The Connecticut Central Railroad was a railroad in Connecticut and Massachusetts, which connected
East Hartford, Connecticut
East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospac ...
and
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 ...
. Founded in 1871, it was built between 1874 and 1876, and operated independently until being leased by the
New York and New England 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 ...
in 1880. In the 21st century, the line remains in service between East Hartford and
Scantic, Connecticut
East Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 11,190 at the 2020 census. The town has five villages: Broad Brook, Melrose, Scantic, Warehouse Point and Windsorville.
History
In 1633, Settlers laid cla ...
, and out of service to the Massachusetts state line, beyond which it has been abandoned.
History
Formation and construction
The Connecticut Central Railroad was founded in 1871 by a group of investors, intending to build a line between
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
and
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 ...
, though the
Hartford and New Haven Railroad
The Hartford and New Haven Railroad (H&NH), chartered in 1833, was the first railroad built in the state of Connecticut and an important direct predecessor of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The company was formed to connect the ...
already had an existing and very successful route between these two cities. The company initially envisioned a continuation south to
Portland, Connecticut
Portland is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,384 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The Portland (CDP), Connecticut, town center is listed as a census-designated place (CDP) ...
, though this was decided against before the start of construction.
The final route was between Springfield and
East Hartford, Connecticut
East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospac ...
, with access to Hartford via a connection to the
Hartford, Providence & Fishkill 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 ...
(HP&F).
Funding
To build their proposed railroad, the promoters of the Connecticut Central Railroad had to secure funding, while also dealing with interference from the competing
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 ...
(The New Haven), successor of the Hartford and New Haven. The New Haven was unhappy with the Connecticut Central building a directly competing route, and took measures to sabotage funding for its competitor. In one instance during Spring 1873, the town of
South Windsor, which was on the route of the Connecticut Central, attempted to hold a meeting to discuss the town providing financial support for the new company. Town law required that a sufficient number of signatures from property owners in the town be collected to approve such a meeting, and the Connecticut Central initially accomplished this. Before the meeting could happen, however, representatives from the New Haven convinced enough signatories to retract their signatures, scuttling the meeting.
Despite the New Haven Railroad's attempt to stop construction before it began, the Connecticut Central raised sufficient funding from investors and towns along its route and began construction in 1874.
Construction
To reach Springfield, the Connecticut Central worked with a Massachusetts company, the Springfield and Longmeadow Railroad. The Springfield and Longmeadow, chartered on May 2, 1849, predated the Connecticut Central by more than two decades, but it had yet to begin construction. In 1874, its charter was modified to authorize it to meet the Connecticut Central at the state line, and the name changed to the Springfield and New London Railroad. Construction between East Hartford and Springfield was complete in early 1876.
In addition to the main line, an eight mile long branch was built between
Melrose and
Rockville, meeting a branch of the HP&F in the latter town. Known as the Westway Branch, for the neighborhood in Rockville where it ended, construction began in 1875, and it opened not long after the main line did.
Operations
As the Connecticut Central was nearing completion, the
Connecticut Valley Railroad
The Connecticut Valley Railroad was a railroad in the state of Connecticut founded in 1868. The company built a line along the Connecticut River between Hartford and Old Saybrook, which opened in 1871. It was reorganized as the Hartford and Con ...
decided to lease it, taking over both lines. This was not for long, as the Valley Railroad found itself bankrupt shortly after completing the lease agreement. The Valley Railroad offered to continue the lease at the reduced rate of $15,000 per year, compared to the $28,000 per year of the original lease.
The Connecticut Central and the Valley Railroad ultimately decided to "agree to disagree" on how much the former company's line was worth, and came to an agreement whereby the Connecticut Central took over the Valley Railroad's lease, profits would be shared between the two companies, and Connecticut Central trains would exclusively call at the Valley Railroad's depot near Hartford. This agreement went into effect at the end of July 1876, freeing the Connecticut Central to run its own trains.
However, at the same time the Springfield and New London decided to accept a new, lower lease agreement from the Valley Railroad, rather than allowing the Connecticut Central to lease it. The Valley Railroad offered $8,000 per year, besting the Connecticut Central's offer of $5,000 per year.
Now cut off from Springfield, the Connecticut Central filed a petition with the Massachusetts state railroad commission asking for the Springfield and New London to either be required to haul Connecticut Central trains north of the state line, or to grant it
trackage rights
Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies.
Operating
Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may con ...
so it could operate its own trains in Massachusetts. By October 1876, the Connecticut Central had leased the Springfield and New London.
Four years later, the company was leased again, this time by the
New York and New England 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 ...
(NY&NE). The NY&NE was a bitter rival 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 ...
(successor of the Hartford and New Haven), and the Connecticut Central's route gave it a competing line between Hartford and Springfield, though not nearly as direct (32 miles vs 25 miles).
In 1887, the NY&NE formally purchased the Connecticut Central, along with the Springfield and New London, ending the existence of both.
Under the NYNH&H
The NYNY&H took control of its nemesis, the NY&NE, in 1895, before formally leasing it in 1898. As a part of the New Haven system, the Connecticut Central alignment was always secondary to the far more direct Hartford and New Haven alignment, and passenger service along the line was discontinued entirely by 1932. The Westway Branch was abandoned between Melrose and
Ellington in 1937. Both the remainder of the Westway Branch and the main line continued to decline in importance as overall freight traffic in the region declined; the rest of the Westway Branch was discontinued in 1963. Bankrupt since 1961, the New Haven was taken over by the
Penn Central Transportation Company
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...
in 1969.
Penn Central and beyond
Penn Central took the line out of service between
Hazardville and
East Windsor in 1972; this segment was officially abandoned in 1976 when the government-formed Consolidated Rail Corporation (
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
) took over from the bankrupt Penn Central. Now divided into two pieces, Conrail provided freight service on both. The southern portion between East Hartford and East Windsor remained relatively busy with daily train service, while the northern portion saw service a few days a week.
Conrail spun off the northern portion of the Connecticut Central line to the
Boston and Maine Railroad
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022).
At the end of 1970, B ...
in 1982. The B&M named its portion the Armory Branch, after the nearby
Springfield Armory
The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...
. Operations continued until 1990, with the line being formally abandoned in 1993. Meanwhile, Conrail cut back its portion of the line from East Windsor to the new terminus of
South Windsor in 1986. The four miles from East Hartford to South Windsor were all that remained of the Connecticut Central until 1996, when the state of Connecticut, dissatisfied with the progressive abandonments of the line, purchased the
right-of-way
Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another.
A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
between East Windsor and the Massachusetts state line in
Enfield
Enfield may refer to:
Places Australia
* Enfield, New South Wales
* Enfield, South Australia
** Electoral district of Enfield, a state electoral district in South Australia, corresponding to the suburb
** Enfield High School (South Australia)
...
. Operations were transferred to two new shortline railroads: the
Connecticut Southern Railroad
The Connecticut Southern Railroad is a long short-line railroad operating in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The company was formed in 1996 as a spinoff of Conrail by shortline holding company RailTex and subsequently acquired in 2000 by RailA ...
began serving the line between East Hartford and South Windsor, while the
Central New England Railroad
The Central New England Railroad is a railroad in and near Hartford, Connecticut. It began operations in 1995 on former Conrail trackage.
Central New England Railroad operates two different lines in Connecticut: the Armory Branch and the Griff ...
began operating from South Windsor to East Windsor, following the return of that portion of the line to service.
The Central New England began to rebuild the rest of the line north of East Windsor to the state line, in the hopes of resuming freight service. This was completed in 2001, but at the time no customers could be found, and as a result the line was placed out of service, awaiting interest from local shippers. In the next 20 years, parts of the out of service portion were cut, but most of it remains dormant.
References
{{Reflist
Railway companies established in 1871
Defunct Connecticut railroads