Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern Railroad
Encyclopedia
The Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern Railroad was a short independent railroad
in western Connecticut
that was chartered as the Shepaug Valley Railroad in 1868 and operated from
1872 to 1891 when it was taken over by the Housatonic Railroad
.
In 1898 the Housatonic operation of the line was in turn taken over by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
.
As the Litchfield Division of the NYNH&H the line was operated until being abandoned in 1948.
Much of the line remains in place as rail trail
s to this day.
followed which in turn was a Mohegan
name that meant "rocky water".
The railroad was chartered in 1866 or 1868 and opened for operation on December 7, 1871 as the
Shepaug Valley Railroad.
J. Deming Perkins was the company's first president. Henry R. Colt was the treasurer and
Edwin McNeill was the superintendent. Regular service to
Litchfield started by January 11, 1872.
Due to the expense of building and maintaining the line through rocky rural terrain the railroad suffered
low profitability throughout its existence. To help pay creditors it was reorganized as
the Shepaug Railroad in 1873 and was again reorganized as the Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern (or SL&N)
on May 9, 1887.
steam locomotives to run on the Shepaug line were from
the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works
of Paterson, New Jersey named Shepaug, Weatinaug,
and Waramaug.
In addition to passenger traffic the railroad shipped freight.
Gail Borden
's condensed milk business had started operation in the Burrville
section of Torrington in the 1860s. Thanks to strong sales during the civil war
that business was quite profitable and was looking to expand in the 1870s. A new Borden creamery was built and
started shipping dairy products out of Washington Depot soon after the start of operations on the SL&N.
Other significant freight shippers included stone quarries near Roxbury and New Preston (marble and granite)
and ice cut from Bantam Lake.
At first, the SL&N would run two trains down from Litchfield toward Hawleyville with two return trains later in the day each weekday. A single passenger and a separate freight train ran on Saturdays. The need to get milk as fresh as possible to New York City markets led to runs of a Sunday "milk train". At first the milk was delivered to Hawleyville to be picked up by the Housatonic and then carried to Bridgeport and on to New York. Eventually the creamery at Hawleyville was closed as was the Hawleyville branch, by which time the milk train ran through Danbury to South Norwalk.
In 1872, the railroad reached an agreement with the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad
to operate trains on that company's newly constructed 6 miles (9.7 km) Hawleyville Branch to Bethel
. Eventually the SL&N would run trains from Litchfield down to South Norwalk for connection with the New Haven or to Wilson's Point for ferry service connection to either New York or to Oyster Bay on Long Island
.
the Housatonic and operated it as its Litchfield Branch until business weakened in the first half of the
20th century. The Borden Creamery in Washington was closed down in
1928.
Passenger service on the Shepaug Division was stopped by 1932 and the New Haven petitioned the
Interstate Commerce Commission
to abandon the line as a freight road in 1947. The ICC granted
permission to abandon the line in 1948 which is when freight service stopped on the line.
In 1947 and 1948 the line finally saw the
arrival of more modern diesel-electric locomotives for freight hauling, but
their use was very short lived. In 1949 the
gandy dancer
s who had maintained the line pulled up the rails
and ties as part of the abandonment.
32 miles (51.5 km) of track to travel a distance of only 18 miles (29 km) as the crow flies.
A long curved tunnel was cut through rock southwest
of Washington Depot that still exists along a hiking trail. There were reputed to be 192 curves
along the line from Litchfield to Hawleyville or about six per mile.
A Brown truss
type bridge carried the rails over the Housatonic River
between the village of Shepaug and Hawleyville. Other smaller bridges
over the Shepaug River were of the box truss
type.
In 1889 a branch of the line from New Preston was extended four miles (6 km) to Lake Wauramaug
. This line carried vacationing passengers in the summer time and also helped to distribute ice from icehouses throughout the year.
In 1892 the NYNH&H leased the Hawleyville-Bethel branch to the Shepaug.
Stations and flag stops along the line from northeast to southwest with distances from Hawleyville
included the following:
(1854-1941) who was an 1871 graduate of The Gunnery
in Washington, Connecticut purchased 100 acre (0.404686 km²) along the Shepaug River to save it from logging. The area included several miles of SL&N tracks. In 1893 philanthropists Edward I. and Mary Lawrence McLane Van Ingen built Holiday House south of Washington Depot following plans drawn up by Rossiter. Holiday House served as a country hotel or retreat for young working women from New York City
. It was a non sectarian effort run by St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, New York (then on 42nd street). Although Holiday House stopped operating as a retreat by 1918 and was torn down shortly thereafter, vestiges of it including stone walkways and stone foundations for a pedestrian suspension bridge that allowed train passengers to disembark and make their way to the retreat still stand in the Steep Rock revervation.
In 1925 Rossiter donated his land to a group of trustees so that it could be preserved in its wooded state. In 1929 the Steep Rock Association trustees purchased the rounded oxbow
encircled hill known as the Clam Shell and added it to the preserve. The floods of 1955 removed the remnants of the SL&N bridge over the river near the Clam Shell. Over the years additional land in separate parcels was donated to the trust and it currently conserves more than . Several kilometers of former SL&N track right of way form hiking and bridle trails within the Steep Rock Association preserves today.
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
in western Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
that was chartered as the Shepaug Valley Railroad in 1868 and operated from
1872 to 1891 when it was taken over by the Housatonic Railroad
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...
.
In 1898 the Housatonic operation of the line was in turn taken over 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...
.
As the Litchfield Division of the NYNH&H the line was operated until being abandoned in 1948.
Much of the line remains in place as rail trail
Rail trail
A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
s to this day.
Charter and commissioning
"Shepaug" in the railroad's name derived from the name of the river that most of the linefollowed which in turn was a Mohegan
Mohegan
The Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lives in the eastern upper Thames River valley of Connecticut. Mohegan translates to "People of the Wolf". At the time of European contact, the Mohegan and Pequot were one people, historically living in the lower Connecticut region...
name that meant "rocky water".
The railroad was chartered in 1866 or 1868 and opened for operation on December 7, 1871 as the
Shepaug Valley Railroad.
J. Deming Perkins was the company's first president. Henry R. Colt was the treasurer and
Edwin McNeill was the superintendent. Regular service to
Litchfield started by January 11, 1872.
Due to the expense of building and maintaining the line through rocky rural terrain the railroad suffered
low profitability throughout its existence. To help pay creditors it was reorganized as
the Shepaug Railroad in 1873 and was again reorganized as the Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern (or SL&N)
on May 9, 1887.
Early operations
The first three 30 ton 4-4-04-4-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels...
steam locomotives to run on the Shepaug line were from
the Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the world. Most railroads in 19th-century United States...
of Paterson, New Jersey named Shepaug, Weatinaug,
and Waramaug.
In addition to passenger traffic the railroad shipped freight.
Gail Borden
Gail Borden
Gail Borden, Jr. was a 19th century U.S. inventor, surveyor, and publisher, and was the inventor of condensed milk in 1853.- Early years :...
's condensed milk business had started operation in the Burrville
section of Torrington in the 1860s. Thanks to strong sales during the civil war
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
that business was quite profitable and was looking to expand in the 1870s. A new Borden creamery was built and
started shipping dairy products out of Washington Depot soon after the start of operations on the SL&N.
Other significant freight shippers included stone quarries near Roxbury and New Preston (marble and granite)
and ice cut from Bantam Lake.
At first, the SL&N would run two trains down from Litchfield toward Hawleyville with two return trains later in the day each weekday. A single passenger and a separate freight train ran on Saturdays. The need to get milk as fresh as possible to New York City markets led to runs of a Sunday "milk train". At first the milk was delivered to Hawleyville to be picked up by the Housatonic and then carried to Bridgeport and on to New York. Eventually the creamery at Hawleyville was closed as was the Hawleyville branch, by which time the milk train ran through Danbury to South Norwalk.
In 1872, the railroad reached an agreement with the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad
Danbury 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...
to operate trains on that company's newly constructed 6 miles (9.7 km) Hawleyville Branch to Bethel
Bethel, Connecticut
Bethel is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, about sixty miles from New York City. Its population was 18,584 at the 2010 census. The town center is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place...
. Eventually the SL&N would run trains from Litchfield down to South Norwalk for connection with the New Haven or to Wilson's Point for ferry service connection to either New York or to Oyster Bay on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
.
1898 and later, the New Haven era
On July 1, 1898, the New Haven Railroad leased the Shepaug, Litchfield and Northern fromthe Housatonic and operated it as its Litchfield Branch until business weakened in the first half of the
20th century. The Borden Creamery in Washington was closed down in
1928.
Passenger service on the Shepaug Division was stopped by 1932 and the New Haven petitioned the
Interstate Commerce Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
The Interstate Commerce Commission was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads to ensure fair rates, to eliminate rate discrimination, and to regulate other aspects of common carriers, including...
to abandon the line as a freight road in 1947. The ICC granted
permission to abandon the line in 1948 which is when freight service stopped on the line.
In 1947 and 1948 the line finally saw the
arrival of more modern diesel-electric locomotives for freight hauling, but
their use was very short lived. In 1949 the
gandy dancer
Gandy dancer
Gandy dancer is a slang term used for early railroad workers who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the years before the work was done by machines....
s who had maintained the line pulled up the rails
and ties as part of the abandonment.
The route
The Shepaug was renowned for its labyrinthine route. It was said that the line took32 miles (51.5 km) of track to travel a distance of only 18 miles (29 km) as the crow flies.
A long curved tunnel was cut through rock southwest
of Washington Depot that still exists along a hiking trail. There were reputed to be 192 curves
along the line from Litchfield to Hawleyville or about six per mile.
A Brown truss
Brown truss
A Brown truss is a type of bridge truss, used in covered bridges. It is noted for its economical use of materials and is named after the inventor, Josiah Brown Jr., of Buffalo, New York, who patented it July 7, 1857 as US patent 17,722.-Description:...
type bridge carried the rails over the Housatonic River
Housatonic River
The Housatonic River is a river, approximately long, in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about of southwestern New England into Long Island Sound...
between the village of Shepaug and Hawleyville. Other smaller bridges
over the Shepaug River were of the box truss
Box truss
A box truss is a structure composed of three or more chords connected by transverse and/or diagonal structural elements.-Application:Box trusses are commonly used in certain types of aircraft fuselages, electric power pylons, large radio antennas, and many bridge structures...
type.
In 1889 a branch of the line from New Preston was extended four miles (6 km) to Lake Wauramaug
Lake Waramaug State Park
Lake Waramaug State Park is located in the towns of Kent, Warren, and Washington in Litchfield County, Connecticut. The lake lies approximately north of Danbury. The park provides swimming, fishing, picnicking, camping and restroom facilities...
. This line carried vacationing passengers in the summer time and also helped to distribute ice from icehouses throughout the year.
In 1892 the NYNH&H leased the Hawleyville-Bethel branch to the Shepaug.
Stations and flag stops along the line from northeast to southwest with distances from Hawleyville
included the following:
| Stop | Distance | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Litchfield Litchfield, Connecticut Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States, and is known as an affluent summer resort. The population was 8,316 at the 2000 census. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are located within the town... |
Northeastern terminus and headquarters of the railroad | |
| Bantam Bantam, Connecticut Bantam is a borough in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 759 at the 2000 census.While separated for census and historic reasons, Bantam is governed as an integral part of the town of Litchfield... |
The nearby lake supplied ice to urban markets in the days before refrigeration. | |
| Morris Morris, Connecticut Morris is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,301 at the 2000 census. The town consists of rolling hill country surrounding Bantam Lake, the largest natural lake in the State, covering about .-History:... |
This location was also known as "Smoke Hollow". | |
| Romford | Site of station is now a soccer field for the Rumsey Hall School Rumsey Hall School Rumsey Hall School is a coeducational boarding and country day school for kindergarten through ninth grade located in Washington, Connecticut. As of 2005, the school enrolls approximately 300 students and employs 54 full- and part-time faculty members. Thomas W. Farmen, the school's fifth... which relocated here in 1949. |
|
| New Preston | Start of branch to Lake Wauramaug Lake Waramaug State Park Lake Waramaug State Park is located in the towns of Kent, Warren, and Washington in Litchfield County, Connecticut. The lake lies approximately north of Danbury. The park provides swimming, fishing, picnicking, camping and restroom facilities... |
|
| Washington Washington, Connecticut Washington is a rural town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the New England region of the United States. The population was 3,596 at the 2000 census. Washington is known for its picturesque countryside, historic architecture, and active civic and cultural life... |
The station was in the Washington Depot village in the Shepaug River valley. | |
| Valley Station | Whistle stop Whistle Stop Whistle Stop is a 1946 movie starring George Raft and Ava Gardner. The film was shot in black and white and in the film noir style. The picture was directed by Léonide Moguy and based on a novel by Maritta M. Wolff... for Holiday House (1893-1918) |
|
| Judd's Bridge | ||
| Roxbury Roxbury, Connecticut Roxbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,136 at the 2000 census.-History:Roxbury, whose Indian name was "Shepaug", a Mahican name signifiying "rocky water", was settled about the year 1713... |
||
| Roxbury Falls | Home of the Silicon Mills (quartzite Quartzite Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink... powder factory) until it burned in 1908. |
|
| Shepaug | The small lean-to Lean-to A lean-to is a term used to describe a roof with a single slope. The term also applies to a variety of structures that are built using a lean-to roof.... building was more of a whistle stop Whistle Stop Whistle Stop is a 1946 movie starring George Raft and Ava Gardner. The film was shot in black and white and in the film noir style. The picture was directed by Léonide Moguy and based on a novel by Maritta M. Wolff... . |
|
| Hawleyville | Interchange with the 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... to Danbury, Bridgeport, and Pittsfield; D&N Danbury 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... to Bethel |
The Steep Rock Association land trust
In 1889 architect Ehrick RossiterEhrick Rossiter
Ehrick Kensett Rossiter was an American architect known for the country homes he designed. He was educated at Cornell University....
(1854-1941) who was an 1871 graduate of The Gunnery
The Gunnery
The Gunnery is a coeducational boarding and day Prep school for 295 students in grades nine through twelve. The campus borders the village green of Washington, Connecticut, U.S., a small, historic town in the Litchfield Hills. The Gunnery has no religious or military affiliations.The Gunnery was...
in Washington, Connecticut purchased 100 acre (0.404686 km²) along the Shepaug River to save it from logging. The area included several miles of SL&N tracks. In 1893 philanthropists Edward I. and Mary Lawrence McLane Van Ingen built Holiday House south of Washington Depot following plans drawn up by Rossiter. Holiday House served as a country hotel or retreat for young working women from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It was a non sectarian effort run by St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, New York (then on 42nd street). Although Holiday House stopped operating as a retreat by 1918 and was torn down shortly thereafter, vestiges of it including stone walkways and stone foundations for a pedestrian suspension bridge that allowed train passengers to disembark and make their way to the retreat still stand in the Steep Rock revervation.
In 1925 Rossiter donated his land to a group of trustees so that it could be preserved in its wooded state. In 1929 the Steep Rock Association trustees purchased the rounded oxbow
Oxbow
An oxbow is a U-shaped wooden or metal frame that fits under and around the neck of an ox or bullock, with its upper ends passing through the bar of the yoke and held in place with a metal key, called a bow pin. The wood most often used is hardwood steamed into shape, like elm or hickory and...
encircled hill known as the Clam Shell and added it to the preserve. The floods of 1955 removed the remnants of the SL&N bridge over the river near the Clam Shell. Over the years additional land in separate parcels was donated to the trust and it currently conserves more than . Several kilometers of former SL&N track right of way form hiking and bridle trails within the Steep Rock Association preserves today.