Jan. 28th - 50th anniversary of last electric run to Danbury

My assertion of the date is not absolutely infallible, but I’m pretty sure of it.

The last electric run on the Danbury occurred on Saturday, Jan. 28 1961. It consisted of a consist of washboard MUs making a round trip from GCT to Danbury as trains 140-143.

For a while --- a couple of months anyway, this isolated once per week operation had been the sole remaining electric move to Danbury. The weekday Danbury-Norwalk shuttle had gone over to a Budd car around the end of the summer of 1960. As the second 30 FL9s came on line beginning in early September, nearly all engine-hauled consists that had still been electric went over to FL9s. Until some time in November one of the Danbury-based commute round trips had been electric but that went too. Unfortunately no one I know has any records of the precise dates of any of this.

Beginning some time in the fall of 1960 --- and no one I know has any record of just when this happened either --- Saturday trains 140-143 began having MU’s assigned. I assume this experiment was for economy, and because most of the MU fleet were idle on Saturdays anyway [Note: Monday-Friday 140-143 had an FL9].

I understand the power to Danbury was turned off the following Wednesday, Feb. 1, 1961

Thanks for the info on this landmark event!

-otto-

Electrification of the Danbury branch didn’t last long; however there has been some discussion of re-electrifying the line (see below). Next year will be the centenary of the Harlem River Branch electrification and wires are still up and juiced, albeit there are a lot less of them.

Danbury Branch Phase II Study Website - “The Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) launched the Danbury Branch Electrification Feasibility Study to evaluate the feasibility of electrifying the Danbury Branch commuter rail line as well as other possible alternatives to improve rail service on the Branch.”

http://www.danburybranchstudy.com/

And of course, my book has a whole chapter dedicated to the New Haven's electrification project...

http://www.nywbry.com/forgotten/#newhaven

-otto-

Lets not forget, If not for Diesels the New Haven line would be close to shutting down these days.
Re electrifying the Danbury would be detrimental to service and would cause big delays to Commuters if damaged or if trains break down.

Think it's important to remember that the reason the Danbury was electrified in the first place had little to do with operations on the branch itself. The wire was extended to Danbury to a) eliminate an engine change on NY-Danbury through trains and b) move the engine change point for NY-Pittsfield trains to Danbury (which had extensive steam servicing facilities back in the day) from South Norwalk or Stamford. In that way it was more like the B&M's Hoosac Tunnel electrification: it solved a particular steam-era operational problem. The Danbury lacked-- and still lacks-- the close station spacing that makes the quick acceleration capabilities of electric MU equipment stand out. So, when the FL9 came along, the engine change problem was solved in what the railroad thought was a more efficient way-- and the wires fell. It's hard for me to say the line should have remained electrified when the latest multi-million dollar study concluded that restoring the wire would clip at most something like 5 minutes off a Danbury-Norwalk trip.