|
********************
TACONIC
TACONIC.
Opens with the debut of the CW as CHAPINVILLE late in 1871, first a flag stop and then a regular station by ETT#6 (6/5/1872).
By October, 1872, the Winsted Herald reported that "the depot in Chapinville
is being driven ahead" and the CWN said "it is well advanced toward completion."
[add12/7>] The 1880 NY&NE appraisal of
CW assets said this station was in good condition and valued it at $1800.>]Renamed in 1915 per ICC
order eliminating '-ville' names and others potentially confusing for train crews. [REFS: HDC/12/21/1871/02; CWN/10/25/1872/02; WH/10/23/1872/03; CW/NYNE1880; N3.92: 1938 photo]
********************
TAFTS
TAFTS. Also called TAFTVILLE. The stop was established in the northeastern part of the town of Norwich in
1840 when the N&W opened. With the exception of the one at middle left, all the station photos look south. The muddy,
but interesting, side view of this station at upper right shows the excitement
of the kids at the prospect of the PWC(?) Bake on 8/6/1916, and the approaching train. At middle right, a train emerges from the Taftville
tunnel, a little further up the N&W. In the photo at lower left looking south, the N&W line is
behind the station and Connecticut Co. trolley tracks in the center are crossing to to use the N&W north to Plainfield
and Central Village. The junction point with Conn Co's line to Occum and Willimantic is out of sight to the right. The
track in the foreground has to be the one to Ponemah Mills, which is to the north, behind the photographer. [REFS: Q148f; SL11.2.26][rev2/3]
********************
TAINTORS CROSSING
|
| Max Miller Collection |
TAINTORS CROSSING. We do not see the small station here that was supposed to be at this
crossing. We have additional photos to scrutinize. [REFS: SAS27]
********************
TALCOTTVILLE1
TALCOTTVILLE1.
This line opened through the town of Vernon in 1849 but no station shows here on a timetable that we have
seen prior to 1872. The first mention of a structure here is in the Courant in 1867 where it is
described as "a small depot station, with a board having the word Talcottville written upon
it." In 1869, an article says that a commission wool house to be erected by the track nearby and the "little
depot" was to be enlarged and a side track added. This may be the
expanded station from 1869 that is mentioned in the article above. The view on the right is from the 1895 Bailey bird's-eye
map of Vernon. Between 1907 and 1924, there was electric car service from Burnside Jct. in East Hartford to Rockville along
the old NY&NE. [REFS: HDC/03/15/1867/01; HDC/02/22/1869/04; HC/12/16/1907/10; HC/01/13/1908/01]
********************
TALCOTTVILLE3
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
TALCOTTVILLE3.
The val photo on the left is dated 1916 and the handwriting at the bottom of the one on the right identifies it as a Benton
and Drake photo from ca. 1930. Assuming our date range of the photo of the predecessor station is correct, that would make
the build date of this one between 1907 and 1916. We will be checking additional sources to try to clarify this.
********************
TALMADGE HILL1
TALMADGE HILL1. This flag stop goes back to the opening of the NCRR itself
in 1868. What station structure first stood here is not known yet.
********************
TALMADGE HILL2
|
| Max Miller Collection |
TALMADGE HILL2. The railroad commissioners report a shelter being
built here in their 1889 annual report. It may be this one, with the canopy perhaps added later. The val map shows this station to have been on the west
side of the track. Just to the north, the beautiful Dunkelberger bridge would be built over the Merritt Parkway which opened
from Greenwich to Norwalk on June 29, 1938 [click here]. [REFS: HDC/08/27/1869/04; 1886TT; CRC37.1889.17]
********************
TALMADGE HILL3
|
| Wikipedia |
|
| Wikipedia |
|
| Wikipedia |
TALMADGE HILL3. The current station actually consists of three structures, a square
central enclosure and two auxiliary kiosks. The proximity to the Merritt Parkway overpass is seen in the lower shot that,
of course, looks north. The compex is located just west of Old Stamford Rd., Rte. 106 at the intersection of Talmadge Hill
Rd.
********************
TARIFFVILLE1
TARIFFVILLE1. In 1850, the NH&N extended its reach to Collinsville,
Granby, and here. We have no photograph of this station and wonder
if it was designed by Henry Austin akin to his smaller Canal line depots we have listed as COLLINSVILLE1, PLAINVILLE1, and
possibly UNIONVILLE1. The NH&N annual report [p5]
says service to Tariffville started in January, 1850. The one here would stand on the north side of the track at the end of
the spur until 1892. According to a revealing article in the Connecticut Western News, "The old building used as a railroad
depot at Tariffville was destroyed by an incendiary fire
on Wednesday evening of last week. It belonged to the Consolidated road and
was erected when that company's branch track extended across the meadows. The C.N.E. & W. road have used it for 20 years but will now build a depot on the opposite
side of the track and nearer the centre of the village. The loss will hardly exceed $200."
According to the Courant, this depot had become an "eyesore" in its later years and was
described as "an old dilapedated (sic) shanty... called by courtesy the railroad station." The Ladies Village Improvement Society was going to "whitewash,
paint, and paper..." the waiting room in April of 1892 but, before the good deed could be done, three tramps reportedly set fire to the building around 11:00
p.m. on the evening of May 5. The station contents were rescued, but, alas, it sounds like the paint pots,
brushes, and ladders were not. The 1855HC map [upper left]
shows the layout of what would remain a spur into Tariffville once the Canal line was forestalled from using it to continue
on to Springfield. It is unclear exactly when NH&N service ended on this spur. The
1858GED still lists this as a station but it is not on any later timetables we have seen. Testimony in the 1898 hearings on the PR&NE's
petition to build across the spur to get to Springfield said the line had only been discontinued in 1890. While that date is supported by the 1888 map [top middle], various other sources indicate that the track was out earlier. The Register was perhaps
closest to the truth when it said in 1899 that the NH&N track hadn't been used in 25 years and the 1915 val map [click here], while showing the wye connection with the NH&N main line, says [top right]: "Operation
of the Tariffville Branch was discontinued in 1869. Tracks taken up in 1870." This timing coincided with the reemergence
of the NH&N as an independent railroad when the NY&NH lease expired. Presumably, the 'liberated' company
saw no use for the spur with the CW already being built and it just leased TARIFFVILLE1 to the newcomer. Several online postings say that some track near the
Canal line wye is in the ground even today. Some also claim that the spur became a part of the CNE main line. It did not.
Even if it had not been taken out in 1870, it was NYNH&H property once they leased the Canal line for a second time in
1887. The 2011 photo at bottom left shows what are presumed to be the earthen remains of the Canal line
bridge across the Farmington River just west of TARIFFVILLE1, which, in spite of its 42-year existence, has yet to show up in any photographs. Between
the tragic CW bridge collapse on 1/15/1878 and "The Battle for Springfield," as Bob Adams dubbed it, this village
would go on to have a place in the history books all out of proportion to its size
or importance in state railroad annals otherwise. [REFS: Ash, 1864, p41; HDC/12/21/1871/02;
HDC/08/28/1872/02; WH/07/29/1881/02; HDC/09/20/1886/04; Poor, 1889, p55; HC/04/12/1892;
HC/05/06/1892/06; CWN/05/12/1892/02; HC/10/11/1898/03; NHER/01/31/1899/01]
********************
TARIFFVILLE2
TARIFFVILLE2. Newspaper articles indicate that work was
undertaken immediately to replace the station that had burned. Within a week, a crew was busy and seven days
later the paper said "the new railroad station of the Central New England and Western road, being built across
the track from the site of the old structure that burned, is nearly finished. It will be small, but a decided
improvement over the old building." One week later, the report was that "the new railroad station, although not
finished, is far enough advanced to be used by the station master." No photos have yet been found for TARIFFVILLE2,
which stood south of the track as seen on the 1893 map [middle right], opposite to where
the prior one stood. It was heralded as being closer to town, microscopically so, it would appear. [REFS: HC/04/12/1892; HC/05/06/1892/06; WH/05/20/1892/02; HC/05/21/1892/06; WH/05/27/1892/02]
********************
TARIFFVILLE3
TARIFFVILLE3. The railroad commissioners reported that a station
was built here in 1903 and
we finally have found a newspaper article to corroborate that. The Connecticut Western News
said in April, 1903 that "the Central New England railway is building a new passenger station at Tariffville between
the tracks of the main line and those of the Springfield branch." The wording well explains the diagonally positioned bay in the southeast corner, purpose-built to give the agent visibility in
three directions. This triangularity was complemented by the sharply curved platform to accommodate the eastern leg of the
wye that was completed back in March, 1900. Other newspaper reports also corroborate the building of the freight depot in the distance, also in 1903, for the traffic that was "steadily increasing over the branch line." Nimke's claim of 1905 for both of these structures, a timing that never made any sense to us, is thus disproved. The photo at upper left is probably the earliest, possibly when the station was new. The others show changes in the doors, windows, signboard, and
signal mast, culminating in the
7/12/1929 val photo at middle right. The focus of the first engagement in the battle for Springfield
shows on Adams's
map [bottom left] under the C in 'Branch' where the CNE fought and won the right in 1899 to cross the abandoned NH&N spur at grade. Construction proceeded northward from that point and southward from what would become
known as Agawam Jct. where the CNE was to use B&A tracks into Springfield. Round two came in June, 1899 when the NYNH&H
surreptitiously obtained the Montague farm property in Granby and obstructed the completion of the line,
forcing the CNE to charter and build the East Granby and Suffield RR, a 3.5-mile, $100,000 loop
around the farm. The RAM map [lower right] shows the loop highlighted as the solid green line. Nimke says it
opened to East Granby on 12/16/1901 and to Agawam Jct. on 9/12/1902. Less than six months after the Springfield extension debuted via the loop, the Montague property was suddenly obtainable
for a pittance. The CNE then completed the last 313 feet of the original right of way, which it had to
charter separately as the Short Line RR Co., and passenger trains began to run via the farm on 3/9/1903. The loop was retained briefly for freight use but was out by May, 1904. The dotted green line was a proposed
Windsor Locks RR that arose from the controversy, either as part of another way to get to Springfield or
as a feeder of additional traffic into Tariffville for the CNE. The poorly revised RAM maps misrepresent the
loop's dates, showing it in place from 1902 to 1906 and show the unbuilt Windsor Locks line as
a reality until 1926! The commissioners' maps show the loop correctly, reflecting the preceding calendar year and having
it drawn
in on RRM1903 and gone on RRM1904. [REFS: NHER/01/31/1899/01; HC/02/03/1899/12; NHER/06/30/1899/03; HC/03/14/1900/13;
NHER/04/24/1900/03; SR/11/16/1902/08; CRC51.1903.22; HC/02/18/1903/04; HC/02/19/1903/08;
HC/03/07/1903/20; HC/03/10/1903/04; CWN/04/23/1903/03; WEC/07/21/1903/01; HC/11/14/1903/05; HC/05/10/1904/18; NMRA Bulletin 44.3.9+; D18; N2.2, 2.3]
********************
TERRYVILLE1
|
| USGS Image |
|
| Copyright NHRHTA, Inc. All rights reserved |
TERRYVILLE1. This station reportedly was also called PEQUABUCK for the village located
here, but we have never seen that name on a timetable or signboard. According to the newspaper, this stop did not come
into existence until 1859. The topographic map [click here] at the lower left shows the old loop and the depot location, which was south of the track at the blue arrow. The freight
station on the north side of the old loop is still in commercial use today in 2010. The red arrow shows the location of TERRYVILLE2,
no longer standing, on the new alignment heading for the Terryville tunnel. [REFS: HDC/11/04/1859/02;
HPFAR10.1859.12; HPFTT9.18.1872; HDC/08/03/1916/18: old station still standing;
D132; SL12.1.29]
********************
TERRYVILLE2
|
| Copyright NHRHTA, Inc. All rights reserved |
TERRYVILLE2 and the adjacent tunnel opened almost simultaneously in late January, 1911. The new, double-tracked
Highland Division right of way headed straight for Sylvan Hill instead of skirting around its eastern
flank as the old BHE/NY&NE line had done. This required the building of the 3700-ft tunnel, another monumental NYNH&H
engineering feat that is deserving of far more coverage than it is usually given. The old loop was left in place and a connection
was made from TERRYVILLE2, as seen on the map above. This allowed trains in Hartford-Bristol passenger service to make a
quick turnaround here starting in 1916. This saved the railroad from installing a turntable at Bristol after problems with
the dinky engines running in reverse caused a derailment in 1914. [add12/5>]
The old line, later cut back to a point just east of the TERRYVILLE1 site, was extended northward up to the Chippens Hill
industrial park that it still serves today. The city of Bristol put up $8M
to entice General Motors to build a $15M plant in the park and move its New Departure-Hyatt Bearings Division there in 1969
and Penn Central put in the spur.>] [REFS: HC/06/08/1910/13; HC/01/10/1911/15;
HC/01/28/1911/13; NHAR41.1912.10; HC/05/03/1914/05; HC/05/25/1916/12; HC/05/06/1969/23A;
BP/05/21/1969/01; D133; R98]
********************
THAMES GROVE
THAMES GROVE. The railroad commissioners reported that an accident took place
on 8/5/1880 at this location, about 1½ miles above MONTVILLE [see M stations], which was not "a regular or usual stopping place for trains." A Norwich-bound train was standing at the grove
when a freight appeared in the rear. Though it was moving slowly and the engineer of the passenger train
put on steam, the collision stove in the freight engine's boiler and eight passengers in the last passenger car were injured, none fatally, by escaping steam. The
freight's engineer said he had "no notice that the passenger train expected to stop at THAMES GROVE, as had been
given to him of previous similar occasions." The engineer and the fireman of the passenger train jumped or were thrown
off by the jolt which detached their locomotive, said in one report to be the Monson,
that then ran wild up to Norwich, where it was "considerably smashed" after crashing into
an empty caboose. This is not the first time that we have seen unscheduled, non- timetable stops and
it does raise some interesting, and serious, questions about train operations "on the fly." Though limited and seasonal,
stops here were noted frequently in the newspapers for Civil War regimental outings, temperance picnics, political gatherings,
and regattas that would see 6,000 people arriving by train in 1880 at special excursion rates. A freak natural occurrence
in 1878 saw an elederly woman, Bridget Maxwell, killed by a lightning strike in a thunderstorm which dug a crater around her
body and sent an electrical shock to persons standing nearby. Newspaper references to THAMES GROVE end abruptly in 1880. This
is just about the time a later flag stop, KITTEMAUG [see K stations], also at
the same seven-mile distance above New London, was established probably in virtually the same location. If this location is,
in fact, synonomous with Bolles Grove, trains apparently were stopping here as early as 1860. [REFS: NLDC/07/31/1860/02; NLDC/06/26/1861/02;
HDC/08/08/1873/04; HDC/08/12/1874/02; NYH/07/05/1878/08; NYH/07/13/1880/06; NYH/07/21/1880/05; NYH/07/28/1880/05; HDC/08/06/1880/03;
NHER/08/06/1880/01; NYT/08/06/1880/02; NHER/08/16/1880/04; CRC28.1881.24]
********************
THAMESVILLE
|
| Connecticut Historical Society |
THAMESVILLE. We just caught the corner of this station over to the left and we are on the hunt for more. We assume there
was a later station as well. The 1893 map shows the depot location in the northwest
quadrant of the South St. grade crossing at that time. Based on that orientation, the photo would be looking toward the northeast.
********************
THOMASTON1
|
| Robert Lingane Collection |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
THOMASTON1. This station was first called PLYMOUTH or PLYMOUTH HOLLOW as seen here on the 1854LC map at upper left and was located on the east side of the track. The
snippet at upper right is from an 1852 panoramic view of the village and is
probably the earliest image of this station in existence. The artist was T.H. Darrow and the printer was the famed Kellogg
firm of Hartford. The station, seen in the middle left foreground, was similar in design to other wooden NRR combination
depots from the mid-1800s. The shot at lower left
shows the structure as the freight depot after its
successor was built on the opposite side of the track. THOMASTON1 lasted until 1994 when the roof collapsed
under the weight of heavy snow and the ruins were removed. The val photo on the left is dated 6/15/1937. [REFS: D90; R99]
********************
THOMASTON2
THOMASTON2.
Damaged by an
arson fire in 1993, this station was purchased by the Railroad Museum
of New England which continues to restore it and use it as the base for its tourist operations. The structure,
similar in design to the 1877 WINSTED3 [see W stations], retains the sturdy elegance and wonderful wooden brackets born of
her NRR heritage. The shot on the right is probably from the 1880s and shows the large, brick-enclosed water tank that once
stood adjacent to the station. [REFS: CRC29.1882.32;
CRC30.1883.20; R99]
********************
THOMPSON1
|
| Leroy Roberts Collection |
THOMPSON1. Stop established in 1854 when the B&NYC opened from the Massachusetts line to MECHANICSVILLE, aka Thompson Junction. The
depot is very similar in design to QUINEBAUG on the Southbridge branch.
********************
THOMPSON2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
THOMPSON2. This spiffy new depot was built on
the south side of the tracks, east of the highway bridge built over the tracks to eliminate the old grade crossing. The
val map at lower left shows the arrangement in 1915.
********************
THOMPSON JUNCTION [>
MECHANICSVILLE]
********************
THOMPSONVILLE1
THOMPSONVILLE1, as seen on the 1856WC map.
********************
THOMPSONVILLE2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
THOMPSONVILLE2. The 1893 map shows the station at the red arrow. [REFS: HC/03/25/1914/07]
********************
THOMPSONVILLE3
THOMPSONVILLE3.
The actual building of this station has eluded us. References in the newspaper back to 1911 said a new
station was coming here and in 1916 the townspeople were said to be still yearning for a new one. The photo
at right is dated 9/1967 at the Dodd RHA website. [REFS: HC/01/12/1911/13; HC/02/27/1916/02; HC/01/09/1916/05:
mail]
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