A Visit to the Danbury Railway Museum

And here is a short video of a Metro North train to South Norwalk which did a crew change on the track which runs past the museum while I was visiting... forgive the quality, I am really a newb at taking videos on my iPhone!!!

Paul,

   Thanks for posting the pictures. I haven't been there for several years, but enjoyed it. 

Tom 

Apples55 posted:

Over the last few weeks while I’ve been helping my brother recuperating from knee replacement surgery, we have strayed one toke over the state line into Connecticut a couple of times and I saw an exit for the Danbury Railway Museum… so yesterday, a gorgeous fall day, I decided to check it out.

The Museum is in the nicely restored 1903 New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Union Station. The current Metro North Danbury Station is “just around the bend”. It has some working layouts and an interesting collection of railroadiana in the Station, and a nice collection of engines and cars in the yard adjacent to the museum. As with Steamtown, the outdoor collection is in kind of rough shape. Here are some pics…

Two FL-9’s: #2006 was one of 60 such units ordered by Patrick McGinnis in 1955 (originally NH#2026), and #2013 (originally NH#2040) painted in New York Central "Lightning Stripes" by Metro-North Commuter Railroad to celebrate the 150th anniversary of rail service on the New York Central Hudson Division.

 

 

 

Admission was only $7.00 - I’d definitely recommend a visit if you are in the area (it is about 5 minuets off Exit 5 of I-84 in Connecticut).

I used to run this RS1's brother #670 hauling freight about 10 years ago.     It was a workhorse!

They certainly have a great collection, Paul!  I’ve never been to Connecticut.  There is a great reason to go!

Mark Boyce posted:

They certainly have a great collection, Paul!  I’ve never been to Connecticut.  There is a great reason, to go!

That’s just one of three in the state

That’s a lot for such a small state

Paul,

Thanks for the post about this museum. (I got here from your "Buy Today" post.) I've been to the Essex, CT Valley museum and heard about a CT trolley museum, but this was off my radar completely.  

The NYNH&H used to come up to a town near me in MA and I've always been fond of their various liveries.  If I had the room, I would add some power/cars to my layout. Having an RS-1 (my favorite diesel) puts it over the top, and that PRR Post Office car is great as well.

Very nice video, too.  It looked like a gorgeous day.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Tomlinson Run Railroad

Forgot about the Trolley Museum, make that four.  Last one being RR museum of New England

All,

Lucky we are here in Connecticut, for many reasons beyond railroads, including fall foliage, plenty of beaches, great people, greenery everywhere, and the list goes on...

Then there are the trains:

Danbury Railway Museum in Danbury

Railroad Museum of New England--Naugatuck Railroad in Thomaston

Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum in Willimantic

The Valley Railroad  in Essex

Shoreline Trolley Museum  in Branford

Connecticut Trolley Museum  in East Windsor 

Feel free to join us and have a great summer riding trains in ALL these active museums.  Then you'll have the opportunity to ride our CTRail commuter lines from New Haven  to Hartford to Springfield, MA; ShoreLine East from New London to New Haven +, as well as Metro North commuter rail from New Haven, Waterbury and Danbury into New York City!!!!!!

oh....there's Amtrak to everywhere east, west, and north (no south-Atlanic Ocean).

oh....there are 8 operating freight railroads:  CSXT, CNZR, BRFD, CSO, HRRC, NECR, PAN am through ST, and PW

oh....there are also all manner of rail trails to explore

Don

Wow, Don. Thanks for the state train and trolley tour!!!

It looks like the Railroad Museum of New England is within an hour of my brother’s, so if I can find out their hours of operation (their website is surprisingly a little reticent on that topic), I might give them a visit before I head back to PA.

Wow. I haven't seen the rail car that is pictured  after the SRS picture for over 30 years.  It was owned by the Remington Arms Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  This rail care was self powered and would transport gun powder from the mixing sheds about 6 mile from the main factory.  The route had only one street level crossing.  A guard would set a traffic light to red and then would flag the crossing until it cleared the street.  It was painted a bright yellow  and it certainly stood out.  Both my parents worked at Remington Arms,  both had over 40 years of service.  My Dad was a powder mixer for part of his career there.

Mark Boyce posted:

They certainly have a great collection, Paul!  I’ve never been to Connecticut.  There is a great reason to go!

It's one of the few reasons to go. And don't plan on staying. If you do you'll either get killed from all the crime or go broke! 

Train Nut posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

They certainly have a great collection, Paul!  I’ve never been to Connecticut.  There is a great reason to go!

It's one of the few reasons to go. And don't plan on staying. If you do you'll either get killed from all the crime or go broke! 

  Yes, I understand completely!!  Don't worry, my funds are limited, so it would be a quick trip in and back out, probably just a day.  If we ever can get away again, we would like to go back to Lake George, so Danbury would stand to be a possible side trip for sure.  

And we wonder why America is so polarized—I’ve lived in Connecticut, I’m not broke, and haven’t been a victim of crime.  How can this be?

Were supposed to be about the trains, not the rant.  Mark, do visit!

Thank you, Don!!!  It is on my list!!

I wont get into it, but just look up the stats on CT.  I lived there 45 yrs.   Its a broken down,  now poor state in serious trouble.  Its not my opinion, its fact....   Fun things to visit though i will give you that.. 😀

Connecticut is a beautiful state with an excellent quality of life and a wonderful place to live. And it will remain so. I have been here long enough to know what I'm talking about. End of discussion on this for me.

MELGAR

TomlinsonRunRR posted:

Paul,

The NYNH&H used to come up to a town near me in MA and I've always been fond of their various liveries.  If I had the room, I would add some power/cars to my layout. Having an RS-1 (my favorite diesel) puts it over the top, and that PRR Post Office car is great as well.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Tomlinson Run Railroad

The RS-1 was impressive. I thought they were just Road switchers, but according to the museum’s write up, they were used for switching, road freight, or passenger trains - a very versatile engine.

The mail car is partially restored... here are a couple of interior shots:

RJG posted:

Wow. I haven't seen the rail car that is pictured  after the SRS picture for over 30 years.  It was owned by the Remington Arms Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  This rail care was self powered and would transport gun powder from the mixing sheds about 6 mile from the main factory.  The route had only one street level crossing.  A guard would set a traffic light to red and then would flag the crossing until it cleared the street.  It was painted a bright yellow  and it certainly stood out.  Both my parents worked at Remington Arms,  both had over 40 years of service.  My Dad was a powder mixer for part of his career there.

Thanks for the additional color, RJG. That is identified as a Mack Railbus built in 1954. According to the musem’s Write up, the New Haven RR intended this unit for passenger short-lines use; however, it was never put into service. In April, 1962 it was sold to Remington Arms of Bridgeport, CT, where it was used as an industrial shuttle. I don’t think I would want to catch this bus!!! Sperry Rail Services of Danbury purchased it July, 1985 for use in track inspection and finally donated it to the museum.

Paul, the photographs of the interior of the RPO remind me of another restored one I saw a few years back.  Perhaps it was at the Mad River Museum in Bellevue, Ohio.  Thank you for the information on the RS1 and the Mack Railbus!