Amtraking East in Search of Trolleys and Other Delightful Railroad Museum Pieces in Connecticut

A Rail Diesel Car wearing New Haven markings pauses at the station in Thomaston, Connecticut.

I recently traveled to New Haven, Connecticut, for the annual Cabin Fever outing hosted by the Shoreline Trolley Museum this year.

It’s a gathering of volunteers from many of the streetcar museums to swap lies and drink beer.

I traveled via Amtrak using the Capitol Limited, the Pennsylvanian and Northeast corridor Regionals.

Norfolk Southern offered us a two-hour delay in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, due to track work and deciding that five westbound freights were a higher priority.

That messed up my connection to a Regional train in Philadelphia. Then the Philly Fire Department provided an hour-plus delay.

My return via Washington worked out better. It was my first time on the Corridor and cruising between 115 and 125 mph was impressive.

The reduced consist of the westbound Capitol Limited felt like a milk run in comparison.

On Feb. 19, we had an RDC excursion on the Railway Museum of New England in Thomaston that included several photo stops and a tour of their shops.

Among the notable pieces in the collection are a Canadian Pacific sister to Jerry Jacobson’s No. 1293, a New Haven RS3, a Central Vermont wood caboose and a GE C40-B.

Other pieces include New Haven FL-9 and a U25B. Unfortunately, their yard is too crowded for good photos.

We spent Friday night and all day Saturday at the Shoreline Museum riding and operating cars from their fleet as well as exploring many barns full of quite interesting pieces from along the East coast and elsewhere.

All in all, I had a great time getting together with old friends and making new ones.

I recommend you plan a vacation to the Northeast. There’s a lot of railroading to experience up there.

Article and Photographs by Alex Bruchac

A mid-‘20s vintage car at the end of the line in front of the Frank Sprague visitor center.

A New England 1906 Railway Post Office car.

A turn of the century New York City Third Avenue Brill-built car.

This Connecticut Company emergency car (wrecker) was a ery noisy car to ride with all the tools hanging on the walls and crashing about.

A sad home town boy is RTA No. 27, a former Newark, New Jersey, and
Minneapolis PCC.

No. 745 was part of a seven car train trapped in the World Trade Center and only two to survive. The other is in a museum in Kingston, New York.

Tags: Alex Bruchac, Amtrak, Amtrak delays on Norfolk Southern, Connecticut, New England railroads, New Haven Railroad, Norfolk Southern, Rail Diesel Cars, Railway Museum of New England, Sh oreline Museum