Читать книгу Along the Valley Line - Max R. Miller - Страница 10

CHAPTER

2

THE BUSINESS OF BUILDING THE RAILROAD

Saybrook Point, 1870. A view of the mouth of the Connecticut River before construction of the Connecticut Valley Railroad. The large earthen mound on the left is the remains of the 1600s fortification used to defend the river. COURTESY CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

On December 31, 1870 the CVRR issued $1,000,000 first mortgage bonds with the treasurer of the State of Connecticut as trustee. Unfortunately, the railroad eventually defaulted on $35,000 of unpaid interest due these bonds, and on January 9, 1878, the treasurer of the State of Connecticut took possession of the CVRR. But in early 1871, the business of operating the CVRR was in full swing. Railroad contractors Dillon, Clyde & Co. took $25,000 worth of stock by contractual agreement. The largest individual citizen stockholders were Luther Boardman of East Haddam, $5,200; James C. Walkley of Haddam, $4,400; William H. Goodspeed of East Haddam, $4,000; and John Stevens of Cromwell, $3,000. Several companies and towns would buy stock too.

But, before the railroad could complete the important task of ordering locomotives and locating and building stations and depots, the Connecticut Railroad Commissioners designated an appointee to deal with a $13,000 claim against the CVRR. During rail construction several graves in three different cemeteries had to be moved to accommodate the right of way. On February 8, 1871, the commissioners appointed to assess the damages awarded the North Burial Ground Association of Middletown $2,700 in a settlement. The next month they granted permission to the CVRR to proceed with building a working railroad.

By March 1871 CVRR directors made contracts with the Rogers Manufacturing Co. of Paterson, New Jersey for several first class 30-ton locomotives. They contracted with Wason Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Massachusetts for passenger, box, dump, and platform (flat) cars. The committee signed for turntables, switches, joint bars and spikes to meet construction needs.

On Tuesday, March 21, 1871 the CVRR directors met and proclaimed, “the Executive Committee be instructed and are hereby authorized to engage and employ a superintendent; master machinist and mechanic; conductors; engineers; division masters; brakemen and all other necessary employees for the final construction, equipment, operation and maintaining the running of trains.”³ They had their trains on order, they hired their staff; and all they needed now were stops and stations. The team of directors started south from Hartford, and over the course of about two weeks more or less sited the depots. What follows is a short history (and a few anecdotes) of the stations—presented in the order the directors chose them, beginning at Hartford.

HARTFORD

The first CVRR station in Hartford was in a wooden passenger car called “Dyke” in front of the Colt Armory building. This station closed on January 13, 1872 and passenger operations were relocated to the elevated platforms at State Street, which was the northern end of the line. Early in June of 1873 service was expanded by locating a station in an existing three story brick building and utilizing an upper floor to access the passenger platforms. Stairs led up to the tracks from State Street. The ground floor was street level on the south side of State Street, which was situated at a lower elevation as the railroad passed over it on a trestle near the Hartford steamboat dock. There were passenger platforms on both sides of the track that ran on a wooden trestle that was located on the east side of this building between the second and third stories. In June 1873, the CVRR refurbished an old brick house at the foot of Hartford’s State Street as a temporary depot. It was also used for the offices of the company until the corporate takeover by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NYNH&HRR), and then the offices were moved to the Asylum Street Union Station. This building stayed in service until 1908 when the NYNH&HRR built the new State Street Station across the street.

When the Bulkeley Bridge was completed in 1908 the riverfront changed. The new State Street Station was built on raised land on the northwest side of State Street. This one-story brick building had a tile roof of the Spanish style common in southwest United States.

Colt Armory Building, n. d. A southerly view of the Colt Armory building with the single track of the CVRR along the east side. COURTESY CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

For a brief period, starting on January 27, 1876, Valley Line trains ran to and from Hartford’s Union Depot on Asylum Street and terminated at State Street station. On October 6, 1882 the NYNH&HRR, which controlled the Valley Line through the Hartford & Connecticut Valley Railroad (H&CVRR) lease, began terminating and originating Valley Line trains at Union Station again. The second Hartford Union Depot opened on May 5, 1889 and was destroyed on February 21, 1914 by a fire that started in the Adams Express office. This station was rebuilt and reopened within a year.

Southerly View of the East Side NYNH&HRR Track at the Original State Street Station Area, 1903. Note the covered passenger platforms on both sides. This photo was taken from the State Street overpass. The large structure to the left is the steamboat dock of the New York Transportation Company with a steamboat docked at the extreme left. The horses and wagons are at the east end of State Street where the Founders Bridge is located today. This area was later filled at least to the track level. COURTESY CONNECTICUT RIVER MUSEUM, THOMAS STEVENS COLLECTION.

Looking at the Northeast Corner of the Second State Street Station, circa 1908. The original station was beyond the bridge girders in the space between the track and the building showing three stories of windows. This appears to be a Benton & Drake photo circa 1930. COURTESY CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

On that first day back in March 1871, the team of directors set out from Hartford to locate 14 new railroad stations. They identified four: depots at Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Cromwell and Middletown. Rocky Hill subscribed to $20,000 in stock; Cromwell to $78,000; and Middletown subscribed to $150,000 in stock. Wethersfield bought stock as well, but how much is unknown.

WETHERSFIELD

The first Wethersfield Station was located just north of the Church Street crossing on the east side of the tracks. A fire destroyed it on the night of April 28, 1896 when the building was being robbed. Subsequently the railroad adapted the freight house to serve both passenger and freight customers.

This station hit the news when Charles Dewey pulled off a unique prison escape from the Wethersfield State Prison on April 3, 1913. He utilized the Valley Line. Dewey was convicted of assaulting and robbing a wealthy farmer in New Haven and robbing a home in Hamden where he tortured the owner, an elderly man, into telling him where the homeowner’s money was hidden. Dewey served two years of a sentence of five to nine years and was employed in the packing room at the prison. At that time the prisoners manufactured shirts, which were shipped out in wooden crates weighing about 400 lbs. each. He devised a way of securing himself inside one of these boxes after removing enough shirts to equal his weight. A guard and trustee prisoner hoisted this crate onto a truck loaded with similar crates and hauled it to the Wethersfield railroad station where they transferred it to a boxcar standing on the siding. After the guard and trustee prisoner drove off, Dewey released himself from the confines of the shipping crate and made good his escape. A little schoolgirl thought she saw a person of his description in the Griswold section of Wethersfield but an intensive search turned up nothing.

The original Wethersfield freight house (modified after the passenger station burned) still exists today. It is located on the east side of the track about 150 feet north of the Church Street grade crossing and was first sold and used as an antiques shop. The first owner had the building moved completely off the original foundation piers and onto a poured concrete basement. It was next used as a bicycle shop. After setting dormant for a while it was bought by Carol Kober-Narciss and converted into Narcissus Chocolate Café. In 2012 Rod and Tamatha Wolfel bought it with the intent of turning it into a coffee and sandwich shop.

The South Wethersfield Station was built on the northwest corner of the Mill Street grade crossing. It was a one-story building used for both passengers and freight and it was probably the only station on the line that operated a mail crane (a device that positions a mail bag to be pulled aboard the mail car of a moving train). Today, it is the most changed station area on the Valley Line. Now there is multi-story housing just off the right of way at this location.

Providence & Worcester Train, February 25, 2005. Locomotive 3903 pulls its train past the former Wethersfield railroad station. This part of the line was re-opened on January 19, 2005. PHOTO: JOHN WALLACE.

Northwesterly View across Mill Street Grade Crossing of the South Wethersfield Railroad Station, June 15, 1917. In 1925 New Haven Railroad Building No. 6227 (shown here) was equipped with a mail crane (a device that positions a mail bag to be caught and placed upon a moving train). The building was sold for $20.00 and removed in October 1935. COURTESY DAVID PETERS, SR., PETERS RAILROAD MUSEUM.

ROCKY HILL

The first passenger station was on the east side of the track a few hundred feet north of the Glastonbury Avenue crossing. Milo Sauls lived about a half mile from the Rocky Hill railroad station. In 1873, as the story goes, he trained his Newfoundland dog to go to the station upon hearing the morning train, and wait for the baggage master to throw off a newspaper. The dog would fetch the paper and carry it home to his master. Somehow the dog learned to meet only the morning train: the dog simply ignored any other.

As of November 28, 1891 the freight house on the east side of the track north of Glastonbury Avenue was moved north to the old passenger station site. Construction of the present station then began at the first location of the freight house. The original passenger station was razed after the new passenger station was put into service on January 5, 1892. Burt Spencer bought the first ticket sold in the new building.

The passenger station still exists, but the freight house finally met its demise in 2011 when a series of unusually heavy winter storms caused the north end of the roof of the freight house to collapse under an extreme snow load. Rocky Hill town officials quickly condemned the building and ordered the owner to raze it.

Charles H. Yeager, n.d. The assistant station agent at Rocky Hill from Oct. 1909 to Mar. 1917, strolls southward on the wooden passenger platform in front of the depot, which sports a box train order signal. The freight house is in the background. COURTESY MICHAEL MARTINO.

Northerly View of the Glastonbury Avenue Grade Crossing and Rocky Hill Railroad Station and Freight House, October 26, 1927. The wooden passenger platform had been replaced with a cinder platform earlier that year. The roof of the freight house in the background collapsed under the weight of excessive snow in February 2011, resulting with the building being razed. COLLECTION OF THE AUTHOR.

A wooden passenger car (originally wooden combine No. 144 from the Old Colony Railroad, and then New Haven combine car No. 2501) was used as a station in the Dividend section of Rocky Hill. Wason Car built the passenger car-turned-station house in 1892. This car was on the southeast corner of the Belamose Avenue crossing and served the employees of the nearby Hartford Rayon Corporation, which later became the Rocky Hill plant of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. Once condemned for service, the car was placed at Dividend in 1925 and was used until retired on March 25, 1929, after which a wrecker dumped the car over the bank at a different location and it was burned.

CROMWELL

In Cromwell, when the line was first opened, maps indicate a temporary station in a brick building north and east of the Middlesex Turnpike. Soon a wooden station was completed close to the northwest corner of the Middlesex Turnpike crossing. On August 11, 1890 the passenger station was moved several hundred feet southward to avoid stopped trains from blocking the highway. The freight house was erected in 1895. Later, the railroad constructed a smaller building between the station and the freight house to store baggage wagons. The Hartford and Middletown trolley left the west side of the Valley Line north of the depot and followed the Middlesex Turnpike northward. This station would become the scene of a violent attack on the night of February 3, 1923.

New Haven Combine 2501, October 22, 1925. A southerly view at Dividend Lane (now Old Forge Road) showing New Haven combine No. 2501 when it was set off its trucks and used as Belamose passenger station. This photo was taken during a railroad commissioner’s inspection. COLLECTION OF THE AUTHOR.

Julius Land, a black man, shot and killed two white men after they had assaulted him in a racial incident outside a trolley car on the Cromwell railroad station platform. Walter R. Thorell and Arthur E. Swanson of Cromwell died when each received a single pistol-shot wound. The tragic series of events started in Middletown and reached their climax in Cromwell where Land had mistakenly taken the Hartford trolley instead of the intended Meriden trolley. He left the wrong trolley to seek the correct one. Land was defended by William H. Lewis a famous black lawyer from Boston, and found not guilty of a second-degree murder charge on April 19, 1923. The jury saw the killings as self-defense. It should also be noted that Julius Land was shot to death in Middletown on March 3, 1924 when he became involved in a domestic dispute.

Cromwell’s passenger station was eventually sold to Monnes Dairy Farm on Washington Road, Cromwell and they completed dismantling it on February 9, 1940. The material was moved to the farm and used to make an equipment shed. The railroad sold the freight house in 1949 to Frederick Nordberg; and he had it moved about 100 feet west of the track and converted it into a feed and grain business. Later he expanded the business to include hardware. Glen Johnson bought the building in 1974 and until recently used it as a gift shop and real estate office and operated ice cream sales from a box car on the siding behind the station. Now he uses it solely as a real estate office.

Southerly View of the Cromwell Station Area, October 9, 1922. This photo shows the Middletown to Hartford trolley track joining the Valley Line from the right. The small peak roof structure partially behind the pole on the left is the oil house used to store kerosene for railroad lamps and lanterns. The shed-roofed building beside it with a man in front of it is the outhouse. COLLECTION OF THE AUTHOR.

NORTH CROMWELL

North Cromwell Station was located on a significant upgrade toward Hartford, on the east side of the track just north of the Nooks Hill Road underpass. It was a one-story building that served both passengers and freight. There was a single ended siding (low-speed track section) on the west side of the main track with its turnout at the north end. This station was one of the first stations to be dismantled by the NYNH&HRR in the 1930s.

MIDDLETOWN

The first CVRR station in Middletown was in a private home, once the customs house, at the northeast corner of the Washington Street grade crossing, now the location of a southbound ramp off Route 9. Trains ceased to stop here on June 15, 1887 and exclusively used Union Station four streets north, at the Valley-Air Line crossing. Previously, Valley Line trains had stopped at both stations.

The Union Station on Rapallo Avenue replaced the earlier station on the Air Line Railroad that only served the Air Line. Once the NYNH&HRR controlled the H&CVRR, Union Station serviced the Air Line, Valley Line and the Berlin Branch. This two and one half story brick building, with a partial basement was opened December 9, 1881. The interior painting of the building was completed January 19, 1882.

North Cromwell Station, Northerly View, circa 1929. The North Cromwell combination freight and passenger station was New Haven Railroad building No. 6219. It was 36 ft long, 16 ft wide and 12 ft high. The gondola freight car is standing on the single ended siding on the west side of the main track. PHOTO: BENTON AND DRAKE, COURTESY ROBERT T. EASTWOOD, SR.

A few years later, train activity in Middletown would make another dog famous. S.B. Chafee’s Nero, a 150-pound Newfoundland, was only eight months old when he lost part of his tail in a Valley Line train accident. S.B. Chafee was the owner of Chafee’s Tavern on Main Street, Middletown and he brought Nero to work with him most days. Nero became famous for being hit by a train and surviving, but also because he was intelligent, and passing children often stopped to pet him. On August 9, 1893 Nero died after surgery to remove a large tumor from his jaw. He was eight years old. Mr. Chafee had Nero interred in his plot at the Indian Hill Cemetery.

Private Residence, n.d. A northerly view of a private residence that was the first CVRR station and taken after 1911, as the present Air Line Connecticut River bridge is seen in the right background. It has been recorded that Benedict Arnold’s children were staying in this building when he turned traitor during the Revolutionary War. COLLECTION OF THE AUTHOR.

Middletown, 1885. A northerly view of the Union Depot at Middletown in late 1885. The Middletown Horse Railroad trolley, which started operation in September 1885, waits beside the new passenger platform that served the Valley Line. By Dec. 12, 1885 a new track had been laid on the left side of this platform for the Berlin Branch trains to use. PHOTO: MOORE’S OF MIDDLETOWN, COURTESY CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

Union Depot at Middletown, June 26, 1929. This southerly view of the station shows northbound gas-electric car No. 9105 beside signal tower F-279. The car was nearing the end of its one-round-trip-per-day commuter service between Middletown and Hartford. Service ended on September 23, 1933. PHOTO: BENTON & DRAKE, COLLECTION OF C. B. MCCOID.

Middletown’s Union Station was permanently closed on November 9, 1939 and its demolition was completed on June 21, 1940. The railroad terminated passenger service because of its bankruptcy, and the Great Depression. Many stations and structures were razed at this time in order to reduce local taxes and maintenance costs.

On Wednesday March 22, 1872, the team of CVRR directors located the depot for Middle Haddam in the Maromas section of Middletown followed by Higganum. At Haddam they postponed their decision until Thursday. Next they located a passenger depot on the west side of the right of way and a freight depot on the east side opposite Goodspeed’s Landing. Haddam pitched in $40,000 of stock, an investment that covered Higganum and Goodspeed. Haddam citizens also bought an additional $26,000 worth.

GOODSPEED

The team located the Goodspeed passenger station on the west side of the tracks north of Bridge Street (Route 82) in the Tylerville section Haddam. The freight house was positioned across the track. The first passenger station was a two-story building destroyed by a dynamite explosion during a night robbery on February 5, 1897. The second floor had living quarters first used by railroad employees and later by employees of Goodspeed ferry that crossed the Connecticut River at this point. The second passenger station, a one-story building that also housed the Tylerville post office opened in April 1897 at the same location. Goodspeed station marked the end of another infamous chase; this one also involves a dog.

In 1873, a brindle mutt (part Greyhound) belonging to H.C. Moxon of Chester watched his master board a northbound train. The dog decided to follow the train that carried his best friend and kept up with the train until it reached the long, high trestle that spanned Clarks Creek and the surrounding marshland in Haddam. This caused the dog to make a lengthy detour. As the train was leaving Goodspeed Station the dog was sighted still in pursuit, but he gave up the chase when the train disappeared. It was the opinion of those who watched the race from the rear of the train that the dog would have overtaken the train if he didn’t have to find an alternative route because of the trestle.

The railroad renamed the station “East Haddam and Moodus” effective February 14, 1912. It was razed in August 1939. The freight house agent continued operations after the end of passenger service. Next the freight house became the Yantic Feed Company store. Following this Tom Worthley converted it to an outdoor sporting goods store called The Beaten Path. Today Kris and Ann Marie Pszczolkowski operate a gift shop, Goodspeed’s Station Country Store, in the former freight house.

Clarks Creek, n. d. View is from the west to the east of Clarks Creek trestle in Haddam, three-quarters of a mile south of Goodspeed station, which was replaced by a concrete arch culvert and an earth fill in 1909. Today, this point of the line is called “Broadway.” COURTESY HAROLD DAHLSTROM COLLECTION.

Goodspeed Station, n. d. Looking over the idle steam-powered ferryboat and across the frozen Connecticut River from a point just south of the Goodspeed Opera House. This photo predates the February 5, 1897 fire that destroyed the original two-story Goodspeed railroad station shown at the left center of the photo. COURTESY CAMP BETHEL HISTORICAL CENTER, F. THOMAS BECKWITH COLLECTION.

Second Goodspeed Station, n.d. View is toward the northwest of the station and was taken before February 14, 1912 when the name was officially changed to East Haddam & Moodus. This building was opened for service in April 1897. COURTESY CAMP BETHEL HISTORICAL CENTER, F. THOMAS BECKWITH COLLECTION.

Roland R. Tyler, n.d. Station Agent Roland R. Tyler rests his feet while he reads in his cluttered office at the Goodspeed Station. Mr. Tyler died on May 5, 1920. COURTESY CAMP BETHEL HISTORICAL CENTER, F. THOMAS BECKWITH COLLECTION.

Interior Goodspeed Station, n.d. A view of the station agent’s room, ticket window and Tylerville Post Office from within the waiting room. In the center is the payphone with its kerosene lamp for light. The potbelly coal stove at right has a shield over its upper portion. This is the interior of the second Goodspeed Station that was opened for service in April 1897 after the first station was destroyed by fire on February 5, 1897. COURTESY CAMP BETHEL HISTORICAL CENTER, F. THOMAS BECKWITH COLLECTION.

HIGGANUM

Higganum station for both passenger and freight was on the west side of the tracks situated on the north side at the last curve on Depot Road. A 28-foot addition was added on the north end of the building in May 1881. This one-story building (page 27) was razed after it was badly damaged by fire on August 27, 1966.

MAROMAS

Maromas Station was a two-story building on the west side of the tracks located near the present Middletown jet engine plant of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. The second floor contained living space usually occupied by railroad employees.

Benvenue Station was a small one-story building on the east side of the tracks near the present electric generating plant at Maromas. It became Laurel Station on August 12, 1914 and was originally built to serve workers of the granite quarries nearby. In 1914 there were nine houses and a 60-room resort hotel in this area.

Higganum Station, June 17, 1929. This photo of the rear side of the station shows the roof in its original configuration. Most of the roof overhang had been removed by the time it was partially destroyed by fire on August 27, 1966. COLLECTION OF NEW HAVEN RAILROAD HISTORICAL & TECHNICAL ASSOCIATION, INC.

Higganum Station, 1966. The remains of the station after it was severely damaged by fire on August 27, 1966. It was razed shortly after this photo was taken. In the foreground are newly cut railroad ties that were being shipped from here by the J. Rossi Corp. PHOTO: F. WILLIAM ZAISER, COLLECTION OF THE AUTHOR.

Maromas Station, August 1, 1916. This is a southwesterly view of the two-story railroad station. The section foreman was usually the tenant of the upstairs living quarters and often boarded some of the section men from his crew. COLLECTION OF C. В. MCCOID.

Laurel Station, August 9, 1916. The station was located on the east (riverside) side of the tracks near the present location of the Middletown electric generating plant. This is a south facing view. COURTESY ROBERT T. EASTWOOD, SR.

On Thursday March 23, 1871, the directors located the passenger and freight depot for Chester, known as Lords Farm. Chester subscribed to $17,500 in stock. Unfortunately, it was not as simple as that.

Right away, on Saturday, April 22, 1871, the directors called a meeting to deal with two additional station sites that had been petitioned by citizens in Chester and Haddam and so ordered by the General Railroad Commissioners of the State of Connecticut. In Chester the additional station was to be, “immediately north of the highway [now Dock Road], leading to the Steamboat Landing in the Town of Chester.”⁴ This station was the original Chester Station. About eight months after the team located Lords Farm, at a meeting of the board of directors held on January 9, 1872, participants voted: