• Central New England Rwy Historical Tour 3/28

  • Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
Discussion relating to the NH and its subsidiaries (NYW&B, Union Freight Railroad, Connecticut Company, steamship lines, etc.). up until its 1969 inclusion into the Penn Central merger. This forum is also for the discussion of efforts to preserve former New Haven equipment, artifacts and its history. You may also wish to visit www.nhrhta.org for more information.
  by Bernard Rudberg
 
Hello All -

Maybe it is the state of the economy or maybe the weather but
reservations are very slow this year. At the present date we have
enough to fill one bus. If we don't get enough to fill the second bus,
we will have to change our transportation arrangements accordingly.
That could mean smaller buses or maybe even a bus and a van. In
any case, we must make a decision shortly to reserve the bus/buses.
If you know anybody who is thinking of joining us, tell them to get a
check to Joe Mato ASAP.

The guide book is almost ready for the printers with a page count of
213. There are more than 300 photos of the Maybrook Line and the
Danbury station and yard. Many of them have not been published
before.

The 2009 tour will be on Saturday March 28 (rain or shine). We
will depart from the parking lot next to the Dutchess Baseball
stadium on route 9D in Beacon NY.
This is the same location we used in 2007.

Our first stop will be the Hopewell Junction rail yard and depot.
From there we will follow the Maybrook Line to Danbury CT. From
Hopewell Junction to Holmes was the "pusher district" for the
locomotives based in Hopewell. The CNE did not own that section
of the Maybrook Line but they did lease it in October 1912 when 15
brand new F-5 "bull Moose" 2-8-0 locomotives arrived. By
agreement, union crews from the CNE and the NH Western District
shared the runs and operated from Maybrook all the way to Cedar
Hill Yard in New Haven, CT. The CNE operated the line until it all
became part of the New Haven RR in 1927.

We will have lunch in the Two Step restaurant in Danbury which is
right next to the site of the original rail yard. We are arranging some
lively and informative railroad talks at the restaurant. Those of you
who wish, could walk a couple blocks and spend time at the Danbury
RR Museum which is still a stop on MTA Metro-North RR. The
museum has a yard full of historic railroad equipment including an
operating turntable and a very nice display in the old station building.
Be sure to stop in the gift shop.

This routing is subject to change if we run into any last minute
problems or find a new way to get the buses into a small space. Due
to the narrow roads, low underpasses and lack of suitable parking in
much of the general area of our tour, some locations can only be
shown from the bus windows or in photographs. Some of the road
underpasses are barely 10 feet high. The buses would not fit.
We will show you as much as we possibly can.

As usual, everybody will get a copy of the 2009 CNE Tour guide
book. We have a lot of ground to cover so we will have coffee and
buses will roll at 9:00.

The cost of this year's tour will again be $50.00 per person and
payment should be made out to:
Joseph Mato CNE 2009
Be sure to include your E-Mail address so we can contact you if we
need to. If you don't have E-Mail then include your phone number.

Send it to:
JOE MATO-CNE 2009
62 WOOD ROAD
REDDING, CT. 06896

Any money that is left after the expenses will be used as "seed
money" for next years trip and to make a donation to the Hopewell
Depot roof replacement fund.

Last year, we had two buses with 55 seats each. In past years we sold
all seats and had a waiting list so don't wait too long to send in your
reservation. Please note that any request for refunds must be received
thirty (30) or more days in advance of
the tour date. If you can find a replacement to take your bus seat,
that's OK just let us know who it is. We have to know who to let
onto the bus when the tour starts. If you can't find a replacement
then we may have somebody on the waiting list to suggest but we
can't refund money that has already been spent on tour expenses.