The New London Northern Railroad was a part of the

Central Vermont Railway The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. It connected Montreal, Quebec, with New London, Connect ...

from

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, north to

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about no ...

. After a long period with the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

, it is now operated by the

New England Central Railroad The New England Central Railroad is a regional railroad in the New England region of the United States. It began operations in 1995, as the successor of the Central Vermont Railway (CV). The company was originally a subsidiary of holding compa ...

. The New London Northern was the only through railroad in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

not to come under the control of the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

History

The New London, Willimantic and Springfield Railroad was chartered in May 1847 to build from New London on the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

north through Willimantic to

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. On April 10, 1848, the name was changed to the New London, Willimantic and Palmer Railroad with the shift of the north terminus to

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and ...

. The first section, from

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

north to Willimantic, opened in September 1849, and the part from Norwich south to New London opened the next month. The part north to

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

opened in March 1850, and the rest of the way to Palmer opened in September of that year. A

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

line continued from New London to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

via the Long Island Soun

The Amherst and Belchertown Railroad was chartered on May 24, 1851. Construction began on April 23, 1852, and the full line opened May 9, 1853, from Palmer north to Amherst, Massachusetts, Amherst via

Belchertown Belchertown (previously known as Cold Spring and Belcher's Town) is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 15,350 at the 2020 census ...

. It went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

in 1857, was sold at auction on October 14, 1858, and was reorganized on November 23 of that year as the Amherst, Belchertown and Palmer Railroad. The New London Northern Railroad succeeded the New London, Willimantic and Palmer on April 1, 1861. In March 1864, it bought the Amherst, Belchertown and Palmer, extending the line north to Amherst. An extension north to Millers Falls on the

Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. The main li ...

opened in 1867. On December 1, 1871, the Central Vermont Railroad leased the New London Northern and made it its Southern Division. The connection between the two lines was made over the

Vermont Valley Railroad The Vermont Valley Railroad was a line in Vermont and New Hampshire, running from Brattleboro to the Vermont-New Hampshire line at Windsor, now part of the Connecticut River Line. Hugh H. Henry (1814-1869) of Chester, Vermont was an original in ...

and the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad's Brattleboro Branch. The

Ware River Railroad The Massachusetts Central Railroad is a short line railroad in western Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1975 to provide railroad transportation services on portions of the Boston & Maine Wheelwright Branch in and around their ...

opened in stages from 1870 to 1873, running from Palmer north to Winchendon. It was leased to the New London Northern until April 1, 1873, when the

Boston and Albany Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pass ...

took it over. On May 1, 1880, the New London Northern bought the branch of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad from Millers Falls north to Brattleboro, part of its original main line, extending the line north to Brattleboro. Just prior to that lease, in February, the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

Brattleboro and Whitehall Railroad The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. It connected Montreal, Quebec, with New London, Conn ...

was leased, providing a branch from Brattleboro northwest to a dead end at South Londonderry (never extended as planned to

Whitehall, New York Whitehall is a town in Washington County, New York, United States. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 4,035 at the 2000 census. The Town of Whitehall contains a village also named Whitehall. Hi ...

). In 1896, the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

bought the Central Vermont. The Grand Trunk was merged into the Canadian National Railway in 1923. The Brattleboro and Whitehall Railroad went bankrupt and was

foreclose Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

d in March 1905. The

West River Railroad The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. It connected Montreal, Quebec, with New London, Connect ...

was chartered in May of that year as a reorganization, and the line was converted to . On February 3, 1995, the New London Northern's line became part of the New England Central Railroad, a

regional railroad In the United States, a regional railroad is a railroad company that is not Class I, but still has a substantial amount of traffic or trackage (and is thus not a short line). The Association of American Railroads (AAR) has defined the lower bound ...

from New London north to East Alburg, Vermont. This change in operation was approved by the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

on December 9, 199

Branches

;Palmertown The Palmertown Branch ran west from

Montville, Connecticut Montville is a town in New London County, Connecticut in the United States. The population was 18,387 at the 2020 census. The villages of Chesterfield, Mohegan, Oakdale, and Uncasville are located within the town; the latter two have their own ...

to Palmertown. ;Fitchville The Fitchville Branch ran from

Fitchville Junction Bozrah is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,429 at the 2020 census. Bozrah contains three villages: Fitchville, the town center; Leffingwell, a crossroads on Route 82; and Gilman, a mill village along Fi ...

, in the northwest part of

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

, west to Fitchville. ;Flynt's Granite The Flynt Granite Company built the Flynt's Granite Branch Railroad to their

quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their environ ...

Monson, Massachusetts Monson is a town in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 8,150 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The census-designated place of Monson Center lies at the ...

. It was owned and operated by the

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

company.

Passenger service

As noted above, the Central Vermont Railway bought the NLN. The latter's passenger service appeared on 20th century passenger timetables as a division of the Central Vermont Railway. The CV continued passenger service on the Brattleboro - Amherst - Palmer - Norwich - New London route until September 27, 1947. The Mansfield stop provided the nearest point of rail access to the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

at Storrs.Ronald Dale Karr, 'The Rail Lines of Southern New England,' Pepperell Massachusetts, 2005, pp. 104 In 1989 passenger service was restored on the line when

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

rerouted the '' Montrealer'' over the line, however, only with stops between the Atlantic Coast and the Vermont border being New London, Amherst and Palmer. (In 1991 Willimantic was added as an intermediate stop.) However, service on the line was eliminated in 1995.

References

Railroad History Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:New London Northern Railroad Predecessors of the Central Vermont Railway Railway companies established in 1859 Railway companies disestablished in 1951 Defunct Connecticut railroads Defunct Massachusetts railroads Defunct Vermont railroads 1859 establishments in Connecticut American companies established in 1859 American companies disestablished in 1951