Waterbury, CT

Ok, I have a question about something I saw. The only thing is that I have no idea what town I was actually in or what road I was on.

So...

The other day, my girlfriend (who lives in Terryville) and I were on our way to Waterbury, CT. On the drive, I saw a bunch of old train cars (passenger coaches, box cars, engines and even a small steam engine) that were kept inside a fenced-in area of the, what appeared to be, defunct single-track ROW. From the road I could tell that the cars and engines were not taken care of well because they were obviously very rusted out and not appealing to the eye at all.

I was just wondering what they were doing there. It's rare, I think at least, to see a steam locomotive just sitting and rusting away.

Hope someone can figure out what I'm talking about and give me some information on this!

Really very simple: www.rmne.org

You saw the Waterville yard, next to the (remains of) old Chase Brass Works. ROW is not defunct, but is the active line of Naugatuck Railroad, operated by RMNE volunteers, and in service between Waterbury and Torrington. If your girlfriend lives in Terryville, that's not too far from Thomaston station, starting point for RMNE's excursion operation.

Equipment in the yard is stored; yes, not all of it is nicely painted, but that is a function of available resources (RMNE is always looking for volunteers who are interested in getting up close and personal with the stuff). The steam locomotive is actually in good condition, for example. This was the original yard built in 1996 when RMNE came to the Waterbury area. A newer yard and restoration shop facility is located halfway between Waterville and Thomaston, info should be on website.