Steam passenger service on the Torrington Line. Railroad Museum of New England Engineer Bill Sample takes Lehigh Valley Coal Co. #126 north on the old New Haven Torrington Line, hauling three heavyweights and a sizeable crowd of passengers on the first of a series of special excursions back in June of 2013. The train is pictured here, running along the old Waterbury Road, a little over 2 miles south of the station in Thomaston, CT. The Railroad Museum of New England (RMNE), doing business as the Naugatuck Railroad, normally operates diesel excursions on a portion of the old Torrington Line between Thomaston and Waterbury. But every summer from 2011 through 2013, the museum hosted one of the Gramling Locomotive Works' traveling tank engines, providing the locals with an opportunity to ride behind a real steam engine...something that hadn't been seen in these parts in well over half a century.
I grew up in the 1960s and 70s in a small town a few miles outside Torrington, CT. As a kid, the only trains I ever got to see were the short, branch line freights operated by the New Haven Railroad, between Waterbury and Torrington, sometimes going further north to Winsted, if there were loads to deliver. All of those trains were diesel-powered, with the orange and black RS-3s providing the power. Once upon a time, this line was a vital transportation link, connecting Northwestern Connecticut to the rest of the world, not just carrying freight, but passengers as well. The last of the passenger trains was discontinued in 1958, but the local freights continued, with ever-decreasing frequency, until 1995....long after I'd left the area. Just one year later, the RMNE leased the line and began using it for excursions, mostly between Thomaston and Waterbury. Once in a great while, they visit Torrington with a special excursion, but it's a rare event. The tracks no longer go as far as Winsted. Those rails were lifted in the mid-60s, when I was a kid. Having missed the steam era, at least on the New Haven, I never thought I would ever see a steam engine operate on this line, so despite the fact that I now live several hours drive from this place, I made it a point to visit the RMNE and ride this train, each of the 4 years that steam polished the rails of the Torrington Line.
