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Hartford and Connecticut Western Railroad

From Alfawiki
Central New England Railway
Company typeRailroad
IndustryRail transport
Founded1899
Defunct1927
FateMerged into New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
Headquarters
Hartford, Connecticut
,
United States
Area served
Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York
ProductsRail transport services

The Central New England Railway operated routes originating from Hartford, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts, extending westward across northern Connecticut and traversing the Hudson River via the Poughkeepsie Bridge to reach Maybrook, New York. As a component of the Poughkeepsie Bridge Route, a cooperative network enabling passenger transit between Washington and Boston, it was purchased by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (commonly known as the New Haven) in 1904. The New Haven preserved CNE as an independent entity until their merger in 1927. By the mid-1900s, most of the original network had been abandoned; currently, segments are operated by the Central New England Railroad and the Housatonic Railroad.

Hartford west: 1868-1889

The Connecticut Western Railroad was chartered on June 25, 1868, with the objective of establishing a rail connection from Hartford, Connecticut westward to the New York border, linking up with the Dutchess & Columbia Railroad near Millerton, New York. This line was completed on December 21, 1871, at which point it leased the easternmost portion of the D&C to gain access to the New York & Harlem Railroad at Millerton. In December 1874, a brief branch line was constructed into Collinsville. Following financial insolvency in April 1880, the company reorganized as the Hartford & Connecticut Western Railroad on March 31, 1881.

Concurrently, the Rhinebeck & Connecticut Railroad, chartered in New York on June 29, 1870, constructed a route from Rhinecliff on the Hudson River eastward to the Connecticut state line to connect with the Connecticut Western. This segment opened on April 14, 1875 from Rhinecliff to Boston Corners, New York, with trackage rights secured over the Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railroad from Boston Corners to the border.

On July 1, 1882, the Hartford & Connecticut Western acquired control of the Rhinebeck & Connecticut Railroad, thereby creating an uninterrupted line stretching from Hartford to the Hudson River. After the Poughkeepsie, Hartford & Boston Railroad (which succeeded Poughkeepsie & Eastern) declared bankruptcy during the 1880s, H&CW purchased its eastern division outright on January 26, 1884.

Poughkeepsie Bridge: 1871-1899

Multiple initiatives aimed at constructing a permanent crossing over the Hudson River south of Albany were proposed to replace existing car float operations. One early effort was undertaken by the Hudson Highland Suspension Bridge Company, chartered in 1868 to link Anthony's Nose with Fort Clinton, near where today's Bear Mountain Bridge stands.

Ultimately, construction focused on building the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Poughkeepsie. The bridge company was established in June 1871; its inaugural train crossing occurred on December 29, 1888. The Hudson Connecting Railroad (chartered in 1887) developed a line southwest from the bridge’s western end while the Poughkeepsie & Connecticut Railroad was chartered to extend northeastward. Unable to acquire control of the Poughkeepsie, Hartford & Boston Railroad, this company constructed a parallel route terminating at the Hartford & Connecticut Western Railroad at Silvernails. By 1889 connections were finalized and these lines merged into what became known as the Central New England & Western Railroad (CNE&W). That same year CNE&W leased the Hartford and Connecticut Western line, establishing a continuous corridor from Hartford across the Hudson River to both Maybrook and Campbell Hall, New York. The Maybrook/Campbell Hall junction emerged as a critical hub for transferring railcars. The Delaware & New England Railroad was formed in 1889 as a holding company controlling both CNE&W and Poughkeepsie Bridge Company.

In April 1890, CNE&W chartered the Dutchess County Railroad to connect Poughkeepsie with Hopewell Junction, thereby linking up with the New York & New England Railroad (NY&NE). This route commenced service on May 8, 1892, providing NY&NE with access to the bridge.

The Reading Company (RDG) purchased both CNE&W and Poughkeepsie Bridge Company from Delaware & New England in January 1892 as part of expanding RDG’s penetration into New England through ownership of the Pennsylvania, Poughkeepsie & Boston Railroad. These companies were consolidated on August 1, 1892 under Philadelphia, Reading & New England Railroad (PR&NE), but management difficulties led PR&NE to default on interest payments by May 1893. The final reorganization took place on January 12, 1899 with creation of what became known as the Central New England Railway (CNE).

Central New England Railway: 1899-1927

The initial plan for the Connecticut Western was to construct a branch line stretching from Tariffville, Connecticut to Springfield, Massachusetts, with work commencing in 1899. Legal challenges emerged when the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NH) acquired land at Montague Farm, prompting the incorporation of the East Granby and Suffield Railroad in 1901 to create a bypass around this property. This branch connected with the Boston & Albany Railroad at Agawam Junction in West Springfield, and trackage rights over B&A permitted travel from West Springfield into Springfield. The branch officially opened on September 12, 1902. Later that year, when Montague Farm became available at a reduced price, the Central New England (CNE) completed a direct route through this land by March 1903, leading to the discontinuation of passenger service on the loop by May 1904.

In 1904, NH secured financial control over CNE mainly to gain strategic access to the Poughkeepsie Bridge and Maybrook connection. Although CNE continued to operate independently, NH assumed the lease of the Dutchess County Railroad on December 1 to facilitate bridge access. On June 25, 1907, NH consolidated several acquisitions—the Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut Railroad, Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railway (P&E), and Dutchess County Railroad—into CNE. This expansion extended CNE’s network southwest from Millerton to Beacon via Hopewell Junction and created parallel routes between Boston Corners and Poughkeepsie. By 1915, former NY&NE lines from Hopewell Junction to Danbury were transferred under CNE's control.

In 1910, CNE discontinued its main line between Poughkeepsie and Connecticut in favor of parallel P&E routes connecting Pine Plains and Salt Point; connections were established at both ends of the abandoned segment. The P&E operated over tracks owned by the Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut Railroad from Pine Plains southwestward to Stissing Junction.

By the early 1920s, although NH had access to CNE lines, it made limited use of them for east-west traffic integration between the Hudson Valley and eastern Connecticut or Boston markets. Passengers traveling east-west often had to change trains at Campbell Hall or Waterbury.

The Massachusetts portion of the Springfield Branch was abandoned in 1921 after less than twenty years of service. In 1925, the former P&E line northeast from Ancram Lead Mines to Boston Corners was abandoned; simultaneous abandonment of sections of the Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut Railroad left only the old Poughkeepsie and Connecticut Railroad and Rhinebeck & Connecticut Railroad as remaining routes between Pine Plains and Connecticut.

New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and successors: 1927-

On January 1, 1927, CNE was fully merged into NH. That same year, NH discontinued most passenger services on former CNE lines except for the stretch from Copake, New York southwest through Stanfordville, Pleasant Valley, and Poughkeepsie, which continued operation until at least January 1932.

Among NH’s east-west routes, CNE had the steepest grades; consequently, most bridge traffic was routed via the former NY&NE line to Hopewell Junction. In 1932, abandonment occurred on the former Rhinebeck & Connecticut Railroad segment from Copake southeast to the state border, effectively dividing CNE. The tracks westward from Waterbury to Southbury were removed in 1937 by NH, cutting a vital east-west corridor linking mid-Hudson Valley locations such as Campbell Hall and Poughkeepsie with eastern Connecticut destinations like Willimantic.

Further abandonments followed in 1938: the main line segment from East Canaan eastward to Tariffville was closed alongside the entire Springfield Branch. Additionally, stretches northeast and east from Poughkeepsie and Rhinecliff—including former Rhinebeck & Connecticut lines—and parallel routes from the state line eastward to Lakeville were also abandoned. The section between East Canaan and Canaan ceased operations in 1940; by 1965, service between Lakeville and Canaan had been discontinued.

The Hartford & Connecticut Western Railroad (H&CW), owned by NH via CNE but not yet merged due to NH's financial difficulties in the mid-1930s, submitted a reorganization proposal on December 31, 1937. After an extended restructuring process, H&CW was merged into NH on September 18, 1947—alongside the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad and Old Colony Railroad—although most of H&CW's lines had already been abandoned except for its easternmost segment.

By NH’s merger into Penn Central in 1969, only two original CNE sections remained: the westernmost stretch—from Maybrook across the Poughkeepsie Bridge southeast along the Dutchess County Railroad onto former NY&NE tracks—and an eastern segment running from Hartford (CT) northward to northern Bloomfield. The western portion became part of the Maybrook Branch, extending east over former NY&NE routes to Derby (CT). After closure of the Poughkeepsie Bridge on May 8, 1974, abandonment followed west of Hopewell Junction along this branch. The remaining lines were absorbed into Conrail in 1976. Subsequently, infrastructure ownership transferred to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, which in January 1999 saw operations commence on an 8.7-mile section known as Griffins Industrial Track under the Central New England Railroad. Presently, a short segment near Canaan is operated by the Housatonic Railroad, serving a limestone quarry while preserving the historic Canaan Union Depot.

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External links

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