Willimantic's First Railroad Depot
Note that this first depot sits between
sets of tracks. Several people were badly hurt
over the years and one passenger from Coventry
was killed after being caught between trains.
This led to the new ststion being built. The RR
roundhouse can also be seen in this sketch.
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Willimantic's First RR Depot
Willimantic’s first railroad station. It was
built around 1850 and was used by at least two
of the railroads serving the city at various
times. However, because it was located between
several sets of tracks, it posed a danger to
passengers who had to cross the tracks to get to
the depot. It was replaced by a new station in
1885.
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 Union
Railroad DepotWillimantic's
Union Railroad Depot, pictured here in 1898, was
built in 1882. It replaced the original 1849
station built by the New London and Northern
Railroad. Note the water container, the New
England RR car, the gas light and the Hooker
Hotel cab waiting to take passengers to
Willimantic's finest hostelry. The Union Station
was demolished in 1955
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 Union Station, Willimantic,
pictured in 1910. Willimantic
was also widely known as the
central rail hub of New England.
All trains passed through here!
During the 1890s, Willimantic
became the only stop on the
famed New England Air Line
express between New York City
and Boston -- a journey
undertaken in just over four
hours. Rudyard Kipling mentioned
Willimantic in a poem. He often
passed through the city en route
from New York to Boston. This
poem has been set to music by
former CT State Troubador,
Sally Rogers on her CD, "Songs
of the Heritage Corridor." |
 Willimantic Railroad DepotThe
Willimantic Railroad Depot
building was also known as the
Union station. It appears here
in H. W. Rich's 1894 photograph.
It was demolished shortly after
the flood of 1955.
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 Willimantic Depot 1929This
beautiful photo of the
Willimantic Station is from the
TylerCityStation collection. The
building with carts in front of
it has a sign that says,
"Baggage". Much more RR history
can be found at
www.tylercitystation.info . (
Photo used with permission of
TylerCityStation Collection).
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Willimantic DepotThis
depot was actually the second
depot built at Willimantic. The
first was between the tracks and
became quite unsafe.
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Photo courtesy of Jamie Eves
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1955
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Courtesy of Mickey Seretney
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1909 |
1910 |
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NY NH & H RR Train #45
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NY&NE #122
September, 1894
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CVRR Yard - Willimantic
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Railway Express Station
CVRR
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Footbridge |
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Bridge Street crossing |
 Bridge
Street CrossingThis
photo was taken in 1955 by
photographer Charles Palmer,
whose parents are in the shot,
wearing coats. They are on the
concrete island that "replaced"
the station. The gallows signal
is visible. Much more RR history
can be found at
www.tylercitystation.info .
(Charles Palmer photo, Bob LaMay
Collection - Photo used with
permission of TylerCityStation
Collection).
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Photos courtesy of
Joe DeFranco |
Photos courtesy of
Joe DeFranco |
Photos courtesy of
Joe DeFranco
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Photos courtesy of
Joe DeFranco
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NY&NE RR Engine 58
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Hartford bound New Haven P.S.&R train roars
through Andover. Andover Library is in
background.
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Bolton Notch |
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Railroad Stations |
North Windham
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North Windham
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Bolton |
Amston
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Camp Meeting Station
Camp Meeting Station was a stop for
both trolleys and trains.
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Camp Meeting Station
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Lebanon
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South Windham
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Lebanon
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Chestnut Hill
name was changed from
"Liberty Hill" in 1884
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Chestnut Hill
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Scotland
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Hop River
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Locomotives "Thames" and "montville met head-on
in South Windham in 1891. Disregard of train
orders and schedule was the cause.
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On April 1, 1976, after almost 90 years of
leasing its trackage to other railroads, the
Providence and Worcester Railroad resumed its
own freight operations in Willimantic and the
eastern Connecticut region. That day was
celebrated with a ribbon-cutting, a champagne
christening, and (for some) an open-air
locomotive ride through town. Today the P&W
operates as part of the Genesee & Wyoming short
line holding company which has headquarters in
Darien CT. Engine #2004 is a model
M-420R(W) built by
the Montreal Locomotive Works and continues to
operate today for the short line Thunder Rail in
Saskatchewan with its original roster number and
paint scheme (except for the railroad’s name).
Photos and caption
courtesy of Joe DeFranco
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