Fairfield County Railroad: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 06:11, 12 September 2010 editJayron32 (talk \| contribs)105,509 editsm Reverted edits by Whoopdeeda (talk) to last version by 174.3.98.236← Previous edit		Latest revision as of 23:15, 7 May 2022 edit undoTrainsandotherthings (talk \| contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers17,424 edits Boldly redirecting to Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. The D&NRR was the same company as the Fairfield County Railroad, with a different name. No need for separate articles. Will make the appropriate edits to the other article following this redirect.Tags: New redirect Visual edit
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	The '''Fairfield County Railroad''' was chartered May ]. Its goal was to give ], a rail link with the outside world. It became the ] by 1850 which in turn did not operate until 1852. This company preceded Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and by 1950 ceased to exist.

	Prior to the railroad era routes from Danbury to Norwalk were opened along at least two ]s. In October ] the Danbury and Norwalk Turnpike was opened (which mostly followed present day ]) and then in May ] the Danbury-Ridgefield Turnpike was opened (it followed the present day ] and ]).<ref>]</ref> The turnpikes provided only limited capacity freight and passenger transportation.

	One alternative to the turnpikes, a canal, was considered. In 1830, a survey was conducted for a potential canal from the ] near Danbury to the ] to take boats from Danbury to Westport, but a 400-foot drop along the canal route would have required a number of locks, which made the idea too expensive, and a canal would not improve transit time.<ref name=cacn>Cornwall, L. Peter, "The Danbury & Norwalk Railroad and its impact on Cannondale", pp 105–132, published in ''Cannondale: A Connecticut Neighborhood'' (no overall editor named), published by the Wilton Historical Society, 1987</ref>

	The Fairfield County Railroad was formed by Danbury leaders to provide better transportation in a charter granted by the ] in ],<ref name=hvceo>{{cite web
	\|url=http://www.hvceo.org/transport/railhistory.php \|title=HISTORY OF RAIL LINES IN THE HOUSATONIC VALLEY, CT REGION \|language=English \|accessdate=2008-03-19}}</ref> and the company was chartered in May.<ref name=cacn/> Instead of steam locomotives, the original idea was to have horses pull cars along the tracks, which would have been an improvement on the unpaved toll roads..<ref name=cacn/> At first a route was sought towards ]. Professor Alexander C. Twining of ] surveyed a route to follow the Saugatuck River to a spot near Compo Point in Westport and another route to a spot near Wilson's Point in South Norwalk. Steamboat landings were envisioned at each spot for connections to New York City.<ref name=cacn/><ref name=hvceo/> Next a line north along the ] was surveyed. This would bring in the much needed money for the railroad. Due to lack of financing the railroad was not built at first. The ] offered to connect Danbury if the town would subscribe for a bond of $100.000 in said company. Danbury declined. The Housatonic built northwards along the route that the Fairfield County Railroad had surveyed. The Housatonic started service between ] and ] by February of ].<ref name=housatonic_article>]</ref> The Fairfield County Railroad would now only be limited to build south towards Long Island Sound. In ] the Charter was renewed, and the company was renamed the ] which started operation in ]. The line would eventually be known as the ] of several successor railroads.

	The Norwalk route was chosen over the Westport route for engineering reasons, not because the railroad expected to make money from servicing the communities along the way. Before the railroad was built, an estimate for revenues projected $30,000 in annual income from Danbury but only $2,000 from all the intermediate towns combined..<ref name=cacn/>

	== References ==
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Latest revision as of 23:15, 7 May 2022

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Danbury and Norwalk Railroad

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