Hurricane Diane 1955

I found a publication at a flea market called "Flood '55- New England's Greatest Disaster" which showed many pictures of flooding/devastation in New Haven territory, specifically the Naugatuck River Valley. Did the New Haven, as a result of this flooding, permanently abandon any lines in this area, or were they all rebuilt?

Question, was the book put out by the Waterbury Republican-American?
Also curious as to just where was the flea market where you found this
particular book and did they have any other old books?
I have that book which was done after the 1955 floods.
The only two abandonments as a direct result of the 1955 floods was the
branch between Collinsville and New Hartford and a portion of the
Hartford - Boston Line between Pomfret and Putnam both lines in
Connecticut.
The New Hartford - Collinsville segment of that branch had been a
marginal operation for some time before the 1955 floods and in fact had
been up for abandonment previously.
The Pomfret - Putnam section had regular passenger service and both
through and local freight operation as well. A bridge got damaged just
west of Putnam and the McGinnis bunch did not want to rebuild the bridge
and reopen the line. Today the line is abandoned all the way from
Manchester, Connecticut to Franklin, Massachusetts.
Essentially, everything else that received damage was rebuilt.
Some facilities such as Bank Street Junction Tower in Waterbury and the
passenger station in Ansonia were badly damaged and did not get rebuilt,
hand thrown switches replaced the interlocking at Bank Street while a
short platform and shorter canopy was put in at Ansonia and the old
station was put out of its misery.
Noel Weaver

By the time Diane got to New England, it was primarily a tropical rainstorm.
The Waterbury-Winsted route had several serious washouts and it was nearly a year before service, freight and passenger, was resumed.
One of the Holyoke jobs was stranded near Simsbury for weeks.
NH had pretty much been run into the ground before Hurricane Diane and so much equipment was temporarily stranded that NH got the loan of a number of Alco diesels from the Army's stock. These were seen throughout the region for months, up until Spring 1956, at least. The Army had to really apply pressure to get its engines back.
The NY-Portland East Wind summer train was cancelled for the rest of the season and from accounts I've heard, never completed its trips the day of the storm, which I think was maybe 8/19. That day's trips may have never even started.
Not all that far away, the Boston and Albany was washed out at points along the Westfield River and for the better part of two months, B & A Division varnish ran out of Boston's North Station through to Troy, NY. Freight was routed from Greenfield to Springfield and then east.
Hurricane Hazel hit in October '55, very late for this type of storm, and the State of Maine came through Framingham about 9:30-10:00 am the morning after. Don't know if the blockade was on the B & M or NH south of Worcester. Mostly rain in Eastern New England. The most severe damage was west of New England way up into Ontario. Hurricanes are certainly unusual up there.
1955 was tough weatherwise in New England.

It actually was done magazine/rag style, published by Interstate Press in Hartford, CT. I got it at an "antique flea market" a bit out of the area where I live (we went to worship the rat in Orlando, and I dragged everybody up to Mount Dora, FL to ride the Mount Dora & Lake Eustis tourist railroad)

The Waterbury Republican-American newspaper is publishing another book about the floods in 1955. I would bet that there will be a lot about
the railroad in this book as their previous book done right after the flood
had quite a bit about the New Haven Railroad.
It sells by mail for about $37.05, here is a link.

www.rep-am.com

Noel Weaver

Also the skewed covered bridge that carried the Hamlet branch over the Blackstone River in Woonsocket R.I. was swept away and not replaced. This short span was the last covered bridge in the State of R.I.

Another washout was the Midland Division bridge over the Quinebaug River in Putnam, CT. The service over this line between Boston and Hartford was "temporarily" suspended until portions of the line were officially abandoned several years later.