The military traffic your are seeing is more than likely the unit is heading for training. Depending on the unit type either infantry or artillery they are either headed to FT Polk La or Grayling Mi. You should see some returns toward the of June or July when they come back from training. Just about every state had some units going out to various places.
necr3849 wrote:I don't think Sanford and Hawley gets anything anymore. The Manchester "Yard" is basically dead, you'll see a rare load of bricks once in a while. If it weren't for the Co-op, they would probably abandon this stretch of track.Lincoln78 wrote:I don't appreciate you disrespecting my residence of Ellington. Especially since I cannot tell whether your greatest contempt is recent arrivals like me (2001, though I am not urban, and not so young), or old time New Englanders who don't appreciate outsiders. We still have many farms (cattle and tobacco) whose fertilizers delight at least one sense.Chill on the nose in the air bit. I was born and raised right outside Ellington. Went to school at their rival town even. So, I don't need any lessons on the farms and such. My parents are still in Tolland. My poke was all in fun, and I don't care how new you are. Even if you had been there 20 years, I still would have poked the joke at you
I'm still amazed that there was once trolley service "downtown" as the area was rural even during the golden age of trolleys. I don't think anything remains of the Rockville-East Windsor spur that was torn up around 1952. I guess my dream of commuting via high-speed rail to my employer will never be realized, and I will have to continue to travel to see CSOR.
I worked right near the Manchester Secondary when it was Conrail right through today's Connecticut Southern. When I left CT in 2007, the housing boom hadn't tanked quite yet. The writing was on the wall though. At the time, the Farmers Cooperative was still taking hoppers. Sanford & Hawley was so busy, they were using their track and the brick company's as well for all the lumber and drywall that was pouring in. I can recall the old Agway being served when I was younger. All those Conrail B23-7s! I can't even remember all the names of the area roads any more.
The only thing I ever remember from the Rockville-East Windsor Melrose Branch was the bridge that was over 83 way back. If you go by the town's(Vernon) waste water place during Winter, you can maybe still see where the branch used to cross the Hockanum River.