Beacon Line Maintenance / Current Status / Background

First, of all CDOT owns no part of Maybrook/Beacon line.
second, of all CDOT and state of Connecticut are broke
Third, all bridges and crossings need to be replaced
fourth, a total track replacement
fifth, a PTC/signal system
sixth, there is a bus service from Danbury to Brewster station
seventh, John Hanlon owner of HRRC will not co-operate on any passenger service deal, not even to New Milford.
Eight, Did I tell you State is broke and MNCR is not gone fund the part from Stateline to Southeast.

theozno wrote: Think of this way, How many hundreds of millions are we loosing on a busway to nowhere?

Even if all parties involved decided to play together, the start up costs alone would be astronomical for reasons DRN already mentioned. The bus is cheap in comparison.

theozno wrote:Realistically, How Much will it cost to reactivate the Maybrook line to 59 MPH-79 MPH etc or at least a shuttle for now Brewster to Newtown? Traffic on I-84 seems to be getting worse everyday compared to past years from the NY border to exit 11 where Maybrook line Heads south.

One other problem with any Brewster-Danbury, et al service proposal is the lack of an existing physical connection at Brewster/Southeast between the Maybrook and the Harlem Line. If MNR were to ever even bring such a service restoration to the table they most likely wouldn't dare discuss it if it didn't involve using Southeast as the "Brewster terminus" where there's a storage yard, etc. and (most importantly) geography that could permit a spur to be built from the Maybrook just north of Markel Park to just south of the Southeast station. Having a third Brewster station near but not linked to an existing main line with 2 other stops in town doesn't make much sense though a park and ride near I-84 would be an ideal fill-in stop.

As previously stated the line is in such bad shape that it would take big $$$ to bring it up to a state comparable to that of the Danbury Branch (even without a signaling system).

As for Newtown like the saying goes "anything is possible", but a New Milford extension is more of a top priority in the distant future. AFAIK the tracks themselves aren't at risk of abandonment (no real reason for ConnDOT to let them die if HRRC doesn't want them anymore) so they'll most certainly be there in 10-20 years if a service restoration is warranted there.

so they'll most certainly be there in 10-20 years if a service restoration is warranted there.

Yeah... We might need a rail line. I'll Just sit in this Danbury traffic forever for now near exit 5,6 & 7

Brewster used to have a direct connection from the Maybrook at the wye with the ex-Putnam. There was a third wye leg that went EB on the Maybrook and SB on the Harlem, through what's now the little league field and crossing N. Main St. at-grade: http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials. ... &year=1958" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

For all of the above stated reasons passenger service here is a VERY remote, and almost certainly decades-away proposition. But I do wonder if MNRR got another minor allotment of money for minimal Beacon Line upkeep whether they'd choose to reinstate this wye...except curving the other way into Southeast yard...simply so they can landbank the Beacon/Maybrook to Dykemans and expunge nearly 4 redundant miles of trackage from their maintenance responsibilities. It would still be theirs for whatever cable plant they need to run and could be trailed, but if they have to maintain the line in semi-operable condition for another emergency equipment move it would make sense to spend one of their regularly programmed Beacon line items on lopping off half the in-state route miles while keeping their connection to Danbury fully intact and more convenient from Southeast yard than before. That segment is far more useful for preservation than the Harlem-Hudson connection which has zero traffic potential and sacrifices no flexibility if it rusts OOS forever.

Dreams are free. Reality is costly.

Welcome to "Fantasyland XXXXX". Nothing is impossible but this comes very close. This line was never ever high speed in any nature and there are way too many curves on it for it to ever become anywhere near as fast as nearby I-84. I totally agree with "Dutch", absolutely no chance of this happening. If you think your taxes in Connecticut are too high, go for this and they will more than triple.
Noel Weaver

Noel Weaver wrote:Welcome to "Fantasyland XXXXX". Nothing is impossible but this comes very close.

Some of us just must have our whims and grails

Let's put it this way, if restoring the Maybrook is as hard as it appears, by the time the line has any chance of being part of the MNR/ConnDOT system, Amtrak will probably have began construction of their NextGen HSR route through Danbury and Waterbury; and that won't be until 2030-2040-ish if that says anything. So if anyone wants any real alternative to I-84 traffic anywhere (at least between Danbury, Waterbury, and Hartford where supposedly traffic can get really bad, especially between the latter two cities) that'll be your best bet.

news times has a great article about how the Danbury Fair Mall revenue for the state has gone up 130 million this year alone. That alone would pay for the Maybrook line which in fact, goes right next to the mall hugging it.

give it up, the mall revenue is not state revenue, and not even close to paying for even a partial rebuild of HRRC trackage.
.

There's too many turns anyways, so even if they did revive it (will never happen, at least in my lifetime and probably my kids lifetime), it won't save much time.

As for 84: It's 1 of the better highways in the state. I'd rather live off 84 then off of 95 which becomes a parking lot in the summer.

7express wrote: As for 84: It's 1 of the better highways in the state. I'd rather live off 84 then off of 95 which becomes a parking lot in the summer.

Having just moved to the shoreline, I can safely say I will never whine about driving 84 ever again.

The weeds and rather large trees (from Sandy and Irene) were cleared along the Beacon Line all the way to Beacon

Actually, the Beacon line was cleared of weeds and trees (from Irene and Sandy) all the way to Beacon.

AMK0123 wrote:Once you hit the state line and it turns into HRRC property its a sea of green.

Well, I was about to stick my foot in my mouth because I thought that the Beacon Line from state line to Danbury was owned by CDOT. According to CDOT's own map dated January 2013, the tracks do indeed belong to HRRC.

http://www.ct.gov/dot/lib/dot/documents" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... r36x24.pdf

-otto-