Bethel-Hawley

When was the track between Bethel and Hawley removed?

According to The Rail Lines of Southern New England by Ronald Dale Karr the track was taken out of service in 1908 and officially abandoned in 1911. It was one of the New Haven's first abandonments.

dcm74 wrote:According to The Rail Lines of Southern New England by Ronald Dale Karr the track was taken out of service in 1908 and officially abandoned in 1911. It was one of the New Haven's first abandonments.

Thanks- that would explain why it only shows up on a 1901 USGS map!

http://docs.unh.edu/CT/danb92sw.jpg

-otto-

There are still some remnants visible along Plumtrees Road in Bethel- notably a stone arch bridge over a brook near the entrance to the High School. Also, I may be imagining things, but I think I've seen maps from the '30's-'40's indicating that a short stretch of the branch remained active to serve a gravel pit slightly northeast of downtown Bethel long after the rest of the track was abandoned.

Just as with many long-abandoned ROWs it's getting more difficult every year to locate visible remnants. Since that's my native territory I located just about all the ROW over the years. However, in the past 20-30 years much has been built on.

The map Otto linked to shows the Bethel-Hawley track as part of the Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern. So this line (northern terminus in Bantam, down the hill from the center of Litchfield, service continuing until about 1948) would originally have connected to the "main-er" line at Bethel? With later service starting at Danbury, going a few miles east on the Danbury to Devon line, then turning north on the S,L&N at Hawleyville? (My father, born 1904, who I think worked as a baggageman at the ?Hartford? station as a summer job when he was in college, used to repeat the Hartford station announcer's call for an all-stops westbound across the middle of the state, ending "Hawleyville and Danbury" -- hadn't thought about it in a long time!)

Allen Hazen wrote:The map Otto linked to shows the Bethel-Hawley track as part of the Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern. So this line (northern terminus in Bantam, down the hill from the center of Litchfield, service continuing until about 1948) would originally have connected to the "main-er" line at Bethel? With later service starting at Danbury, going a few miles east on the Danbury to Devon line, then turning north on the S,L&N at Hawleyville?

That's correct. A 1905 timetable that I have shows Litchfield Branch passenger trains (two each way on weekdays, one on weekends) originating or terminating at Bethel, with New York connections via Danbury trains. It's unclear from the timetable whether this involved a transfer or through cars. In 19o8 the trains were rerouted via Danbury, which was the situation until passenger service on the line ended in 1930.

Tom Nelligan--
Thanks for the confirmation!
Passenger service (to Litchfield) ended in 1930? I had forgotten that. The line was open for freight until a few years after WW II.
Part of the right-of-way is walkable (and horse-ride-able) in Steeprock Park in Washington.

[quote="Allen Hazen"]The map Otto linked to shows the Bethel-Hawley track as part of the Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern. So this line (northern terminus in Bantam, down the hill from the center of Litchfield, service continuing until about 1948) would originally have connected to the "main-er" line at Bethel?

Bantam was part of Litchfield but it was not just down the hill. The station in Litchfield was down a hill of sorts from the
center of town but it was still Litchfield. Bantam was 2.96 timetable miles from Litchfield.
The Litchfield Branch was abandoned in June, 1948 with the last run on June 25, 1948 although an earlier public timebable
from the same month showed the line already gone.
Noel Weaver

Noel Weaver--
Thanks for the correction! There is quite a steep downslope just west of the Litchfield village center: I'm not sure exactly where the terminus of the rail line was, but assumed it was on the lower ground. In saying "Bantam," I'm afraid, I was using the name erroneously to mean "parts of the town of Litchfield that you get to after going down the hill west from the green." My sloppiness.

As a teenager in either the Winter of 1946/47 or 1947/48, I can remember driving down to the Morris area from Canaan to see the local freight to Litchfield that had derailed at a road crossing because of ice. The locomotive was a K-1 2-6-0 (the number escapes me) and had driven nose first in to a ditch just beyond the crossing. - - As for the terminus in Litchfield, it was at the bottom of the hill on Route 63 south of the village and was on the right hand side of the road if heading north. If not already built over, there should be some remnants of the r-o-w in the area.

Leroy Beaujon

cnefan wrote:As a teenager in either the Winter of 1946/47 or 1947/48, I can remember driving down to the Morris area from Canaan to see the local freight to Litchfield that had derailed at a road crossing because of ice. The locomotive was a K-1 2-6-0 (the number escapes me) and had driven nose first in to a ditch just beyond the crossing. - - As for the terminus in Litchfield, it was at the bottom of the hill on Route 63 south of the village and was on the right hand side of the road if heading north. If not already built over, there should be some remnants of the r-o-w in the area.

Leroy Beaujon

Lee and others, the Litchfield Branch terminated in a small yard area west of the center of town just off what is now US-202.
The freight station was a small wooden building which I have been told is still there although altered. Route 63 which is
South Street goes due south out of Litchfield and does not go anywhere near the abandoned right of way.
I too remember the derailment west of Litchfield and right along the highway. My father and I went over to have a look one
night and they had a wreck train along with a lot of people in the area. At that time the route west out of Litchfield was
known as route 25 not US-202.
For more on this line I suggest the soft cover book "Shepaug Railroad" by Fletcher Cooper, I suspect it is still in print.
It is interesting reading. Fletcher Cooper, 13 Maple Street, Litchfield, CT, 06759. According to the above book the
engine involved in the January, 1947 incident was 372.
Noel Weaver

Noel Weaver says:
"the Litchfield Branch terminated in a small yard area west of the center of town just off what is now US-202"
---- that IS where I thought the terminus was: my apologies for thinking everything down the hill from Litchfield village was "Bantam."

Wow, I stand corrected on where I thought that the Shepaug terminated in Litchfield! I am looking at a street map of Litchfield and see that West Street seems to turn in to Bantam Road about where South Lake and North Lake Streets intersect. Would South Lake be about where the r-o-w was? West Street must also have a substantial grade down to the former depot area from the center of town. I have a railfan friend who lives in Litchfield and I will e-mail him to get more specifics.

Lee Beaujon

cnefan wrote:Wow, I stand corrected on where I thought that the Shepaug terminated in Litchfield! I am looking at a street map of Litchfield and see that West Street seems to turn in to Bantam Road about where South Lake and North Lake Streets intersect. Would South Lake be about where the r-o-w was? West Street must also have a substantial grade down to the former depot area from the center of town. I have a railfan friend who lives in Litchfield and I will e-mail him to get more specifics.

Lee Beaujon

Not being there, I can only guess but I think the station was in the area of South Lake Street or Russel Street both of which
appear quite close in Litchfield. The railroad went away from the highway at about a 90 degree angle but both the highway
and the railroad curved around and eventually were fairly close to each other between Litchfield and Bantam. The Shepaug
Line was noted for a lot of curves and I don't remember it following the road west of Bantam.
Unlike some railroads, the New Haven wasted no time in tearing up the track after the last train ran and by fall the line was
basically gone according to the previously named book.
Noel Weaver