New Haven
Following its assumption of control in 1882, the New Haven Railroad leased the Valley Railroad outright in 1887, with it becoming the company's Valley Division.[1] Several changes were made in Hartford around 1907 as part of yard reconfiguration and construction of the Bulkeley Bridge, including replacement of the State Street station building.[4] As the railroad's route bypassed much of Connecticut's industrial areas, it was never an important part of the New Haven system. Following declines in connecting steamship traffic, the southern end of the line was gradually abandoned, cut back from Fenwick to Saybrook Point in 1917, and then again to Old Saybrook in 1922. In 1933, the New Haven ended all passenger service along the line.[1]
What little industry remained on the line gradually declined, and by 1960 the New Haven served the entire line with a single freight train per week. In 1968, the southern portion of the line was abandoned, from Old Saybrook to a waypoint called Laurel, four miles south of Middletown.[1] On January 1, 1969, Penn Central Transportation Company succeeded the New Haven; the company abandoned a further portion of the line between Rocky Hill and Cromwell in 1972, leaving two disconnected parts in service. On the remaining tracks between Hartford and Rocky Hill, and between Cromwell and Middletown, infrequent freight service was provided around once per week. Bankrupt since 1970, Penn Central was absorbed by government-formed Conrail in 1976.[1] The infrequently used remnants of the Connecticut Valley Railroad were not initially planned to be included in Conrail by the United States Railway Association, but the state of Connecticut intervened to prevent the line from being entirely abandoned, directly leasing the segment between Wethersfield and Rock Hill and hiring Conrail to operate freight service. The remaining portions of the line were directly operated by Conrail; between Hartford and Rocky Hill one to two trains a week operated out of Hartford Yard to serve local customers, while sporadic train service was provided in and north of Middletown by a Conrail train based out of Cedar Hill Yard near New Haven, Connecticut.[1]
In the 1980s, Conrail began to spin off its operations in central Connecticut, selling the northern part of the line to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1982, which also took over the contract with the state of Connecticut. This was then followed in 1987 by the sale of all Conrail operations in and around Middletown to a new shortline railroad called the Connecticut Central Railroad.[1]
