(rshsdepot) Merdien, Waterbury, & CT River RR

["Paul Luchter" <luckyshow_@_mindspring.com>]

The August 26 Merdien Record-Journal ran a story on an old bridge over Gracy avenue in Meriden. This was part of the old "Merdien, Waterbury, & CT River RR, which is currently owned by the York Hill quarry on the east side of Meriden. I guess the quarry had purchased the right of way when the line was abandoned, in case they ever wanted to use rail service again. 

Local residents want the bridge taken down, but the owner stated that with the rising cost of fuel in shipping traprock by truck, they are looking into the possibility of shipping by rail again. This would of course require a lot of logging and tie replacement, and building a bridge over North Colony street that was taken down about a year ago. If this all happend the quarry would be a new customer stop for Connecticut Southern RR, with the lead to that line being right near Quarry interlocking on Amtrak. 

A different bridge than just mentioned, and crosses over the Amtrak mains, can be seen just to the north from the Amtrak crossing at North Colony street. The lead up to this "York Hill" line would be up near Quarry interlocking on the west side of the tracks, and would go south and then west through the woods to clear a switch on the west side of the bridge. 

The bridge mentioned in the newspaper article is to the west of the bridge over the Amtrak main, and this lead would give them about 40-50 cars worth of headroom past the switch to get in and out of there. 

A little premature, but I wonder if the quarry would use their own switcher to drop cars near Amtrak, or CSO-2 would have to go all the way to the east side of Meriden to the quarry. 

The rails are still visible but are now choked by some 35 years of forest growth. Last railcars at the quarry in the were in the 1960s. 

Still, it's interesting to learn that the quarry was far-sighted enough to buy the roughly 3.5 miles of right-of-way to the Amtrak main line and is fighting to keep it. Maybe the tide is slowing turning? 
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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1619
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org