Trains once traveled here – Part II

#Middlebury #Trains

The second of two arches that once supported a wooden railroad trestle stretches across Straits Turnpike shortly before it was demolished in 1940. This picture was taken by Ernest William Benson, husband of Helen Benson, who compiled the “Benson Scrapbooks” now owned by the Middlebury Historical Society. (Middlebury Historical Society photo)

By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD

In 1863, the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad purchased the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad, establishing for the first time a through line from Boston to Fishkill, New York. The Hartford Courant reported, “When this important enterprise is completed, merchandise can be loaded in Boston, and landed at St. Louis without change of cars.” Litchfield business leaders made a vigorous effort to have the railroad line routed through Litchfield, Warren and Kent rather than Waterbury, but it failed by early 1868, and the railroad was planned to pass from Hartford to Newtown, Danbury and Fishkill, New York.

Before the train from Waterbury could reach Middlebury, it had to “fly” over Straits Turnpike, the main road from New Haven to Litchfield since the early 1700s. Leaving the Union City (or “Hop Brook”) station in Waterbury, it crossed over the trestle atop the Hop Brook arch, shown in the September 2019 article. After crossing Hop Brook, the train crossed over an arch to the west that spanned Straits Turnpike, which was called North Church Street and Route 63 in Naugatuck.

The horseshoe arch, sometimes called the “New England Arch,” spanned Straits Turnpike for almost 70 years, but by 1937, when trains were discontinued along this line, it had become a significant traffic hazard. It was “25 feet tall but, only 16.5 feet wide …” (TylerCityStation.info), and it had only one lane and a sharp curve at the southern end. As the area began to modernize, the viaduct succumbed to demolition, and was gone by the end of 1940.

After crossing Straits Turnpike via the archway and trestle atop it, the train would proceed along the current-day Larkin Bridle Trail to a stop on Allerton Farms Road called the Osbornetown or Osborntown Station (there were many Osborns in Middlebury from early days). The station was later called the Allerton Farms Station (probably named for Charles Goodyear Allerton (1862-1911) and his wife Mary Alida (Leggett) Allerton (1852-1916), who operated a farm there in Middlebury. Charles also had served in the Connecticut Legislature.

Noyes Bradley of Middlebury died in 1850 at the age of 56. To support her six children, his widow, Sarah (Twitchell) Bradley, slowly sold away land. In 1868, she sold a lot to the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad. When the railroad through Middlebury became a reality in 1881, this lot, located where the current Larkin Bridle Trail crosses South Street, became the location of Middlebury’s only railroad station, appropriately named “Bradley’s Station.” Middleburians are familiar with Bradleyville, that section of our town where the Bradley Knife Factory once flourished and where Hop Brook Lake and dam are now, but the two locations are not near each other.

Most Middleburians used the train station at Union City or Allerton Farms, but Bradley’s Station afforded others the luxury of boarding at the end of South Street. It began as a “flag station” at first, meaning the train did not normally stop there and prospective passengers would have to “flag down” the train to stop. By 1883, an application was made to discontinue the stop, but it was rejected in 1884 because Middlebury’s board of selectmen and many Middleburians opposed its closing.

Railroad commissioners instead suggested “additional facilities, both as respects stopping of trains and accommodations for passengers, should be given at said station.” A small waiting building station was erected at Bradley’s Station. The next stop on the line was the Towantic Station, in Oxford, where Riggs Street, Towantic Hill Road and Prokop Road meet near Jack’s Brook.

On March 12, 1899, a horrific head-on collision occurred just west of Bradley’s Station, killing the engineer and fireman and injuring many others. Bradley’s Station was closed in 1899.

Bob Rafford is the Middlebury Historical Society president and Middlebury’s municipal historian. To join or contact the society, visit MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or call Bob at 203-206-4717.