Danbury Branch - History, Electrification, Studies

I don't think there is any need to reelectrify the Danbury Branch. There will be little time savings of an electric train accelerating as they depart and decelerate when arriving at stations on the branch. The speed limit is only 50 with many curves. I could certainly see a siding or two added. It might even be nice to extend the branch to Danbury North. This would be great for those people who live along 84 east of Danbury who might work in The Norwalks and Stamford. It's not cost effective to reopen the line between Danbury and Brewster just to have revenue trains running from Danbury to Grand Central by way of the Harlem Line. This won't save people time. Plenty of people who live in Danbury can get to either Southeast or Brewster faster than if a train were to run between Brewster, Southeast, and Danbury. CDOT's main rail priorities is getting the New Haven Line up to a better state of repair, ordering brand new equipment for the Hartford Line and Shore Line East operations, part of Ctrail.

`IMO extending north more important. However getting the New Haven route improved much better spent funds for total number of passengers. Those improvements even will help Danbury passengers as well.

Electrification isn't just about speed. Yes, those few minutes saved will be nice, but there are many other benefits:

• Reduced emissions
• Reduced noise along the route and at terminals
• Simpler equipment maintenance
• Less need for different equipment
• More potential for direct service to GCT

Here we go again... /eyeroll

GirlOnTheTrain wrote: ↑Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:35 am Here we go again... /eyeroll

When was the first study produced? 1979 or so? I distinctly remember being told as a very small child that Conrail was looking at restoring the wire and I'm 46 going on 47.

Restoring the wire is more trouble than its worth. The original installation in 1923 was done solely so the New Haven could eliminate the Stamford steam engine terminal and consolidate operations at Danbury. That rationale went away when the FL-9 dual modes arrived on the property in 1959. This is a curvy single-track branch line. The speed constraints are a result of track geometry not acceleration. No amount of 11.5kV wire or MU's is going to change that.

The rationale for the 1923 electrification is interesting, and new to me. Why eliminate the Stamford terminal in favor of Danbury and not, say New Haven (Cedar Hill, even)?

BTW the MNRR electrification is 12.5 Kv 60 Hz. That is a nominal voltage. Do not know what their voltage allowances but Amtrak uses 10% plus or minus

hrsn wrote: ↑Wed Dec 08, 2021 4:20 pm The rationale for the 1923 electrification is interesting, and new to me. Why eliminate the Stamford terminal in favor of Danbury and not, say New Haven (Cedar Hill, even)?

Danbury was a major engine terminal in steam days. Power working the Maybrook line west over the summit of the Highlands at Poughquag was based there, as were the engines working the Berkshire Division (now the Housatonic) and the Litchfield Branch. In those days the branch from Danbury to Norwalk was not the main show in town. The double-track freight main was.

Once the main line electrification was extended from Stamford to New Haven in 1914 the through passenger trains to Danbury became the only trains changing power from electric to steam at Stamford-- the New Canaan branch had been electrified way back in the 1890's. Wiring the Danbury to consolidate steam services was something of a no-brainer for the NYNH&H.

Unlike on the main line, none of the sidings or small yards on the Danbury were electrified; nor was the little 3.5mi branch up the hill to Ridgefield Center. Freight continued to be worked by steam, which made sense as the locals servicing the line were based out of Danbury.

Anybody know the status of the new Merritt 7 station? Last construction update, the station seemed pretty far along.

Makes perfect sense to electrify, along with Poughkeepsie, Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, and Patchogue, eliminating the need for the stupid dual-modes.

It’s alive…

https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/ ... 753959.php

dha10001 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 27, 2019 4:16 pm I was just looking at a chart, I think in the same study that detailed electrification, that showed a 10mph increase along much of the route, but not all - IE the curve north of Wilton remains largely as is.

One question I have here is to what kind of power is M-N using today on the through trains from Danbury to Grand Central?

The FL-9s didn't turn out as well as expected or, at least not to me. They were a beautiful-looking locomotive but unfortunately it became impractical to completely shut the prime mover engine down once they entered third rail territory. The tunnels and much of the lower portions of Grand Central station would fill up with acrid smoke that I personally witnessed. Can the power they're using today be completely shut down in third rail territory?

Someone helped me find some interesting information on the old Danbury line electrification.
The power to the Danbury line was shut off on the 1st of February 1961. They began dismantling the electrification in February of 1965. So, the wires hung above the rails for FOUR years after the power was turned off. This also confirms what my childhood memory was.

This helps dismiss two myths. The first myth was that Patrick McGinnis had the electrification on the Danbury line trashed out. He did not. It was done by the trustees. By 1965 the New Haven was in such dire financial straits that they began cannibalizing parts of the railroad just to keep it operating. Now, it IS true that McGinnis helped make the end of electrification on the Danbury line possible through his purchase of the FL-9 locomotives. That might be what caused the confusion.

The second myth was that the dismantled Danbury line electrification was used to rewire the Bay Ridge freight line for the coming EF-4s. That is not possible since the the EF-4s were already running on the Bay Ridge line by 1964.

Regards,
Fred M. Cain

fredmcain wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 5:22 am One question I have here is to what kind of power is M-N using today on the through trains from Danbury to Grand Central?

These are run with the GE P32AC-DM which is a dual mode engine, which can run on 3rd rail, with the diesel shut down, for the trip into GCT.

chrisf wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 7:33 am These are run with the GE P32AC-DM which is a dual mode engine, which can run on 3rd rail, with the diesel shut down, for the trip into GCT.

So, Chris, they can completely shut the prime mover down into a cold shut down without the engine idling then? Is that right? In theory that's what the FL-9s were supposed to do but that didn't happen.

Regards,