by trainsinmaine
Just wondering: Why was the NH's Danbury & Norwalk branch de-electrified in 1961? I'm curious about this, especially given that the catenaries still span the New Canaan branch.
Railroad Forums
Otto Vondrak wrote:The arrival of the dual-mode FL9's was supposed to allow the New Haven to slowly phase out its AC-electric operations. The FL9's could use 600v third rail to Penn Station or Grand Central, so the need for the overhead wire was negated. The New Haven was so strapped financially, they de-energized the overhead in 1961 and scrapped the wire for cash a couple years later. By the mid-1960s, management realized that the electric operations were more efficient and cost-effective than diesel operations- which, I understand, led to the reactivation of electric services to Bay Ridge and the purchase of the second-hand Virginian rectifiers... but the Danbury Branch would remain a diesel operation.There was a total management change at the top when the railroad went
-otto-