS 56 was one
of the 'pioneer' wooden signal stations of 1888. Within the next 20 years or so,
the original towers were supplemented, replaced, or modernized and the entire system was renumbered around 1912. The later Glenbrook tower was SS 39, as it appears in Bill
Sample's list at the NHRHTA home page [click here]. Richard Fleischer thinks that the 1892 Glenbrook photo must have been taken just after the tower was
built and offers the following commentary: The signal whose mast is visible at the left was wire-pulled rather than pipe-connected.
The carriers for the wire can be seen along the nearest track with the wire passing under both tracks inside a wooden covering
to the signal. Notice also the rail braces on the outsides of the rails like the one found a couple of years ago [see
Track 4B, MP 4.51.2]. It shows their use. Although I can't read the engine number, it looks like one of the [Master
Mechanic] Henney eight-wheelers. When built these engines had large Ionic cap stacks, but around 1892 those cap stacks were
replaced with plain taper stacks. Many thanks, as always,
to Richard for his technical expertise and his willingness to share his observations. With his analysis, this photograph becomes
a more significant reflection of 1890s interlocking technology on the NYNH&H. [REFS: NHER/05/01/1888/04]
********************
GLENBROOK3 [WB]
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GLENBROOK3.
The 1916 val photo at top right
shows a new westbound structure with a completely different profile and roof line. This salt box-style depot was most likely
built at the time of the four-tracking in 1897. The two other photos look toward New Haven with GLENBROOK3
on the left. The smaller GLENBROOK4 is seen on the right in the panoramic view. The NYNH&H real estate map dates to October, 1907 and shows the two stations along the new right of way to the south of the old main line, the curve having been
reduced with the improvements.
********************
GLENBROOK4 [EB]
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GLENBROOK4
was likely built by 1897 on the eastbound side of the main line with the four-tracking and elevation project. This stop lasted at least until our 2/2/1969 Penn Central timetable
and was reportedly curtailed when the high-level platforms were built and M-2 cars went into service in the early 1970s.
At that point only two morning and two evening rush hour trains were stopping here. Thereafter, the nearby New Canaan branch
station was left to serve this area. [REFS: SL13.4.28]
********************
GLENBROOK5 [NC]
GLENBROOK5. The photograph on the left has a date of August 24, 1954 stamped on the back of it and looks to be a Charlie
Gunn shot of the period. The one on the right dates to
July, 1935 and widens the time frame for this depot, which may be GLENBROOK1 expanded rearward and fitted up with more comfortable
seating. In any case, it seems different enough to give it its own TCS listing.
The addition appears to be made of cement blocks, which would verify what Ed Wadhams said for the demise
of this structure in late 1967 or early 1968, when "a rather large truck was backing into the driveway behind the building.
It missed the driveway but it didn't the Branch Line Station. Cement blocks went in all directions."(!) Thus ended,
GLENBROOK5 was replaced by GLENBROOK6.
********************
GLENBROOK6 [NC]
GLENBROOK6 is obviously a late NHRR structure
with the block lettering logo. See Rick Abramson's article in the Shoreliner for this photo and more on the branch. Follow-up letters say that this corrugated metal structure was the third station on
the branch. it was in service by March, 1968, and it couldn't be missed as it was bright green. [REFS: SL20.2.25; SL21.1.4]
********************
GLENBROOK7 [NC]
GLENBROOK7. Work was going on in September,
1972 and it was in service a year later, according to a letter from Ed Wadhams in the Shoreliner.
A newspaper article in 1974 celebrating ConnDOT's completion of the high-level rail platform and plexi-glass waiting shed
at NOROTON HEIGHTS [see N stations] said these facilities were to complement the "new electric commuter cars now in service."
The article also reported that, along with most of the stations on the main line, all the stops on the New Canaan branch already
had the new platforms. Penn Central was the operator at the time until Conrail took over in 1976. [REFS: HC/05/23/1974/95D; SL21.1.5]
********************
GOODSPEEDS1
According to the newspaper, this station was up for opening
day but other reports say tickets were first sold at a house across the street from the first depot that burned in 1897, a
two-story structure like MAROMAS. [REFS: HDC/08/25/1871/02]
********************
GOODSPEEDS2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GOODSPEEDS2.
The first station was destroyed in 1897 by a fire that started when burglars used explosives to blow open the safe. This
stop was known over the years by a number of names, including GOODSPEEDS AND MOODUS, EAST HADDAM, and EAST HADDAM AND
MOODUS. The latter communities were east of the Connecticut River but this was their closest rail access point,
albeit by ferry until the swing bridge was built in 1913. From 1878, the stop was also known as TYLERVILLE [click here], often mentioned in connection with Camp Bethel, a popular spot
for religious revival meetings. An article in the Courant said that the 1899 meeting would be the 22nd at Tylerville and that special excursion rates
were being offered by the railroad. [REFS: NHER/02/05/1897/02; HC/07/27/1899/07]
********************
GOSHEN [>
CLARKS CORNER]
********************
GRANBY
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GRANBY. This wooden combination depot shows an obvious
similarity to the ones like AVON and SIMSBURY1 that were built by the NY&NH as lessee of the Canal line from 1848 to 1869.
The location is seen on the 1855HC map. GRANBY still stands in 2010. [REFS: D113; E146; R56]
********************
GRANTS
|
| Max Miller Collection |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GRANTS. On an initial list of stops in the Courant
late in 1871, this stop is first seen as SOUTH NORFOLK, 41.25 miles from Hartford. This mileage point corresponds to GRANT'S on CW ETT#2 (1/1/1872). The Grant's reference is for the well-known local family of that name and occasioned
an interesting 1872 political commentary in the Winsted Herald, the text of which
we give here in full: "Grantville. Can nepotism go further? President Grant, not content with creating a post office at the milk
station near the Harry Grant place in Norfolk, and naming it "Grantville," and appointing his 40-leventh cousin,
Moses F. Grant, to be postmaster, has been emboldened to proceed to further high-handed measures since his reelection and
has instructed his subservient tools -- the Conn. Western directors -- to build a new depot, 20 by 32, at that remote and
obscure point, under the preposterous pretense that there is, present and prospective, business enough there to require
it. Where are our liberties?" Obviously, the writer did not care for either Pres. Grant, Moses Grant who
was a well-known local figure, the CW directors, or all of the above! The dimensions of the station do, however, measure up
to the one we have photos of. [add12/7>] The 1880 NY&NE appraisal of CW properties said the small station here was in good condition
and worth $350, making it seem somewhat larger than COLEBROOK1.>] Notes from Editor Ted Vaill's Here N' There column in the Winsted
Evening Citizen, say that this station may possibly have been called GRANTVILLE in its early days and at one time was an agency station with an operator on all three shifts. The upper left photo is dated 1928 and the lower left PUC
inspection shot is dated 10/19/1927. [REFS: HDC/12/21/1871/02;
WH/11/22/1872/03; DC/06/10/1873/02; HC/07/27/1905/13; D32; N3.54]
********************
GREENS FARMS1 [EB]
GREENS FARMS1. In his classic historical monograph, George Penfield Jennings says that
locals in this part of Westport did without a railroad station for 20 years and that "farmers continued to go to Southport
or Westport to get their mail, to trade and to replenish their demijohns with gin" and it was not until about 1870 that
the farmers "clubbed together and graded for a Greens Farms station, located south of the tracks between the Turkey Hill
Road and the Shore Road bridges on the property of the old green." The 1868 Beers map shows the first location at the
red arrow and the later one at the blue arrow. While locals did the prep work, Jennings credits the railroad with building
the first depot structure for which we do not yet have a photograph. The Courant gives us a 12/1/1868 date for the ground-breaking and the "new depot" wording, along with the fact that the stop
does not appear on any early timetables, seems to corroborate the Jennings timeframe. An 1872 newspaper list of commutation rates marks the first print appearance
we have come across for this station, the next being on an 1883 timetable. Jennings
says that this was a manned flag stop until 4/7/1875, when George E. Crossman was named agent at a time when six daily trains
were stopping each way. Crossman subsequently became the first postmaster, a concurrent appointment frequently seen at the
time, and two dozen "pigeon-hole" letter-boxes were made by a local carpenter and installed in the ticket office.
As reported in the Register, "the old station east of the Consolidated tracks at Green's
Farms" burned on 3/10/1892, sparks from a passing locomotive thought to have caused the $2,000 loss. The wording also
corroborates that GREENS FARMS1 stood on the south, eastbound, side of the tracks. It is interesting
that Jennings, who was born in 1855 and lived most of his life in Greens Farms, says nothing about the burning of the first
station and the building of the second. [REFS: 1848-1883TTs;
HDC/12/08/1868/04; CR/06/08/1872/03; GHD1879; NHER/04/01/1880/01;
NHER/03/11/1892/04; Jennings, Greens Farms, Connecticut: The
Old West Parish of Fairfield, 1933, p82+; R56][add1/21]
********************
GREENS FARMS2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
|
| Wikipedia |
GREENS FARMS2. According to Jennings, the station that stands today was built
at the original location on the green and moved eastward with the completion of the four-tracking, which he says took place
between 1889 and 1897 but, more specifically in fact, was done by 1894. He notes that "the building actually 'rode
on the cars,' for it was transported on flat cars from the old site to the new." The red arrow
on the 1930s map [add1/21] from the Jennings book shows the present depot site,
though the scale is too small to distinguish that from the original location. While we had thought that this structure dated
back possibly to the mid-nineteenth century, the 1892 pedigree nevertheless still makes it quite historic at 120 years of
age in 2012. [REFS: HC/08/09/1893/04: burgled; R56][rev,lowright add1/20]
********************
GREENS FARMS3 [EB]
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GREENS FARMS3. This was the small structure put up on the eastbound side
with the 1894 four-tracking. The green arrow points to it on the 1910 real estate atlas map [add1/21] and the blue arrow points to its cousin on the westbound side.
********************
GREENS FARMS4 [EB]
|
| Wikipedia |
GREENS FARMS4. This small shelter serves the eastbound passenger today. [add1/21]
********************
GREENVILLE
GREENVILLE was
an original N&W stop on opening in 1840 and the location is seen on the 1854NL map. [REFS: Q84i]
********************
GREENWICH1
GREENWICH1.
Though we have found no documentary evidence, all the images we have for the 1849 original NY&NH stations consistently
show this Gothic, cross-gable style. The image on the right
appeared in Connecticut Circle magazine in September of 1946 [p.12]. See the virtually identical
design at NORWALK1, SOUTHPORT1, STRATFORD1, and WEST HAVEN1. With this evidence, we think it likely that the stations for
which we do not have photos yet, i.e. STAMFORD1, DARIEN1, and FAIRFIELD1, all shared this classic American depot style.
********************
GREENWICH2
|
| Connecticut Historical Society |
GREENWICH2. John Roy [p.57] says the station here was a double building and apparently
this is it, built in 1873 as documented by the railroad commissioners in their next annual report [CRC21.1874.19].
********************
GREENWICH3
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GREENWICH3. The new westbound station was a large saltbox style probably built in 1893. A report in
that year said that the NYNH&H was going to build "a fine new stone depot" here but apparently that proved untrue.
[REFS: HC/12/13/1893/08].
********************
GREENWICH4
GREENWICH4. This was the new hip-roofed [R57] eastbound station built
in 1904, as mentioned by the railroad commissioners. [REFS: CRC52.1904.20]
********************
GREENWICH5
[WB]
GREENWICH5 is a large, stucco and terra cotta, mall-like structure that includes some retail shops. [REFS:
R57]
********************
GREENWICH6 [EB]
GREENWICH6 is a
smaller companion structure for the westbound station. [REFS: R57]
********************
GREYSTONE
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GREYSTONE. Stop in the town of Plymouth and originally known as HOADLEYS on the opening of the HP&F
line from Bristol to Waterbury in 1855.
********************
GRIFFINS [>
CLARKVILLE]
********************
GROSVENORDALE1
GROSVENORDALE1. Originally called MASONVILLE when the N&W opened
through the town of Thompson in 1840. The location is seen on 1868 map.
********************
GROSVENORDALE2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GROSVENORDALE2.
This was a station in
the town of Thompson on the N&W. Our assumption, based on its size, is that this structure was the second station here. It looks quite similar to the one at NORTH GROSVENORDALE
but differences can be seen. The railroad commissioners said that there were plans to abandon both stations and to build
a new intermediate replacement depot but the newspaper said in 1909 that this had not been completed yet. [REFS: RRC40.252;
HC/12/04/1909/06]
********************
GROTON1
|
| TCS Collection |
GROTON1. Also
known as GROTON BANK, this terminus was established by the NL&S late in 1858 when it opened the lower track seen on the
1893 map at left. From this point traffic was to be ferried across the harbor
to connect with the NH&NL in New London. The two roads then merged to form the NHNL&S which was leased
by the NYP&B. Whatever was here in 1859 was greatly supplemented to produce a 300x50-ft structure with two tracks running
through it, similar to the appearance of STONINGTON2 whose image we have copied here. An eight-stall engine house and other
structures were also to be built here, with service to begin on September 17, 1860. This complex served
to supplant the Stonington terminus for boats to New York until it was destroyed by an 1864 fire that saw the
steamer Commonwealth “burned to the water’s edge” and a large number of rail cars lost as well.
With the NYP&B already contemplating the abandonment in favor of newer facilities being built back at Stonington, it nevertheless
paid $400,000 to the NHNL&S, newly organized as the Shore Line RR, keep the 'Groton Extension' for through rail traffic. [REFS: HDC/08/30/1860/02;
NLDC/09/15/1860/03; HDC/12/17/1864/02; MJ/12/30/1865/02]
********************
GROTON2
This was a small station erected at Groton Bank after the 1864 fire. This continued to be
the steamboat terminus for New York traffic until 1/8/1866 when the boats again docked at Stonington. Thereafter, Groton
Bank continued to be the transfer point for traffic to and from New London between the SLRR and the NYP&B until the Thames
River bridge was built in 1889. The upper line on the
1893 map in the previous entry was built at that time to meet the new bridge from a point
that would become known as POQUONNOCK JUNCTION. We have no photograph of GROTON2. [REFS: HDC/01/09/1866/02]
********************
GROTON3
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GROTON3 was on the relocated Shore Line
built to meet the new bridge across the Thames River that opened on October 10, 1889. When the old boat Groton, which had plied the waters between the shores for
the last 30 years, steamed under the new bridge, according to the Register, its whistle tooted its own funeral dirge, at which time all the flags on the new
bridge were unfurled. "Then came a dint such as New London had never heard before," with the whistles on tugs, steam
yachts and assembled locomotives blown at once. Crowds on both shores cheered and cannons fired as the Shore Line became all-rail
for the first time in history. In the 1893 map at middle left, GROTON3 is at
the upper red arrow and the site of GROTON1 is at the lower arrow. The old trackage to the steamboat landing was retained
and is still in use today to serve Pfizer and a fuel storage facility. The photo at middle right is a rear view of the station.
You have to look closely to see the outline of the turret on the front of this attractive and uniquely designed structure.
The 1915 val map at bottom
left shows the station highlighted in yellow, south of the track at the west
leg of the wye created in 1899 with the extension of the N&W from Allyns Point down to the Shore Line.
[REFS: HDC/08/31/1882/04: new depot(?); NHER/10/10/1889/01]
********************
GROVE BEACH1
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GROVE BEACH1. The val photo information indicates that this is the old station,
still standing in 1916 and still railroad property for valuation purposes. It is also seen in the next listing in the distance
beyond the new station. This stop in the town of Westbrook may not have debuted until the 1880s but
does appear on our 1894TT.
********************
GROVE BEACH2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
GROVE BEACH2. This beautiful accommodation replaced the small shelter here
in 1898. The val photo to the left shows off the station's unique lines,
quite in contrast to the standard box-like structures at Clinton and Madison. In some ways an unexpected munificence on the
railroad's part, this generous facility served only a small, largely seasonal community here. [REFS: CRC47.1899.29]
********************
GUILFORD1
|
| Leroy Roberts Collection |
|
| Leroy Roberts Collection |
GUILFORD1. This historic
structure was taken down by Amtrak on 2/23/2000 without notice to the preservationists
and town officials who were working on a plan to restore it. The building had
not been used for passenger service since about 1950, according to an article in the Meriden's Record-Journal, but railroad employees had been using it as a reporting station. One might wonder how that
was allowed when, in answer to public outcry, Amtrak said that the building was "leaning toward the tracks... ready to
collapse," and that they "always try to preserve these things." The location is shown on the 1856NH map. The
shot above is dated 1982. The one to the left is perhaps ca. 1930, according to Richard Fleischer, based on the style of platform
lamps and what may be an I-4 leading the train. The 1875 brick-enclosed water tank and the engine house are still standing
in 2010. The distinctive 'compass' detail on the passenger station
was a NYP&B embellishment from the period of its control of the old NH&NL from 1858 to 1864. [REFS: CRC22.1875.9; HC/07/28/1913/15; MRJ/2/26/2000/??]
********************
GUILFORD2
GUILFORD2.
Shore Line East station, as seen on 8/2/2010.
|
