Danbury Branch - History, Electrification, Studies

Danbury branch is single-track, unsignaled. Meet sidings at Wilton and Branchville (don't know the line well north of Branchville- is Bethel Lower long gone, anyone?) Not sure of the speed limit but would be surprised if it were 70. Given the population density of the towns along the line, the (to be polite) strong "preservation" sentiment, and the geography of the Norwalk River valley, I think this line will be double-tracked some time after service resumes on the NY&NE mainline from Hawleyville to Waterbury

Max speed on Danbury is 50 mph with a few restrictions at 30 and 35 and a few 20 and 25 mph restrictions.
Considering line was designed for 35 mph even 50 is pushing it.
Other than a few long passing sidings there is no plan to double track and there is no room for double tracking either.

So, I think in conclusion, we can say it will never be electrified. No point at all.

"So, I think in conclusion, we can say it will never be electrified. No point at all."

Oh, just because there's no point to it doesn't mean it won't ever happen.

In fact, sometimes that's what gives a project just enough of an edge to be a priority! Especially in Connecticut... how can they justify all the millions of dollars, thousands of man hours and decades of time spent on studies of this project if they never come up with anything at the end?

Sometimes these things end up getting started just to save face.

Then they get delayed when the funds are reprioritized again.

Since the old thread (Danbury Branch signals and electrification) was ruined by a certain zealous poster, and to avoid a repeat of replies and counter-replies to off-topic nonsense, I'm starting a new topic. I would highly recommend that any OT nonsense be ignored and summarily deleted.

Yes, respected railroaders and fellow foamers, the long decade of studying the Danbury branch is coming to an end! Whether or not anything comes of this, who knows?

Danbury Metro-North study should be done by year's end

Transportation Commissioner Joseph Marie pledged to lawmakers Tuesday a lengthy, federally funded study for improving Metro-North Railroad's Danbury branch will be completed by year's end.

"I realize there's been a lot of collective angst with the pace of developments along the branch lines," Marie, who was hired last summer by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, told the legislature's transportation committee.

My informed (that information coming from the many railroaders who posted on the previous thread) guess is this is what is recommended:

Completion of CTC (a separate ongoing process not necessarily dependent on the study)
Installation of some sidings and some ROW improvements.
Limited extension to New Milford (likely not funded or implemented for some time during environmental reviews and negotiations with HRRC)
No electrification (or only to Merritt 7???). I'm not sure of the "merits" of such an idea.

What on earth good would electrifying only to Merritt 7 do? It's not even as if that's the busiest station on the line: if they're only going to do it halfway, Wilton or Branchville would make more sense.

For my part, I was initially in favor of the idea of (re)electrifying the entire Danbury branch. However, the posters here have made me rethink my position. Alignment improvements and extension to New Milford should take priority.

I question whether anyone would be bringing up the idea of electrifying the Danbury had it never been under the wires to begin with, and were the old catenary supports not still in place. As I understand it, a big reason for the 1920's-era electrification was to move the engine change point for Berkshire line trains to the Danbury engine terminal in order to ease congestion on the Shore Line. It wasn't like the line back then had the heavy suburban traffic and close station spacing of, say, parts of the LIRR or the lower Harlem Division, where the quick acceleration of an MU train is a big plus. And, really, it still doesn't. Ridgefield, Redding and Wilton, with their open space and 2 acre zoning, are never going to be built up like, say, a Mamaroneck or Bronxville. Electrification of that line made sense in the steam era, just like it did on the Great Northern in the Cascades or the Boston & Maine through the Hoosac; in the diesel age, it doesn't.

My two cents: do whatever needs to be done to raise track speed through Norwalk south of Wall Street; replace Bethel Lower; reopen South Wilton/Kent Rd. for select trains; and extend service to New Milford, with at least one Sunday-evening train running through to GCT (especially in summer).

I support electrification of the Danbury Branch. But I also favor taking more immediate less costly improvements like raising speed limits, re-banking curves, legnthening station platforms and installing the looooooooooong delayed CTC system. Electrification is not essential to improve service, but it is something I would like to see.

Cape Cod, I think we're basically in agreement. I'm not an "opponent" of electrifying the D&N; if I opened next weeks Ridgefield Press and the lead story was "Danbury Branch to be Electrified, MNRR Says Work Will Commence June 1st" I'd cheer. Thing is, like you said, there are a lot of improvements in addition to wire that could be used to improve the line. And, they're going to cost a heck of a lot less than stringing 25-odd miles of catenary.

Out of curiosity, which segments of track need the most work to bring the average speed limit up?

Totally agree on platform length. Never understood why Branchville has a short platform.

Having worked the branch for last 15 years as engineer I can state there are not many places the speed can be raised.
from mp 0.1 to 1.7 should be 40 , not 10 and 30 mph
From wall street tunnel to MP4 should be 40 mph with no restrictions (currently 30 thru S Norwalk)
Bethel from mp 20 to south street should be 50 mph, currently 30 mph
and from shelter rock road to Danbury Wye switch should be 30 or 40 mph, currently 20 mph.
The rest of branch is pretty much at its highest speed, the branch was built for 30 continous and later raised to 50 mph.
due to curves the speed won't get much higher than that, with or without Catenary

What would have to happen to get MP 0.1 to 1.7 up to 40? Grade crossing elimination?

No grade crossing ellimination neccesary unless the speed is raised to greater than 110 mph
most of it is old speeds that made sense when freight operated over branch and yard limits were in effect.
But untill some form of signalling and PTC like ACSES is implicated on branch the speeds won't change.
Ill retire in 5 years and speeds and electrification status will be same as it has been for last 23 years.
thats when CDOT first recieved money for signalling project.

Hey, I'm hopeful, although maybe w/out cause. The local politicians (at least in Wilton and Ridgefield) seem to be pretty pro-rail; and I think the NIMBYs realize that increased service on the branch line is a lot less intrusive/disturbing/whatever than the Route 7 Expressway. We shall see, though. Meanwhile, I wish they'd just give us our bar car back!

With all the suggestions for increasing track speeds made by DRN, you could shave at least 5 minutes off the current schedule. By super-elevating some of the curves and raising the 50 MPH zones to 59 MPH, you could shave another 3 minutes off the current schedules. See? By spending just a few $$$ on track improvements trains could travel faster.

Current super elevation is at its max, don't forget there is still freight traveling the branch.
you will never see 59 mph on Danbury Branch.

Just read in the Danbury News Times that Jodi Rell approved more than $30 million for Danbury branch improvements. These improvements are going to include station renovations and the new long awaited signal system.

Here is the link to the article:
http://www.newstimes.com/latestnews/ci_11979657