Portland - Abandoned Airline RR

Today I decided to hike the abandoned railroad bed in Portland, CT. This stretch was part of the Air Line built way back in 1873 as a more direct route between New York City and Boston.

I parked at the Golf Shop on Rt 66 and hiked up the short hill to get to the flat raised embankment.

Surprisingly, it was well used - probably a favorite of local ATVers.

There were still plenty of railroad ties in the ground!

I even spotted a couple of dinosaurs! <wink>

railroad ties

Ah - a rock cut!
Overgrown for sure but still cool...

There were numerous off shoots of ATV trails. Some of them were apparently old farm or logging roads.

(The trail/rr went straight)

Looking uphill (to the right)
Side  trail offshoot...

Another overgrown rock cut

End of the line

On the way back...

railroad tie

on the side... ?

"snake" vine

I believe--from the amount of chiseled  brownstone boulders strewn along the short climb up from the road--the incline here was much less and tapered possibly with a bridge as well...

Portland CT Railroad Remnants

I was in the area and as always, curious about what kind of railroad presence still exists. A quick ride through the industrial area south of Rt 66 (Marlborough Street) showed there are still tracks and a few hoppers on a siding. Of course the street I drove on was called Airline Street--named after the Airline route that whizzed through here ages ago.

Google Aerials >

Open Railway Map >

Airline Street

Former Freight Station

Further Info

The Providence & Worcester railroad bridge  (Wikipedia)

Did you know the Portland-Middletown Railroad Bridge was...

1. used in the Billy Joel video "River of Dreams"?
2. collided by a huge steamship ?

Airline Trail Explorations:

1. The Airline Trail
2. Portland Airline Trail

Narrow Gauge Quarry Railroad (Portland CT)

When riding in Portland, CT this morning I checked out the Riverfront Park and took a a snapshot of one of the kiosks that had a map of the quarries' narrow gauge railroad.

Kiosk Map of the former narrow gauge railway

Enhanced to illustrate the railroad

I've highlighted the narrow gauge railroad on the thumbnails below. There's a great site that has lots of historical detail and postcards of the operation - check it out!   Stone Quarries and Beyond

The quarries are flooded now and home to both a water sports park and a sculpture park.

Flooded quarry

Riverfront Park (former rr tracks)

Further Info

• The Quarry That Built Boston and New York City
• Portland - My Bike Ride
• Quarryview Sculpture Park