Tires at Thomaston Station - Photo by Hartley
THOMASTON, CT – March 13, 2016 – Volunteers from the Railroad Museum Of New England (RMNE), the Naugatuck River Revival Group (NRRG), O&G Industries, and the Boy Scouts completely exceeded all expectations on Saturday by removing enough tires to fill two 30 yard dumpsters from an area less than 3 […]

More Than 420 Tires Removed From Naugatuck Valley

2016 NR River Clean Up Logo V2
THOMASTON, CT – March 2, 2016 – A Naugatuck Valley project, “The Great Naugatuck River & Naugatuck Railroad Clean Up,” sponsored by the Connecticut Community Foundation (CCF) is planned by the Railroad Museum of New England (RMNE) and the Naugatuck River Revival Group (NRRG) for Saturday, April 2, from 8:00 […]

The Great Naugatuck River & Naugatuck Railroad Clean Up

Thomaston-June-7-1929-looking-south
The view looking south at Thomaston on June 29, 1929. Notice the fuel oil dealer at far right, whose tanks are still located here today.   The view looking north at Thomaston,  June 29, 1929. Notice the brick enclosed water tank and the freight house on the right.   Looking […]

A look back at Thomaston Station

NH_W221
Originally built by Bethlehem Steel in 1929 as NYNH&H 2789, one of ten 60-foot long Baggage-Railway Post Office cars in series 2780-89. It contained a 30-foot mail sorting and handling section, and a 30-foot baggage section, for use on secondary trains. Regular assignments for these cars were Waterbury-Boston, New York-Pittsfield, […]

New Haven W-221 Shop Car

DSC00147
New Haven 0401 at Chase Yard, 2009. Photo by Matt Lawson New Haven 0401 is an FA-1 1500 HP road freight Diesel locomotive, built by Alco, May 1947 (#75276). Part of the first three-unit set of road freight Diesels purchased by the New Haven (class DER-2a), this locomotive was the […]

New Haven 0401

NH_529
New Haven 529 is an RS-3 1600 HP Diesel road switcher, built by Alco, August 1950 (#78176). The first former New Haven locomotive ever to be preserved, the 529 (class DERS-2c) was a member of a large fleet of RS-3s purchased by the New Haven to retire their final steam […]

New Haven 529

NaugRR_1884
This 1884 timetable documents Naugatuck Railroad service between Bridgeport and Winsted, about twenty years before control was assumed by the New Haven. Notice that both freight and passenger trains are shown in the schedule, as well as the “Watertown Division,” showing service between Watertown and Waterbury. Today’s Naugatuck Railroad operates […]

Naugatuck Raiload 1884

1949-at-Highland-Jct-RS-2-0504-pass-train
Northbound just north of Highland Jct, Waterbury, shot from the Thomaston Avenue overpass.  Two year old 0504 pulling the through train from New York to Winsted (after dropping some coaches at Waterbury).  Note the new “stainless steel” 8600 coach; unusual first-line mainline equipment for this little branch train.  Photo by […]

Train time along the Naugatuck Railroad… 1940s-1960s

BM1109-1
  It’s a quiet Saturday in Binghamton, NY; a local railfan is roaming the Delaware & Hudson yards with his camera, and is intrigued by three new diesel locomotives among all the D&H steam power.  Five days ago, on Monday November 13, 1939, Electro-Motive Corporation released these 600-horsepower switchers from […]

Here comes the Revolution…

BM_MilkCar
These two cars were the last milk cars built for service in the United States, constructed in 1957-1958 for the Boston & Maine railroad. 1910 was equipped with mechanical refrigeration, for transporting processed milk in one-gallon glass bottles from Bellows Falls Creamery in Vermont to Boston (the Creamery owned the […]

Boston & Maine Milk Cars 1910 and 1920

NH Timetable (March 1935) 2
While timetables are fairly common artifacts in railway preservation, due in part to the high number produced, this one caught the eye of the museum’s curatorial staff. Dated March 3, 1935, the cover is strongly influenced by the era’s visual style known as a Art Deco. Simply put, we think […]

Art Deco Railroad Timetable

20140727-trahan_c0351 1
Story and photos by Tyler Trahan, RMNE volunteer All photos were taken while off duty. What kid hasn’t dreamed about working aboard a steam locomotive? I expect most envision being the engineer, one gloved hand on the Johnson Bar and the other on the whistle cord as the fiery beast […]

Coal River: Firing a Steam Locomotive in the Rain

Laconia-Postcard1
Happy spring! RMNE forces have been hard at work over the past few months to stabilize one of our most significant and oldest pieces, Maine Central Railway Post Office 411, built by the Laconia Car Works of New Hampshire. Constructed in 1914, it will be celebrating its hundredth birthday next […]

Laconia Car Works