The was a railroad that operated in the northeast
United States . Commonly referred to as the '''New Haven''', the railroad served the states of
Connecticut ,
New York ,
Rhode Island , and
Massachusetts . Its primary connections included
Boston and
New York .
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad was formed
24 July 1872 through the consolidation of the
New York And New Haven Railroad and
Hartford And New Haven Railroad . It owned a main line from
New York City to
Springfield, Massachusetts via
New Haven and
Hartford, Connecticut , and leased other lines, including the
Shore Line Railway to
New London . The New Haven went on to lease more lines and systems, eventually forming a virtual
Monopoly in
New England south of the
Boston And Albany Railroad .
The first line of the original system to open was the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, opened from
New Haven to
Hartford in
1839 and beyond to
Springfield in
1844 . The New York and New Haven came later, as it ran parallel to the
Long Island Sound coast and required many bridges over rivers. It opened in
1848 , using
Trackage Rights over the
New York And Harlem Railroad (later part of the
New York Central Railroad system) from
Williamsbridge south to
Grand Central Terminal , which served as the New Haven's
New York City terminal.
Around the turn of the century, New York investors, led by
J. P. Morgan gained control and in 1903, installed Charles S. Mellen as President. Morgan and Mellen sought a complete monopoly of transportation in New England, puchasing other railroad and steamship and trolley lines. More than 100 independent railroads eventually became part of the system before and during these years, reaching 2,131 miles at its 1929 peak. Substantial improvements to the system were made during the Mellen years, including electrification between New York and New Haven. But Morgan's expansion left the company overextended and financially weak. It never truly recovered.
Under the stress of the
Great Depression , in
1935 the New Haven slipped into bankruptcy, remaining in trusteeship until
1947 . Common stock was voided and creditors assumed control.
After 1951 both freight and passenger service lost money. New Haven's earlier expansion had left it with a network of light density branch lines that could not support their maintenance and operating costs. The New Haven's freight business was short-haul, requiring a lot of switching costs that could not be recovered in short-distance rates. The New Haven had major commuter train services in New York and Boston (as well as New Haven, Hartford and Providence), but these always lost money, unable to recover their investment providing service just twice a day during rush hour. The death of the New Haven may have been sealed by the building of the
Connecticut Turnpike and other interstates. With decades of inadequate investment, the New Haven could not compete against the automobile or the trucker.
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In 1954 the flashy Patrick B. McGinnis led a proxy fight against incumbent president Frederic C. "Buck" Dumaine Jr., vowing to return more of the company's profit to shareholders. McGinnis accomplished this by deferring maintenance. McGinnis also spent money on a flashy new image for the company - classy green and gold trim was replaced by loud black, red-orange and white. When he departed, 22 months later, he left the company financially wrecked, a situation exacerbated by widespread
Hurricane damage in
1955 . The New Haven once again went into bankruptcy on
July 2 ,
1961 .
At the insistence of the
ICC , the New Haven was merged with
Penn Central on
January 1 ,
1969 . Following the bankruptcy of Penn Central, in
1976 a substantial portion of the former New Haven main line between New York and Boston was transferred to
Amtrak , and now forms a major portion of the
Electrified Northeast Corridor , hosting high speed ''
Acela Express '' and
Commuter Rail service.
The
Harlem River And Port Chester Railroad was the New Haven's first lease after its merger. It was chartered in
1866 , leased by the New Haven on
October 1 ,
1873 , and opened later that year, running from the New Haven at
New Rochelle, New York south into
The Bronx ,
New York City . It was originally a branch line, but in
1916 the
New York Connecting Railroad and its
Hell Gate Bridge opened, turning the Harlem River Branch into a major through route.
The
New Haven, Middletown And Willimantic Railroad opened in
1873 as part of the
Boston, Hartford And Erie Railroad system, running from
New Haven northeast via
Middletown to the BH&E at
Willimantic . The BH&E went bankrupt that same year, becoming the
New York And New England Railroad , but the NHM&W stayed separate, failing in
1875 . It was reorganized as the
Boston And New York Air-Line Railroad , and operated by the New Haven from
1879 , being leased on
October 1 ,
1882 .
The New Haven obtained a majority of stock of the
Hartford And Connecticut Valley Railroad in
1882 , running from
Hartford south and southeast to the
Shore Line Railway in
Old Saybrook via
Middletown . That line had originally opened in
1871 as the
Connecticut Valley Railroad , and continued north to
Springfield, Massachusetts via the
Connecticut Central Railroad , later part of the
New York And New England Railroad system. In
1880 the company was succeeded by the Hartford and Connecticut Valley.
The
Stamford And New Canaan Railroad was a branch from the New Haven in
Stamford north to
New Canaan . It was chartered in
1866 as the
New Canaan Railroad , opened in
1868 , reorganized and renamed in
1883 , and leased by the New Haven on
October 1 ,
1884 .
The New Haven leased the
Naugatuck Railroad on
April 1 ,
1887 , obtaining a line from
Naugatuck Junction on the New York-New Haven line near
Stratford north via
Waterbury , reaching the
Central New England Railway at
Winsted . The line, organized in
1848 , had opened in
1849 .
The
New Haven And Northampton Railroad , built next to the former
Farmington Canal , ran from
New Haven north via
Meriden to
Northampton, Massachusetts and beyond to the
Fitchburg Railroad 's
Troy And Greenfield Railroad . The
New York And New Haven Railroad leased the first few sections soon after they opened, obtaining the line to
Plainville in
1848 and the extension to
Granby plus several branches in
1850 . In
1869 the leases expired, and the railroad was independent until
April 1 ,
1887 when the New Haven leased the whole line.
The
New York, Providence And Boston Railroad was a continuation of the
Shore Line Railway past
New London to
Providence, Rhode Island . The line was incorporated in
1832 and opened in
1837 . The New Haven leased it in
1892 , merging it into itself on
February 13 ,
1893 .
The
Housatonic Railroad , chartered
1836 and opened
1842 (with branches opening later), had a line from the New Haven in
Bridgeport north, passing east of
Danbury , to
West Stockbridge, Massachusetts (later the
Boston And Albany Railroad in
Pittsfield ). The Housatonic leased the
Danbury And Norwalk Railroad (opened
1852 ), running from Danbury (to which the Housatonic had a branch) south to
Norwalk on the New Haven, in
1887 , and it leased the
New Haven And Derby Railroad (opened
1871 -
1888 ), a branch to
New Haven , in
1889 . On
July 1 ,
1892 the New Haven leased the Housatonic, giving the New Haven all the north-south lines in western Connecticut.
The
Providence And Worcester Railroad was also leased on
July 1 ,
1892 , running from
Providence, Rhode Island northwest to
Worcester, Massachusetts . It was incorporated in
1844 and opened in
1847 .
The New Haven leased the massive
Old Colony Railroad system on
March 1 ,
1893 , spanning all of southeastern
Massachusetts and completing the route to
Boston via the Old Colony's
Boston And Providence Railroad . The original mainline opened in
1845 ; the Boston and Providence (leased
1888 ) opened in
1834 and
1835 .
The
New England Railroad was the final link in a long chain of reorganizations of a network usually known by its prior name, the
New York And New England Railroad . It stretched mainly east-west across central Connecticut, connecting to the
Hudson River on the west and to
Providence and
Boston on the east. The New Haven leased the company on
July 1 ,
1898 . The first sections opened in
1849 as parts of the
Norfolk County Railroad and
Hartford, Providence And Fishkill Railroad , and construction progressed very slowly.
The New Haven also leased the
Shepaug, Litchfield And Northern Railroad on
July 1 ,
1898 , running north from
Danbury, Connecticut to a dead end at
Litchfield . It was chartered in
1868 and opened in
1872 as the
Shepaug Valley Railroad , becoming the
Shepaug Railroad in
1873 and the SL&N in
1887 .
The
Middletown, Meriden And Waterbury Railroad was the final name of the line from
Waterbury, Connecticut east to
Cromwell , on the
Connecticut River north of
Middletown . The
New York And New England Railroad leased the line (then the
Meriden, Waterbury And Connecticut River Railroad ) in
1892 (connecting in Waterbury), but the MW&CR went bankrupt soon after, and was reorganized as the MM&W in
October 1898 and immediately leased to the New Haven on
November 1 ,
1898 . This line was the first in the area to be abandoned, only running
Interurban Streetcar service in its final days. The MW&C had been formed in
1888 as a consolidation of the
Meriden And Cromwell Railroad (opened
1885 ) and
Meriden And Waterbury Railroad (opened
1888 ).
The
Central New England Railway was the New Haven's final acquisition in
1904 . It included the
Poughkeepsie Bridge , the southernmost fixed crossing of the
Hudson River from
1888 to
1916 (when the
Hell Gate Bridge opened), with its main line stretching east to
Hartford and
Springfield . The first section opened in
1871 as the
Connecticut Western Railroad , going through several reorganizations before its final state.
The
New York Connecting Railroad was incorporated in
1892 , opening in
1916 as a connection between the New Haven's
Harlem River And Port Chester Railroad and the
Pennsylvania Railroad 's
Pennsylvania Tunnel And Terminal Railroad to
Penn Station and the tunnels under the
Hudson River . It was owned half-and-half by the New Haven and Pennsylvania.
- Passenger service ran between New York (Grand Central Terminal) and Boston (South Station) approximately every hour.
- Four passenger trains a day, and an overnight train ("The Federal") ran between Washington DC and New York (Penn Station) via the Pennsylvania Railroad and then through to Boston
- Passenger Service between New York (Grand Central Terminal) and Hartford and Springfield was approximately hourly.
- Commuter service from New York ran to New Rochelle, Stamford, New Cannan, Danbury (and on to Pittsfield), Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury (and on to Hartford). Commuter service from Boston went to destinations on the Old Colony system of Greenbrush, Plymouth, Brockton/Campello, Middleboro, Hyannis/Woods Hole on Cape Cod, Fall River, Newport, New Bedford and Providence, Woonsocket, Needham Heights, West Medway and Dedham.
- Major freight yards were at South Boston, Taunton, Fall River, New Bedford, Providence, Worcester, Springfield, Hartford, Waterbury, New Haven (the major Cedar Hill hump classification yard), Maybrook (another hump yard and interchange point for western connections), New York Harlem River and New York Bay Ridge (where interchange was made with the Pennsylvania and other railroads in New Jersey, via barge).
- Multiple through freight trains traveled at night between New York or Maybrook and Cedar Hill yard and on to Boston. Other through freights served the yards above as well as intermediate points and also State Line (New York Central interchange), Brockton, Framingham and Lowell (Boston and Maine interchange for traffic for Taunton, New Bedford and Fall River).
