The section of the Hartford, Providence, & Fishkill/ New York & New England right of way between Hartford and New Britain was pressed into service as the CTfastrak Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line in 2015. At present, this is one of only two places on the entire line (the other being a small portion of the Northeast Corridor) where one can actually ride mass transit on the line, albeit on a bus.
The busway has been controversial among railfans for the loss of railroad miles and among taxpayers for its cost. Personally, I think this op-ed by a UCONN student, Thess Johnson, gets it right. The busway exists, and for whatever trouble went on in building it, it works pretty well. My wife and I recently decided it would be fun to eat at a number of places in Downtown Hartford on a weekend afternoon, and parking in the suburbs and taking the bus in made it very hassle free. I'd rather have a train, but I like having good public transit.
All of the station sites listed on the map above were sited with information from the Tyler City Station site. Newington Junction's Wikipedia page is also worth a read to discvover it's history. I think this is one of the most special places on the HP&F in Connecticut. The New York & New England station from 1891 has been integrated into the CT Fastrak Newington Junction stop. The former NYNH&H freight building, across the 4 trackways, is in good shape and painted similarly. Together these buildings have the site on the National Register of Historic Places. It's also free parking, so a great place to ride the bus into Hartford. In general I find the place neat: I have a soft spot for architectural dissonace and I love seeing this historic building with the hyper-modern platforms. In addition, my father, Bernard Dowd, took some photos of Penn Central trains here in the 1970s and I really enjoy them.
Like all of the dedicated busway between Parkville and Newington Junction, the HP&F formerly ran next to the New Haven Line (today's Amtrak Hartford Line.) This resulted in a 4 track main. The divergence point is south of this station, so this is the last one on this site where the two are running parallel. The HP&F were the north/western tracks and the Hartford Line the south/eastern tracks. Today this means the busway is parallel to the Amtrak line, always to the north and west of it.
Click on the thumbnail for the full resolution image
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Elmwood |
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A section of the New Haven Railroad's timetables in Form 200 from April, 1937.
Newington saw somewhat asymetrical service at this time, seeming to be
typically skipped by trains running through from today's MTA Waterbury
Branch onto the Highland Division to access Hartford, but trains
leaving Hartford for Bridgeport often stopped there. There's also
clearly Highland Division local service at this time. |
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A mid-20th century conductor's cash form 3 ticket, sold between New
Britain and Hartford and thus an artifact linked to this branch. It is
undated, but does not list Crescent Beach, Sound View, or South Lyme
as local stops along the Shore Line, so based on their dates of
abandonment on the Tyler City Station site, this suggests this ticket
is from the 1930s or later. |
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A paper Connecticut Transit all
day bus fare as it appeared in 2023. The QR code has been removed. I
bought this for service between Newington Junction and Hartford (and
ultimately used it at Flatbush Ave and Kane St, too.) |
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A pair of adult tickets,
defaced, bought for use on the CTFastrak busway in April, 2024. This
set and the pair below were purchased as we used the busway and its
nature trail between New Britain and Newington to walk one way an ride
the other way (4/2024.) |
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A pair of child tickets, defaced, bought for use on the CTFastrak busway in April, 2024. This set and the pair above were purchased as we used the busway and its nature trail between New Britain and Newington to walk one way an ride the other way (4/2024.) |
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Looking North towards Elmwood (12/2023.) |
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The 1891 NY&NE station at the CT Fastrak Newington Station (10/2023.) |
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The side of the 1891 NY&NE depot at Newington Junction (12/2023.) |
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Newington Junction shot from the bus on a rainy day in late October, 2023. |
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The platforms at Newington Junction Station (12/2023.) |
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A view across the 4 trackways at
Newington. The 1891 NY&NE depot is on the busway side, which is the
HP&F right of way. The extant Amtrak (New Haven) tracks are visible
too, and the freight station can be seen. Today it is a garden center.
This is looking to the east, the Willard Ave overpass can be seen down
the right of way to the south (12/2023.) |
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A view of the extant Amtrak
Hartford Line and New Haven Freight Stations at Newington, looking south
towards Willard Ave. This was shot from the northbound busway platform,
and shows the separation between the two rights of way (12/2023.) |
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A
CTFastrak Bus approaching Newington Junction from New Britain. The
Willard Ave overpass is in the distance, and this photo is looking
south. (12/2023.) |
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Approaching the Newington Jct Station from New Britain on a rainy fall day (10/2023.) |
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The northern end of the hiking
trail, facing north towards the Willard Ave overpass. With the existing
Amtrak line entering the right of way, there's not enough room for the
trail. Walkers are led around the sound barrier, onto Chapman Street,
where they can walk the rest of the way to the intersection of W Hill
Rd and Willard Ave, where they can cross to the Newington Junction
Station (4/2024.) |
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A photo of Penn Central U30-C 6535 (built 1/1967 for the Pennsylvania Railroad) taken by my father, Bernard Dowd, around 1976.
In his words: "Location is Newington, CT, on the Springfield line,
right at the Willard Ave. overpass, c1976. The train was southbound
toward Cedar Hill Yard. Tracks in the foreground are the old New
Britain branch/NY&NE main line." |
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A photo of Penn Central RS-11 7661 (built 5/1956 for the New Haven Railroad)
in the 1970s taken by my father, Bernard Dowd. In his words: "Former
New Haven RS-11 #1401 in Newington CT on the New Britain branch,
1970's. This is right at Newington Junction. The switch under the loco
leads to the Springfield line. Before and after the NH/PC merger, this
was a busy place for freight traffic with a Sears Roebuck regional
warehouse, a large Hood Foods processing plant and other rail customers
along the New Britain branch toward Cedar Street. All gone now." |
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A photo taken by my father,
Bernard Dowd, of Penn Central trains at Newington in the 1970s. Here is
his description of this photo: "Two ex-NH Alcos together at Newington
Junction (CT), 1970's. Former NH RS3 #537 had died while working the
New Britain branch local freight and former NH RS11 #1401 had come down
from Hartford to rescue it. I believe the broken "Newington" sign dated
back to NH days too but had been repainted by PC. The tracks in the
foreground are the Springfield line and the Alcos are on the branch.
The line to New Britain had been part of the old NY&NE mainline to
Waterbury and Danbury. It's gone now though, paved over to become a
commuter busway." |
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An alternate view of the train
above. Here's the description from my father, Bernard Dowd: "Former NH
RS-3 #537 (PC #5478) looks like it's hard at work here but it's
actually broken down. Former NH RS-11 #1401 (PC #7661) is hauling the
RS-3 and its New Britain local north, 1970's. The RS-11 had come down
from Hartford for the rescue. The train is on former New York & New
England trackage in Newington; the overpass just ahead [to the north] is Willard Ave.
The RS-3 was repaired and soon back in use." |
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A view of an RDC at Newington in
the 1970s taken by my father, Bernard Dowd. In his words: "RDC
northbound on the Springfield line just north of Newington Junction,
CT, 1970's. Penn Central had painted these NYC-style safety stripes on
former NH RDCs but Amtrak soon repainted them red, white and blue. The
tracks at right are part of the old New Britain branch/NY&NE
mainline." |
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The inside of a CT Fastrak bus. The adjacent Hartford Line is visible outside the window (10/2023.) |
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A bus heads north on the CTfastrak towards the Willard Ave overpass and Newington Jct Station (4/2024.) |
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Clayton |
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