Hawleyville, Conn.

Is there any track that runs thru Hawleyville ?

The New Haven's former route through Hawleyville, CT (once called the Maybrook Line) is now operated by the Housatonic RR. A rather large terminal for lumber and other hardware type products is located there.

Leroy Beaujon
Roseville, CA

In the late 19th century, Hawleyville was a fairly important junction, where the main line of the Housatonic crossed the New York & New England. You can clearly see this on the 1893 topo map here: http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.a ... g&state=CT

My question is this-- what is the origin of the current railroad infrastructure at Hawleyville? Is the trackage used by today's Housatonic on the alignment of the old NY&NE, or the old Housatonic? And where was the station? I assume there was one at this site at least until the abandonment of the Litchfield branch in ca. 1949.

Just off the top of my head, from data posted in a long-ago NHRHTA Shoreliner, there were five (5) stations in Hawleyville over the years.

Any recollection as to which issue/year? I'm interested in learning more about it. H'ville was such an important place at one point (in the NY&NE's system map its in the same typeface as Waterbury) and now it's just a wide spot in the road.

Suggest you go to the NHRHTA website.

Allot of the area to still open to walking. (legally I do not know)(there are no no-trespassing signs)


The area changed so much over time it would take a historical guru to figure it out.


The mainline New Haven-Penn-Central I think is about the same today although there were re-do things over time maybe to reduce the grade. Today I think it is just Housatonic RR and P&W trains.


The other lines like the Shepaug Railroad I don't think got much modification. The NY&NE I think got altered somewhere as to it's tunnel and approach to such. The Shepaug to Bethel hmmmmmmmmm that was abandoned long long ago.

Then there was the Brookfield Branch ?

The old Housatonic I'd guess had its own tracks in older days as there is an ancient tunnel of theirs along the southern section of area.


The area especially in summer (unless something has changed) is a wide open walkable snoopable area and there are many old ROW's going 50 million directions.

I found the most interesting the old NY&NE tunnel. Seems nobody has it blocked for trespassing even though some areas around there can be dangerous as to those not used to hiking. ya know..a slip and and you fall/slide 50/100 feet into another swamp ?

Don't snoop unless dry period of time.


It would take a guru to figure it out as to old and 'over-time' re-alignments.



Maybe in the future they will reserve some of the area as a Park. It seems now it's 'unknown ownership' and an interesting area to wander. I'm talking about several miles at least along the present rail line running through Hawleyville.'

Ridgefielder wrote:what is the origin of the current railroad infrastructure at Hawleyville? Is the trackage used by today's Housatonic on the alignment of the old NY&NE, or the old Housatonic? And where was the station? I assume there was one at this site at least until the abandonment of the Litchfield branch in ca. 1949.

The present Housatonic RR trackage in and around Hawleyville (former NH Maybrook Line) is all from the 1911-1913 reconstruction of the former NY&NE, and original Housatonic, into what we know as the Maybrook Line. Some of the ROW is in the original places and some was substantially straightened. The best known remnant of the "old" ROW is the rock tunnel (more southerly of the two). The concrete-lined tunnel (more northerly of the two, and which runs under the present day RR) was dug as part of the 1911-1913 rebuilding. I presume there was an earlier rock tunnel which it replaced.

The siding into the Shepaug Reload Center IS the remains of the Litchfield Branch which was abandoned June 1948.

The Hawleyville station, which was on the south side of the ROW, was gone before the 50s. I do not know any specifics about when it went.

The old Shoreliner with the article on the stations of Newtown is long out of print.

If you get the USGS topo map of the Hawleyville area and study the contour lines you can see where some of the old ROW went.

The aforementioned concrete-lined tunnel carried the former NY&NE line over Towantic Summit and down into Waterbury. it was abandoned from Waterbury to Southbury in the mid 30's and from Southbury to Hawleyville in June 1948.

Tom Curtin wrote:

Ridgefielder wrote:what is the origin of the current railroad infrastructure at Hawleyville? Is the trackage used by today's Housatonic on the alignment of the old NY&NE, or the old Housatonic? And where was the station? I assume there was one at this site at least until the abandonment of the Litchfield branch in ca. 1949.

The present Housatonic RR trackage in and around Hawleyville (former NH Maybrook Line) is all from the 1911-1913 reconstruction of the former NY&NE, and original Housatonic, into what we know as the Maybrook Line. Some of the ROW is in the original places and some was substantially straightened. The best known remnant of the "old" ROW is the rock tunnel (more southerly of the two). The concrete-lined tunnel (more northerly of the two, and which runs under the present day RR) was dug as part of the 1911-1913 rebuilding. I presume there was an earlier rock tunnel which it replaced.

The siding into the Shepaug Reload Center IS the remains of the Litchfield Branch which was abandoned June 1948.

The Hawleyville station, which was on the south side of the ROW, was gone before the 50s. I do not know any specifics about when it went.

The old Shoreliner with the article on the stations of Newtown is long out of print.

If you get the USGS topo map of the Hawleyville area and study the contour lines you can see where some of the old ROW went.

The aforementioned concrete-lined tunnel carried the former NY&NE line over Towantic Summit and down into Waterbury. it was abandoned from Waterbury to Southbury in the mid 30's and from Southbury to Hawleyville in June 1948.

Thank you for clearing this up for me, Tom!

A friend of mine took me to this tunnel last spring and I was curious as to why I saw 2 concrete portals and 1 rock portal. The concrete lined tunnel crossed diagonally under the tracks to the north side while the rock tunnel bore ran parallel to the tracks along the south side.

Could anybody tell me where the "1911" tunnel is located? I know exactly where the rock tunnel is located, but the other tunnel's location is a mystery to me. Is there a public road near it that I can use as a point of reference? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

brns73 wrote:Could anybody tell me where the "1911" tunnel is located? I know exactly where the rock tunnel is located, but the other tunnel's location is a mystery to me. Is there a public road near it that I can use as a point of reference? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

You can see the portal pretty well if you go on Bing maps and click on the bird's eye view: it's where Parmelee Hill Road crosses the tracks, a bit east of the former site of the Hawleyville station.

When I used to visit the 1911 tunnel I parked my car on the north side of the old Maybrook ROW just off Parmelee Hill Road. I then walked back across the bridge and down the slopes to the ROW (overgrown) that led to the tunnel. Free passage through the tunnel was possible, the obstructions being old tires, shopping carts and other rubbish. But I never walked entirely through it and I advise against anyone attempting it. To observe the portal on the opposite (approx. NE face) I hiked back up the terrain. My advice is to be careful, bring a buddy with you and to go when the weather is cold to avoid any possible snakes. I found this exercise to be nostalgically exhilarating, did it several times.

just watch the snakes at certain times during year.

Is there any traffic East of Hawleyville at this time ? Lynx looks to be closed but where the line crosses over rt. 6 in Newtown the roadbed looks to be pretty good. And off topic, anything west of main street Danbury ? A few years back Fairfield Processing would get a boxcar once in a while.

Nothing left west of Danbury Railway Museum, Fairfield was driven out years ago, and I don't even think the circus train uses those tracks when it comes to Danbury anymore. However, I believe Rand Whitney Container (Newtown) and Lakeland-Interstate Lumber (Botsford) still get rail service, or at least they did last I checked. It's not until east of Botsford that the R.O.W. becomes impassable.

C.J.V.