Today's Train of Thought- The Strates Story, September 7, 2011

Today's train of thought takes us to Connecticut for a yearly- yet seemingly timeless- ritual in the western corner of the Nutmeg state.

Since the Great Depression, the Orlando, FL based James E Strates carnival train has been travelling up and down the east coast. The train typically consists of 50 flatcars, 10 sleeping cars and a generator car.

One fairly recent stop that the current 61-car train added to its East Coast tour in the last decade is the Danbury City Fair. And for the Strates carnival train, the way in and out of Danbury is the Housatonic Railroad's line between Danbury, CT and Pittsfield, MA. Acquiring the line incrementally throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the Housatonic earns its keep by hauling paper products, limestone, plastics, liquefied natural gas, lumber and construction debris on a near daily basis- not bad for a line that both Guilford and Conrail seemed more than willing to leave for dead.

However, in addition to the near-daily freight on the Canaan running track Interchanging with the CSX in Pittsfield, MA and Providence & Worcester in Danbury, each summer brings the sight of the unique and colorful Strates Carnival Train through the rolling hills of Western Massachusetts and Northwestern Connecticut.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Dave Jacobs caught Housatonic GP35M #3603 leading a trio of EMDs south with the distinctive Strates trainset at River Rd in Cornwall, CT in June 2007 as the line parallels its namesake river.

Today's Train of Thought- Berkshire Revival; October 11, 2010

Perhaps no railroad in New England could better personify the revival of rail freight in Western New England than the Housatonic Railroad. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, I had relatives who lived in towns along the weed-choked and forlorn Canaan running track between Canaan, CT and Pittsfield, MA which the Boston and Maine received during the formation of Conrail in 1976. A decade of neglect under B&M successor Guilford Transportation didn't help matters much: the outlook for the former New Haven Railway line was bleak and it looked as though western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut would get yet another sorely needed bike trail.

To the south, the most recent incarnation of the Houstaonic Railway started up service in 1983 between New Milford and Canaan, CT. It was expected that the Housatonic would do reasonably well hauling excursion trains on the weekend, but these plans were undone by the line's 10 MPH speed limit. However, there were a number of freight customers available that allowed the railway to continue operating.

In 1991, the Housatonic took over operations on the 35-mile former B&M/Guilford section of the Canaan running track between Canaan, CT and Pittsfield, MA. In that time, the line has gone from once-a-week service to weekday freight trains to and from the CSX interchange in Pittsfield as well as excursion trains in Berkshire County and the occasional circus train. Freight traffic includes lumber, plastics, limestone, paper products, construction debris and contaminated soil. The railway has even begun doing feasibility studies for restoring regular passenger service along the route.

Most of these duties are handled by the Housatonic's fleet of dapper green and yellow rebuilt GP35s. Here, railpictures,net contributor John Ryan snaps Housatonic GP35M #3600, heading southbound from the CSX interchange at Pittsfield, MA with symbol freight NX-13 at the village of Housatonic, MA on a sunny November 2007 afternoon. The line between Canaan, CT and Pittsfield, MA follows its namesake river pretty closely.