Nothing evokes the spirit of adventure and exploration like a ride on an old-fashioned railroad. Three Connecticut museums provide an exciting glimpse into the recent past with restored train stations, railroad exhibits and train excursions. Each offers a unique experience of the Golden Age of Rail. All Aboard!
Danbury Railway Museum, Danbury, CT
Once a major Northeastern rail hub, the six-acre Danbury rail yard makes a perfect spot for a railroad museum. Along with its historic restored station (parts of Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller, Strangers on a Train, were filmed here) and turntable, the yard features more than 70 pieces of vintage railroad equipment and accessories. The station serves as a museum with exhibits, model train layouts and gift shop, and as the starting point for tours of the yard and train rides.
Operating since 1994, the train ride, dubbed ‘the Rail Yard Local,’ takes passengers on a 20-minute excursion through the rail yard which includes a truly unique element – a ride on an original turntable. Sort of a ‘lazy susan’ for locomotives, the turntable pivots the train engine to point it in the right direction and onto the correct track. Special tickets are available for visitors choosing to ride in the cab of the locomotive or in the caboose.
The museum is open daily during the summer and selected days during the rest of the year. Train rides are offered on weekends from April through December with special events scheduled around major holidays including Easter, Halloween/Harvest and Christmas. Tickets for the museum and the train rides are purchased separately. For more information, contact the railway museum at 203-778-8337 or online at danbury.org/DRM/.
A short, picturesque drive from Danbury, train enthusiasts can visit the historic town of Thomaston, home of the Railroad Museum of New England and the restored Naugatuck Railroad. The museum was founded in 1968 and in 1995 purchased a ten-mile section of track once part of the original Bridgeport-to-Winsted line. The next year, the museum began offering a 20-mile round trip excursion from the partially-restored Thomaston station to the Waterville section of Waterbury.
Following the path of the Naugatuck River, the train passes through pristine forest, along rugged cliffs, over the top of the impressive Thomaston Dam and into the former mill town of Waterville. Back in Thomaston, visitors can view a remarkable collection of locomotives and railcars dating to the 1840s, the historic station and the railway museum.
Currently, the train makes the hour-and-fifteen-minute trip on Sundays and Tuesdays during the summer and Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays in the fall. Special events include holiday excursions, fall color tour and wine tasting, among others. To learn more about the Naugatuck Railroad, call 860-283-7245 or visit rmne.org/trainrides.htm.
Essex Steam Train and Riverboat, Essex, CT
Operated by the Valley Railroad Company, this unique combination of railway museum and scenic excursion uses the same route as the original Hartford-to-Saybrook Point line as it wends its way through the Connecticut River valley. Rescued from the demise of the Penn Central railroad, the Essex Steam Train has traveled on its one-hour, 12-mile round trip from Essex to Chester and Deep River since 1971.
Traveling north from Essex Station, the train steams past working farms and through protected wetlands teeming with waterfowl. At Deep River Station, riders can board the replica steamboat, Becky Thatcher (named for a character in Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain, a long-time Connecticut resident), for a leisurely narrated tour upriver to East Haddam. When passengers return to Essex, they can walk among dozens of locomotives and rail cars, visit the gift shop and stop next door at River Valley Junction, an interactive museum with railroad-related exhibits.
Essex Steam Train operates on a varied schedule from late May until late October with special events planned around holidays and the seasons, plus dinner and murder mystery trains. Visitors can combine train and steamboat rides or purchase train tickets only. Special excursions to local attractions, such as Gillette Castle and Goodspeed Opera House, are also available. For more information, call 860-767-0103 or 1-800-377-3987 or visit essexsteamtrain.com.
