The Housatonic Railroad between Connecticut and Massachusetts

The Housatonic Railroad between Connecticut and Massachusetts

View of the railroad going through the village of Housatonic.

The stations are circled. The left one is the passenger station, the right is the freight station.

Click on picture to enlarge.

According to written accounts by historian, Benard A. Drew, the original Housatonic depot was replaced around 1859. In 1881, a third depot was erected, and the former one was moved north for use as a freight house. The building still stands today. The village of Housatonic, of course, was known for the huge Monument Mills complex, a major shipper on the RR in the 1800s and early 1900s.

According to Drew, the 1881-built passenger station closed in 1962. Then on, passengers had to wait outside and purchase tickets on the train. The building still stands today, and looks like it's being used for storage or whatever. A very handsome old-fashioned RR depot. Nice thing about today's HRRC is that many of the 1800s RR depots are still standing. Just driving by them today is much like taking a visual road-trip back in time.

Click to see more maps of the region served by the Housatonic

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Vandalism on the Housatonic Rail cars part of Housatonic plan
Thursday, August 03, 2006 To the Editor of THE EAGLE: Your recent article and editorial about the vandalism that occurred on the Housatonic Railroad leaves the clear impression that you are more interested in excusing the perpetrators of their crime and blaming the railroad because it made a mistake of storing railroad cars on its own property. If a resident of Great Barrington had had the windows smashed in his older car sitting in his driveway would The Eagle have written a story suggesting that it was the residents' fault for leaving the car in the driveway or for making the mistake of driving an older car? The Housatonic Railroad purchased 12 rail passenger cars anticipating that the need for rail passenger services in our service area will soon become painfully evident. Our country's energy supplies come from many parts of the world that are hardly stable. That instability coupled with the growing demand for more oil from countries like China and India suggest that the price for oil will grow to or exceed $100 per barrel. Dwindling supplies and dramatically higher prices are not a good recipe for economic growth in the Berkshires. We are taking some small steps to prepare for what is at best an unpredictable future. The Housatonic's passenger cars are hardly "cast-off." They were fully inspected when they were purchased and were operating in daily passenger service in Chicago. They were in excellent operating condition and they were graffiti-free. We believe that some day soon they will become a critical component to the transportation system in the Berkshires and to its economy. If people can't buy gas to get here or can't afford the gas, they won't come! New rail passenger cars are enormously expensive and lead times to get them are too long. Ours are here and with a little work can be put into service quickly. The cars have been stored on a rail siding that is removed and reasonably screened from view. The cars were locked, and the doors screwed shut with metal plates. Your implication that they were not reasonably secured is simply wrong; as wrong as it would be to suggest it's the homeowner's fault because his windows weren't barred and thus easily breakable when the burglars broke in. Unfortunately the vandals who slashed seats, broke out windows and generally vandalized the cars worked hard to break into the cars and as with most security systems it is very hard to deter the determined villain. The Housatonic Railroad wants to have a positive and cordial relationship with the town of Great Barrington and with all the other towns along our railroad. We also need to run our business and at times we must store cars where storage tracks exist. Like any other citizen we take prudent measures to deter vandalism and we expect vandals who are caught to pay for their crimes. Like many residents we deeply appreciate the commitment of local police to fight crime both on the railroad and off. Just as the future of the railroad is tied to the economic future of the area we serve, the future of the area we serve will increasingly be tied to access to quality rail service, both freight and passenger. We would be more than pleased to have a dialogue with Great Barrington as we do with other towns in our service area. We need to work together to find ways to exploit the energy efficiencies of rail transportation for our mutual benefit. COLIN PEASE Canaan, Conn. Aug. 2, 2006 The writer is vice president of special projects for the Housatonic Railroad.

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Canaan Railroads Explained
As far as I know, at Canaan, there were two connecting tracks forming a wye at the station, if coming north on the Housatonic, movement could be made east on the CNE, and if coming south on the Housatonic, movement could be made east on the CNE. There was once a proposal to install a west leg of a wye for northbound trains on the Housatonic to the CNE along with a new coal pocket, but it never materialized. There was a wye for turning in Canaan Yard. There were 5 or 6 limestone industries in East Canaan when the Central New England Railway was active. This might have been a reason the New Haven decided to leave the track in from Canaan to East Canaan until 1940. However, the most important reason when the New Haven abandoned the line west of Norfolk Summit that they held off on the section between East Canaan and Canaan was the Gulf Oil facility located about one-half mile or less east of the Route 44 crossing in East Canaan. The State of Connecticut was none too happy about this as they wanted the New Haven to rebuild the bridge over Route 44 for better clearances just east of downtown Canaan and just about where the line ends today. Since there was only one consignee east of that bridge, the New Haven went to them and offered to help Gulf Oil build a facility in Canaan if they would agree to giving up their facility in East Canaan. This was done and in 1940, the line east of the Route 44 bridge was abandoned to East Canaan. This made the State of Connecticut very happy and shortly after abandonment, they knocked down the bridge and widened the road. - - The kicker on all this is that Gulf Oil soon gave up getting their oil by train and switched to truck delivery. The track from East Canaan to West Winsted was taken up in 1938. In 1940 the track was removed from East Canaan to where it still remains today, about a mile east of the station to service Pfizer's limestone mill. Here's some maps of the Canaan area. Going west from Canaan, State Line was easy to find. The stone state border marker was there, where the line went north to Boston Corners or west to Millerton. It was easy to see where the roadbed was. At Millerton there was a diamond over the NYC Harlem Div. and a connecting track on the east side of the Harlem track where a westbound train on the CNE could go north on the Harlem. After CNE the NYC used some of this track to service one last customer in Millerton.

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Bernie Rudberg drove through Canaan on September 1, 2006 and took a couple shots of the station reconstruction. The hammers were banging away when he was there. It is starting to look like a station again.

In 1911, the Housatonic bought a large block of Rutland stock and in 1913 the line was straightened and double tracked to New Milford.

Check out the bridge abutments in Brookfield.

There are not many grade crossings left with Wildman St being the biggest problem.

Let's face it. I am sure there will be many who don't want to see increased rail traffic. The sound of horns as trains approach grade crossings. Fortunately the noise level of modern locomotives is not that big of a factor. I would think though that it is an existing rail line, improvements should get easy approval. The bigger difficultly would be adding or rebuilding passing sidings that would now be required.

Let's stop contemplating who will run what trains and on whose tracks. The next phase of the study will review environmental impact issues in the corridor. We have all read horror stories about turtle spawning grounds in other states; hopefully the New Milford extension will not experience the same issues.

I suggest rather than wasting energy on whether commuter rail service will be extended to New Milford or not, that your time may be more productive by writing your State Reps, Congressmen and Senators not only to garner support for the extension of commuter rail service to New Milford but to show support for improvements on the Danbury Branch.

The West Stockbridge Railroad was chartered in 1831 and incorporated April 5, 1836 to run from West Stockbridge west to State Line, where it would continue to the Hudson River in New York State as the Hudson and Berkshire Railroad. The line opened on August 10, 1838. On February 6, 1844 the Berkshire Railroad (then leased to the Housatonic) leased the West Stockbridge and Hudson and Berkshire Railroads. On November 21, 1854 the Western Railroad bought the Hudson and Berkshire, which became a branch from the Western's line (later the Boston and Albany Railroad) from Chatham to Hudson, and was abandoned east of Hudson. The West Stockbridge Railroad stayed part of the Housatonic system.

The New York, Housatonic and Northern Railroad was chartered in 1863 to run from White Plains, New York northeast via Danbury to Brookfield, Connecticut on the Housatonic. It was only built north of Danbury, and on May 1, 1874 the Housatonic leased and opened it.

Rising, Massachusetts near Great Barrington

At Rising, the main line continued to Pittsfield while another line branched off to State Line.

Click on picture to enlarge.

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Arlo Guthrie's church was extensively used in his 1968 film Alice's Restaurant, which became kind of a hippie-era cult classic. It may still show up on some cable station now and then. According to Arlo's version of the story, which he tells in his long narrative song of the same name, it's supposed to be true.

The film has one brief scene, of New Haven train #138 at Stockbridge.

Berkshire historians know that there never was an "Alice's Restaurant" --- not by that name anyway! Its most recent reincarnation was as Theresa's; used to be known as The Back Door.

Old photos show as many as five tracks across from the church. This is where the State Line branch went off the main line. All freight and passenger business was done here. The lines paralled up to Rising or Dalys, where the branch went off to State Line. There is a large block of marble where the station was and I have always wondered if it was part of the foundation? Last Passenger train to State Line was a "Mixed Train".

ALice Brock's "The Back Door" was in "downtown" Stockbridge, at the rear of an alley. That's the establishment spoken of in the song, and briefly featured in the film, which was all shot on location.

As a result of Arlo's song and film, Alice sort of got "discovered" and opened a considerably larger and far more upscale establishment up on Rt. 183 across from Tanglewood, called "Alice's at Avaloch" (which, by the way, Arlo was a business partner in). Last time we were in that territory that place was called "The Apple Tree Inn." I don't know what it is today. Last I knew, over 15 years ago, Alice had moved all the way across Massachusetts to P'town. Don't know if she was still in the restaurant business there!

Arlo and his "brood" are still active in the area. His Guthrie Center at the old church is doing a lot of community-oriented stuff today. As far as I know, they handle their garbage in more conventional ways nowadays!

He himself lives on a farm in Washington, MA. His home in Sebastian, FL got pretty much wiped out in the hurricanes of a couple of years ago.

We have a special feature on "Twilight of American Rail Travel" . which features one of his songs.

JAZZ ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA Sidney Bechet (1897-1959)
Bechet's style of playing clarinet and soprano sax dominated many of the bands that he was in.
He played lead parts that were usually reserved for trumpets and was a master of improvisation.

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Bechet summered many years in Juan-les-Pins on the French Riviera. A statue there, presented by the city of New Orleans, commemorates his life.

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The Housatonic's Neighbors
	Connecticut Connection A trip along the Central New England Railway (CNE) from Canaan, Connecticut to the New York State Line.	Click here or on the logo at left to view
	The Maybrook Line across Dutchess County The "Maybrook Line" was important to New England before the advent of Penn Central and before the Poughkeepsie Bridge burned.	Click here or on the logo at left to view

	More Connecticut Train Stations We have found even more on Connecticut's railroad stations! Click Here or on any of the pictures to see lots more (previously unpublished) information and pictures of Connecticuts train stations.

REFERENCE SECTION

List of MassachusettsNew York Railroads
List of Connecticut Railroads

Craig Bisgeier's 1892 Housatonic Railroad

Unofficial Housatonic Railroad Page

Rail Freight in Connecticut Today

Another great Housatonic Railfan Site

Housatonic Freight

Here's a look at some of the freight traffic that the Housatonic carries:

Fairfield Processing loads 5-8 cars a week in 2 locations in Danbury, west of Wildman St and at former Mallory Hat Co on Rose St. The Danbury traffic is all originating which is gravy as the Housy gets to keep a larger share of the tariff.

50' boxcars go to Kimberly Clark. wood pulp bundles for making paper towels and tissue (New Milford)

50'-60' chemical tank cars go to Pharmco (Brookfield)

50' corn oil tank cars go to AC Humko (New Milford)

50' tanks of Sulfuric Acid go to Fidco in Northern New Milford (Boardman's)

Garbarge gon's usually 6 at a time go to AWD (Danbury)

50' box cars of lumber and center beam flats of dimensional lumber to Shepaug (Newtown)

50' box cars of lumber and center beam flats of dimensional lumber to Georgia Pacific (Botsford-Newtown)

50' box cars of lumber and center beam flats of dimensional lumber to Stevensen Lumber (Monroe)

Covered hoppers go to Specialty Minerals in Canaan for limestone loading (they are located on the former New England Central Railway)

Covered hoppers go to Becton Dickenson in Canaan, and to Sheffield Plastics in Sheffield, plastic pellets unloading.

On the Coltsville Industrial Track at Pittsfield, MA.; The train usually just goes to the Filkins' warehouse (about mid-way), but sometimes the train will travel further north past the Crane Ave. crossing to drop off some cars for storage. The track ends just south of the Berkshire Mall Road at the Pittsfield/Lanesboro line. The Coltsville track is a remnant of the former Pittsfield & North Adams RR which was constructed in 1846 and became a branch of the Boston & Albany Railroad.

HRRC has their own ballast cars; at least 4 of them parked at the New Milford Station siding.

Housatonic locomotives as of February, 2006:
HRRC 3600 GP-35M Roots blown 2000 HP
HRRC 3601 GP-35 Turbo, pinned 2200 HP
HRRC 3602 GP-35M Roots blown 2000 HP
HRRC 3603 GP35-3M Roots blown 2000 HP, Dash 3 upgrade, new electronics and wiring, AR10 Alternator with an AC Auxillary Alternator. Extended Range Dynamic Braking and Self-Load capabilities.
HRRC 3604 GP-35 Turbo, pinned 2200 HP
HRRC 7324 GP-9 1750 HP
HRRC 1802 GP-9E 1800 HP

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The New Haven Railroad Historical and Technical Association
has created a great map of the New Haven Railroad at its greatest extent.
Click below to see it.


Railroad From Norwalk, Connecticut to Pittsfield, Massachusetts

Housatonic Stations
Weather for Danbury	Danbury, Connecticut
Weather for Brookfield	Brookfield, Connecticut
Weather for New Milford	New Milford, Connecticut
Weather for Kent	Kent, Connecticut
Weather for Cornwall	Cornwall, Connecticut
Weather for Canaan	Canaan, Connecticut
Weather for West Stockbridge	West Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Lenox, Massachusetts	Lenox, Massachusetts

Canal Line today through New Haven

Connecticut's Farmington Canal was converted to a railroad by 1848. The road was named the New Haven & Northampton, but has always been called the Canal Line. The road's first terminal in New Haven was between Temple Street and Hillhouse Avenue. Click Here or on any of the pictures to read about its history, present and the future

Head End
Railway Express and Railway Post Office

On passenger trains, railroads operated lots of equipment other than sleepers, coaches, dining cars, etc. This equipment was generally called 'head-end' equipment, these 'freight' cars were at one time plentiful and highly profitable for the railroads. In the heyday of passenger service, these industries were a big part of the railroad's operations, and got serious attention.
We have text and pictures not found elsewhere on the Web.

What ever happened to my Penn Central stock?

Penn Central gobbled up the stock of New York Central, Pennsylvania and New Haven Railroads. But what ever happened to the company and the stock? Is it worth anything?

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Signal Stations of the New Haven Railroad

Includes New Haven speed limits and trackage rights Also sections on Bridgeport and State Line interchange Click here or on picture to see full story.