Devon, circa 1969

I have a couple of questions about this photo of Devon Junction, circa 1969. First, the switches are on the east bank of the Housatonic; when would they have been moved to the west side? Second, does anyone recognize the building in the foreground? I asked the photographer, but he couldn't say. Could that actually be the old depot?

Well, since the Maybrook Line came down the east side of the Housatonic River, it would indeed be kind of difficult to have its connection with the Main Line on the west side of the river, yes?

And yes, that is the former passenger depot at Devon Junction. Hadn't seen any station stops since before 1951 (my oldest ETT).

Statkowski wrote:Well, since the Maybrook Line came down the east side of the Housatonic River, it would indeed be kind of difficult to have its connection with the Main Line on the west side of the river, yes?

And yes, that is the former passenger depot at Devon Junction. Hadn't seen any station stops since before 1951 (my oldest ETT).

Not too many months ago I did an extensive project as to the last trains stopping at Devon both on the main line and on the Naugy. I posted the results on either the NHRHTA site or this site, i don't recall which one. It is too much work to try to do this again right now. I think it was prior to 1951 that the last trains stopped at Devon either on the main line or the Naugy.
Noel Weaver

I remember that, yes. The last passenger stops were in 1937, and the last mail stops in 1947. I was just a little surprised that the station depot would still be there two decades later. Maybe they used it for storage. And I also found it peculiar in this photo that the Budd car is switching on the east side of the river, which makes it a little awkward to get to the wye, I would think.

The wye is on the east side of the river. The only thing on the west side of the river was Stratford.

My recollection is that in the 1960s time frame the Devon station was being used by the maintenance of way department.

Statkowski wrote:The wye is on the east side of the river. The only thing on the west side of the river was Stratford.

We've got some kind of disconnect here. I know that the wye is in Milford; I never said that the wye was anywhere else. But a train to Waterbury switches in Stratford, before crossing the bridge. In the photo, the train is switching in Milford, after crossing the bridge.

khansingh wrote:

Statkowski wrote:The wye is on the east side of the river. The only thing on the west side of the river was Stratford.

We've got some kind of disconnect here. I know that the wye is in Milford; I never said that the wye was anywhere else. But a train to Waterbury switches in Stratford, before crossing the bridge. In the photo, the train is switching in Milford, after crossing the bridge.

The direct switch from mainline track four to Naugy track two was removed some years ago and today the Naugy crosses over from track four to track three west of the bridge and then turns out to the Naugy at roughly the same location. The wye is only one track on each leg at this time although in years past both legs had double track.
Noel Weaver