Andover is one of the most accesible parts of the Hop River State Park Trail, with decent parking, a roadbed close to US 6, and a museum and the Agent Orange memorial close by. Highlights include a beautiful large stone culvert over Staddle Brook, a modern bridge over Rte 316 built using at least the east side abutment, remains of a station platform, a modern tunnel, and a Christmas tree farm. Andover seems excited about its stop on the East Coast Greenway, and has installed hardware to help people work on bicycles and charge their phones with solar power at the old depot site.
As always, the photos run in order from east to west, ie from Providence to the Hudson
Click on the thumbnail for the full resolution image
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Looking east towards Willimantic and Providence at the modern tunnel under US-6 (1/2023.) |
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The bridge over Skoog Brook. It is a familiar design that we have seen all over the HP&F/NY&NE (1/2023.) |
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The
crossing at Lake Road, looking east towards Willimantic and Providence.
In the far distance the tunnel under Route 6 can be seen and closer to
the crossing we see the Skoog Brook Bridge (1/2023.) |
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Looking west at the bridge over Merritt Valley Rd. Note the old sign and the Christmas tree farm (1/2023.) |
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Looking east towards Willimantic and Providence at the bridge over Merritt Valley Rd (1/2023.) |
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A telegraph pole on the right of way between Connecticut Rte. 316 and Merritt Valley Road (1/2023.) |
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Looking west at the new bridge over CT Route 316 just east of the Andover Station Site (1/2023.) |
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Looking north on Rte 316 at the modern pedestrian bridge spanning CT Rte 316. It uses the original east abutment (12/2023.) |
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Detail of the eastern railroad abutment still in use with the modern footbridge (1/2024.) |
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Looking south at the modern railtrail bridge over Rte 316 (1/2024.) |
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Looking south at the modern railtrail bridge over Rte 316 (1/2024.) |
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Looking north off the Andover bridge at US 6 and the Agent Orange Memorial. CT 316 is in the foreground (1/2024.) |
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Looking east towards Willimantic and Providence from the west side of the Andover Bridge (1/2024.) |
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On top of the culvert over Staddle Brook, looking north (1/2024.) |
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Looking north at the south portal of the Staddle Brook culvert (1/2024.) |
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Looking west towards the site of the Andover Depot (1/2024.) |
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Approaching the depot site,
looking west. Note the platform edge in the woods at left. There's a
sign with an historic photo up ahead that points this artifact out
(1/2024.) |
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Andover Yard in the snow, looking west towards Bolton and Hartford (1/2024.) |
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The western edge of the platform, shown on the historical marker in the image below (1/2024.) |
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The historical marker showing the depot and pointing out the remaining platform (1/2024.) |
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Looking back east towards Willimantic and Providence from the depot site (1/2024.) |
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Looking west towards Bolton and Hartford. The right of way is on a viaduct above US-6 for some ways (12/2023.) |
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Looking west on a snowy day (1/2024.) |
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Looking east as you enter town
on US-6 from the west. The HP&F ran on the raised concrete
structure at right, and at the near end of it curves away from the road
and into the woods (1/2024.) |
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(c) 2016-2024 Timothy M Dowd. Last Modified @ 22:39 EST on 2024-02-29
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