North Bloomfield Greenway and the Farmington Canal Trail

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

Start

Slight descent 

Former Carpet Mill

End

Return

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.

Like most rail trails' it was pretty flat!

The Ride

Start

Ensign-Bickford Company Sign
An interesting place
- See Links Below -

Yep - thee was a Nike missile site here!

Nice shady section

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.  Post >

• About the Trail
• History of the Trail
• Ensign-Bickford Company
• Ensign-Bickford Company (History)

Collinsville - West of the River!

The weather wasn't too cold today so I headed up to Collinsville to sniff out the railroad ROW west of the river. 

-1-

 I started my trek at the Calvary Cemetery.

Unbeknownst to me,  I took the hard way in - crossing the former rr cut and practically bushwhacking through the woods to get to the river's edge.

Finally. making my way up to the embankment I was able to capture a few nice photos of the piers and the cut.

Looking north on the embankment

Dang - there was an easier way in!

The cut is pretty grown over by now...

Nice view looking back across the river

I continued northward from the cemetery and snapped a couple more photos of the cut.

There's a well-trod path thats leads to the..

...ROW. I will return in the warmer months to mountain bike this!

-2-

I then next drove up Torrington Ave and stopped at the single-lane Town Bridge. It a little hard to see (even in foliage-free winter) but the ROW rock cut was visible.

ROW (looking northward)

-1-

Once back in Collinsville - I photographed the piers once more and of course stopped at the former station for a beer!

 Here's a Lidar map of that area:

Exploring Tariffville RR Remnants

 On a whim I decided to get back into exploring abandoned railroads and headed up to Tariffville, CT. I've mountain biked nearby at Cowles Park and knew it was a scenic area.

1893 Topo Maps

At the start of what is known as the Tariffvlle Gorge,  I discovered the remnants of an abandoned road bridge.

I then stopped in at the Cracker Barrel Pub and had a wonderful sandwich and beer. The pub even had some local railroad photos!

Further down the street was the entrance to the town park where you can see the remnants of the old RR bridge. The maps below show the abandoned route of that line that went up to Springfield, MA

The piers are still standing!

The view from across the river:

I drove southwesterly hoping to check out the other bridge across the river but any access to that stretch of the river was blocked by swanky homes and private property.

I proceeded on to the Hoskins section of Simsbury and did manage to find where the ROW joined the New Haven line.

Curiosity got the best of me so I decided to head home via Mountain Road in Tariffville only to  discover it dead ended and a section has been set aside as a trail!

So I drove back and drove to the other side of it. It looks like a great place to hike so I'll be back at some point for sure.

Lastly, I stopped by the bike trail which apparently was the old ROW of the Connecticut Western Railroad. Gonna have to ride this in the spring!

Heading home I stopped by the end of the former Connecticut Western Railroad that still is active. It is known as the Griffin Spur as there are a lot of industrial warehouses and distribution centers just south in Bloomfield.

The Connecticut Western Railroad

The Connecticut Western Railroad was chartered June 25, 1868 to run from Hartford, Connecticut, west to the New York state line, where it would meet the Dutchess & Columbia Railroad just east of Millerton, New York. The line was completed December 21, 1871; the previous month the company had leased the easternmost section of the D&C to gain access to the New York & Harlem Railroad at Millerton. The only branch was a short one in Connecticut, south into Collinsville, which would not be completed until December, 1874. The Connecticut Western became bankrupt on April 27, 1880, (no doubt in part due to the train wreck mentioned below)and on March 31, 1881 it was reorganized as the Hartford & Connecticut Western Railroad.

Over a period of time a large number of railroads east of the Hudson and in northwestern Connecticut were incorporated together with the formation of the Central New England Railway (CNE) in 1899.

Tariffville Train Wreck

Did you know that one of  the deadliest train crashes in CT history happened in Tariffville? On January 15, 1878, around 10:00 PM, a passenger train returning from Hartford crossed the wooden bridge spanning the Farmington River at Tariffville. Suddenly one of the bridge spans collapsed, dropping two locomotives, one baggage car and three passenger coaches into the icy river. The wreck claimed 13 lives and injured more than 70, some severely. 

The great Tariffville Train Wreck, January 14, 1878
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries

Central New England Railway: 1899-1927

The original Connecticut Western had from the start been interested in building a branch from Tariffville, Connecticut, to Springfield, Massachusetts and the CNE finally began it in 1899. 

The branch opened on September 12, 1902 and passenger trains began to run on March 9, 1903. Although the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NH) acquired financial control of CNE that same year, CNE was allowed to continue to operate separately.  Source