Clang Clang Clang Goes the Trolley

 Most of the time I have somewhat of an idea of what I will come across when I go on an adventure. I like to go places with some type of history attached, maybe an old farm site, mill site, or perhaps just an old road. Today I had no idea what I would find.

I look at a map before I go and pick a place, sometimes I look for certain things. Today I picked a section of the Shenipist Trail in Tolland CT. Looking at the map it looked straight and went along the shore of Shenipset Lake. I didn't realize until I started hiking that this was an old railroad or trolley line. 

I should have known it was one or the other when I saw how straight it was on the map but it didn't click. The first sign upon commencing my walk was how straight and flat it was. After a few hundred yards I also noticed it was on built-up grade, staying flat as the surrounding landscape descended. Looking back at my map it wasn't marked as an old railroad which you will sometimes see. I also noted it appeared narrower than what I find railroad grades to be. 

As I walked I came to a place in the trail that went sharply down and then sharply up. There must have been some kind of bridge here. A little further up there was another, deeper drop crossed by a modern wooden bridge, not an old railroad bridge reused. Either of these, as well as two more had no evidence of stone or cement footings. This was odd to me. Two of them did have what appeared to me to be scrape marks from the bucket of an excavator. Perhaps the abutments had been pulled out. Why?

The only thing I found that may have been railroad/streetcar-related was a culvert. This was cement and was fairly large. There was no date stamped on either end and it must have crossed a fairly large stream although it is mostly dry now. Other than that I saw nothing. No mile markers, no whistle posts, no signal posts, no old ties. All this led me to the conclusion it was a trolley line. 

I have been on several old trolley lines, Charlton MA, Marlboro MA, and Brimfield MA are three, and I have always noticed that when they are abandoned, nothing is left behind. Other than one bridge in Brimfield, I have never seen so much as a piece of a utility pole. It occurred to me today this was probably because these trolley lines all went bankrupt and sold everything for scrap to get money. If the bridge abutments were made of timber (doubtful) or granite blocks this could be the case. One of the crossings did have some loose stones at the bottom of it indicating this may have been made with stone. 

The other thing that led me to believe it was a trolley line, it ran alongside Shenipset Lake. When I reached the end of the trail and could go no further, the bed was wider and there was a beach there. I think this was a park built by the trolley line taking passengers there in summer for extra revenue. Now let's do some research and see if I am at least close to right. 

Looking at the Historical Topoview map website, in 1921 this was the "Shore Line Electric Railway". The original name was the "Connecticut Company" according to Wikipedia, and this was owned by "The New Haven Railroad". The company began in 1895 but I cannot find a date this portion of the line was built although looking at the old maps it had to be between 1892 and 1921. I also have not been able to find when this line was abandoned. 

Connecticut Line Trolley Car

The picture to the right is from the collection of trolley cars at The Shoreline Trolley Museum in East Haven, CT. 

Other than being on the old trolley line there wasn't much to see along this trail. There were no foundations or even stone walls alongside it. I should have looked at the old map before going and I would have noticed it shows an ice house listed. I was going to go to that section hoping there might be an old mill site but did not. Story of my life I guess.

However, it was a beautiful fall day and the Wayward Wagger and I enjoyed ourselves.