Georgetown, CT Gilbert and Bennett Factory

I was wondering during the time that the Gilbert and Bennett factory was in operation how many sidings served the factory. I was near the Bruce Bennett Nissan dealership the other day and happened to see what appeared to be the remains of an old siding going off into the bushes.

MNCRR9000 wrote:I was wondering during the time that the Gilbert and Bennett factory was in operation how many sidings served the factory. I was near the Bruce Bennett Nissan dealership the other day and happened to see what appeared to be the remains of an old siding going off into the bushes.

By the time the factory closed there were two sidings leading into the plant. One came in from the south under Route 107, crossed the road in front of the plant (Main St.?) and entered the factory grounds. Not sure if it branched out further within the premises. The other (which is what you saw) led in from the north and I think was for delivery of fuel oil or some other liquid product. IIRC the plant had not used rail to ship product in or out for many years by the time it closed circa 1990.

As an aside, my dad took me on a tour of the place a few months before production was shut down for good. The interior was straight out of the 1920s-- some of the machinery was still operated by belts taking power off overhead driveshafts running the length of the floors.

Ridgefielder wrote:

MNCRR9000 wrote:I was wondering during the time that the Gilbert and Bennett factory was in operation how many sidings served the factory. I was near the Bruce Bennett Nissan dealership the other day and happened to see what appeared to be the remains of an old siding going off into the bushes.

By the time the factory closed there were two sidings leading into the plant. One came in from the south under Route 107, crossed the road in front of the plant (Main St.?) and entered the factory grounds. Not sure if it branched out further within the premises. The other (which is what you saw) led in from the north and I think was for delivery of fuel oil or some other liquid product. IIRC the plant had not used rail to ship product in or out for many years by the time it closed circa 1990.

As an aside, my dad took me on a tour of the place a few months before production was shut down for good. The interior was straight out of the 1920s-- some of the machinery was still operated by belts taking power off overhead driveshafts running the length of the floors.

Thanks for the information. I had a feeling that there may have been a siding that led in from the south. I just took a look at Google Maps and you can actually see the remnants of the siding in the middle of the factory. In the middle of property it looks like there is a track branching off coming south. The street that it crossed was actually North Main Street. Main Street is down in front of Rancho Alegre and the Georgetown Saloon.

Before the plant shut down in 1990 when was the last time that the factory received rail shipments?

I lived in Georgetown (Weston) from 1969 to 1974 and remember seeing a PC local switching the G&B plant on occasion. Power was usually an RS-11.

I just saw this thread - believe it or not I found it in a Google search. The G&B plant was the filming location of one of my favorite movies, "Other People's Money". It was Gregory Peck's last big movie and a brilliant Danny DeVito work. I highly suggest you check it out. There's also a few shots of M2 Cosmos taking Peck's wife into NYC.

Tadman wrote:I just saw this thread - believe it or not I found it in a Google search. The G&B plant was the filming location of one of my favorite movies, "Other People's Money". It was Gregory Peck's last big movie and a brilliant Danny DeVito work. I highly suggest you check it out. There's also a few shots of M2 Cosmos taking Peck's wife into NYC.

It's a good flick, haven't seen it in years. IIRC the location shoots were actually split between Georgetown and Shelton.

Did the CT Gilbert and Bennett factory have any relationship to the A.C.Gilbert plant in New Haven?

Alloy wrote:Did the CT Gilbert and Bennett factory have any relationship to the A.C.Gilbert plant in New Haven?

I don't think so. G&B was a local Ridgefield/Redding/Wilton company originally founded in the first half of the 19th century to make horsehair sieves. As time went on they switched to making wire sieves, then all sorts of coated wire products-- wire cloth and coated wire fence come to mind. The families have been widespread in that area since colonial times: Ridgefield alone has a Bennett Pond, Bennett's Farm Road, and Gilbert St.

Ridgefielder wrote:

Tadman wrote:I just saw this thread - believe it or not I found it in a Google search. The G&B plant was the filming location of one of my favorite movies, "Other People's Money". It was Gregory Peck's last big movie and a brilliant Danny DeVito work. I highly suggest you check it out. There's also a few shots of M2 Cosmos taking Peck's wife into NYC.

It's a good flick, haven't seen it in years. IIRC the location shoots were actually split between Georgetown and Shelton.

Not shot in Shelton, but Seymour about 10 miles up the Naugatuck River - Close.

The location was the Seymour Wire Co (I think), nice factory which is now a "Stop & Slop" supermarket. The company office was retained & became the Seymour PD headquarters.

Not shot in Shelton, but Seymour about 10 miles up the Naugatuck River - Close.

The location was the Seymour Wire Co (I think), nice factory which is now a "Stop & Slop" supermarket. The company office was retained & became the Seymour PD headquarters.

Right you are. It was filmed in the Seymour Specialty Wire Company plant a few years before it closed in 1992. It was heavily damaged by fire in the same year. Besides the Seymour PD, there is also one more remaining building from the original plant at the end of the cul de sac just north of Stop & Shop. It is being used by a trucking company for storage. At the end of the cul de sac, about 100 feet into the woods stands the ruins of the Seymour Freight House built by the New Haven.

Interesting that Stop and Shop choose to build on top of a EPA cleanup site. Stop & Shop did the same in Torrington, building on top of the American Brass Company site. A lot of interesting chemicals are now seeping up thru the parking lot there.