The Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum is a

railroad museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic equ ...

located on Route 32 in Willimantic,

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 ...

. It was founded by members of the Connecticut Eastern Chapter of the

National Railway Historical Society The National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) is a non-profit organization established in 1935 in the United States to promote interest in, and appreciation for the historical development of railroads. It is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsyl ...

. The museum is home to a replica Columbia Roundhouse built in 2000. It holds many exhibits, including the former train station for

Chaplin Chaplin may refer to: People * Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director * Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin Films * '' Unknown Chaplin'' (1983) * ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992) * ''Chaplin'' (2011 film), Ben ...

, twelve diesel-electric trains, and four

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s. The Air Line Trail runs along the edge of the property, as did the Connecticut Eastern railroad for which the museum is named. The roundhouse contains a 60-foot Armstrong turntable.

Structures on Site

Columbia Junction Roundhouse

The original Columbia Junction roundhouse was constructed in 1892 and was torn down in the 1930s. The site was cleared of trees and debris in 1991, and the museum was established in 1995. The museum was able to reconstruct the roundhouse as part of a $400,000 grant package secured by Senator Donald Williams in 1998, as well as to complete site improvements and bring utilities to the property. The exterior walls were reconstructed in 2000, using the original foundation as a base. A special ceremony was held on June 10, 2001 to lay the cornerstone. Exterior doors were hung the following year. The roundhouse is now home to some of the museum's historic collection of trains. A replacement 60-foot, manually operated turntable was purchased from

Edaville Railroad Edaville Railroad (also branded Edaville USA and Edaville Family Theme Park) is a heritage railroad and amusement park in South Carver, Massachusetts, opened in 1947, and temporally closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The park was only ...

in 1994, moved to the site, and installed by museum volunteers.

Willimantic Section House

A section house was used to store tools and equipment used by maintainers who were in charge of a "section" of track as their territory. This former New Haven Railroad section house was located in Willimantic, and moved to the museum site in 1992. It was restored the following year and is used by museum volunteers to store tools.

Groton Freight House

This former New Haven freight house was once located in

Groton, Connecticut Groton is a town in New London County, Connecticut located on the Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy. The Naval Submarine Base New London is ...

along the main line opposite Groton tower, on property belonging to

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 ...

and no longer needed. Amtrak donated the structure to the museum in 1998; it was moved there in 1999 and restored by volunteers.

Chaplin Station

This building was first used as a train station in 1872 by the

Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was ...

to serve Clarks Corner, just across the town line from

Chaplin, Connecticut Chaplin is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The town was named for Deacon Benjamin Chaplin, an early settler. The population was 2,151 at the 2020 census. Points of interest * The Chaplin Museum is a local historical museum. ...

. It was originally built as a commercial building, possibly a tin shop, and later converted for use as a train station for the small community. The BH&E became a part of the New Haven by 1898. The station was replaced by a larger structure in 1901, and the station master purchased the old building and had it moved to his backyard. The family later donated the station to the museum and it was relocated in 1995.

Versailles Operator's Shanty

This small shanty housed a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

operator who would relay orders between the dispatcher and train crews. This shanty was located in

Versailles, Connecticut Sprague is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The town was named after William Sprague III, who laid out the industrial section. The population was 2,967 at the 2020 census. Sprague includes three villages: Baltic, Hanover, a ...

, and was used by the New Haven Railroad. When the telegraph station was closed, it was purchased by an employee who had it moved to his property. It was donated and moved to the museum in 2000, where it is currently used as a ticket booth and information center.

Equipment roster

MNRR 293 at Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum, June 2017

The museum is home to several pieces of railroad equipment with ties to the region's history. * New Haven

EMD FL9 The EMD FL9 (New Haven Class EDER-5) is a model of electro-diesel locomotive, capable of operating either as a traditional diesel-electric locomotive or as an electric locomotive powered from a third rail. Sixty units were built between October 1 ...

No. 2057 (ex-CDOT 2023) *

Metro-North Railroad Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State public benefit corporations, public authority of the U.S. state of New Yor ...

Budd SPV-2000 The Budd SPV-2000 is a self-propelled diesel multiple unit railcar built by the Budd Company between 1978 and 1981 for use on North American commuter railroads. The design was a successor to Budd's popular Rail Diesel Car (RDC) but based on the b ...

No. 293 *

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

Corp.

EMD SW-8 The EMD SW8 is a diesel switcher locomotive manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between September 1950 and February 1954. Power is supplied by an EMD 567B 8-cylinder engine, for a total of . A total o ...

No. 2 (ex-WAB 130) *

Northeast Utilities Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to appro ...

General Electric 25-ton * New Haven Terminal GE 45-ton No. 0413 *

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 ...

Alco S-4 The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

No. 8081 * CERM E 44-ton No. 0800 (ex-LIRR, ex-VALE) *

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

0-4-0 No. 10 * New Haven baggage car No. 3841 * New Haven coach No. 4414 * New Haven coach No. 8673 and No. 8695 * Central Vermont Railway boxcar No. 43022 *

Grand Trunk Western Railway The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company is an American subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding ...

boxcar No. 515747 * Central Vermont Railway flatcar No. 4287 * Central Vermont Railway caboose No. 4052

References

{{authority control Railroad museums in Connecticut Willimantic, Connecticut Museums in Windham County, Connecticut