Tracks through time: Discovering railroad history

FALLS VILLAGE — Along with the bucolic forest and meadow settings, sightings of wildlife and the ambling of the Housatonic River, residents of Northwest Connecticut are familiar with the wistful strains of the whistles as trains travel along local tracks.

The current user of those tracks that stretch from Pittsfield, Mass., to Danbury is the Housatonic Railroad. Train enthusiasts Dave Jacobs and Rolf Schneider showed Schneider’s pictorial images of that train line during the inaugural session of the “1st Tuesdays at 7” series on June 3. Sponsored by the Falls Village-Canaan Historical Society, the event was held at the South Canaan Meetinghouse.

A railway enthusiast from the time he was a small boy, Schneider traveled extensively in North America and Europe photographing trains. He opened the Berkshire Hills Model Railway Supply in Union Station in 1976, later moving it to a storefront on Main Street and renaming it Berkshire Hills Hobby Supply. It closed in 2019 when Schneider retired.

Jacobs grew up in Falls Village watching the trains pass by his parents’ auto garage business. His love of trains grew and he is known for his photos taken along the Housatonic Railroad line. He is also the administrator of the Facebook page called “Fans of the Housatonic Railroad.”

A bit of history shows the Housatonic Railroad was chartered to operate along 34 miles of track between Canaan and New Milford in 1983. Passenger excursions began the next year. In 1992, Housatonic purchased the northern section of the Berkshire line from Canaan to Pittsfield from Guilford Transportation. In 1993 the railroad bought the remaining southern portion of the Berkshire line, which went from New Milford to Brookfield, along with the Maybrook line from Beacon, N.Y., to Derby.

As the photographs flashed across the screen, the pair gave an ongoing commentary about what was being seen. Many showed the rail cars in various locations across the Northwest Corner. Several were taken at various Railroad Day events in Canaan, a tradition that still continues today. Canaan, because of its historic Union Station and the fact it was once the junction of where two train lines converged, is proud of its place in railroad heritage. A railroad museum is housed in the station, drawing visitors from far and wide.

Schneider recalled that during one Railroad Days’ celebration, an excursion train filled with politicians traveled up from Kent to Canaan. There was an elaborate spread put out for the group. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t invited,” he quipped.

The slides also showed some noteworthy times in the railroad’s past, such as the time a swing boom came loose up in Pittsfield necessitating having to strap it down, only to have to loosen up further down the line. “It tied up every single crossing in Canaan for at least 20 minutes,” remembered Schneider, describing the incident as “a fiasco.” The engineer of that fateful run was in the audience, noting that was a memorable day.

There were some derailments over the years and one set of photos depicted the need to manually turn a huge train car, which was no small feat.

There were also pictures of newly purchased cars over the years, and a regretful shot of a heavily damaged Union Station when it was the victim of an arson fire. Another photo showed a locomotive in 1999 that lost its brakes and rolled onto another locomotive.

Schneider noted that at one point a set of cabooses was bought with the hope of some Canaan businessmen converting them into motel units. They remained for quite a while, but the project fell apart when it ran into zoning difficulties, said Schneider, so the cars were eventually sold off , going to several other locations.

Today the trains carry only freight, with Specialty Minerals one of its largest customers.

Schneider was a familiar face whenever there was a happening involving trains. “If friends called, any time day or night, I’d go running with my camera,” he said.

The next talk on July 1 will feature Peter Vermilyea speaking on the topic of “All Honor to the Ladies: Litchfield County Women and the Civil War.”