New Canaan branch extension beyond?

Were there ever any plans, either before the branch was built, or subsequent to its completion, for this branch to extend beyond New Canaan?

I don't believe so, the station and yard are on top of hill with no way to continou thru town

Immediately ahead of the end of track is Brushy Ridge, Canoe Hill, and Silvermine Hill to the right.

Here's the map view: http://docs.unh.edu/CT/nwkn51sw.jpg

Despite the topography, I'm pretty sure the original projection was for the line to continue inland. In fact, something makes me want to say it was originally incorporated as the Stamford & Danbury Railroad.

Presumably if it had been build, the line would have followed the Five Mile River north from the center of New Canaan, then climbed the side of Smith Ridge and gone on into Ridgefield Center and Danbury by way of Sugar Hollow.

Remember, the layout of downtown New Canaan is a lot different now than it was in 1869!

DutchRailnut wrote:I don't believe so, the station and yard are on top of hill with no way to continou thru town

I agree with this, even many years ago New Canaan was a high class town and even many years ago they did not want a
railroad running through the middle of the town. I don't think there was anyplace to put a railroad through beyond the
present bumping block.
Noel Weaver

http://www.imediaet.com/ncrr/fs/home.htm

Without knowing the authority of this article, it does appear that there were some expansion plans to Ridgefield, but not via the branch, so everyone's right.

As soon as the route of the New Canaan Railroad was established, enterprising men began discussing opening train service through to Ridgefield. The route favored would have started below the station at Springdale, crossing Hope Street just below the Emmanuel Chapel "across the Shino Plains" then carrying on a line northwesterly up and across Weed Hill Avenue, cutting through present Sterling Farms Golf Course and on north. The idea was to make as much farmland as possible accessible to markets. Fortunately for Springdale, this route never materialized. see 1874 Map >

http://www.imediaet.com/ncrr/about/1874 ... le-map.htm

According to the Wiki page, there was a branch south of the main line as well, for connecting steamship passengers.

Found this site stating that there was a plan in the 1870's to extend to Ridgefield: http://www.imediaet.com/ncrr/fs/home.htm

A company called the Stamford & Danbury Railroad is mentioned as a line item in the 1922 edition of the General Statutes of the State of Connecticut; I suppose if one were interested the original charter must be on file up in Hartford somewhere. The proposed line is also shown on a 1935 map of "Abortive Railroads in Connecticut" that's reproduced on page 304 of my copy of "Connecticut Railroads: An Illustrated History."

Seriously doubt though that even a shovelful of earth ever got moved for this project. I've certainly never seen any trace of an old ROW thereabouts; unlike with the New York, Housatonic & Northern and the Ridgefield & New York, both of which left cuts and fills that are visible today, particularly when the leaves are off the trees.

I have some historical stuff relating to the New Haven Railroad and checking them plus looking at the maps provided here
tells me that there was no plan nor proposal to build the New Canaan Branch any farther than New Canaan.
I think the people of New Canaan are perfectally satisfied to be on the "dink" as they would to be just another way station on
a line passing through.
Noel Weaver

I guess the bottom line is that there may once, a very long time ago, have been some plans to build farther inland by one route or another, but they most certainly predated NYNH&H ownership of the line; once the line actually became the New Canaan Branch of the New Haven, there was no interest in expansion.

Somewhat related question, but-- I know the NH electrified the branch originally w DC in the 1890's for use by Stamford streetcars. Did the trolleys terminate at the current New Canaan station & bumpers, or was there any street trackage farther into the center of town?

Ridgefielder wrote: Somewhat related question, but-- I know the NH electrified the branch originally w DC in the 1890's for use by Stamford streetcars. Did the trolleys terminate at the current New Canaan station & bumpers, or was there any street trackage farther into the center of town?

It wasn't for use by Stamford streetcars, although the line used a common 600 volt DC power supply shared with the trolleys and the cars were more trolley-like than railroad-like. The NH's original experimental electrification on the New Canaan branch powered a shuttle train that ran between Stamford and New Canaan stations, not unlike the MU shuttle today, and the NH had its own equipment for the line (just four cars). There was no additional street running trackage at the New Canaan end.

That's really interesting. I'd always assumed the original New Canaan electrification was something like the Connecticut Company operation on the Norwich & Worcester, with local trolleys using the steam road tracks. Did this pre-date the New Britain-Hartford 3rd rail installation and the Nantasket Beach branch?

Even if it doesn't this must make The Dink one of the first steam road lines to be electrified. In fact, are any other of those pre-1900 installations (like the Baltimore Belt Line) still in operation under the wire?