Tuesday, September 30, 2008

First New Haven train over Thomaston Dam, 1960

From the archives comes this interesting photo of the first New Haven train across the new Thomaston Dam, a local freight headed for Torrington and Winsted. In the background, the temporary steel trestle over the "old" line is visible; this bridge was later removed. The train was headed by New Haven Railroad locomotives 561 and 533, both Alco RS-3 units like our NH 529. There were 28 cars headed north that day, including 2 refrigerator cars with perishables for Torrington-area grocery stores. Caboose C-673 brought up the rear of the train. The Thomaston Dam was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a flood control project, following floods that devestated the Naugatuck Valley in the mid-1950s. You can ride this line today as this is where the regular passenger trains of the Naugatuck Railroad turn to head back to Thomaston. PHOTO COURTESY OF U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS.