Railroad Forums
CannaScrews wrote:There are still bases of the distant signals on the Naugy around East Litchfield & Watertown (North of Chase Bridge), but as mentioned above, the topography does not match.The New Haven Railroad did not make mention of pole lines and crossarms in their employee timetables. As for the distant switch signals there was one West (timetable direction) of Torrington not too far from the old Dump Crossing which governed eastbound trains. There were even some distant switch signals on the old CNE territory as well, timetables show at least most of them. There was at one time an interlocking at Waterville, I did'n know that there were any old signal bases still around that area after all that happened with floods etc over the years, it has been many, many years in the past.
As for the 4-armed poles, doesn't Employee Timetables have the layout of the wires on the poles?
trainsinmaine wrote:This is a long shot, but there's a possibility that this location is not in Connecticut at all.The mileage fits. But from looking at the Rutland postcard, it seems to me that "Lion's Head" is the rock formation directly above and to the left of the tracks, on the side of the cutting.
I located a postcard on eBay that depicts a section of the Rutland running through "Lion's Head" near Gassett, Vermont (in the Chester area). It's by no means identical to the above photo, but the topography is similar; I'm wondering whether it's facing in the opposite direction on a fairly long curve. Here's the link: http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_nkw=G ... 0568013637
This might solve the mystery of the "B" on the milepost: the mileage is indecipherable, the "B" could be Bellows Falls or (less likely) Burlington.
Ridgefielder wrote:
In the original postcard, on the other hand, it seems to me that "Lion's Head" refers to the rock formation up on top of the hill in the middle distance. That's what makes me wonder if the picture was taken on the Highland or the Naugy. Overhanging rocks and cliffs at or near the ridgeline is a common feature of the hills along both sides of the Naugatuck Valley.
Which leads me to a thought- wasn't the Meriden Branch (a/k/a Waterbury, Meriden & Connecticut River) part of the NY&NE, and thus the New England Railroad? Could this be somewhere along that? Location would be right for a postcard sold in Waterville.
CannaScrews wrote:I've been over the WM&CR, there MAY be 1 spot where I-84 crosses the ROW, except I'm not sure that hill has an outcrop of stone, and it may be on the wrong side. The other place where a steep grade is encountered is heading down to Cheshire where a series of curves down the side of a hill towards the bottom. Not the same topography. Going up the hill from Waterbury was all industrial.Going up the hill from Waterbury was all industrial within living memory, but the 1904 USGS map indicates that the built-up area of Waterbury petered out pretty quickly at the turn of the last century. Just before the branch heads off the edge of the map here it looks like it runs into a saddle between two hills, which would work with the image.
CannaScrews wrote:Hello folks - kinda excited about getting a major piece of the identification puzzle.Well I guess I know one of the places I'm going hiking on Memorial Day weekend!
Lifted from Wikipedia:
"The 'Hancock Brook Trail' is a 2.8-mile (4.5 km) Blue-Blazed hiking trail Waterville Section of the City of Waterbury in New Haven County close to the borders of Thomaston and Plymouth, Litchfield County, Connecticut. It is contained overwhelmingly in a section of the Mattatuck State Forest bounded by Hancock Brook on the east, Thomaston Avenue on the west and Spruce Brook Road / Route 262 to the north.
The 'Hancock Brook Trail' is listed as one of the Waterbury area trails in the Connecticut Walk Book West.
The Hancock Brook Trail is a highly linear loop trail composed of two parallel north-south trails connected at the north and south. The eastern trail follows the western shore of Hancock Brook. The western trail follows the ridge line rising up a few yards from the western shore of the Hancock Brook.
Notable features include a 660 foot summit (Lion Head 41.6038°N 73.0509°W) and several overlook views.[2] The trail is maintained largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association."
That makes the line the Highland going up to Terryville with the correct right-hand curve, the proper geological look for the rocks etc and the Greystone Station is about 1/2 mile north.
Also - the distance to Boston (from a previous post) is between 140-147 between Waterbury and Terryville.
This would also jive with the telephone/communication lines having quite a few wires strung.
Sheffield Street - way back when according to the topo maps went pretty close to the site.
As Nick Danger (third eye) used to say, "Bradshaw - I've solved another one for you".
If the view *of* the Highland *from* Lions Head jibes with the view in the postcard, I think the question is answered.CannaScrews wrote:One minor caveat is that the Highland was double-tracked after the photo was taken - so that cut may be wider and using the Google Helicopter over the area does not show evidence of that cut.Also looks to me like a couple miles of the line were relocated when the Corps of Engineers constructed Hancock Brook Lake in the mid-1960's. But the hills themselves shouldn't have changed.
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