Mile 81: South Manchester Branch, Connecticut
4 USGS 15 minute quadrangles from the 1890s combined to show the rails east of Hartford
This branch was built by the Cheney family and ran between South Manchester (where their mill was located) and the Manchester Depot on the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill. The Town of Manchester has done a lot of work to make it into a rail trail. They call it the Cheney Rail Trail, but its original name was the South Manchester Railway. The northern section (from the depot to shortly before Center Street) has been open for years, but it was only around 2020 that the Center Street trestle was rehabbed and the line opened all the way to the mills. I don't have an exact date for this, but according to Christine Ladd's manchesterct blog entry it was before March 2020, and there are photos with time stamps of completed work from November, 2019.

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Just south of the junction with the mainline, remains of other tracks are visible
 Just south of the junction with the mainline, remains of other tracks are visible. November, 2017.
Approaching Hilliard St from the north in Sepember, 2016
 Approaching Hilliard St from the north in Sepember, 2016
The whistle sign north of Hilliard Street
 The whistle sign north of Hilliard Street in November, 2017.
Along the Cheney Rail Trail in November, 2017
 Along the Cheney Rail Trail in November, 2017
Signage along the Cheney Rail Trail in September, 2016
 Signage along the Cheney Rail Trail in September, 2016
The author at the Middle Turnpike Crossing
 The author at the Middle Turnpike Crossing in September, 2016. This is just east of the former Vic's Pizza.
South of Middle Turnpike in September, 2016
 South of Middle Turnpike in September, 2016
Approaching Center Springs Park in 2016
 Approaching Center Springs Park in September, 2016
The bridge over Center Springs Park in November, 2017
 The bridge over Center Springs Park in November, 2017
A view of Center Springs Park from the Cheney Rail Trail Bridge
 A view of Center Springs Park from the Cheney Rail Trail Bridge in September, 2016.
South of Center Springs Park in November, 2017
 South of Center Springs Park in November, 2017
The original end of the Cheney Rail Trail, north of the Center Street Bridge
 The original end of the Cheney Rail Trail, north of the Center Street Bridge in November, 2017. The trail now crosses Center Street and continues to the Cheney Mill complex.
Looking north along the South Manchester Railroad from the Cheney Mill
 Looking north along the South Manchester Railroad from the Cheney Mill (12/2023.)
Looking North at the Cheney Mill railcar storage building
 Looking north along the South Manchester RR/Cheney Rail Trail. According to Christine Ladd's blog entry, this was a railcar storage building (12/2023.)
Looking south from the South Manchester Railroad into the Cheney Mill complex.
 Looking south from the South Manchester Railroad into the Cheney Mill complex. According to Christine Ladd's blogpost, the building at right was a silk storage building (12/2023.)

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(c) 2016-2023 Timothy M Dowd. Last Modified @ 21:51 EST on 2023-12-11
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