Early Conrail freight through Connecticut

Hello Folks,

Looking for information on the post New Haven/Penn Central era, 1980’s. Did Conrail pull freight through Connecticut and if so what were the engines and type of freight? I am focusing on the West end of the old New Haven line, Westchester county through to Stamford.

Thanks for your help

Through freights ran from Selkirk to Beacon, over the Maybrook Line from Beacon to Danbury to Derby and then down the Waterbury Branch to Devon and then to New Haven....

Local freights operated out of Danbury....

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=54644

Some traffic on the New Haven Line, mostly lumber yards here and there...

-otto-

Otto Vondrak wrote:Through freights ran from Selkirk to Beacon, over the Maybrook Line from Beacon to Danbury to Derby and then down the Waterbury Branch to Devon and then to New Haven....

Local freights operated out of Danbury....

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=54644

Some traffic on the New Haven Line, mostly lumber yards here and there...

-otto-

The management of Conrail couldn't seem to make up its mind whether to run the Cedar Hill freight via Danbury or via
Springfield. It shifted routes a number of times over the years. The Danbury freight always came from Selkirk via the
Beacon Branch and this was probably the best route for Cedar Hill freight too but the volume did not always justify a train
between Danbury and Cedar Hill. They solved that by running the stuff through Springfield and they served Hartford
enroute but the reverse move required in Springfield cost them much time and added congestion to an already congested
place.
Noel Weaver

IIRC, LI-2 / LI-1 ran Selkirk / Beacon Branch / Maybrook Line / Devon / Shell / Hell Gate to the LIRR at Fremont with Hudson Div train and engine crews all the way. NH crews had the equity for CH-3 / CH-4 Cedar Hill to Selkirk.

Thanks everyone for your reply and information. Ive been busy this weekend attending a NMRA meeting yesterday and a model train show today. If you guys can offer the the era or date that you think your reply correlates to then that would help. Remember the main goal is trying to determine what freight went pass the Stamford station in the eighties.

IIRC, LI-2 / LI-1 ran Selkirk / Beacon Branch / Maybrook Line / Devon / Shell / Hell Gate to the LIRR at Fremont with Hudson Div train and engine crews all the way. NH crews had the equity for CH-3 / CH-4 Cedar Hill to Selkirk.

Now this information is interesting because to go from Devon to Shell Tower would mean that the train went through Stamford. But shlustig, what engine, what freight and what era/ date?

Thanks again everyone

shlustig wrote:IIRC, LI-2 / LI-1 ran Selkirk / Beacon Branch / Maybrook Line / Devon / Shell / Hell Gate to the LIRR at Fremont with Hudson Div train and engine crews all the way. NH crews had the equity for CH-3 / CH-4 Cedar Hill to Selkirk.

Seems like a roundabout way to get to Long Island... why not down the Hudson Line to Mott Haven and over the Port Morris Branch?

WMH wrote: Remember the main goal is trying to determine what freight went pass the Stamford station in the eighties.

The answer is, "Not much, if any." A high number of through freights via Stamford were really a thing of the past by the 1980s. You might have had local freight operating from nearby terminals, but that's about it.

Specifically regarding Stamford, CT, and Conrail freight:

1/1/1980:

Train BG-1, on duty Cedar Hill 00:01 daily, to Oak Point; set out and pick up en route.

GB-2, on duty Oak Point 08:00 daily, to Cedar Hill; set out and pick up en route.

NX-2, on duty Bridgeport 00:01 Monday through Friday; local work Bridgeport to Woodlawn/Stamford/New Canaan.


12/31/89:

WAOP-25, on duty Oak Point 20:30 Sunday through Thursday; local work Oak Point to Norwalk.

WAOP-90, on duty Oak Point 20:00 as required on Friday only; to Cedar Hill handling cars exceeding 70 feet in length.



*Information taken from Conrail Freight Schedules.

shlustig wrote:IIRC, LI-2 / LI-1 ran Selkirk / Beacon Branch / Maybrook Line / Devon / Shell / Hell Gate to the LIRR at Fremont with Hudson Div train and engine crews all the way. NH crews had the equity for CH-3 / CH-4 Cedar Hill to Selkirk.

Not quite, the Hudson average the job about 9 months or so out of the year. The New Haven Shore Line had the job for
maybe 3 months or so. I would end up on the job when the Shore Line had it every Saturday as it was a three sided job and
on Saturdays it went to the extra list. I was the only engineer on the list qualified all the way to Beacon so I got it most
Saturdays. The others on that list did not like freight work anyway and some of them never ran a tonnage freight train
anyway. I wanted the union to try to get one side of the job on a much longer basis but "Danbury Dan" ran the show with
these jobs and he insisted all or nothing. I used to get a lot of pilot work on these jobs when the Hudson had them because
some of the engineers did not qualify on the New Haven stretch for a long time. It was a nice ride in the country for me and
I always enjoyed through freight work anyway as long as things went reasonably OK, they didn't always go OK though.
Noel Weaver

Otto:

Round-about, yes. However, the Pt. Morris Branch had both car length and height restrictions, plus the train would have had to move through Oak Point Yard and then change ends with the power for the move over the Hell Gate Bridge.

Running via Devon allowed for a straight facing-point movement at Pelham Bay and Market interlockings for the run over to LI.

As for dates, this was c. 1975 - 1985. Power was 4 or 5 4-axle GP-40's or U-Boats, the extras being needed for the climb from Beacon to Hopewell Jct.

The Maybrook line was OOS for several years in the 1980s. A span the bridge at Derby Jct. got partially knocked off of one of the piers, in a flood. I used to go by it regularly on CT Rte. 8. While it was out, the train ran via Springfield.

Noel Weaver wrote:

Otto Vondrak wrote:Through freights ran from Selkirk to Beacon, over the Maybrook Line from Beacon to Danbury to Derby and then down the Waterbury Branch to Devon and then to New Haven....

Local freights operated out of Danbury....

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=54644

Some traffic on the New Haven Line, mostly lumber yards here and there...

-otto-

The management of Conrail couldn't seem to make up its mind whether to run the Cedar Hill freight via Danbury or via
Springfield. It shifted routes a number of times over the years. The Danbury freight always came from Selkirk via the
Beacon Branch and this was probably the best route for Cedar Hill freight too but the volume did not always justify a train
between Danbury and Cedar Hill. They solved that by running the stuff through Springfield and they served Hartford
enroute but the reverse move required in Springfield cost them much time and added congestion to an already congested
place.
Noel Weaver

There are several reasons for this. Among them: good management by L. Stanley Crane, head of Conrail since 1981; the Staggers Act of 1980, which substantially deregulated the rail- road industry, enabling Conrail to set its own rates and thus compete more effectively; and Conrail's unions, which accepted pay cuts and other labor cost cutting actions.

Regards,

Most of the freight that was lost was not lost to trucks, but simply disappeared due to the de-industrialization of CT. This happened with lightning speed in the eighties, having started in the late sixties. Most of the shippers we recall simply don't exist anymore. Wonder how long we can survive delivering pizzas to each other.

Noel, did the SENH jobs operate with 1 crew? Just seems like a lot of mileage to cover.

Steamboat Willie wrote:Noel, did the SENH jobs operate with 1 crew? Just seems like a lot of mileage to cover.

Via Beacon and Danbury they ran with one crew and usually they made it within 12 hours.
Via Springfield it was more cumbersome as they either had to back the whole train off to the B & M and then go south over the diamond or they had to pull east of the passenger
station and run around the train. Either way it was time consuming but they tried to run the crews through, sometimes they actually made it within 12 hours and sometimes they
did not.
At other times they just dropped the cars off at West Springfield and ran a turn job between West Springfield and Cedar Hill.
As I have stated before it is a shame that the Penn Central did not use the Armory Branch to run to Hartford, it would have then been a straight away move from West Springfield
and even with the slower overall speed would still have been as there would have been no reverse or run around moves required in Springfield.
Noel Weaver