New Haven Rails 2000
2000 NRHS Convention Story

by Elissa H. Williams

New Haven Rails 2000, held July 11-16, 2000 in Stamford, Connecticut was a different sort of NRHS convention. Located in the urban Northeastern United States, on an electrified mainline, without "big steam", the convention offered a varied program of commuter railroading, Amtrak, tourist railroading, and streetcars.

Planning for the convention began in earnest after the chapter was awarded the convention bid in November 1998, at the Fall Board of Directors meeting in Lenexa, KS. Shortly thereafter, the Chapter began its work, and with the close assistance of the National Convention Committee began the process that culminated in July 2000. With short time to prepare, and a small chapter as host, it soon became apparent that we would draw on the help of society members outside the chapter, including the National Committee, and New England Region Vice-President, William E. Wood. Volunteers from neighboring chapters, such as the Ontario and Western Chapter, the New York Chapter, and the Cape Cod Chapter, soon joined the effort, and were essential to the convention's planning and execution.

Our first choice of convention hotel proved to be poorly situated and unable to meet the needs of the convention. These facts were apparent only after several visits by the National Convention Committee. After a complicated extrication from the hotel contract, and some effective negotiations on our behalf by Appalachian Region Vice President Carl S. Jensen, we were welcomed with open arms by the staff of the Stamford Marriott, which became our headquarters hotel. This choice proved to be a propitious one, as the hotel was located close to the railroad station, shopping and dining, with superbly executed customer service.

Excursions were planned, two with MTA Metro-North Railroad, and two with Amtrak. While the Metro-North trains operated in near accordance to the plans we decided upon, the Amtrak train was completely different than that envisioned by the committee. Each railroad was cooperative with the convention, and we are grateful for their support. However, difficulty in obtaining Diesel equipment during rush hour on an electrified railroad, unavailability of Amtrak's Acela Express meant that our excursion plans were delayed into March 2000. Thus, the convention booklet mailing was delayed from the projected February 15, 2000 to April 1, 2000. Also, Metro-North's need to use the excursion train consist for a regular train to New York City in the morning meant that we were unable to offer first class service on the Metro-North trains. The difficulties in operating excursion trains in the middle of a New York City rush hour were overcome by Metro-North's Edward Ohms and Walter E. Zullig, Jr.

Tourist railroads and trolley museums, by contrast were very cooperative and professional in their preparation for the convention, and all proceeded in close approximation of the original plans. Thanks are due to Howard V. Pincus, John R. Gamm and their staff at the Railroad Museum of New England, George Boucher of the Branford Electric Railway, and Staci Roy of the Valley Railroad Company for their superb work in making their respective parts of the convention a success.

THE CONVENTION DAY BY DAY:

July 11, 2000

The convention began with a trip to the Valley Railroad at Essex, Connecticut. Departure from Stamford at 3:00 p.m. allowed the buses to reach Essex with time to spare, despite the inevitable congestion on the Connecticut Turnpike. Along the way to Essex, attendees saw first hand how closely the Turnpike was built to the New Haven mainline in the late 1950's.

Arrival at Essex was at 4:30; giving conventioneers time to photograph the collection at Essex. At 6:00, the train pulled north behind #40, an ex-Aberdeen and Rockfish 2-8-2. The First stop was a field north of Essex station, where the train executed two photo runbys, with the photo line on the sunny side of the train, on a brilliant, clear July evening.

After the completing the runbys, the train proceeded north on the Connecticut Valley line, a former New Haven branch line, which extended from Old Saybrook to Hartford, to the end of track at East Haddam. After a view of the Route 82 swing bridge and the Goodspeed Opera House, the train backed down to Deep River, where passengers detrained to board the riverboat "Becky Thatcher", for a cruise on the Connecticut River back north to the swing bridge. Buffet dinner was served on board. The weather was exceptional for a Connecticut July, with clear skies and low humidity. The river was smooth as glass, with a full moon. After dark, we returned by train to Essex to the waiting buses. A quick bus trip back to Stamford ended the first day's activity.

Wednesday, July 12, 2000

Wednesday featured both an excursion to Torrington, via Metro-North and the Naugatuck Railroad, and the Heritage Valley and Connecticut Electric Tours of the Connecticut River Valley.

Those participating in "The Naugatuck" were escorted by the yellow shirted members of the convention committee to the Stamford Station for the departure east bound on the Metro-North New Haven Line to Devon, and the Waterbury Branch, to Waterbury, Connecticut, where the we interchanged to the Railroad Museum of New England's Naugatuck Railroad for Torrington. We stopped briefly at Thomaston to load box lunches, and proceeded north to Torrington. The equipment on Wednesday and Thursday was provided by MTA Metro-North Railroad, and featured FL9 locomotives, coupled with new Bombardier center door coaches. This equipment was used daily for a trip into Grand Central Terminal during the morning commuter rush, and then cleaned for return to Stamford. The scheduled 9:50 departure was delayed due to the late arrival of the train from New York, but the cooperation of Metro-North was evident when our train was routed around both the regular train to New Haven and the regular train to Waterbury to enable our train to make its "window" on the single track branch.

Upon arrival at Torrington, the Railroad Museum of New England's New Haven U-25B 2525 was coupled to the south end of the train for the move back to Thomaston, where the well planned photo runs were begun. We even waited for a cloud to move off the sun for correctly lit stationary photos at the restored Thomaston Station. Runbys were also held with the RMNE New Haven RS-3 523 and a string of ex-CN heavyweight commuter cars in Naugatuck Green. The group then shuttled to Chase Bridge in Watertown, where the convention train, the photo passenger train with the RS-3, and a photo freight headed by GP9 1732 in a B&M inspired "bluebird" paint scheme passed the photo line. Due to the preparation by the RMNE, and the leadership of renowned photographer Scott A. Hartley, all of the Naugatuck runbys were executed in a superb fashion, with the trains all correctly lit.

After all of the runbys, the train returned south to Waterbury, through the RMNE Chase yard, back onto Metro-North at Waterbury, and back via the same routing to Stamford. Before arrival, we were told that we had three minutes to detrain, and convention staff and passengers were off the train with moments to spare. 222 Passengers participated in "The Naugatuck."

At the same time, 53 people boarded a bus at the Marriott for the combined Heritage Valley/Connecticut Electric tour of Central Connecticut. After a bus ride from Stamford to East Windsor, Connecticut, the Heritage Valley group were treated to a streetcar ride at the Connecticut Electric Railway, followed by tours of the King and Hathaway homes in Suffield, and the first State Prison in Connecticut, Old New Gate in East Granby. New Gate was originally a copper mine, where the Connecticut "Fugio" cent was struck.

The streetcar enthusiasts who participated in the Connecticut Electric Tour were treated to a tour of the collection, and unlimited riding of the historic streetcar line.

Thursday, July 13, 2000

Thursday again brought a choice of activities. The majority of the attendees took part in "The Maybrook Limited." Another group took part in the Ontario and Western Bus Trip, operated in cooperation with the Ontario and Western Chapter.

The "Maybrook" trip, named after the New Haven's gateway to the west at Maybrook, New York, actually visited by the bus trip, was the first of two scheduled circle trips offered by the Stamford convention. This trip operated east from Stamford on the New Haven main line past South Norwalk, home of the Chapter's museum at Signal Station 44, onto the Metro-North Danbury branch on to Danbury. Once again, the train was slightly delayed in departure, and lost more time when it had to take the siding at Branchville for the southbound regular train. We also were able to unload passengers at the restored 1903 Danbury station, rather than at the new Metro-North Station with its short high platform. At Danbury, the train paused for a visit to the Danbury Railway Museum, where passengers were treated to tours of the restored station, and displays of historic equipment in the museum yard. Photographic opportunities abounded. Unfortunately, our time was somewhat limited due to our late arrival. After loading box lunches, the train proceeded west over the former Maybrook line to Hopewell Junction, New York, where two photographic runbys were executed under partly cloudy skies. Once again, the Metro-North New Haven FL9's were the central focus of the assembled photographers. Carl Jensen organized the photo line. This routing is not normally used by passenger trains other than those deadheading, and was the New Haven's busiest freight route.

From Hopewell Junction, the train then traversed the former New Haven Beacon Branch to Beacon, New York, where junction was made with the Metro-North Hudson line, the former New York Central and Hudson River mainline. After waiting for several trains, including the late running Amtrak Lake Shore Limited, the train proceeded south along the Hudson, on the most scenic rail journey offered by the convention, passing the Hudson Highlands, Bear Mountain, the wide Tappan Zee, past the Palisades on the west side of the Hudson, to Mott Haven in the Bronx, and around the wye to the Harlem Line. While waiting for clearance to proceed north on the Harlem Line, passengers were treated to an endless parade of Metro-North MU's filled with commuters on the way home from Manhattan. After a suitable break in the action, our train proceeded north on the Harlem to the flyover to the New Haven at Woodlawn. Contrary to normal practice, the train proceeded up what would normally be the southbound incline under Nereid Avenue. Once back on the New Haven, a fast run was made for Stamford and the now well-practiced three-minute dash to get all passengers, convention crew, and stepboxes off the train within our allotted three minutes. 320 passengers took part in this trip.

Also on this day was the Ontario and Western Bus trip. Dave Ackerman and Rick Davidson of the O & W Chapter conducted the trip. The 28 attendees visited key NY, O & W sites in Orange County, New York, specifically, the Middletown, NY shops and station, the Mechanicstown station, and the Archives Center of the O & W Chapter.
Additionally, the attendees were treated to a view of the massive Moodna Viaduct on the former Erie railroad, and the Maybrook Railroad Museum, in Maybrook, NY. Further, the group visited a local shortline, the Middletown and New Jersey Railroad where the obliging crew ran their 44-ton diesel back and forth for the assembled photographers.

Also, a well attended Meet the Officers session was held at the Marriott. This was an opportunity for all members attending the convention to get to know our officers in an informal setting.

In addition, Steve Barry, editor of Railfan and Railroad Magazine, conducted a night photo session at the Danbury Railway Museum.

Friday, July 14, 2000

Friday has traditionally been the day for meetings and seminars, and the convention offered a full day of well-attended educational programs.

Seminar speakers included Laura Katz Smith, Archivist of the University of Connecticut, J.W. Swanberg, author of New Haven Power, a recorded film of the late Thomas J. Donahue, tower operator and railroad photographer, Wayne Drummond of NHRHTA, and Brian Hakey of Operation Lifesaver Connecticut.

We also offered the fastest selling event of the convention, a guided tour of the newly refurbished Grand Central Terminal in New York City. This coveted event was limited to 100 attendees. Travel to and from New York was via the ubiquitous New Haven Line MU cars. Attendees were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the great Terminal, coordinated by Patricia "Trish" Raley of Metro-North.

Another group enjoyed the streetcars at the Branford Electric Railway, in East Haven, Connecticut.

YouthRail was offered at the Danbury Railway Museum, with a variety of activities for the younger Railfan. After much planning by Robert Greenberg, Robert Moran, Tony White, and Roberta Ballard, the event had a disappointingly low attendance. It is our hope that future conventions will also reach out to the future members of our Society.

Also, the NRHS Board of Directors Meeting was held, followed by the Annual Meeting of the Society. To cap the day off, the Annual Banquet was held at the Marriott. Walter E. Zullig, Jr., Special Counsel for Metro-North, and Metropolitan Region Vice President, spoke on the history of Railroading in the Northeast, its unique relation to the rest of the industry and the nation.

Saturday, July 15, 2000

Saturday, our luck with the weatherman finally ran out. The day was misty and rainy in the morning, and later in the day was punctuated with downpours. Fortunately, the rain did not ruin our photo runby.

Saturday's "Ambassador", was planned as a circle trip from Stamford, via former New Haven and New York Central Lines, to central Massachusetts, and then via the freight-only New England Central, formerly Central Vermont to Willimantic and New London, and then back to Stamford via the New Haven Shore Line. Even the name of the train was related to the Central Vermont, as the "Ambassador" was a day train to Montreal. A key portion of this trip was to be a visit to the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum, run by the Connecticut Eastern Chapter, at Willimantic.

This trip was planned to be the first of two Amtrak trips, followed by the Acela Express on Sunday. Delays in implementing the Acela Express service meant that the high speed trainset was unavailable to us. Indeed, we never accepted a ticket order for the Express. The "Ambassador" proved to be a long and difficult trip to finalize. In the end, it became clear that the train could not run over the planned route. Unfortunately, the need for the re-routing was not clear until about four weeks before the convention, and the routing actually used was not finalized until two weeks before the convention. We were indeed fortunate that the officials of the Providence and Worcester, Clarke Brown and David Fitzgerald were able to approve a trip over their lines on short notice.

The train thus took a similar circular routing, but a few miles to the east of the planned route. Our barbeque at the Connecticut Eastern Museum became a box lunch aboard the train. Our planned trip on the West Bank of the Thames River on the NEC, became a trip down the East Bank of the Thames on the P&W. We were able to enjoy the trip to Springfield, Massachusetts on the former New Haven Shore Line and Springfield Line, and east on CSX's former Boston Line to Worcester, the former Boston and Albany. We then used the P & W from South Worcester to Groton, and Amtrak's former New Haven Shore Line to New Haven, where we retraced our route over Metro-North to Stamford.

Highlights of the trip included the Connecticut River crossing at Windsor Locks, a glimpse of the newly restored Worcester Union Station, the United States Navy base at Gales Ferry, with its submarine docks alongside the tracks, and the massively crowded Opsail 2000 at New London, where we passed the sailing ships and assembled crowds at walking speed.

The train consisted of Amfleet Coaches and Cafes, two Metroliner first class cars, and the Washington Chapter's classic Pullman, the Dover Harbor. 322 passengers in all classes enjoyed the trip.

Amtrak operated the trip flawlessly, and on-time, without significant delay at any point. Each interchange, from Amtrak to CSX, to P&W, and back to Amtrak was done without a hitch. An engine change from AEM-7 to F-40 was made in each direction at New Haven. A photo and lunch loading stop was made at Putnam, Connecticut.

When the train pulled back into Stamford, and we all detrained for the last time, the convention drew to a close.

Many people worked diligently to make this convention a success: