by salminkarkku
I've done some digging on this ghost railroad in Massachusetts. It was intended as part of a trunk route from New Haven to the Mohawk Gap and was being built in the early 1870's.
The NH branch to New Hartford CT from Farmington was built by the "New Haven & Northampton". It was chartered to run through New Hartford and Pleasant Valley to a point (now under the Colebrook River Reservoir) where the state line and the Hamden and Berkshire (MS) county line meet. It only got just beyond New Hartford, with no regular service (if any) beyond the town.
The "Lee & New Haven" would have picked up in MS. It graded most of the route to Lee in 1872 and 1873, and there are still some substantial remains. It closely followed Route 8 along the West Branch of the Farmington, with stations proposed at New Boston, Cold Springs, Otis, North Otis, West Becket and East Lee where it headed north-west to approach Lee from the east. There are masonry bridge abutments south of New Boston; the grade passes the town to the east of the highway and crosses it and the river at Roosterville. There is a cut just north of Allan Road in Tolland State Forest, and a fill nort of Otis.
The later "Berkshire Street Ry" did not use the grade, but built parallel next to it east of East Lee through to Greenwater Pond north of West Becket, then left to continue on its way to Algerie Four Corners and Westfield.
A continuation company, the "Lee & Hudson", did some grading west of Lee on the present route of the turnpike.
In 1887, a crazy scheme called the "Hudson River & Boston" proposed to extend the "Poughkeepsie & Eastern" at Boston Corners to Springfield via Stockbridge, South Lee, Otis, Granville and Westfleld. It was proposed through some rough country, and had an incredible number of curves. It would have used the old L&NH grade either side of Otis. This boondoggle merged with the P&E to form the "New York & Massachusetts", and is the reason why there were two parallel lines up the valley east of Poughkeepsie. The NY&M dreamed of linking the bridge at the latter place with the B&M at Springfield, but the B&M did not want to know.
The NH branch to New Hartford CT from Farmington was built by the "New Haven & Northampton". It was chartered to run through New Hartford and Pleasant Valley to a point (now under the Colebrook River Reservoir) where the state line and the Hamden and Berkshire (MS) county line meet. It only got just beyond New Hartford, with no regular service (if any) beyond the town.
The "Lee & New Haven" would have picked up in MS. It graded most of the route to Lee in 1872 and 1873, and there are still some substantial remains. It closely followed Route 8 along the West Branch of the Farmington, with stations proposed at New Boston, Cold Springs, Otis, North Otis, West Becket and East Lee where it headed north-west to approach Lee from the east. There are masonry bridge abutments south of New Boston; the grade passes the town to the east of the highway and crosses it and the river at Roosterville. There is a cut just north of Allan Road in Tolland State Forest, and a fill nort of Otis.
The later "Berkshire Street Ry" did not use the grade, but built parallel next to it east of East Lee through to Greenwater Pond north of West Becket, then left to continue on its way to Algerie Four Corners and Westfield.
A continuation company, the "Lee & Hudson", did some grading west of Lee on the present route of the turnpike.
In 1887, a crazy scheme called the "Hudson River & Boston" proposed to extend the "Poughkeepsie & Eastern" at Boston Corners to Springfield via Stockbridge, South Lee, Otis, Granville and Westfleld. It was proposed through some rough country, and had an incredible number of curves. It would have used the old L&NH grade either side of Otis. This boondoggle merged with the P&E to form the "New York & Massachusetts", and is the reason why there were two parallel lines up the valley east of Poughkeepsie. The NY&M dreamed of linking the bridge at the latter place with the B&M at Springfield, but the B&M did not want to know.
