Naugatuck Railroad Company

Product Details Company Naugatuck Railroad Company Certificate Type First Mortgage Bond Date Issued May 24, 1913 Canceled Yes Printer American Bank Note Company Signatures Hand signed Approximate Size 13 1/2" (w) by 9 1/2" (h) Product Images Show the exact certificate you will receive Authentic Yes Additional Details NA Historical Context The Naugatuck Railroad was opened to Waterbury on June 11, 1849 and to Winsted on September 24, 1849. The Waterbury and Watertown Railroad, (Watertown Branch) was opened between these points on November 1, 1870 and leased to the Naugatuck RR for 5 years. When this road was being built, Waterbury people were not interested in its going north of that point. Since the opening of the Farmington Canal, Waterbury freight had been hauled to Cheshire and shipped on the canals. By 1848, the New Haven and Northampton Railroad was in operation between New Haven and Plainville and Waterbury people were in favor of the railroad being extended to connect with the New Haven and Northampton at Cheshire. However, after much talk pro and con, the line to Cheshire was never built and the Naugatuck was completed to Winsted. The Naugatuck did a fine business for many years. They made an agreement with the New York and New Haven RR to run their trains from Naugatuck Junction (now Devon) to Bridgeport and from 1868 to 1871, ran trains from Waterbury to New Haven. When the New Haven and Derby Railroad opened on August 5,1871, the passenger service to New Haven ran over this line. The Naugatuck Railroad was leased to the New York, New Haven & Hartford on May 24, 1887 and was then known as the Naugatuck Division. In the early 1900's it was combined with the Berkshire Division. Early in 1908, the Highland Division from Hartford to Hopewell Junction, New York, a former part of the New York and New England, was combined with the Berkshire Naugatuck Division and for a number of years this combination was known as the Western Division. With the many large industrial plants and large towns and cities along its route, there is no doubt that the Naugatuck Railroad did more than any other single factor in developing the busy industrial section between Derby and Winsted. In the 1850's the Naugatuck Railroad was said to have the first vestibuled car in the United States. Related Collections