Back in 2015 when driving north on I-91 I noticed an abandoned railroad right-of-way (ROW) in the woods in Cromwell - link >. It turns out it was the vestiges of the Meriden, Waterbury & Connecticut River Railroad (later a trolley system).
Subsequent to my 2015 visit, a paved trail has been built in the area and I returned today to explore a bit more...
Mattabesset Bike Trail and the Abandoned Bridge
My goal here was to check out the abandoned Railroad bridge over the Mattabesset River. I ended up parking at the Wooster Street Pizza on Rt 372 because south of the river, its only private parking everywhere for the various apartment complexes.
I took the unofficial spur to the abandoned railroad bridge
 |
| Fallen stonework |
 |
| railroad ties! |
 |
| Here's where the "spur" connects to the paved trail |
 |
| A little rock cut - yeah! |
 |
| Now this looks like an old RR ROW! |
A little offshoot to a scenic spot
 |
| The kiosk map has seen better days... |
 |
| Where the trail ended - I should have parked here! |
A super short riding video
West of I-91
I then drove over to Industrial Park Road to find the trolley ROW
 |
| I saw the ROW remnant and parked here |
 |
| I hiked the old ROW eastward |
 |
| I was able to hike all the way to the Interstate |
I saw 4 or 5 wild turkeys scrambling through the woods here. Sadly, I was too far way to get a decent photo...
Oops - my bad!
It turns out after carefully examining maps and ARCGIS topos - this boxed section that I documented descending to the stream was actually an old road NOT the RR ROW. The ROW turned sharply south and has been obliterated by all the commercial and industrial properties.
I then scrambled through the bush by the parking lot and found the old ROW and hiked a bit westward
At the stream crossing, it appeared it may have been a rock causeway with a culvert. I didn't attempt to cross the stream but headed back to the car.
There were faint traces of barbed wire along the edge of the ROW...
Highland Pond
Next, I headed south to Highland Pond Preserve because I knew there was a section of navigable ROW there...
The ROW continued northeasterly here:
Turning southwesterly to the right, I rode this section. It was an easy and super short ride but pleasant - especially considering how warm it was!
 |
| A little narrow to ride! |
 |
| Here's the view from across the pond - arrow points to trail/ROW |
