Track 16 - CT Passenger Stations

SPRINGDALE CEMETERY. This was primarily a stop for the burial ground known today as St. John's Cemetery and the only stop of this kind that we know of in the state. The NCRR opened on 7/4/1868 and the earliest grave dates back to 1862, so apparently the burial ground and the railroad were close contemporaries. This intriguing stop debuted sometime between the timetables we have for 1896 and 1907, but we do not know if there was a specific reason for its creation. The gentleman in the top right photo looks like he is waiting for the train and has raised the arm on the post, as instructed by the sign. This simple mechanism was one of many we have seen used to signal trains at flag stops like this. The 1924 PUC photo at top left looks south toward the shelter from Camp Ave., seen as Miller St. on the older map at middle right. It is difficult to say for sure but that structure does not seem anywhere near as long as the one in the 11/6/1916 val photo at middle left. A reported CEMETERY SIDING stop nearby appears to have only been the meeting place for the up and down trains. The 1915 val map [bottom left] has the siding highlighted as well as the SPRINGDALE CEMETERY shelter that was on the east side of the track. Service would continue until a new train schedule of 7/17/1972 eliminated this stop, riders using SPRINGDALE thereafter. [REFS: HDC/07/03/1868/04; NYT/08/07/1971/08; HC/08/08/1971/26A; HC/07/02/1972/74D; HC/07/18/1972/21D]

STAFFORD1. On the left, the location is seen on the 1857TC map. On the right, the structure is shown on the 1878 Bailey bird's-eye map [click here]. The passenger station is the building with the locator number '1' over it. This stop is called STAFFORD SPRINGS on some timetables. This is presumably the brick passenger station authorized by the directors on 9/3/1850, which, with a brick freight depot, coat a total of $3,100. [REFS: R94; W37]

STAFFORD2. The second depot here is spoken of by the railroad commissioners in their 1893 annual report. Today it serves as a municipal services building. The interesting shot at lower left is in Stafford Springs and the train is on the CVT. The line passing overhead is the Stafford Springs Street Rwy which began operation after being inspected by the commissioners on April 18, 1908. This property was one that the NYNH&H latched onto and purchased even before it opened, with Charles Rufus Harte, chief engineer for the Connecticut Co., certifying its value for legal purposes. The train, southbound, is approaching the STAFFORD2 station. [REFS: CRC41.1893.24; HC/08/01/1903/05; HC/01/30/1906/05; HC/12/07/1907/16; CRC56.1908.57; RRC map 640 (02/1907); R94; SL13.2.34]

STAMFORD1. The location is seen on the 1856FC map, west of the canal and on that side of today's Canal St. The image at left [add1/23] is from a brochure printed about a set of six murals now in the possession of the Stamford Historical Society. The murals once graced the walls of the Fidelity Trust Company main office at 129 Atlantic Street. The bank commissioned a noted artist, the late Stanley J. Rowland, to paint the six Stamford scenes that included this one of the first train station. What Rowland based the station image on is unclear so its architectural authenticity is unverified. It does look very much like GREENWICH1 but the cross gable, as seen on that and other early NY&NH stations, is missing. No actual photo or authentic historical sketch of this depot has yet turned up. The railroad's 1867 annual report says that new stations were being built here and in Norwalk "in place of the old wooden buildings that were considered quite too small and unfit for the business of those places, and which have been removed, one of them being appropriated for freight use." The cross-gabled NORWALK1 is seen on the bird's-eye map standing alongside of its successor but no building that we recognize as STAMFORD1 appears on either the 1875 or 1883 bird's-eye maps for this town. [REFS: HDC/01/12/1867/08; NYNHAR 1867, p11+]

STAMFORD2. The railroad commissioners say that this station was expected to be completed by 5/1/1867. The annual report of the NY&NH, as recounted in the newspaper, corroborates that both in Norwalk and Stamford "good and substantial buildings of brick, with slate and tin roofs" were being built. Both of these new depots were similar in design, handsome two-story structures with Mansard roof, approximately 210 feet by 24 feet. The one here would be razed with the completion of the four-tracking. The image on the left is from the L.R. Burleigh 1883 bird's-eye map [click here] and shows STAMFORD2 between the Consolidated's up and down tracks. This station was used also by the New Canaan RR, which opened in 1868 and was leased in 1883 by the NYNH&H. Inexplicably, repeated searches in the newspapers have yet to turn up articles for exactly when this station opened. [REFS: CRC14.1867.13; CH/05/18/1867/02; R94: razed 1893]

STAMFORD3 stood on the westbound side of the main line. It opened early in 1897 according the Register. This coincided with the completion of the elevation and four-tracking of the New York Division, except for a small section still left unfinished in Bridgeport and the ballasting that was expected to be done by June. The station was described as a handsome structure built of yellow pressed bricks with a tunnel under the tracks for passengers bound either way to access the twin station on the other side. The work here reportedly cost the NYNH&H $550,000 for the improvements that simultaneously doubled track capacity and eliminated grade crossings. The photo shows the new depot after the 1907 electrification. This station stood until March, 1983 when STAMFORD5 was built. [REFS: NHER/08/05/1895/01; NHER/02/08/1897/03; R94: opened 1893; RHA 5/24/55]

STAMFORD4 was the twin 1897 station that stood on the eastbound side of the track. It was razed in November, 1987. The val photo on the left shows it in 1916. In the photo on the right, STAMFORD5 is going up in the rear. STAMFORD3 on the other side of the tracks has already been demolished. [REFS: R94]

STEELES. Also spelled STEELS. Switchmen, stationed here and also at CLUB HOUSE to the east, controlled access to and from the section of rail that narrowed from double to single track between these points. It has been noted that this photo probably dates to before 1900 since the rails are spiked directly into the ties with no tie plates being used. We are not sure whether these were public timetable stops or just for railroad employees.

STEPNEY1. At lower left, the pre-opening newspaper timetable of 2/3/1840 shows this station as LEAVENWORTH'S MILLS. By the 1850s, it is seen under its new name both on the Fourth of July broadside [lower right] and the 1856FC map [middle right]. Curiously, the name Leavenworth does not appear in the vicinity on the map. In spite of the fact that the map shows the station on the east side of the track at this time, we are wondering whether the hotel, seen in the upper right photo across from the STEPNEY2 depot, served as a station at some point. The building still stands today on Maple Dr. and that bay hanging over the street has always intrigued us. Whether it was part of the railroad operation or not, what a great train-watching spot in the day! Other early stations on the HRR were in hotels at CANAAN, KENT, and MERWINSVILLE. We have seen nothing yet to back this theory up and will be working with the Monroe Historical Society to determine if this might have been the case. We also need to question the 1850 date on the marker at middle left. Perhaps that was when the station name was changed to STEPNEY, but otherwise it corresponds to neither the opening of the HRR in 1840 or the building of any of the depots here.

STEPNEY2. In taking a closer look at this structure and going by John Roy's statement that the 1905 station was constructed to replace "a short-lived but smaller structure" also built by the NYNH&H, this has to be that earlier depot, opposite the hotel. If, in fact, this one was also built by the NYNH&H, that could not have taken place before the 1892 lease of the HRR and probably would have been shortly thereafter, especially if some even smaller structure or the hotel had been used as the passenger station previously. Charlie Grabert's notes [p83] say that this one was removed to serve as NEW PRESTON, but he gives no source and that doesn't jibe at the moment with the dates we have there.

STEPNEY3. This station opened in 1905 and stands today, as seen at lower right, as the property of a Monroe septic contractor. The photo at upper left shows a train heading for Botsford. If you look closely in the left distance you can see the hotel with its bay projecting over the street opposite where the earlier station was located. The photo at upper right shows a train bound for Bridgeport. [REFS: CRC53.1905.26; NHAR34.1905.4; R96]

STEVENSON1. The Newtown Bee said in April, 1889 that ZOAR BRIDGE, as this locale was known, was contributing its share of traffic on the new Derby extension but that "some protection from the weather, if only a shed and a platform, would be appreciated..." It went on to say that a comfortable building would probably be erected in the summer. This home-like structure on the north side of the tracks had an upstairs apartment for the station agent and it was up by late 1889. The HRR, we have learned elsewhere, was going to put a smaller depot but "four well-to-do residents of this place," being R.S. Hinman, Charles Gilbert, Walter H. Bradley, and a Miss Stevenson [relation to Wm. H.?], formed the Stevenson Station Co., which built and owned the structure, part of which was used as a store. It burned on May 19, 1905. According to an article in the Stamford Daily Advocate of that day, a 2:00 a.m. down train spotted the flames and blew its whistle to alert the locals who were unable to save the building. New station agent Goulette had just moved a piano and some furniture into the building, intending to make it a residence for his family. He lost all his possessions which included 30 bushels of potatoes in the cellar. Neither he nor the station company had insurance for a loss he valued at $2,000. The Courant corroborates these events, the ownership of the building by the station company, and the his valuation of the loss. [REFS: NB/04/05/1889/02; NHER/11/18/1889/01; HC/05/20/1905/01]

STEVENSON2. We are not entirely sure of the date on this photo. It almost looks like 1901, which would make this depot the one that burned in the 1905 conflagration detailed above. That, however, does not square with the description of the building lost in the fire, as reported by the Stamford newspaper. It could also say 1951, which would square with a 1940 inventory of structures "retired and to be removed" which still lists the combination station here. Final disposition date is unknown.

STONINGTON1 was the terminus of the NYP&B at the Stonington Point dock, whence steamboats took passengers and freight to New York. The railroad opened in 1837 [Karr, p125], and included the first section of track operated in the Nutmeg State, though not by a Connecticut corporation. The location is seen on the 1854NL map.

STONINGTON3 was the newer and larger facility built here in 1865. This was in the wake of the fire at GROTON2 and the NYP&B's decision to concentrate its New York boat service here at these newer facilties [MJ/12/30/1865/02]. This is an interesting example of the competition between water and rail routes operated by the same company. Instead of improving or rebuilding Groton after the fire, the NYP&B had already decided to move back to Stonington in spite of the longer sailing distance to the Empire State. The 1879 Bailey bird's-eye map is from the Boston Public Library [click here].

STONINGTON4. We can't be completely sure but the photo at top right looks like the facilities have been expanded in comparison to those on the Bailey map and the postcards seem to reflect a similar upgrade. If correct, this would be after the "large freight and passenger stations" that the Register reported had been built in 1893 [NHER/07/31/1893/04]. The ships at the dock certainly look more like 1900 to our amateur eye. The map shows the layout of the rail and port facilities in 1893.

STONY CREEK1. Probably dating to the arrival of the NH&NL in 1852, this combination depot is still standing on School St., just north of where Rte 146 crosses under the NEC. The station photos [add2/6] no longer even show the outline of the 'compass' decoration that the NYP&B affixed to depots that it controlled from 1858 to 1864. The name of this station derives from the rock deposits that include the famed pink granite quarried here since the mid-1850s, timing coincidental to the arrival of the railroad and the availability of good transportation. A new quarry of fine granite was opened nearby in 1876 and the industry was at its height in the 1890s employing 2,000 workers in several local operations. The old main was left in place with the 1890s realignment of the Shore Line to access the quarries and provided a connection with the Stony Creek RR spur, which is marked today by Quarry Rd. The SCRR, built in 1887 by the Norcross Co., is shown on the 1893 map at lower left. Stone from here went into such projects as the West Point Monument, Grand Central Terminal, and Boston's South Station. For its economic and cultural significance in local history, the Norcross site received an NRHP designation in 2003 [click here]. [REFS: HDC/08/20/1852/02; HDC/01/13/1859/02; C/09/13/1876/02; NHER/04/06/1883/04; CRC31.1884.20; NHER/12/24/1894/04: permission to cross Guilford Rd.; NHER/04/10/1897/01; Hill, 1:340; R96]

STONY CREEK2. According to the railroad commissioners, a new passenger station was built here in 1883 at a cost of $2,751. An article in the Register said that the new depot "at last begins to make its appearance" with the lumber having arrived on April 5 and the frame erected the next day. The substantial building on the left, seen in use as the freight station, was probably the 1883 combination depot, with the dual chimneys as perhaps indicative of separate facilities for freight and passengers therein at one time. This station, moved to the new, double-tracked ROW, witnessed a shocking event in its original location to the north when station agent Charles Way, as either a victim of foul play or a suicide, was run over by a train and killed on the night of 5/9/1887. The photo shows STONY CREEK3 in the distance to the right along the new alignment that the newspaper clipping illustrates [add1/23]. [REFS: HDC/01/13/1859/02; C/09/13/1876/02; HDC/03/09/1883/qq/box; NHER/04/06/1883/04; CRC31.1884.20; NHER/05/09/1887/01; NYT/05/11/1887/01; NHER/07/26/1892/01; R96]

STONY CREEK3. The 1915 val map shows this salt box-style station south of the tracks. The new station was probably built in 1893 where new rail was being laid in April, 1893 on the realignment and double-tracking of the Shore Line. The map shows the original right of way curving up to a more northerly route where STONY CREEK2 once stood before becoming the freight house seen here on the newly built line. [REFS: NHER/07/26/1892/01; NHER/04/11/1893/01; NHER/06/10/1893/01; R96]

STRATFORD1. This first station was located south of the tracks and west of Main St. on Linden Ave., as seen on the 1856FC map. The view in the upper left photo looks east and dates after the ca. 1858 double-tracking and prior to the new station in 1871. The shot on the right is this structure as the freight depot in its new location east of Main St. and just east of the passenger station. The 1849 structure was partially destroyed by a fire in 1882 that probably took out the cross-gable. The wagons are reportedly part of a U.S. Army military exercise in 1912 that included an encampment at Tyler City: see Track 1, MP 1.26.

STRATFORD2 is seen in the photo on the upper left and STRATFORD1 is in the inset. The caption is apparently in error since it makes it sound like the new station was rebuilt from the old after the 1882 fire. The newspapers said in March, 1871 that the NY&NH was about to build a new station on the site of the old one that was to be moved and used as a freight depot. [add12/8>] A 7/12/1871 article in the Courant said "the new passenger depot at Stratford on the New York and New Haven road is completed and will be occupied during the present week.">] This was still at the Linden Ave. location, as seen in the image at upper right that was taken from the Bailey bird's-eye map of 1882 [click here]. In 1893, the Register said that the two structures were to be jacked up on flat cars "running on both tracks" and moved about a third of mile to the east. The job was expected to take a mere two hours! The photo on the lower right shows the station about to be moved. The lower left shot is a 1950s view. [REFS: NHDP/03/01/1871/02; HC/03/03/1871/01; HDC/07/12/1871/01; NHER/09/30/1893/04; R97]

STRATFORD3 is the first station to stand on the westbound side, north of the tracks. It was built with the expansion of the New York Division and the four-tracking completed in 1894 from West Haven tower to the Pequonnock River in Bridgeport. Still in railroad use, the structure also houses a restaurant today in 2010. The right shot is a 1930 view looking east. STRATFORD2 and STRATFORD1 behind it are on the right. STRATFORD2 serves today as the National Helicopter Museum. STRATFORD1 is long gone. The structure across the tracks is STRATFORD3. [REFS: CRC42.1894.17; NHER/09/22/1894/01; NL19.1.4; R97]

STRATTON BROOK. This was an original CW flag stop on opening in 1871. The structure that we see here is probably the one that the newspaper said that the foundation was laid for in 1874, indicating that all that was here previously was a platform of some kind. [add12/7>] Interestingly, no structure is listed here by the NY&NE when it was considering a lease of the CW in 1880. This stop may also have been known as WEST SIMSBURY for which we have no other location.>] The name was changed to STRATTONS per the ICC order of 11/16/1915. The structure reportedly still stood on 10/27/1927 but was gone by 1937. [REFS: HDC/12/14/1871/02; CWN/11/06/1874/02; D21]


				TylerCityStation.Info Track 16 - CT Passenger Stations



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