Danbury Branch question

[Ridgefielder]

On Old Mill Rd. in Georgetown, there is a cinder-block structure that stands between the road and the railroad, about 200 yards south of where the line crosses to the other side of the Norwalk River, and about 0.5 miles south of the CT Route 107 overpass.

What is this building? Is it-- or was it-- railroad-related? The position of the doors and the width of the r-o-w at that spot make me think it's an old freight house, but the location doesn't seem to make sense, since the center of Georgetown, along with the Gilbert & Bennett works and the passenger station, were a half-mile up the line. There's nothing much immediately adjacent to it other than a couple of old houses.

Here's a picture: http://goo.gl/maps/ZoXvF" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Noel Weaver]

The building in the photo is in the area of Old Georgetown which is just south somewhat of Georgetown as it existed in later years. I doubt very much if the building in the photo was ever owned or used by the railroad at any time. Incidentally I pulled an old timetable and Georgetown was exactly the same distance from Branchville in 1930 as it was at the end of the New Haven Railroad in 1968. Old Georgetown had a runaround track of about 3 car capacity that was rarely used in the 60's I was working 147 as fireman in the spring of 1970 when somebody broke the lock to the switch at the north end of this track and lined it for the runaround. There was no switch target on that switch but when I saw the switch points, I dumped the air from the fireman's side and the engineer aat the same time dumped the air from his position. Of course we could not stop in time and we went through the runaround and the split point derail at the south end did its job. The 2026 ended up tilting against a bank, trees and brush and we did not get hurt. We shut the engine down, pulled the battery switch and bailed off as quickly as we could, the last step to the ground was a long one. The night was a long one especially for me as I had to pilot a deadhead equipment/353 move which got out of Danbury via Derby Junction from Bridgeport to New York.
I will never forget Old Georgetown, I still have newspaper clips to remind me of this as well.
Noel Weaver

[Fishrrman]

I realize this reply is three years late, but as a kid I used to wander around Georgetown in the mid-1950's.

South of town, just south of the bridge, I believe there used to be a small coal yard that got rail service.

I can remember exploring that area once, also walking across the nearby trestle over the Norwalk River. For a kid of around 7 or 8, it seemed like a mighty tall bridge at the time!