Larkin Bridal Trail

The former New York & New England Railroad ROW through Southbury, CT is now the Larkin Bridal Trail. This is a great trail!

The Ride

After a railroad-history-filled morning riding the trolleys trails of Woodbury and Middlebury, topped off with a delicious lunch washed down with a double IPA - I was still aching to do more railroad-history-related bike riding.

Next stop was the Larkin Trail.  I took a look at the entrance on Rt 63 across from the Hop Brook Park and didn't see the ROW so I went to the Allerton Farms entrance instead. In order to satisfy my curiosity, I biked back to Rt 63 and saw that the ROW did end there - but it was cut off up high. Apparently as Rt 63 was modernized, it removed a lot of the embankment.

Well the ride was a blast - the Trail is very scenic and you ride thru quite a few rock cuts. The eastern section is nicer to ride because it is now mostly single track. The far western end of the trail feels like basically just a wide dirt road.

Allerton Farms entrance looking west

The other way takes you back to Rt 63

Beautiful tree canopy and super picturesque ROW

Man - I love riding thru rock cuts

Abutment - Remnants of the RR Bridge here
(South Street) 

Ah - rock cut...

Ooo yeah... another rock cut

Thru marshland near the airport

A picturesque spot - note collapsed structure on right

Power Lines crossing

End of the (official) trail
Yep I t looks like it keeps gong 

Parking at the end of the (official) trail
I headed from back here...

There is even a roller for mountain bikers
Of course I had to do it!

Highlights of the Trail

Two Minute Riding Video

History

This trail’s railroad history began in 1881 with completion of the New York & New England Railroad (NY&NE) between western Connecticut and New York. Following NY&NE bankruptcy in 1894, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H) took over the line until 1939.

Southbury, CT- 1892
New York & New England Railroad

The line was abandoned between Waterbury and Southbury in 1939 and from Hawleyville Junction to Southbury in 1948. The line between Hawleyville and Waterbury had one the region’s steepest grades up to Towantic summit. The severity of that grade is the key reason why the NYNH&H decided to upgrade and double track the alternative longer route from Danbury to Hartford via Derby Jct. in 1908-1911 and allowed this shorter route via Towantic to fade into insignificance.

The Southbury Station was up on the top of Depot Hill. It was razed during the construction of Interstate 84.

Southbury Passenger Station
Source: TylerCity Station

The final regular passenger service disappeared in 1932, and by 1937 most of the line east of Southbury was abandoned. The Hawleyville-Southbury portion existed a bit longer but was abandoned in 1948.

The Bridle Trail
The ROW was purchased by a Dr. Charles L. Larkin when the NYNH&H pulled out in 1939, and converted to a bridle path. Larkin was a wealthy Middlebury resident and horse lover and had land abutting the NY&NE ROW near South St. in Middlebury. He gifted it to the state in 1943 for a bridle trail.

Further Info

Railroad in Southbury, CT
The Railroad in Southbury
TylerCityStation - CT Passenger Stations, SO
^ Scroll down to Southbury

The Woodbury Trolley

A trolley line from Waterbury to Woodbury was completed in 1908 and an amusement park was built on the Lake Quassapaug (formerly known as Quassapaug Pond) as a way to get workers and their families to ride streetcars and railways on weekends. Steady patronage due to the trolley connection helped transform the Quassy Amusement Park into a full-fledged summer resort.

Initially known as the Woodbury and Waterbury Street Railway it soon became part of the Waterbury and Pomperaug Valley Street Railway and was subsequently absorbed by the massive Connecticut Company - the primary electric street railway company in Connecticut. The line was abandoned in the 1930s when visitors began driving their cars to the resort.

Source: Central and Northwestern Connecticut Interurbans

A couple of sections of the trolley right of way (ROW) still remain and are "bike friendly." The Middlebury Greenway is a developed "official trail" but the section passing by the Woodbury Reservoir and following the South Brook is undeveloped.

Woodbury Trolley (Backwoods by the Reservoir)

I started at Old Sherman Hill Road and road south towards the Reservoir. It was all downhill and strangely much steeper on the section going north into Woodbury.

It's all downhill going west...

There's a small spot to park on Old Sherman Hill Road

-The Ride-

Old Sherman Hill Road
(pay no attention to the orange signs :-) )

The view up Trolley Bed Road at the start
I rode up to Route 64 first before I hit the woods...

It's a picturesque ride

Definitely glad I was on the mountain bike and not the road bike!

The classic embankment shot

At the end

Some spots were pretty overgrown!

I am found of embankment photos :-)

A bridge

All uphill going back but doable!

Panorama of the Woodbury Reservoir

Another Bridge

It took 20 minutes one way (going down) - probably 12-15 minutes if you wanted to bomb it. Going back - add at least another 5 minutes because its all uphill.

Middlebury Greenway

I next drove over the Middlebury to ride the Greenway. This follows the path of the old trolley ROW and has been fully paved, etc. It would have been better obviously on the road bike but the heavier bike and lots of hills made it more interesting for me.

-The Ride-

I started out from the FireHouse

There are a few historical signs along the way

The first climb goes through a beautiful rock cut

Oops - The official place to start!

This place is now a pizza joint!

Great info!

End of the line
(Mighty boring!)

Short One-Handed Video of the Trail

Sure it was somewhat boring compared to riding single track or a rutted abandoned ROWs in the woods but it was nice to see the Town feature the trolley line and the hilly up and downs made it fun.

Lunch

I grabbed lunch--which included a double IPA!--at this spot: Maggie Mcfly’s. It was wonderful and headed a bit south to Ride the Larking Bridle Trail.

Next > 

Further Info

Middlebury Greenway (TrailLink)
Quassy: One of the Last of the Old-Time Trolley Parks
Trolley Parks: Survivors of an earlier era
(In 1919, more than 1,000 parks speckled the U.S.; now, there are 11)
Woodbury Trolley Trail (Bike Explorations)
Northeast U.S. Interurbans 
(Maps and Details on the Interurbans Systems in New York and New England)

The Province Lands - Dunes

My last ride of the weekend was a quickie up at the Province Lands Dunes. I drove up to Provincetown from the Barnstable area and the drive was cloudy and rainy- ouch :-(  Fortunately the rain stopped when I got to the park but it was still overcast and kind of chilly!

I parked at Beech Forest and did the loop counter clockwise.

It was a fun ride - there were lots of ups and downs and for short sections you could really bomb fast...

 Short Video

Once I finished, there was a wanderer through the parking lot (and of course the sun came out!)

Cape Cod Rail Trail

I began from the Dennis trail head at 10 am. It was a sunny day and the parking lot was already packed! The whole trip was a little over 22 miles (44 plus miles round trip) and quite uneventful.

At the start

The trail was paved the entire way and riding was smooth - so smooth my FitBit gave me less than half the steps I garnered for the Airline Trail I rode yesterday - bummer! The few hills were long and gradual and never were tiring. Truth be told - it was pretty boring but the few railroad history and nature signage along the way were nicely done and made the trip a little more interesting.

One of the few "trackside" places to buy something 

A salt marsh

One of many informative signs

There were a few places where you had to deviate from the original ROW to cross major highways, etc. but for the most part it was straight and super smooth the entire way.

Typical Straight Stretch

Surprisingly (for Cape Cod) most of the trail was very rural with little commercial activity near the trail. Fortunately the rail trail goes right through the center of Orleans and I stopped for coffee at a lovely coffee shop for a super charge of strong coffee both on the way up and on the return trip back. It was right across from this informative sign:

Nice write up about the train and Orleans

This advertisement in front of the shop is priceless - Abbey Road anyone?

This gave me a chuckle...

When I finally reached the trail's end, I was hungry and dismayed to find only an expensive French Bistro ($5.50 for a hot dog! You gotta be kidding me!). Luckily, I rode back south a bit and found a great spot: a pizza bar and grill a little off the trail and chowed down a chicken cutlet sub, cole slaw and sloshed it down with a Whale's Tale Ale - ooo yeah!

It became windy and overcast and I was sure it would rain but I made it all the way back without even a sprinkle!

Super Short Video (46 seconds)

About the Former Railroad

The Cape Cod Rail Trail follows the former Old Colony Railroad right-of-way. The railroad laid the tracks linking Boston and Sandwich in 1848, and by 1873, it had pushed all the way to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod. [The Cape Cod Central Railroad merged with the Cape Cod Railroad in 1868. Its line later became part of the Old Colony Railroad in 1872. In 1873, Old Colony finished extending the line to Provincetown.]

Google Street View of the Bass River Crossing

The Old Colony Railroad system stretched across southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. It operated from 1845 to 1893.

In 1893, the entire 617-mile network was acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. After this date, all trains, lines, and stations became known as the "Old Colony Division" of the huge New Haven system.

Passenger Service

Regular passenger service to Provincetown ended in 1938 and in 1959 all passenger service operated by the company on Cape Cod ceased. Freight transport hung on until the mid-1960s.

Further Info

Old Colony Railroad - Wikipedia

History of the Old Colony Railroad

Cape Cod Rail Trail - Wikipedia

Cape Cod Rail Trail - TrailLink