by Andrew Grahl/photos as noted
Metro-North Railroad provides passenger service on the seven-station, 23.9-mile-long Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line from South Norwalk, northward to Danbury, in Fairfield County, Connecticut. Beautiful scenery and railroad history make this line a must see for railroad photographers.
History
The line opened in March 1852 as the Danbury & Norwalk Railroad. A 4-mile branch opened to Ridgefield in July 1870. The (original) Housatonic Railroad leased the Danbury & Norwalk in 1886, with the New York, New Haven & Hartford taking over the Housatonic in 1892. The New Haven also purchased the New York & New England Railroad in 1895, today’s Maybrook Line.
The line to Danbury was electrified in 1925 and subsequently de-electrified in 1961, with overhead wire removed in 1965. The last freight on the Ridgefield Branch ran in January 1964.
ABOVE: CDOT P32AC-DM 231 leads an evening train into the Branchville station on August 9, 2023. Engine 231 is one of four P32AC-DM locomotives that are painted in the classic New Haven livery. Branchville is named for the spur line to Ridgefield that branched off here until it was abandoned in 1964.
Penn Central acquired the New Haven Railroad on January 1, 1969. The State of Connecticut leased the ine from Penn Central in January 1971. Passenger service north of Danbury to Pittsfield, Mass., was cut back to Danbury in April 1971. Conrail provided freight and passenger service from April 1, 1976 to 1983, when Metro-North was created to run the passenger service. Conrail sold the Danbury Cluster on December 30,1992 to the Housatonic Railroad, which rarely operates over the trackage adjacent to the Danbury station. Providence & Worcester currently provides the only freight service on the Danbury Branch.
Equipment
Metro-North weekday through-trains to Grand Central have seven cars and are called “Maxi Bomb” sets, as the passenger coaches were manu-factured by Bombardier and are refered to as Shoreliners. These trains use one of the 27 Metro-North, or one of the four ConnDOT P32AC-DM diesel locomotives. “DM” designates “Dual Mode,” enabling these locomotives to switch from diesel to D.C. third-rail electric in Manhattan to operate into Grand Central Terminal using third rail shoes. All of the Metro-North 40th Anniversary “wraps” have made their way to Danbury.
ABOVE: Danbury station has always been known for great combo shots, as four Maxi-Bomb trainsets lay over here for the weekend. One set, which on Saturday, June 10, 2023, featured P32AC-DM 208 wrapped for Metro-North’s 40th Anniversary livery, sits in a prime morning photo location in front of the Danbury Railway Museum. It was photographed with BL20GH 111 passing on a Danbury shuttle train.
Shuttles, also called “Mini Bombs” operate with three cars and one of the six Brookville BL20GH locomotives in Metro-North paint, or one of the six in ConnDOT colors. Variety in the form of two leased CTrail GP40-2H locomotives currently provide additional shuttle power. Certain weekday shuttle trains are scheduled to operate with full “Maxi-Bomb” trainsets and GE power. Weekend trains can use any equipment, but generally run with “Mini Bomb” sets.
Locomotives almost always face north, which results in difficult lighting for photographers except during the summer months, when the sun gets far enough to the northwest to light the nose. In Danbury, the tracks curve west providing good afternoon light.
ABOVE: A southbound Metro-North RDC makes the stop at Cannondale station on Metro-North’s Danbury Branch in June 1986. Before the BL20GH and FL9 powered Mini Bomb sets, Danbury trains operated with Budd-built RDC and SPV cars. The Victorian-era Cannondale station was built in 1892. —Gary Grahl photo
Freight service on the branch is provided by Genesee & Wyoming’s Providence & Worcester Railroad CT-2, operating from Cedar Hill Yard in North Haven, west on Metro-North’s New Haven Line to South Norwalk, then north to Danbury to bring stone to the Tilcon plant. Engines are on each end of the train to facilitate a quick change of direction at South Norwalk. CT-2 is nocturnal and generally operates early in the week from March to November. The Housatonic Railroad’s NX10 switches the Oak Ridge facility in Danbury, just beyond Metro-North territory, and has trackage rights to the Danbury Railway Museum and west on the Maybrook Line…