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  • Housatonic Railroad Thread (Maybrook, Berkshire, Pittsfield)

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

Moderators: MEC407, NHN503

 #1496769  by NHV 669
 
It is legal in MA, and every other state in northern New England with the exception of NH. An arbitrary line on the ground isn't much of a deterrent for most of these travelers.
 #1496893  by Jeff Smith
 
Interesting development in Hawleyville: https://www.newtownbee.com/echoing-past ... g/01112019" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
...The project takes its name from the former railroad station that once stood in that area near the Housatonic Railroad’s grade crossing at Hawleyville Road. The building that would house the proposed gas station, convenience store, and cafe would be built in the architectural style of an old train station. Seventy2 Architects of Danbury is the designer.
...
 #1496996  by Jeff Smith
 
Was it on that branch? Did find some interesting stuff:

http://www.vizettes.com/kt/dn-rr-history/shepaug2.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And an old forum topic: viewtopic.php?t=64613" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Apparently there were as many as five stations.
 #1497126  by Ridgefielder
 
Hawleyville was the junction between the Litchfield Branch and the Maybrook Line. The spur into Shepaug Transload is actually the last remnant of the branch itself.

The Hawleyville area has a lot of railroad history. The original Housy was first, in 1839, coming up from Bridgeport by way of Stepney. Three more lines came in quick succession between 1870 and 1872. First, the Boston, Hartford & Erie built west from Waterbury through Southbury and Danbury to New York State and the Hudson. Then the Shepaug Valley Railroad built from the junction of the HRR and BH&E up the valley of the Shepaug to Litchfield. Then finally the Danbury & Norwalk reached up from Bethel to touch all three lines.

The BH&E became the New York & New England. The Shepaug Valley fell into bankruptcy and was reorganized as the Shepaug, Litchfield & Northern; SL&N trains actually operated through Hawleyville to the connection with the D&N at Bethel. Then the original Housatonic bought the D&N. By the early 1890's it was a fairly important junction. The NY&NE and HRR interchanged a decent amount of traffic there; freight and (somewhat unbelievably) passenger trains ran through from Boston to New York via a carfloat operation at Wilson's Point in South Norwalk and the LIRR's Oyster Bay branch.

There's pretty much nothing left of any of this. The NH bought the HRR in 1892 and the NY&NE in 1898. The NY&NE main from Danbury to Hawleyville, the HRR main between Hawleyville and Botsford and a branch from Botsford to Derby were combined to form the Maybrook Line freight route. The original NY&NE main over Towantic was downgraded and abandoned in stages starting in 1938. The D&N branch from Bethel was abandoned in 1911. And the original HRR main between Hawleyville and Brookfield bit the dust at some time in the late '20s or early '30s, not sure when.
 #1509266  by scoostraw
 
CT Gov. Ned Lamont released some of the major draft details of the updated toll bill.

"Improvements to the New Haven Line, including, but not limited to: (A) Expanding the Danbury branch to include the town of New Milford..."

Read more: https://patch.com/connecticut/hartford/ ... sets-rates" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 #1509303  by J.D. Lang
 
Tolling in CT. is far from a done deal. They will not vote on it in regular session and will have to call a special session this summer. They need their plan to be sanctioned by Federal Highway Administration & they may not have enough Democratic votes to get it through.

Extending to New Milford has been studied and re studied for over 30 yrs. They would need to buy the trackage (which if they do should include the Maybrook) from the Housatonic before any of this can move forward. I wouldn't get my hopes to high on this.
 #1523511  by jxzz
 
There is already an existing thread on East West line connecting Pittsfield/Springfield to Boston through Worcester.
https://railroad.net/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=170489

Housatonic line is likely dead as there is no interest in CT nor in NY to support that. The most realistic rail connection to NYC is a bus or rail from Pittsfield to Springfield, and from Springfield pointing south through CTrail and Metro North for commuter rail travels.
 #1534072  by NaugyRR
 
They're just leasers, nothing exciting
 #1534074  by Gilbert B Norman
 
Volks, our Class Agent, as part of his annual pitch for $$$$$, is sure suggesting that he is putting together a "bash" for our 60th at School during June '21.

If I can, I will; but I need a Driver's License - even if for nothing other than to rent at HPN for the 60 mile journey from there to School, and no assurance I'll still have that. 80yos are on a two year cycle in Illinois for such - and have to drive for each renewal.

But meanwhile on the rails in the mud; Mr. Trainman's report of "foreign" power on the HRR and Mr. Naugy's following comment, lead me to ask if THAT power even completed its run - or did it die maybe even blocking the X-ing at Bulls Bridge Road??? :-D :-D :-D
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