Danbury Railway Museum
Encyclopedia
The Danbury Railway Museum is housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown Danbury
, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by Metro-North Railroad
, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southeastern Connecticut. In addition to the former station building, the museum has a collection of heritage railcars in the neighboring railyard it shares with Metro-North.
The station was built in 1903 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
in response to local pressure for a new station after the three railroads that served the city were merged into the New Haven. At its peak period 125 trains stopped there in a day. In 1993 that had dwindled to a few commuter trains, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation
, which by then owned the neglected building, closed it in favor of a newer station on the other side of the block. Within two years the museum was formed and restored the station to its former appearance.
It is architecturally distinctive, with Colonial Revival
touches on a Richardsonian Romanesque
structure. Alfred Hitchcock
filmed station scenes for Strangers on a Train
on its distinctive curved platform. In 1986, prior to the museum's use of the building, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. It was joined on the Register in 2005 by the former turntable, the only intact one in the state.
, also on the Register. To its west is a parking lot with room for 25 cars. Immediately behind it, to the south, are the railroad tracks and a 6 acres (2.4 ha) railyard. The current Danbury station
is a short distance away, and sometimes Metro-North stores its trains on the tracks behind the station between runs. The museum's collection of older cars is on the tracks in the yard's interior. A grade crossing on White marks the eastern terminus of the Beacon Line
kept in reserve by Metro-North for possible future use.
The station building is a one-story L-shaped structure of buff and brown brick with sandstone
trim, 99 by, both wings topped with gabled roofs covered in asphalt. Hipped-roof
dormer windows pierce the north and west elevations, and similar canopies run along the tracks on either side, continuing the overhanging bracketed
eaves that shelter the platform on the building itself. A single chimney rises from the south end of the station, near where the sets of tracks meet.
Windows vary in size and shape. Those on the east are high and small, where as tall windows that give the impression of sidelights are along the southwest, next to the tracks. These are hints of the Colonial Revival
style that was emerging at the time of the station's construction.
Inside, the museum's exhibits and displays occupy the 74 by southern half of the building, its former waiting room. In the northern half, is the museum's gift shop and restrooms. The original ticket window and the varnish
ed pine door and window architrave
s. Immediately east of the entry is a fireplace whose mantel
is decorated
in molded
brick in floral patterns.
The facility comprises a railroad yard full of restored and unrestored railroad equipment, and the restored station house containing exhibits of photographs and railroad paraphernalia, model train layouts, an extensive reference library, and a gift shop. The station is "significant in the history of Danbury" and also as a "good example" of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century railway station building. Its architectural style of the hip-roofed station is eclectic, with exterior Richardsonian and Colonial Revival
elements. It's interior workmanship is more impressive.
fairground's pumphouse. The turntable was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 2005. The turntable is "the only intact surviving [railroad] turntable in Connecticut". It is essentially a swing bridge, and is located several hundred yards east of the station.
Some of the rolling stock in the yard, including its 1907 built 2-6-0
steam locomotive
(B&M #1455
), two cabooses, a Budd Car
(self-propelled rail diesel car), and a Sperry track inspection car, are open to the visitors. The museum is an all-volunteer operation and welcomes anyone who would like to participate in any of the many facets of its operations - including operating its locomotives and self-propelled cars.
, Housatonic
and New York and New England
— had built small, separate stations for their lines in the vicinity of the current building. Later in that decade, economic difficulties led to them all becoming part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford
, leading it to be known locally as the Consolidated Road. Citizens began asking the new owner to consolidate its three stations into one as early as 1894, two years after the last merger.
In 1901, the Consolidated realigned the tracks and built the new station where the New York & New England's passenger depot had been. A. Malkin's design combined a basic Richardsonian Romanesque
structure with some Colonial Revival
details, like the small panes in the windows. It was said to be the largest station on the New Haven's New York Division.
In its peak years, early in the 20th century, extant timetables suggest the station saw as many as 125 trains a day. Much of that passenger traffic was related to the city's large hatmaking industry, with workers migrating to and from jobs, and business travelers selling to or buying from the hatmakers. It was acknowledged with a neon sign on a nearby coal shed showing a derby hat coming down on a crown and saying "Danbury Crowns Them All". The hat-related traffic grew around the industry's two big seasons, the Christmas and Easter holidays. Other passengers were commuters going to jobs in Bridgeport
or New York City, summer travelers headed for country retreats and hotels in the area, or visitors to the Danbury Fair
, held every October.
After World War II
, train ridership began to decline with the rise of passenger air travel and the Interstate Highway System
. The decline of hatmaking, as many Americans started going around bareheaded, also contributed. Many of the station's original decorative features were removed. In the late 1960s the Consolidated was itself absorbed into the short-lived Penn Central conglomerate. The last intercity passenger train left for Pittsfield
in 1972, and the next year the Penn Central's final failure put its trains in the hands of Conrail and the station itself became property of the state Department of Transportation
(ConnDOT).
Metro-North closed the station, the northern terminus of the New Haven Line's Danbury Branch, in 1993. The city's mayor, Gene Eriquez, who had seen downtown
wither as retail business and customers went to the mall
built on the former fairgrounds, did not want to see another old building lost to urban blight
. The station seemed to him and others the ideal place for a rail museum that could attract visitors, and the Danbury Railroad Museum was formed the next year by a group of National Railway Historical Society
and local railfan
s.
Soon it grew to a hundred members. The first excursion train
was run later that year. A temporary museum was established in an Ives Street storefront while the old station itself was restored
with a $1.5 million grant. In late 1995 the restored station was rededicated at a ceremony attended by the mayor and a thousand people. The museum interior was opened in the middle of the following year.
The turntable was restored in 1998. Since 2005 it has been a regular stop on the Railyard Local. Today the museum has 550 members and 60 pieces of equipment. In addition to the exhibits, for which a $6 admission fee ($4 for children) is charged it offers rides every weekend from April to December.
, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by Metro-North Railroad
, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southeastern Connecticut. In addition to the former station building, the museum has a collection of heritage railcars in the neighboring railyard it shares with Metro-North.
The station was built in 1903 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
in response to local pressure for a new station after the three railroads that served the city were merged into the New Haven. At its peak period 125 trains stopped there in a day. In 1993 that had dwindled to a few commuter trains, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation
, which by then owned the neglected building, closed it in favor of a newer station on the other side of the block. Within two years the museum was formed and restored the station to its former appearance.
It is architecturally distinctive, with Colonial Revival
touches on a Richardsonian Romanesque
structure. Alfred Hitchcock
filmed station scenes for Strangers on a Train
on its distinctive curved platform. In 1986, prior to the museum's use of the building, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. It was joined on the Register in 2005 by the former turntable, the only intact one in the state.
, also on the Register. To its west is a parking lot with room for 25 cars. Immediately behind it, to the south, are the railroad tracks and a 6 acres (2.4 ha) railyard. The current Danbury station
is a short distance away, and sometimes Metro-North stores its trains on the tracks behind the station between runs. The museum's collection of older cars is on the tracks in the yard's interior. A grade crossing on White marks the eastern terminus of the Beacon Line
kept in reserve by Metro-North for possible future use.
The station building is a one-story L-shaped structure of buff and brown brick with sandstone
trim, 99 by, both wings topped with gabled roofs covered in asphalt. Hipped-roof
dormer windows pierce the north and west elevations, and similar canopies run along the tracks on either side, continuing the overhanging bracketed
eaves that shelter the platform on the building itself. A single chimney rises from the south end of the station, near where the sets of tracks meet.
Windows vary in size and shape. Those on the east are high and small, where as tall windows that give the impression of sidelights are along the southwest, next to the tracks. These are hints of the Colonial Revival
style that was emerging at the time of the station's construction.
Inside, the museum's exhibits and displays occupy the 74 by southern half of the building, its former waiting room. In the northern half, is the museum's gift shop and restrooms. The original ticket window and the varnish
ed pine door and window architrave
s. Immediately east of the entry is a fireplace whose mantel
is decorated
in molded
brick in floral patterns.
The facility comprises a railroad yard full of restored and unrestored railroad equipment, and the restored station house containing exhibits of photographs and railroad paraphernalia, model train layouts, an extensive reference library, and a gift shop. The station is "significant in the history of Danbury" and also as a "good example" of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century railway station building. Its architectural style of the hip-roofed station is eclectic, with exterior Richardsonian and Colonial Revival
elements. It's interior workmanship is more impressive.
fairground's pumphouse. The turntable was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 2005. The turntable is "the only intact surviving [railroad] turntable in Connecticut". It is essentially a swing bridge, and is located several hundred yards east of the station.
Some of the rolling stock in the yard, including its 1907 built 2-6-0
steam locomotive
(B&M #1455
), two cabooses, a Budd Car
(self-propelled rail diesel car), and a Sperry track inspection car, are open to the visitors. The museum is an all-volunteer operation and welcomes anyone who would like to participate in any of the many facets of its operations - including operating its locomotives and self-propelled cars.
, Housatonic
and New York and New England
— had built small, separate stations for their lines in the vicinity of the current building. Later in that decade, economic difficulties led to them all becoming part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford
, leading it to be known locally as the Consolidated Road. Citizens began asking the new owner to consolidate its three stations into one as early as 1894, two years after the last merger.
In 1901, the Consolidated realigned the tracks and built the new station where the New York & New England's passenger depot had been. A. Malkin's design combined a basic Richardsonian Romanesque
structure with some Colonial Revival
details, like the small panes in the windows. It was said to be the largest station on the New Haven's New York Division.
In its peak years, early in the 20th century, extant timetables suggest the station saw as many as 125 trains a day. Much of that passenger traffic was related to the city's large hatmaking industry, with workers migrating to and from jobs, and business travelers selling to or buying from the hatmakers. It was acknowledged with a neon sign on a nearby coal shed showing a derby hat coming down on a crown and saying "Danbury Crowns Them All". The hat-related traffic grew around the industry's two big seasons, the Christmas and Easter holidays. Other passengers were commuters going to jobs in Bridgeport
or New York City, summer travelers headed for country retreats and hotels in the area, or visitors to the Danbury Fair
, held every October.
After World War II
, train ridership began to decline with the rise of passenger air travel and the Interstate Highway System
. The decline of hatmaking, as many Americans started going around bareheaded, also contributed. Many of the station's original decorative features were removed. In the late 1960s the Consolidated was itself absorbed into the short-lived Penn Central conglomerate. The last intercity passenger train left for Pittsfield
in 1972, and the next year the Penn Central's final failure put its trains in the hands of Conrail and the station itself became property of the state Department of Transportation
(ConnDOT).
Metro-North closed the station, the northern terminus of the New Haven Line's Danbury Branch, in 1993. The city's mayor, Gene Eriquez, who had seen downtown
wither as retail business and customers went to the mall
built on the former fairgrounds, did not want to see another old building lost to urban blight
. The station seemed to him and others the ideal place for a rail museum that could attract visitors, and the Danbury Railroad Museum was formed the next year by a group of National Railway Historical Society
and local railfan
s.
Soon it grew to a hundred members. The first excursion train
was run later that year. A temporary museum was established in an Ives Street storefront while the old station itself was restored
with a $1.5 million grant. In late 1995 the restored station was rededicated at a ceremony attended by the mayor and a thousand people. The museum interior was opened in the middle of the following year.
The turntable was restored in 1998. Since 2005 it has been a regular stop on the Railyard Local. Today the museum has 550 members and 60 pieces of equipment. In addition to the exhibits, for which a $6 admission fee ($4 for children) is charged it offers rides every weekend from April to December.
, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by Metro-North Railroad
, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southeastern Connecticut. In addition to the former station building, the museum has a collection of heritage railcars in the neighboring railyard it shares with Metro-North.
The station was built in 1903 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
in response to local pressure for a new station after the three railroads that served the city were merged into the New Haven. At its peak period 125 trains stopped there in a day. In 1993 that had dwindled to a few commuter trains, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation
, which by then owned the neglected building, closed it in favor of a newer station on the other side of the block. Within two years the museum was formed and restored the station to its former appearance.
It is architecturally distinctive, with Colonial Revival
touches on a Richardsonian Romanesque
structure. Alfred Hitchcock
filmed station scenes for Strangers on a Train
on its distinctive curved platform. In 1986, prior to the museum's use of the building, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. It was joined on the Register in 2005 by the former turntable, the only intact one in the state.
, also on the Register. To its west is a parking lot with room for 25 cars. Immediately behind it, to the south, are the railroad tracks and a 6 acres (2.4 ha) railyard. The current Danbury station
is a short distance away, and sometimes Metro-North stores its trains on the tracks behind the station between runs. The museum's collection of older cars is on the tracks in the yard's interior. A grade crossing on White marks the eastern terminus of the Beacon Line
kept in reserve by Metro-North for possible future use.
The station building is a one-story L-shaped structure of buff and brown brick with sandstone
trim, 99 by, both wings topped with gabled roofs covered in asphalt. Hipped-roof
dormer windows pierce the north and west elevations, and similar canopies run along the tracks on either side, continuing the overhanging bracketed
eaves that shelter the platform on the building itself. A single chimney rises from the south end of the station, near where the sets of tracks meet.
Windows vary in size and shape. Those on the east are high and small, where as tall windows that give the impression of sidelights are along the southwest, next to the tracks. These are hints of the Colonial Revival
style that was emerging at the time of the station's construction.
Inside, the museum's exhibits and displays occupy the 74 by southern half of the building, its former waiting room. In the northern half, is the museum's gift shop and restrooms. The original ticket window and the varnish
ed pine door and window architrave
s. Immediately east of the entry is a fireplace whose mantel
is decorated
in molded
brick in floral patterns.
The facility comprises a railroad yard full of restored and unrestored railroad equipment, and the restored station house containing exhibits of photographs and railroad paraphernalia, model train layouts, an extensive reference library, and a gift shop. The station is "significant in the history of Danbury" and also as a "good example" of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century railway station building. Its architectural style of the hip-roofed station is eclectic, with exterior Richardsonian and Colonial Revival
elements. It's interior workmanship is more impressive.
fairground's pumphouse. The turntable was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 2005. The turntable is "the only intact surviving [railroad] turntable in Connecticut". It is essentially a swing bridge, and is located several hundred yards east of the station.
Some of the rolling stock in the yard, including its 1907 built 2-6-0
steam locomotive
(B&M #1455
), two cabooses, a Budd Car
(self-propelled rail diesel car), and a Sperry track inspection car, are open to the visitors. The museum is an all-volunteer operation and welcomes anyone who would like to participate in any of the many facets of its operations - including operating its locomotives and self-propelled cars.
, Housatonic
and New York and New England
— had built small, separate stations for their lines in the vicinity of the current building. Later in that decade, economic difficulties led to them all becoming part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford
, leading it to be known locally as the Consolidated Road. Citizens began asking the new owner to consolidate its three stations into one as early as 1894, two years after the last merger.
In 1901, the Consolidated realigned the tracks and built the new station where the New York & New England's passenger depot had been. A. Malkin's design combined a basic Richardsonian Romanesque
structure with some Colonial Revival
details, like the small panes in the windows. It was said to be the largest station on the New Haven's New York Division.
In its peak years, early in the 20th century, extant timetables suggest the station saw as many as 125 trains a day. Much of that passenger traffic was related to the city's large hatmaking industry, with workers migrating to and from jobs, and business travelers selling to or buying from the hatmakers. It was acknowledged with a neon sign on a nearby coal shed showing a derby hat coming down on a crown and saying "Danbury Crowns Them All". The hat-related traffic grew around the industry's two big seasons, the Christmas and Easter holidays. Other passengers were commuters going to jobs in Bridgeport
or New York City, summer travelers headed for country retreats and hotels in the area, or visitors to the Danbury Fair
, held every October.
After World War II
, train ridership began to decline with the rise of passenger air travel and the Interstate Highway System
. The decline of hatmaking, as many Americans started going around bareheaded, also contributed. Many of the station's original decorative features were removed. In the late 1960s the Consolidated was itself absorbed into the short-lived Penn Central conglomerate. The last intercity passenger train left for Pittsfield
in 1972, and the next year the Penn Central's final failure put its trains in the hands of Conrail and the station itself became property of the state Department of Transportation
(ConnDOT).
Metro-North closed the station, the northern terminus of the New Haven Line's Danbury Branch, in 1993. The city's mayor, Gene Eriquez, who had seen downtown
wither as retail business and customers went to the mall
built on the former fairgrounds, did not want to see another old building lost to urban blight
. The station seemed to him and others the ideal place for a rail museum that could attract visitors, and the Danbury Railroad Museum was formed the next year by a group of National Railway Historical Society
and local railfan
s.
Soon it grew to a hundred members. The first excursion train
was run later that year. A temporary museum was established in an Ives Street storefront while the old station itself was restored
with a $1.5 million grant. In late 1995 the restored station was rededicated at a ceremony attended by the mayor and a thousand people. The museum interior was opened in the middle of the following year.
The turntable was restored in 1998. Since 2005 it has been a regular stop on the Railyard Local. Today the museum has 550 members and 60 pieces of equipment. In addition to the exhibits, for which a $6 admission fee ($4 for children) is charged it offers rides every weekend from April to December.
Danbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....
, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southeastern Connecticut. In addition to the former station building, the museum has a collection of heritage railcars in the neighboring railyard it shares with Metro-North.
The station was built in 1903 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
in response to local pressure for a new station after the three railroads that served the city were merged into the New Haven. At its peak period 125 trains stopped there in a day. In 1993 that had dwindled to a few commuter trains, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation
Connecticut Department of Transportation
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The current Commissioner of ConnDOT is Jeffrey Parker...
, which by then owned the neglected building, closed it in favor of a newer station on the other side of the block. Within two years the museum was formed and restored the station to its former appearance.
It is architecturally distinctive, with Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
touches on a Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
structure. Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
filmed station scenes for Strangers on a Train
Strangers on a Train (film)
Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951. The film stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman,...
on its distinctive curved platform. In 1986, prior to the museum's use of the building, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. It was joined on the Register in 2005 by the former turntable, the only intact one in the state.
Building
The museum itself is located on a curved 1.3 acres (5,260.9 m²) lot at the southeast corner of White Street and Patriot Drive, just across from Meeker's HardwareMeeker's Hardware
Meeker's Hardware is located at White Street and Patriot Drive in downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States, near the city's train station and the Danbury Railway Museum, just outside the city's Main Street Historic District. It was built in 1883, opened in 1885 and has remained in the Meeker...
, also on the Register. To its west is a parking lot with room for 25 cars. Immediately behind it, to the south, are the railroad tracks and a 6 acres (2.4 ha) railyard. The current Danbury station
Danbury (Metro-North station)
The Danbury Metro-North Railroad station serves residents of Danbury, Connecticut and surrounding areas at the north terminus of the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line...
is a short distance away, and sometimes Metro-North stores its trains on the tracks behind the station between runs. The museum's collection of older cars is on the tracks in the yard's interior. A grade crossing on White marks the eastern terminus of the Beacon Line
Beacon Line
Metro-North Railroad's Beacon Line is a non-revenue line connecting the railroad's three revenue lines east of the Hudson River. West to east, they are the Hudson Line, Harlem Line, and the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line...
kept in reserve by Metro-North for possible future use.
The station building is a one-story L-shaped structure of buff and brown brick with sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
trim, 99 by, both wings topped with gabled roofs covered in asphalt. Hipped-roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
dormer windows pierce the north and west elevations, and similar canopies run along the tracks on either side, continuing the overhanging bracketed
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
eaves that shelter the platform on the building itself. A single chimney rises from the south end of the station, near where the sets of tracks meet.
Windows vary in size and shape. Those on the east are high and small, where as tall windows that give the impression of sidelights are along the southwest, next to the tracks. These are hints of the Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
style that was emerging at the time of the station's construction.
Inside, the museum's exhibits and displays occupy the 74 by southern half of the building, its former waiting room. In the northern half, is the museum's gift shop and restrooms. The original ticket window and the varnish
Varnish
Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...
ed pine door and window architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
s. Immediately east of the entry is a fireplace whose mantel
Fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling...
is decorated
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
in molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
brick in floral patterns.
The facility comprises a railroad yard full of restored and unrestored railroad equipment, and the restored station house containing exhibits of photographs and railroad paraphernalia, model train layouts, an extensive reference library, and a gift shop. The station is "significant in the history of Danbury" and also as a "good example" of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century railway station building. Its architectural style of the hip-roofed station is eclectic, with exterior Richardsonian and Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
elements. It's interior workmanship is more impressive.
Yard
Visitors can ride the "Rail Yard Local" on weekends in the summer season. The ride takes about 30-35 minutes and includes a unique ride by the passengers on the museum's operating, decades-old turntable (rail), and a tour of the recently restored DanburyDanbury
Danbury is a city in Connecticut, U.S.Danbury may also refer to:*Danbury, Saskatchewan, Canada*Danbury, Essex, UK*Danbury, Iowa, U.S.*Danbury, Nebraska, U.S.*Danbury, New Hampshire, U.S.*Danbury, North Carolina, U.S.*Danbury, Texas, U.S....
fairground's pumphouse. The turntable was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 2005. The turntable is "the only intact surviving [railroad] turntable in Connecticut". It is essentially a swing bridge, and is located several hundred yards east of the station.
Some of the rolling stock in the yard, including its 1907 built 2-6-0
2-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...
steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
(B&M #1455
Boston and Maine Railroad
The Boston and Maine Corporation , known as the Boston and Maine Railroad until 1964, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century...
), two cabooses, a Budd Car
Budd Company
The Budd Company is a metal fabricator and major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and was formerly a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars during the 20th century....
(self-propelled rail diesel car), and a Sperry track inspection car, are open to the visitors. The museum is an all-volunteer operation and welcomes anyone who would like to participate in any of the many facets of its operations - including operating its locomotives and self-propelled cars.
History
By the 1880s, the three railroads that served the city — the Danbury and NorwalkDanbury and Norwalk Railroad
The Danbury and Norwalk Railroad was an independent American railroad that operated between its namesake cities in Connecticut from 1852 until its absorption by the Housatonic Railroad in 1887...
, Housatonic
Housatonic Railroad
The Housatonic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and has since expanded north and south, as well as west into New York State.The...
and New York and New England
New York and New England Railroad
The New York and New England Railroad was a major railroad connecting southern New York state with Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed by...
— had built small, separate stations for their lines in the vicinity of the current building. Later in that decade, economic difficulties led to them all becoming part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
, leading it to be known locally as the Consolidated Road. Citizens began asking the new owner to consolidate its three stations into one as early as 1894, two years after the last merger.
In 1901, the Consolidated realigned the tracks and built the new station where the New York & New England's passenger depot had been. A. Malkin's design combined a basic Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
structure with some Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
details, like the small panes in the windows. It was said to be the largest station on the New Haven's New York Division.
In its peak years, early in the 20th century, extant timetables suggest the station saw as many as 125 trains a day. Much of that passenger traffic was related to the city's large hatmaking industry, with workers migrating to and from jobs, and business travelers selling to or buying from the hatmakers. It was acknowledged with a neon sign on a nearby coal shed showing a derby hat coming down on a crown and saying "Danbury Crowns Them All". The hat-related traffic grew around the industry's two big seasons, the Christmas and Easter holidays. Other passengers were commuters going to jobs in Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
or New York City, summer travelers headed for country retreats and hotels in the area, or visitors to the Danbury Fair
Danbury Fair
The Danbury Fair was a yearly exhibition in Danbury, Connecticut. It was begun in 1821 as an agricultural fair, but did not have a regular schedule until 1869 when hat manufacturers Rundle and White helped form the Danbury Farmers and Manufacturers Society...
, held every October.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, train ridership began to decline with the rise of passenger air travel and the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
. The decline of hatmaking, as many Americans started going around bareheaded, also contributed. Many of the station's original decorative features were removed. In the late 1960s the Consolidated was itself absorbed into the short-lived Penn Central conglomerate. The last intercity passenger train left for Pittsfield
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...
in 1972, and the next year the Penn Central's final failure put its trains in the hands of Conrail and the station itself became property of the state Department of Transportation
Connecticut Department of Transportation
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The current Commissioner of ConnDOT is Jeffrey Parker...
(ConnDOT).
Metro-North closed the station, the northern terminus of the New Haven Line's Danbury Branch, in 1993. The city's mayor, Gene Eriquez, who had seen downtown
Main Street Historic District (Danbury, Connecticut)
The Main Street Historic District in Danbury, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown...
wither as retail business and customers went to the mall
Danbury Fair Mall
As of 2011, Danbury Fair is the second largest shopping mall in Connecticut as well as the fifth largest in New England. It is located off of Interstate 84 and U.S...
built on the former fairgrounds, did not want to see another old building lost to urban blight
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
. The station seemed to him and others the ideal place for a rail museum that could attract visitors, and the Danbury Railroad Museum was formed the next year by a group of National Railway Historical Society
National Railway Historical Society
The National Railway Historical Society 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, Pennsylvania and organized into 16 regions and...
and local railfan
Railfan
A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
s.
Soon it grew to a hundred members. The first excursion train
Excursion train
An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose.Examples of excursion trains:* A train to a major sporting event* A train run for railfans or tourism...
was run later that year. A temporary museum was established in an Ives Street storefront while the old station itself was restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
with a $1.5 million grant. In late 1995 the restored station was rededicated at a ceremony attended by the mayor and a thousand people. The museum interior was opened in the middle of the following year.
The turntable was restored in 1998. Since 2005 it has been a regular stop on the Railyard Local. Today the museum has 550 members and 60 pieces of equipment. In addition to the exhibits, for which a $6 admission fee ($4 for children) is charged it offers rides every weekend from April to December.
See also
- List of heritage railroads in the United States
- List of Registered Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut#Danbury
External links
The Danbury Railway Museum is housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown DanburyDanbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....
, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southeastern Connecticut. In addition to the former station building, the museum has a collection of heritage railcars in the neighboring railyard it shares with Metro-North.
The station was built in 1903 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
in response to local pressure for a new station after the three railroads that served the city were merged into the New Haven. At its peak period 125 trains stopped there in a day. In 1993 that had dwindled to a few commuter trains, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation
Connecticut Department of Transportation
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The current Commissioner of ConnDOT is Jeffrey Parker...
, which by then owned the neglected building, closed it in favor of a newer station on the other side of the block. Within two years the museum was formed and restored the station to its former appearance.
It is architecturally distinctive, with Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
touches on a Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
structure. Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
filmed station scenes for Strangers on a Train
Strangers on a Train (film)
Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951. The film stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman,...
on its distinctive curved platform. In 1986, prior to the museum's use of the building, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. It was joined on the Register in 2005 by the former turntable, the only intact one in the state.
Building
The museum itself is located on a curved 1.3 acres (5,260.9 m²) lot at the southeast corner of White Street and Patriot Drive, just across from Meeker's HardwareMeeker's Hardware
Meeker's Hardware is located at White Street and Patriot Drive in downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States, near the city's train station and the Danbury Railway Museum, just outside the city's Main Street Historic District. It was built in 1883, opened in 1885 and has remained in the Meeker...
, also on the Register. To its west is a parking lot with room for 25 cars. Immediately behind it, to the south, are the railroad tracks and a 6 acres (2.4 ha) railyard. The current Danbury station
Danbury (Metro-North station)
The Danbury Metro-North Railroad station serves residents of Danbury, Connecticut and surrounding areas at the north terminus of the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line...
is a short distance away, and sometimes Metro-North stores its trains on the tracks behind the station between runs. The museum's collection of older cars is on the tracks in the yard's interior. A grade crossing on White marks the eastern terminus of the Beacon Line
Beacon Line
Metro-North Railroad's Beacon Line is a non-revenue line connecting the railroad's three revenue lines east of the Hudson River. West to east, they are the Hudson Line, Harlem Line, and the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line...
kept in reserve by Metro-North for possible future use.
The station building is a one-story L-shaped structure of buff and brown brick with sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
trim, 99 by, both wings topped with gabled roofs covered in asphalt. Hipped-roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
dormer windows pierce the north and west elevations, and similar canopies run along the tracks on either side, continuing the overhanging bracketed
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
eaves that shelter the platform on the building itself. A single chimney rises from the south end of the station, near where the sets of tracks meet.
Windows vary in size and shape. Those on the east are high and small, where as tall windows that give the impression of sidelights are along the southwest, next to the tracks. These are hints of the Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
style that was emerging at the time of the station's construction.
Inside, the museum's exhibits and displays occupy the 74 by southern half of the building, its former waiting room. In the northern half, is the museum's gift shop and restrooms. The original ticket window and the varnish
Varnish
Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...
ed pine door and window architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
s. Immediately east of the entry is a fireplace whose mantel
Fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling...
is decorated
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
in molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
brick in floral patterns.
The facility comprises a railroad yard full of restored and unrestored railroad equipment, and the restored station house containing exhibits of photographs and railroad paraphernalia, model train layouts, an extensive reference library, and a gift shop. The station is "significant in the history of Danbury" and also as a "good example" of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century railway station building. Its architectural style of the hip-roofed station is eclectic, with exterior Richardsonian and Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
elements. It's interior workmanship is more impressive.
Yard
Visitors can ride the "Rail Yard Local" on weekends in the summer season. The ride takes about 30-35 minutes and includes a unique ride by the passengers on the museum's operating, decades-old turntable (rail), and a tour of the recently restored DanburyDanbury
Danbury is a city in Connecticut, U.S.Danbury may also refer to:*Danbury, Saskatchewan, Canada*Danbury, Essex, UK*Danbury, Iowa, U.S.*Danbury, Nebraska, U.S.*Danbury, New Hampshire, U.S.*Danbury, North Carolina, U.S.*Danbury, Texas, U.S....
fairground's pumphouse. The turntable was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 2005. The turntable is "the only intact surviving [railroad] turntable in Connecticut". It is essentially a swing bridge, and is located several hundred yards east of the station.
Some of the rolling stock in the yard, including its 1907 built 2-6-0
2-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...
steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
(B&M #1455
Boston and Maine Railroad
The Boston and Maine Corporation , known as the Boston and Maine Railroad until 1964, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century...
), two cabooses, a Budd Car
Budd Company
The Budd Company is a metal fabricator and major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and was formerly a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars during the 20th century....
(self-propelled rail diesel car), and a Sperry track inspection car, are open to the visitors. The museum is an all-volunteer operation and welcomes anyone who would like to participate in any of the many facets of its operations - including operating its locomotives and self-propelled cars.
History
By the 1880s, the three railroads that served the city — the Danbury and NorwalkDanbury and Norwalk Railroad
The Danbury and Norwalk Railroad was an independent American railroad that operated between its namesake cities in Connecticut from 1852 until its absorption by the Housatonic Railroad in 1887...
, Housatonic
Housatonic Railroad
The Housatonic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and has since expanded north and south, as well as west into New York State.The...
and New York and New England
New York and New England Railroad
The New York and New England Railroad was a major railroad connecting southern New York state with Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed by...
— had built small, separate stations for their lines in the vicinity of the current building. Later in that decade, economic difficulties led to them all becoming part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
, leading it to be known locally as the Consolidated Road. Citizens began asking the new owner to consolidate its three stations into one as early as 1894, two years after the last merger.
In 1901, the Consolidated realigned the tracks and built the new station where the New York & New England's passenger depot had been. A. Malkin's design combined a basic Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
structure with some Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
details, like the small panes in the windows. It was said to be the largest station on the New Haven's New York Division.
In its peak years, early in the 20th century, extant timetables suggest the station saw as many as 125 trains a day. Much of that passenger traffic was related to the city's large hatmaking industry, with workers migrating to and from jobs, and business travelers selling to or buying from the hatmakers. It was acknowledged with a neon sign on a nearby coal shed showing a derby hat coming down on a crown and saying "Danbury Crowns Them All". The hat-related traffic grew around the industry's two big seasons, the Christmas and Easter holidays. Other passengers were commuters going to jobs in Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
or New York City, summer travelers headed for country retreats and hotels in the area, or visitors to the Danbury Fair
Danbury Fair
The Danbury Fair was a yearly exhibition in Danbury, Connecticut. It was begun in 1821 as an agricultural fair, but did not have a regular schedule until 1869 when hat manufacturers Rundle and White helped form the Danbury Farmers and Manufacturers Society...
, held every October.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, train ridership began to decline with the rise of passenger air travel and the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
. The decline of hatmaking, as many Americans started going around bareheaded, also contributed. Many of the station's original decorative features were removed. In the late 1960s the Consolidated was itself absorbed into the short-lived Penn Central conglomerate. The last intercity passenger train left for Pittsfield
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...
in 1972, and the next year the Penn Central's final failure put its trains in the hands of Conrail and the station itself became property of the state Department of Transportation
Connecticut Department of Transportation
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The current Commissioner of ConnDOT is Jeffrey Parker...
(ConnDOT).
Metro-North closed the station, the northern terminus of the New Haven Line's Danbury Branch, in 1993. The city's mayor, Gene Eriquez, who had seen downtown
Main Street Historic District (Danbury, Connecticut)
The Main Street Historic District in Danbury, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown...
wither as retail business and customers went to the mall
Danbury Fair Mall
As of 2011, Danbury Fair is the second largest shopping mall in Connecticut as well as the fifth largest in New England. It is located off of Interstate 84 and U.S...
built on the former fairgrounds, did not want to see another old building lost to urban blight
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
. The station seemed to him and others the ideal place for a rail museum that could attract visitors, and the Danbury Railroad Museum was formed the next year by a group of National Railway Historical Society
National Railway Historical Society
The National Railway Historical Society 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, Pennsylvania and organized into 16 regions and...
and local railfan
Railfan
A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
s.
Soon it grew to a hundred members. The first excursion train
Excursion train
An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose.Examples of excursion trains:* A train to a major sporting event* A train run for railfans or tourism...
was run later that year. A temporary museum was established in an Ives Street storefront while the old station itself was restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
with a $1.5 million grant. In late 1995 the restored station was rededicated at a ceremony attended by the mayor and a thousand people. The museum interior was opened in the middle of the following year.
The turntable was restored in 1998. Since 2005 it has been a regular stop on the Railyard Local. Today the museum has 550 members and 60 pieces of equipment. In addition to the exhibits, for which a $6 admission fee ($4 for children) is charged it offers rides every weekend from April to December.
See also
- List of heritage railroads in the United States
- List of Registered Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut#Danbury
External links
The Danbury Railway Museum is housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown DanburyDanbury, Connecticut
Danbury is a city in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It had population at the 2010 census of 80,893. Danbury is the fourth largest city in Fairfield County and is the seventh largest city in Connecticut....
, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by Metro-North Railroad
Metro-North Railroad
The Metro-North Commuter Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, or, more commonly, Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service that is run and managed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority , an authority of New York State. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United...
, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southeastern Connecticut. In addition to the former station building, the museum has a collection of heritage railcars in the neighboring railyard it shares with Metro-North.
The station was built in 1903 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
in response to local pressure for a new station after the three railroads that served the city were merged into the New Haven. At its peak period 125 trains stopped there in a day. In 1993 that had dwindled to a few commuter trains, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation
Connecticut Department of Transportation
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The current Commissioner of ConnDOT is Jeffrey Parker...
, which by then owned the neglected building, closed it in favor of a newer station on the other side of the block. Within two years the museum was formed and restored the station to its former appearance.
It is architecturally distinctive, with Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
touches on a Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
structure. Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
filmed station scenes for Strangers on a Train
Strangers on a Train (film)
Strangers on a Train is an American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and based on the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. It was shot in the autumn of 1950 and released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1951. The film stars Farley Granger, Ruth Roman,...
on its distinctive curved platform. In 1986, prior to the museum's use of the building, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. It was joined on the Register in 2005 by the former turntable, the only intact one in the state.
Building
The museum itself is located on a curved 1.3 acres (5,260.9 m²) lot at the southeast corner of White Street and Patriot Drive, just across from Meeker's HardwareMeeker's Hardware
Meeker's Hardware is located at White Street and Patriot Drive in downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States, near the city's train station and the Danbury Railway Museum, just outside the city's Main Street Historic District. It was built in 1883, opened in 1885 and has remained in the Meeker...
, also on the Register. To its west is a parking lot with room for 25 cars. Immediately behind it, to the south, are the railroad tracks and a 6 acres (2.4 ha) railyard. The current Danbury station
Danbury (Metro-North station)
The Danbury Metro-North Railroad station serves residents of Danbury, Connecticut and surrounding areas at the north terminus of the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line...
is a short distance away, and sometimes Metro-North stores its trains on the tracks behind the station between runs. The museum's collection of older cars is on the tracks in the yard's interior. A grade crossing on White marks the eastern terminus of the Beacon Line
Beacon Line
Metro-North Railroad's Beacon Line is a non-revenue line connecting the railroad's three revenue lines east of the Hudson River. West to east, they are the Hudson Line, Harlem Line, and the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line...
kept in reserve by Metro-North for possible future use.
The station building is a one-story L-shaped structure of buff and brown brick with sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
trim, 99 by, both wings topped with gabled roofs covered in asphalt. Hipped-roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
dormer windows pierce the north and west elevations, and similar canopies run along the tracks on either side, continuing the overhanging bracketed
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
eaves that shelter the platform on the building itself. A single chimney rises from the south end of the station, near where the sets of tracks meet.
Windows vary in size and shape. Those on the east are high and small, where as tall windows that give the impression of sidelights are along the southwest, next to the tracks. These are hints of the Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
style that was emerging at the time of the station's construction.
Inside, the museum's exhibits and displays occupy the 74 by southern half of the building, its former waiting room. In the northern half, is the museum's gift shop and restrooms. The original ticket window and the varnish
Varnish
Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a thinner or solvent. Varnish finishes are usually glossy but may be designed to produce satin or semi-gloss...
ed pine door and window architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
s. Immediately east of the entry is a fireplace whose mantel
Fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling...
is decorated
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
in molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
brick in floral patterns.
The facility comprises a railroad yard full of restored and unrestored railroad equipment, and the restored station house containing exhibits of photographs and railroad paraphernalia, model train layouts, an extensive reference library, and a gift shop. The station is "significant in the history of Danbury" and also as a "good example" of a turn-of-the-twentieth-century railway station building. Its architectural style of the hip-roofed station is eclectic, with exterior Richardsonian and Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
elements. It's interior workmanship is more impressive.
Yard
Visitors can ride the "Rail Yard Local" on weekends in the summer season. The ride takes about 30-35 minutes and includes a unique ride by the passengers on the museum's operating, decades-old turntable (rail), and a tour of the recently restored DanburyDanbury
Danbury is a city in Connecticut, U.S.Danbury may also refer to:*Danbury, Saskatchewan, Canada*Danbury, Essex, UK*Danbury, Iowa, U.S.*Danbury, Nebraska, U.S.*Danbury, New Hampshire, U.S.*Danbury, North Carolina, U.S.*Danbury, Texas, U.S....
fairground's pumphouse. The turntable was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 15, 2005. The turntable is "the only intact surviving [railroad] turntable in Connecticut". It is essentially a swing bridge, and is located several hundred yards east of the station.
Some of the rolling stock in the yard, including its 1907 built 2-6-0
2-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-6-0 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles, and no trailing wheels. This arrangement is commonly called a Mogul...
steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
(B&M #1455
Boston and Maine Railroad
The Boston and Maine Corporation , known as the Boston and Maine Railroad until 1964, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century...
), two cabooses, a Budd Car
Budd Company
The Budd Company is a metal fabricator and major supplier of body components to the automobile industry, and was formerly a manufacturer of stainless steel passenger rail cars during the 20th century....
(self-propelled rail diesel car), and a Sperry track inspection car, are open to the visitors. The museum is an all-volunteer operation and welcomes anyone who would like to participate in any of the many facets of its operations - including operating its locomotives and self-propelled cars.
History
By the 1880s, the three railroads that served the city — the Danbury and NorwalkDanbury and Norwalk Railroad
The Danbury and Norwalk Railroad was an independent American railroad that operated between its namesake cities in Connecticut from 1852 until its absorption by the Housatonic Railroad in 1887...
, Housatonic
Housatonic Railroad
The Housatonic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and has since expanded north and south, as well as west into New York State.The...
and New York and New England
New York and New England Railroad
The New York and New England Railroad was a major railroad connecting southern New York state with Hartford, Connecticut, Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed by...
— had built small, separate stations for their lines in the vicinity of the current building. Later in that decade, economic difficulties led to them all becoming part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , was a railroad that operated in the northeast United States from 1872 to 1968 which served the states of Connecticut, New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts...
, leading it to be known locally as the Consolidated Road. Citizens began asking the new owner to consolidate its three stations into one as early as 1894, two years after the last merger.
In 1901, the Consolidated realigned the tracks and built the new station where the New York & New England's passenger depot had been. A. Malkin's design combined a basic Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
structure with some Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
details, like the small panes in the windows. It was said to be the largest station on the New Haven's New York Division.
In its peak years, early in the 20th century, extant timetables suggest the station saw as many as 125 trains a day. Much of that passenger traffic was related to the city's large hatmaking industry, with workers migrating to and from jobs, and business travelers selling to or buying from the hatmakers. It was acknowledged with a neon sign on a nearby coal shed showing a derby hat coming down on a crown and saying "Danbury Crowns Them All". The hat-related traffic grew around the industry's two big seasons, the Christmas and Easter holidays. Other passengers were commuters going to jobs in Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
or New York City, summer travelers headed for country retreats and hotels in the area, or visitors to the Danbury Fair
Danbury Fair
The Danbury Fair was a yearly exhibition in Danbury, Connecticut. It was begun in 1821 as an agricultural fair, but did not have a regular schedule until 1869 when hat manufacturers Rundle and White helped form the Danbury Farmers and Manufacturers Society...
, held every October.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, train ridership began to decline with the rise of passenger air travel and the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
. The decline of hatmaking, as many Americans started going around bareheaded, also contributed. Many of the station's original decorative features were removed. In the late 1960s the Consolidated was itself absorbed into the short-lived Penn Central conglomerate. The last intercity passenger train left for Pittsfield
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Its area code is 413. Its ZIP code is 01201...
in 1972, and the next year the Penn Central's final failure put its trains in the hands of Conrail and the station itself became property of the state Department of Transportation
Connecticut Department of Transportation
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The current Commissioner of ConnDOT is Jeffrey Parker...
(ConnDOT).
Metro-North closed the station, the northern terminus of the New Haven Line's Danbury Branch, in 1993. The city's mayor, Gene Eriquez, who had seen downtown
Main Street Historic District (Danbury, Connecticut)
The Main Street Historic District in Danbury, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown...
wither as retail business and customers went to the mall
Danbury Fair Mall
As of 2011, Danbury Fair is the second largest shopping mall in Connecticut as well as the fifth largest in New England. It is located off of Interstate 84 and U.S...
built on the former fairgrounds, did not want to see another old building lost to urban blight
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
. The station seemed to him and others the ideal place for a rail museum that could attract visitors, and the Danbury Railroad Museum was formed the next year by a group of National Railway Historical Society
National Railway Historical Society
The National Railway Historical Society 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, Pennsylvania and organized into 16 regions and...
and local railfan
Railfan
A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
s.
Soon it grew to a hundred members. The first excursion train
Excursion train
An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose.Examples of excursion trains:* A train to a major sporting event* A train run for railfans or tourism...
was run later that year. A temporary museum was established in an Ives Street storefront while the old station itself was restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
with a $1.5 million grant. In late 1995 the restored station was rededicated at a ceremony attended by the mayor and a thousand people. The museum interior was opened in the middle of the following year.
The turntable was restored in 1998. Since 2005 it has been a regular stop on the Railyard Local. Today the museum has 550 members and 60 pieces of equipment. In addition to the exhibits, for which a $6 admission fee ($4 for children) is charged it offers rides every weekend from April to December.
See also
- List of heritage railroads in the United States
- List of Registered Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut#Danbury
External links
