-Ron M.

Posted by: KimG on Fri, Oct 29, 99 at 20:35 I'd like to know more too. Didn't notice anything unusual when I was up at Canaan enginehouse late this afternoon. Saw 3602 MU'd with 3601 idle on siding, and 3603 and 9935 idle on different shop leads. Did not see the Geep anywhere outdoors; may have been inside the shop (damage inspection?). 3600 and 3604 brought up NX-11X from New Milford very late in the afternoon (passed North Kent Rd at 17:45).

That accounts for all active HRRC units, although I think 9935 may be considered 'stored'. Their first loco acquisition, a little GE 44-tonner, sits forlornly in the dead line off Sand Rd about 2 miles south of the shop, its green paint now badly tarnished. How times have changed; they were SO proud of that baby in the early 1980's when they were getting going with the excursions to the Cornwalls. Then it was supplanted by a GE 80-tonner when the passenger specials got popular and needed more power. And from there they migrated up to RS-3M 9935. Anyone know what became of the 80-tonner? --KimG

Posted by: Ron Musco Jr on Sat, Oct 30, 99 at 8:15 I think the 80 Tonner got traded to Conrail when the HRRC acquired the GP35s. I believe it was repainted and used as the Altoona shop switcher. I think I read that in Railpace some time ago. The 45 tonner deserves a better fate. What's kepted inside the engine house?

-Ron M.

Posted by: Jaap on Sat, Oct 30, 99 at 12:40 The 44 tonner deserves a home (like the Danbury Railway Museum) the 80 tonner is in Altoona but is for sale it was completely rebuilt and is owned privately not by CR/CSX/NS

Check this page for staus of engine : Click for Link Did not see details on Accident on Housatonic but heard rumors Housie is looking for a new crew because of accident :-)

Posted by: zz4 on Tue, Nov 2, 99 at 2:46 yes...whats with the 'trash' on that siding off sand road? A good collection of damaged old boxcars and that old little ge loco with about everything stripped out of it? It seems eventually somebody needs to get rid of the boxcars?

This raises another question.They are located in location of old quarry operation.(limestone?) I see the 'quarry machine stuff and industrial buildings' gone now. Anybody remember the quarry rr here and did it ever have a name? Guage? I stumbled accross it some years back when highway crossing sign still existed:QUARRY RR CROSSING---and small collection sat there of little quarry rr cars and loco.The small guage tracks crossed the road and headed up through woods to quarry locations.As of month ago I see no evidence of track left unless its buried well below underbrush.Problem was QUARRY PEOPLE SEEM TO HATE PHOTO TAKERS !!!(or the thought of trespassing?) At the time I snapped a few pictures from the public Sand Road but even then soon encountered the ugly questions from management. (does not a person have a right to photograph from public property?)

This was only quarry in canaan area with a rr? I get the impression the various quarries in area are hyperactive 1999? Maybe they forsee the day quarries are UNSIGHTLY? (upscale surburban neighborhoods?)

Posted by: Ron Musco Jr on Tue, Nov 2, 99 at 8:16 I believe those boxcars are the result of a derailment that happened a couple of years ago. Interesting to look at!! There was a caboose from Maine Central there too last time I was there 2+ years ago. GP-35 in the accident was 3603 not 3602 as I stated earlier.

Posted by: John M Camerota on Tue, Nov 2, 99 at 18:13 I beleive it was a limestone Quarry, 3 foot guage. The boxcars were invoved in a wreck some time ago.

Reguards John C.

Posted by: Leroy Beaujon on Sun, Nov 21, 99 at 23:56 The quarry in question was operated by the United States Gypsum Company during my time on the line in the 40's and 50's. I don't know exactly when it was shut down as I was out of the area when it happened. I am assuming this was sometime in the late 60's or 70's. There was a passing siding at the plant called Maltby's which was in addition to the loading track and the Danbury - Canaan switcher often holed up there to wait for the passenger train. As for the U.S. Gypsum's own rail operations, I can just barely remember seeing it in operation as a youngster. I can't recall exactly what guage it was other than it looked like other typical quarry rail operations. This one used a Plymouth gasoline powered locomotive I believe. It was probably all scrapped sometime in the 40's.

There is one other limestone quarry operation just to the north of the former U.S.Gypsum plant site and that is the Conklin Limestone Company. I believe it did have a siding many years ago but has been served only by truck for at least 50 years or so. The other limestone operations in the Canaan area were all located on the former CNE line. There were at least six of them and they stretched all the way up to East Canaan. Details of these companies were pretty well covered in Bob Nimke's Volume 3 of his history of the CNE. First one heading east from Canaan was the Pierce & Freeman Company which later became New England Lime Company. This plant is very much in use today and is now part of the Pfizer Company. It's quarry (a very, very large excavation at this point) is on the opposite -south - side of the valley and the stone is trucked to the plant. The Housatonic RR is very much in evidence there and a lot of lime is shipped out by rail. If anyone is interested in the other lime kiln operations (now all abandoned) between Canaan and East Canaan, I will be glad to try and explain them all as well as the Iron Works that once operated in the area. These one time businesses in Canaan and East Canaan were very much a part of what kept the Central New England Railway going over the years.

Posted by: Tom Curtin on Mon, Nov 22, 99 at 8:09 The U. S. Gypsum lime operation at Maltby's (south of Canaan) shut down just about the first of 1972. This shutdown was the principal excuse for Penn Central to cease the local freight between Danbury and Canaan, which I understand last operated on 2/4/72. Sometime after that the quarry resumed operation by a company named "Red Wing" which never used rail service. Conklin Limestone did indeed have a rail siding at one time.

Posted by: Frank Kobliski on Tue, Nov 23, 99 at 21:43 The narrow guage quarry train at the "Gyp" operated well into the 50's and pehaps early 60's; I recall as a kid watching the small train cross Sand Road.

Posted by: zz4 on Wed, Nov 24, 99 at 2:27 I must comment I enjoy this bulletin board as it differs so much with some others.HISTORY. As to the quarry rr crossing sand road it had to be the 1970's that it still existed. I'm not saying it operated. I stopped by and snapped a few photo's and somebody came running out suspicious of me. I could not get a good look of much of anything but recall little quarry cars to carry freight and the rail line crossing sand road.There was a sign:Caution:Quarry RR Crossing. They had the sign up for sale but don't know if any takers. As of now one can see slight evidence of the quarry rr row along sand road and going up towards the quarry. Maybe looking out of summer season more can be seen.(i.e.looking for tracks left in 2 foot high weeds) I wished I could have snooped more at time but quarry operation presented itself as very unfriendly. As to photo's..I have no idea where I have them. I took rr slides for years and stached them away. Hopefully all have not decomposed with time.

Posted by: KimG on Mon, Jan 10, 00 at 20:37 New item, same RR! Click on the link(dead link) to view an article from the 1/7/00 edition of The Newtown Bee re NX-11's ill-fated eastbound leg thru Newtown,CT on 12/30/99. GP-35 3600 entered the new millenium on a down note. Perhaps her air filters were not Y2K compliant?!?

The 2 photos in the hardcopy Bee are different from the one online. One is a 3/4 shot showing 3600 with an extension ladder leaning up against the beveled edge of her cab roof (engineer's side) and 3 firefighters manning hoses and/or extinguishers from atop the unit. Trailing unit 3602 and NX-11's consist are shown about a carlength behind the smoking 3600, which the HRRC crew had cut off. Looks like they kept a low profile as they were not interviewed for the story!

After things were brought under control, my guess is that 3602 must have pulled the cars and pushed the dead 3600 eastbound another 2.5 miles to the Botsford siding, the nearest EB-facing switch point on the line. NX-11 normally reverses direction here [the article does not mention that they were destined for Stevenson that day], so 3602 would have led NX-11 westbound back to Berkshire Jct with [I assume] 3600 dead-in-tow at the east end of the train. But upon changing ends again at BJ, 3602 would have been leading long-hood-forward towards New Milford yard, and coupled nose-to-nose with 3602 on that leg. Sure wish I could have gotten a shot of that "lashup" for my files!

Posted by: Greg Moore on Sun, Jun 4, 00 at 16:54 The US Gyp plant as it was known did in fact run the narrow-guage tracks. I don't recall ever actually seeing it being used in the 70's, but the signs were indeed there and the grade-crossing existed.

The tracks originally ran into a tunnel. Now there is a pile of rumble in front of the tunnel that was put there I'm guessing 15-20 years ago to block the entrance. However, there was spur that ran to I believe a small engine house. This ran parallel to Sand Road. I've wanted to go back and see if the tracks are still there.

If you climb through the woods (which I've done) you can see a major portion of the quarry. I was unable to locate any tracks to see if the train ran through the tunnel to the other side or what. As for Conklin, there was indeed (and still maybe) a siding there. I walked from Canaan to my house in Falls Village along the tracks about 15 years ago.

There is(was?) a wye track serving B&D.

So, south of Canaan there was was a wye to B&D, a siding at Conklin, a siding at US Gyp (and I think a spur at one or both of those) and then nothing until much further south. I don't know when the two sidings at the Falls Village Depot were removed, but they were long gone by the time my family acquired the place. (Though you could still see traces of the ties if you knew where to look.)

Posted by: Leroy Beaujon on Sun, Jun 4, 00 at 22:41 Thanks, Greg, for being where you are and for seemingly being a railfan as well. I am originally from Canaan and once worked for the New Haven RR in station service on the Danbury - Pittsfield line. I was in your area late last month (my brother still lives in Canaan) and am only sorry I didn't know of your existence at the time.

I have somewhat of a vague recollection of the Gyp's operation from the 40's and 50's but, at the time, it really didn't fascinate me that much. I recall seeing it's trains on occasion crossing over the Sand Road going back and forth between the quarry and the plant itself. The former enginehouse shed, as I recall, sat alongside the west side of the Sand Road opposite the plant. I never did go poking over in the quarry area so I can't comment about the tunnel.

In addition to a siding at the Gyp where I remember seeing many "chalk like encrusted boxcars" waiting their turn to be shipped out, there was an additional track in between the main track and that siding called "Maltbys." This was one of the several passing sidings on the Berkshire (others were Stearns, Flanders,Belsprings and Millers) and often a place for the Danbury - Canaan local freight to "hole up" when a passenger train was due in the area.

I do know that the Conklin Lime did have a siding and it may possibly still be there buried under a lot of limestone. I can't recall it's being served by the New Haven even in the 50's so it's use must have been much earlier.

The New Haven did install a spur (I don't believe it was a wye, however) in to the B&D plant when it was built. Whether it is still in use (or even connected to the main line), I don't know. last place

Posted by: zz6 on Thu, Jun 8, 00 at 1:43 I have read the posts about narrow gauge limestone rr's of canaan,ct. area and at least I myself find them interesting.I'd like to snoop around but don't know if it possible.Normally neverending limestone trucks and no trespassing signs.With the leaves on the trees maybe somebody could sneak around a little or somebody in the area might actually know what hours are busy hours and which might be vacancy hours. All I know is somebody from the Conklin place was mighty unfriendly a number of years back. Stories say some guy shoots at people up at the Becket&Chester RR. I've exchanged mail with quarry owner in otis,ma. in relation to rr freight spur into his quarry from 'huntington&wilmington trolley(rr?)' and in his letters he was a paranoid as to trespassers.I don't own a quarry and assume they can be dangerous....but...don't know...these quarries never seem very friendly......

OOOOOO-this thread stayed alive in new haven rr board at link attached.....

Here is a link that might be useful: limestone railroads(dead link)

Posted by: Greg Moore on Thu, Jun 8, 00 at 21:24 Quarries can be VERY dangerous, with falling rocks, crumbling edges, etc. The Conklin and US Gyp are basically mined out of hillsides. But there's one in East Canaan that's a huge pit. In any case, as for US Gyp, it's pretty much abandoned. Even the buildings have been removed. To the East is the HRRC line with the siding containing some old cars. The quarry is on the west side of Sand Road.

I poked my head up into the quarry as I mentioned, but didn't stick around long. Spotted what I thought might be a coy-dog. And since I was sort of in a hurry anyway, figured it wasn't worth confirming one way or the other.

But in general, yes, the quary owners are paranoid because quarries can be very dangerous places.

Posted by: Frank Kobliski on Sat, Jun 17, 00 at 23:59 Like Lee, I also grew up in Canaan and remember the narrow gauge operation at the "Gyp". I remember the tunnel directly across Sand Road from the plant as being filled in even back in the 50's. From the plant, the tracks proceeded south along Sand Road, where there was a spur that ran to the small engine house. The track continued beyond that and curved into the quarry itself. As Lee stated above, the spur into B-D was not a wye.

Posted by: zz6 on Mon, Jun 19, 00 at 2:08 It must have been last summer I stopped by the sand rd. spot where the wrecked rr cars sit on sidings and noticed the 'limestone factory' was gone.Not a structure left.I was going to cross sand rd. and see if any old tracks still could be found in the underbrush and into quarry area BUT all I saw were no-trespassing signs and a constant convoy of trucks from the quarry.I'm not two familiar with area but 2 quarries on sand rd? hmmmmm...now theres coydogs? to scare people away? I used to go camping at macedonia brook but those coyotes chased me way.Too many and acted too strange.They would hang around your campsite like you were one of them.Then the state decides its illegal for me to drink a can of beer on a 2 week camping trip so they put me out of business.Housatonic Meadows the same minus the coyotes.I can't have a brew on a 2 week camping trip? How do you think I got so smart?