http://wctrr.com/ Western Connecticut Railroads en-us Mon, 24 Oct 2005 03:18:06 GMT 1440 CPG-Nuke Dragonfly Western Connecticut Railroads News http://backend.userland.com/rss http://wctrr.com/images/logo.png http://wctrr.com/ http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12 On October 23, 2005 the Metro North conducted a farewell tour for the FL9 locomotives. These workhorses served the New Haven railroad (NY, NH & H ) from the 1950's until now via the Metro North. The FL9 has the ability to operate via diesel power or directly from a thrid rail which makes them suitable for operations from New York City which doesn't allow combustion engines to more rural areas which may not be equipped with third rail equipment. This tour also happened to travel through Western Connecticut via the Berkshite line. The Housatonic Railroad permitted the excursion to travel their main line during the peak of the autumn foliage season. The only dissapointment was that Mother Nature didn't allow more sunlight ( but at least it didn't rain! ) Shortly, there will be several pages added to highlight this excursion. To visit the pages as they are built, follow this link to the Farewell to the FL9 Excursion Mon, 24 Oct 2005 03:18:06 GMT http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11 After a week of rainfall, a steel culvert became clogged and failed to drain water from storm runoff. Evenually, enough water pooled and eroded a large section of track. Pictures of the wash out damage have been added to the Gallery. Also pictures of a special MOW train have been added as well. Wed, 19 Oct 2005 05:46:23 GMT http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10 On the weekend of September 24-25, 2005 the Connecticut Antique Machinery Association will be holding their annual Fall Festival. This event will be held at their location on Route 7 in Kent, Connecticut (Just a bit north of downtown Kent). Last year some pictures of the narrow gauge railroad equipment was included on this site on the CAMA page. Free rides are given on their railroad during this event. The narrow gauge railroad is just a small part of CAMA's Fall Festival. Sat, 17 Sep 2005 21:27:23 GMT http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9 Since I wasn't able to take pictures of this year's run of the Strates Train on the Housatonic Railroad, I have put up some video clips from last year. I have also made the downloads section available to anonymous users. After viewing the videos, feel free to answer the poll question:What do you think about the Strates Video Clips that are in the Downloads Section? Fri, 10 Jun 2005 01:43:15 GMT http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8 Very early in the morning on June 8th, the Strates Shows train ran down the Berkshire Line from Pittsfield, MA to Danbury, CT. The carnival's equipment was moved from Gaithersburg, MD to Danbury, CT for the Danbury City Fair. The Danbury City Fair is set to open on June 10, 2005 and will run until July 9, 2005. The fair is located in the parking lot of the Danbury Fair Mall on Backus Ave. - Exit 3 on Interstate 84. Video? Read More... Thu, 09 Jun 2005 02:02:42 GMT http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7 The James E. Strates Shows Carnival has released their 2005 schedule on their website. They will be open for business from June 10 until July 9 at the Danbury Fair Mall. There are plenty of pictures from previous years in the Strates Shows Photo Gallery. There are also videos in the downloads section for those who are interested. Sat, 05 Feb 2005 18:57:44 GMT http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6 After over 100 years in business and after losing a major lawsuit, Lionel LLC has filed for bankrupty protection under chapter 11. Lionel LLC lost a $40.8 million lawsuit because of a 'misappropiation' of a competitor's toy train designs by a subcontractor. Mike's Train House, Inc filed the lawsuit after their designs were stolen from an overseas manufacturer. As more links are found for this story, they will be added... Tue, 16 Nov 2004 01:55:59 GMT http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5 With fuel prices going through the roof, mass transit is becoming more of a necessity. Should more tax dollars be spent expand passenger rail service, maintain what we have or is it fine the way it is? Even if you don't have an opinion, vote. Fri, 29 Oct 2004 00:53:07 GMT http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4 On July 27,2004 at around 1:20am, 3 cars derailed just east of the station in Stockbridge. A 4th car was also affected, but there were no injuries reported. WWLP-TV22 has a video of the accident scene available online. Other information about this derailment is available on this site on the Stockbridge Derailment page. Fri, 30 Jul 2004 14:16:57 GMT http://wctrr.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3 After their annual visit to Danbury, the James E. Strates Show has left the Danbury Fair Mall. On July 5, 2004 the carnival train left Danbury at 7:50 pm and made the journey north on the Berkshire line with power from the Housatonic Railroad on the first leg of their journey to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The bad news is that since the trip started in the evening, I was unable to get any picures. The good news is... Wed, 07 Jul 2004 02:47:44 GMT