Canal Line Railroad in Connecticut / Massachusetts

Canal Line Railroad in Connecticut / Massachusetts - THE MAPS

The Canal Line Railroad in Connecticut in Connecticut / Massachusetts

by Craig S. O'Connell

THE MAPS

Maps 1 and 2

The map at left show where the Canal Line began in downtown New Haven and proceeded north alongside Dixwell Avenue where I grew up.. The map at right shows the line continuing north into Hamden. The rail line at right in this map is the current Amtrak Springfield line.

Maps 3 and 4

The map at left shows the Canal Line proceeding north into Hamden. At right map 4 shows the line continuing into Cheshire alongside route 10. Cr Railroad means Conrail.

Maps 5 and 6

Map 5, at left, shows the Canal Line continuing north from Cheshire into Southington. Map 6, at right, is also Southington. This is where part of the line still exists today, although it is abandoned. (July, 2004)

Maps 7 and 8

The maps above show where the Canal Line still exists today. I was recently told that some improvements were made to the line and that CSX has been using it.

The rails are only existant and in use to just north of the Route 72 highway link to 84 (shown bold and brown on map 7), in through Plainville. You can still see the rails as you pass over this bridge looking towards Robertson airport. They (unfortunately) took down the train bridge girders where the line crossed Northwest Drive on the Farmington/Plainville line on Friday, February 18, 2005, right next to the airport. The entire section from Rt. 72 north to Red Oak Hill road in Farmington (probably some 4 miles) seems will be permanently abandoned from any type of usage.

You can see where the bridge was here: http://terraserver.microsoft.com/addressimage.aspx?t=1&s=10&lon=-72.8638870878549&lat=41.6945761941371&alon=-72.86396600&alat=41.694661&w=3&opt=0&qs=johnson+avenue%7cplainville%7cct%7c&addr=Johnson+Ave%2c+Plainville%2c+CT+06062

Right next to the pushpin symbol, to the right, you can see the bridge. To the north is Route 6 and south is Rt. 72 and Plainville. The tracks run south parallel to the right of the runway. I use this terraserver often to explore where the tracks were, as the photos are from 1991.

There are no tracks left north of the 72 crossover. The rail trail starts north of Route 6 at Red Oak Hill Road, and heads north to Avon. I bike this often. I read the rail line was active as far as Avon until 1991.

Many thanks to Jason Davis

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The map at left show where the Canal Line began in downtown New Haven and proceeded north alongside Dixwell Avenue where I grew up.. The map at right shows the line continuing north into Hamden. The rail line at right in this map is the current Amtrak Springfield line.


The map at left shows the Canal Line proceeding north into Hamden. At right map 4 shows the line continuing into Cheshire alongside route 10. Cr Railroad means Conrail.


Map 5, at left, shows the Canal Line continuing north from Cheshire into Southington. Map 6, at right, is also Southington. This is where part of the line still exists today, although it is abandoned. (July, 2004)