Today I was jonesin' for a railroad-related trek so I headed up to Tariffville with my road bike to ride a couple of rail trails.
North Bloomfield Greenway
This short 3 mile trail starts where the still active railroad ends in North Bloomfield and ends up right in Tariffville. The weather was sunny and a bit hot but it was a pleasant ride. Much of the trail follows the old Connecticut Western Railroad.
The Ride
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| Start |
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| Slight descent |
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| Former Carpet Mill |
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End
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| Return |
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| Railroad Remnant |
Railraoad History
The Connecticut Western Railroad ran from Hartford, Connecticut, west to the New York state line, where it connected with the Dutchess & Columbia Railroad near Millerton, New York. The line was completed in 1871, with a branch line to Collinsville completed in 1874. It later became part of the Central New England Railway (CNE).
The CNE was later absorbed by the vast New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad system and the line through Tariffville was abandoned at a later date.
Lunch
After a wonderful burger and beer at the Cracker Barrel Punb in Tarriffvile, I ventured a bit west to ride a section of the Farmington Canal trail.
Farmington Canal Trail
It was getting pretty hot and humid but I rode from Hoskins to Avon and back (13 miles round trip). There were lots of folks on the trail--hiking and biking and thankfully the section south of Simsbury had a canopy of trees to provide a bit of shade.
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| Like most rail trails' it was pretty flat! |
The Ride
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| Start |
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Ensign-Bickford Company Sign
An interesting place
- See Links Below - |
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| Yep - thee was a Nike missile site here! |
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| Nice shady section |
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| End of the line |
Related Info
The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail was built on former New Haven and Northampton Company (NH&N) railbed, which was constructed along the route of the Farmington Canal in Connecticut. It was later absorbed by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
I rode a section of the southern part back in 2021.
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