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Cedar Hill Yard

Coordinates: 41°19′39″N 72°53′39″W / 41.32750°N 72.89417°W / 41.32750; -72.89417
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41°19′39″N 72°53′39″W / 41.32750°N 72.89417°W / 41.32750; -72.89417

An overview of Cedar Hill Yard, as of 1977. A large collection of railroad tracks can be seen in the foreground. At the center of the image is a large coaling tower, and behind it is a roundhouse. Railroad tracks extend off to the left, as well as off towards the horizon across the Quinnipiac River.
Cedar Hill Yard, circa 1977

Cedar Hill Yard is a current classification yard and former hump yard located in New Haven and North Haven, Connecticut. It was built by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H) in the early 1890s in and around New Haven's Cedar Hill neighborhood, which gave the yard its name. It was greatly expanded between 1917 and 1920 with additional construction along both sides of the Quinnipiac River. At its peak during World War II, Cedar Hill was one of the busiest and most important railyards in the Northeastern United States, with two humps in use to classify over 3,000 cars per day. Much of the former railyard has since been abandoned, although it remains in use by CSX Transportation, Providence and Worcester Railroad, Amtrak, and Connecticut Southern Railroad.

Location

The yard is located just north of the New Haven Line, which it connects to. Amtrak's New Haven–Springfield Line passes through the yard shortly after diverging from the Northeast Corridor. Providence and Worcester's line from Middletown, Connecticut, terminates at Cedar Hill Yard. The New Haven and Northampton formerly connected Cedar Hill Yard to Northampton, Massachusetts, and points north, but the tracks have since been abandoned.[1][2]

History

Before 1900

The first instance of Cedar Hill Yard was built in the early 1890s by the New Haven Railroad just north of the city of New Haven, on flat lands adjacent to the Quinnipiac River.[3]

In 1896, tensions with labor reached a breaking point. Due to the construction of Cedar Hill Yard, train crews had to stop their trains within the yard as opposed to the yard in New Haven proper, which reportedly increased their shifts by several hours. Employees demanded extra pay for the longer hours, but the railroad refused, leading several train crews to walk off the job. One railway man was quoted by a local newspaper as saying:

We think that it is no more than fair that extra pay be given us for all work over eight hours for yard men and all over ten hours for through men. Those men who run into New Haven and were ordered to take their trains to Cedar Hill, were done an injustice. It takes at least two hours to sidetrack a train there and get back into the city and I do not blame the men for refusing to do it unless paid for extra time.[3]

1900 to 1917

Operations at the yard came to a halt on November 21, 1901, when approximately 125 switchmen and brakemen went on strike in solidarity with strikers at Mott Haven. The New Haven's president John M. Hall asserted the strike would quickly end, as the strikers had no grievances and they would return to their jobs as soon as they understood the situation.[4]

On July 31, 1904, a deadly train collision occurred just outside of Cedar Hill Yard. The NYNH&H's White Mountain passenger train collided with the rear of a freight train attempting to pull into a siding by the yard, resulting in the death of the White Mountain's engineer, while the train's fireman survived with severe injuries. A coroner found the crew of the freight train criminally responsible for the crash, as they had neglected to send a flagman behind their train to warn the White Mountain, which they knew was due to arrive, that the tracks were not clear. As a result of the crash, operations were changed so that all northbound trains entered the yard at the south end.[5]

Between 1914 and 1915, the New Haven added electrical catenary to the yard as part of its electrification program.[6] By 1915, it was apparent the existing yard was not large enough to handle the amount of freight it was receiving. A local newspaper reported that "There were so many freight cars lying in the yard that switchers could not travel from the north to the south end of the yards."[7] Freight congestion was so bad that it was delaying the New Haven's passenger trains through the area as well.[7]

The yard is expanded, 1917 to 1920

The New Haven Railroad purchased approximately 500 acres of land in the Cedar Hill area in 1917 for constructing a new classification yard. Originally, the company had planned to build a new yard in nearby Woodmont, but instead built it at Cedar Hill due to local opposition. Construction began the same year.[8] The expansion project was initially budgeted at $10 million in 1918 dollars, but upon the United States Railroad Administration's takeover of all U.S. railroads in December 1917, the federal government doubled the project's budget to $20 million and allocated government engineers to assist in construction. This greatly increased the scope of the project, with the terminal and facilities estimated to take up more than 2,000 acres of land in total upon completion.[9] After several years of construction, the new Cedar Hill Yard opened in 1920. At the time of its completion, Cedar Hill was the largest railyard east of the Mississippi River in the entire United States.[10]

1920 to 1950

Three ALCO FA locomotives parked on a track in the yard. A railroad worker is standing near the lead locomotive.
New Haven ALCO FA locomotives at Cedar Hill Yard in 1949

An automatic train stop system was installed from Cedar Hill Yard north to Springfield, Massachusetts in 1925, with it entering operation on the first of September.[11] In 1926, Cedar Hill handled 97,328 cars per month, for an average of 3,200 cars each day.[12] Particularly busy days saw over 4,000 cars classified in 24 hours.[13] By 1928, Cedar Hill Yard and its surrounding facilities occupied 880 acres of land. The massive yards had a capacity of over 15,000 railroad cars.[14]

On August 29, 1928, an attempt was made by unknown person(s) to sabotage an express passenger train travelling from Montreal to Washington, D.C. through the yard. A railroad employee walking along the tracks noticed a railroad spike lodged into the rails in an attempt to derail the train, which was carrying over $2 million worth of gold along with over 350 passengers. A derailment was averted when the employee flagged down the train, which reportedly came to a stop 30 feet away from the spike.[15]

In 1929, the New Haven commenced another major project to improve the yard by adding retarders and wiring switches to be remotely operated from control towers, improving both the safety and speed of the classification process. In total, 44 retarders were installed at Cedar Hill, along with 88 switches converted.[16]

By 1941, Cedar Hill Yard held the title of "the world's largest single-railroad-operated freight yard".[17] A tour granted to a reporter for the Meriden Record in 1941 affords a snapshot of how the yard operated at its peak immediately before the Second World War. The reporter arrived at the yard on a train from Springfield, Massachusetts, and observed his train being reclassified over one of the yard's humps. The train was first inspected for defects by eight car inspectors, and then sent over the hump. The 70-car train was fully sorted in 14 minutes.[17] The railroad operated four control towers to run the yard, towers A through D. The towers were linked to each other by a PA system and the world's longest pneumatic tube system, with one tube stretching for three miles and requiring seven minutes for a cartridge to travel from one end to the other.[17] At the time of the reporter's visit, the yard's twin roundhouses serviced 44 freight locomotives, 185 passenger locomotives, and 8 switchers each day.[17]

Cedar Hill Yard was at its busiest during World War II, with very heavy traffic in support of the war effort. In 1943, particularly busy days saw as many as 5,000 cars classified in a 24 hour period. The railroad faced challenges due to labor shortages at this time, as a result of many men being drafted to fight in the war.[18] During the war, a significant amount of traffic travelled between New York City and the yard by car float, moved by the New Haven Railroad's fleet of tugboats.[18]

1950 to 1969

Two electric locomotives pull a caboose across a bridge over the Quinnipiac River. Behind them, several diesel locomotives pull a train across a flyover which leads into the yard.
New Haven Railroad EF-4 electric locomotives at Cedar Hill Yard in 1964

A fire broke out on one of the yard's bridges across the Quinnipiac River on July 5, 1953. The three-track bridge, 300 feet in length, was completely destroyed. Traffic was rerouted over alternate trestles until the repairs, estimated at over $100,000 in 1953 dollars, could be completed.[19][20]

In 1958, the yard handled over 3,000 cars each day.[21] On August 16, 1959, the New Haven was forced to close the western hump after a fire damaged the tracks connecting it to the rest of the yard. Traffic was redirected to the railroad's Maybrook Yard in Maybrook, New York.[22] The remaining hump and the yard at Maybrook were unable to handle all of the traffic, requiring the railroad hastily rebuild the damaged tracks and return the western hump to service.[12] Car float service between Cedar Hill Yard and New York and New Jersey ended in 1968, when Selkirk Yard was rebuilt, resulting in a significant reduction in traffic.[23]

Penn Central takes over, 1969 to 1976

In 1969, the bankrupt New Haven Railroad was merged into newly-formed Penn Central Transportation Company, which inherited the yard. Soon after, Penn Central shut down the western hump at the yard, leaving only one hump in operation.[12]

Operations at Cedar Hill were severely impacted by a fire on the Poughkeepsie Bridge in May of 1974, which suspended all traffic between New Haven and points west that travelled across the bridge.[24] Despite a directive from New York governor Malcolm Wilson in September of that year to reopen the bridge, the bankrupt Penn Central failed to do so.[24] Plans for rebuilding the bridge were repeatedly delayed, with New York representative Benjamin Gilman calling the situation a "seminar on government procrastination".[25] A legal fight over the fate of the bridge continued for years, with Connecticut's congressional delegation opposed to the federal plan to abandon the bridge and route freight to Cedar Hill via a circuitous route through Albany, New York and Springfield, Massachusetts. A representative of the state's department of transportation observed that freight shipments between Washington, D.C. and Boston increased in time from 6 hours to 31 hours when traveling this inland route.[26]

Conrail assumes operations, 1976 to 1999

Just one year after acquiring Cedar Hill Yard with the rest of the New Haven, Penn Central declared bankruptcy. The company was merged into Conrail in 1976 along with many other bankrupt or troubled railroads in the Northeast, making Conrail the yard's new owner. Working with the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT), Conrail began to bring Cedar Hill into a state of good repair, spending over $3 million on track resurfacing and tie replacement in 1976 alone between Cedar Hill and the yard in Hartford, Connecticut. The railroad had replaced over 15,000 ties in Cedar Hill by August of 1976, just 4 months after assuming operations.[27] Conrail also rebuilt and reopened several tracks in the yard that had been out of service due to their unsafe condition, a consequence of deferred maintenance.[27]

Conrail initially focused on expanding TOFC (Trailer On FlatCar) service in a joint project with the CTDOT. In August 1976, Cedar Hill averaged 34 TOFC loads per day, and Conrail projected this number to double upon the completion of a clearance raising project for Risley's Bridge in Berlin, Connecticut.[27] Conrail also planned to rebuild the remaining hump to accommodate modern railcars. At the end of 1976, Conrail reported a 37% increase in traffic at the yard for November and December, thanks to the successful completion of the Risley's Bridge raising project, which added 6 inches of clearance.[28][23]

In 1978, 2 years into Conrail's tenure, Cedar Hill was processing roughly 300 cars a day, significantly less than it had in the New Haven days. At this point the yard employed 200 workers, down from its peak of 1,000.[23] Traffic declined precipitously due to the opening of the newly built and computerized Selkirk Yard, which took the majority of Cedar Hill's previous freight.[12] Primary commodities entering the yard at this point were traprock, metals, food, chemicals, and general merchandise.[23]

Despite previous plans, the end of hump operations at Cedar Hill arrived in April 1980, when Conrail took the remaining hump out of service permanently. Short on funds and operating at a loss, Conrail downsized the yard in favor of the newer yard at Selkirk. From this point on, all operations were done by flat switching.[12] In October of 1981, facing continuing financial problems, Conrail announced its intention to file to abandon its line over the Hudson River via the Poughkeepsie Bridge, ending the prospect of the bridge returning to service. With the line abandoned, the key link between Cedar Hill Yard and the rest of the country was severed.[29]

Illegal dumping of toxic mercury was discovered in an abandoned portion of the yard in 1988, resulting in an investigation involving the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Environmental Protection Agency being launched.[30] The next year, two men who owned an auto repair shop next to the yard were convicted of illegal dumping of the mercury and sentenced to prison time as a result of the investigation.[31]

CSX assumes control, 1999 to present

In 1999, Conrail's lines in New England were purchased by CSX.[32] Following its assumption of operations, CSX began to develop Cedar Hill Yard in the early 2000s for bulk loading, unloading, and transfer of cargo such as lumber and cement between trucks and trains. The railroad has continued the TOFC business that was run by Conrail, but much of it is now moved between Cedar Hill Yard and CSX's West Springfield, Massachusetts yard by truck due to limited capacity on the New Haven–Springfield Line.[33]

In the late 2000s, a new rail line was built to connect the yard to the port of New Haven. As of 2021, this line is operated by the Providence and Worcester.[33][34]

A fire occurred in Cedar Hill Yard on July 23, 2016. The North Haven Fire Department responded to a report of a hopper car filled with construction debris on fire. The fire was extinguished without incident within a few hours.[35][36]

Cedar Hill Yard today

The abandoned coaling tower at Cedar Hill Yard is seen from ground level. In the foreground, several railroad tracks are visible. A number of freight cars loaded with lumber are on one of the tracks.
The abandoned coaling tower at Cedar Hill Yard still stands today. In front of it are freight cars in the yard.

As of 2021, CSX remains the owner and main operator at Cedar Hill Yard. The yard contains a TRANSFLO bulk transfer terminal which handles transloading.[37] Another occupant of the yard is Amtrak, which uses it to store equipment. The yard also contains the headquarters for the company's New England Division. Amtrak employs approximately 100 people at Cedar Hill.[38]

Much of the yard now lies abandoned and is an attraction for urban explorers, despite the dangers of the old buildings and facilities which contain lead paint and asbestos.[39] The former New Haven Railroad coaling tower stands abandoned to this day and is a local landmark.

Future

While as of 2021 the yard currently only operates at a small fraction of its former level of activity, there have been several proposals in recent years that would increase traffic to the yard. One reason for the yard's decline in importance is the Selkirk hurdle, which forces trains travelling between New York City and New England to cross the Hudson River 140 miles north of the city. This has caused a significant amount of freight traffic to switch to trucks, and much of the traffic that continued to travel by rail to instead be directed to the yard in Selkirk, New York.[40]

The proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel in New York City would result in more usage of Cedar Hill Yard. Since so much of the yard is not in use, advocates have proposed rebuilding the abandoned portions of the yard to handle new rail freight traffic from the tunnel if it is built. Officials in Connecticut have supported this proposal as a means of reducing truck traffic on the frequently congested Connecticut Turnpike between NYC and New Haven.[33][41]

In 2011, a proposal was considered to reintroduce car float service between New Haven and New Jersey, with Cedar Hill Yard as the staging location for the New Haven terminus.[33] As of 2021, no car float service has been implemented.

References

  1. ^ Connecticut Department of Transportation (2012). "Connecticut State Rail Plan, 2012-2016" (PDF). Ct.gov. p. 20. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  2. ^ Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The rail lines of southern New England : a handbook of railroad history. Pepperell, Mass.: Branch Line Press. ISBN 0-942147-02-2. OCLC 32604470.
  3. ^ a b "Railroad Men Unsettled - Freight Employes Dissatisfied With Hours Of Labor". Sunday Herald. Bridgeport, Connecticut. November 10, 1895. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  4. ^ "Strike At New Haven". The Meriden Daily Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. November 21, 1901. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  5. ^ "Official Finding: Coroner Mix Gives Decision Regarding Wreck". Meriden Morning Record. August 4, 1904. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  6. ^ "Tide Of Business Turns In Favor Of New Haven". The Meriden Daily Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. March 6, 1915. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Rush of Freight for New Haven to Handle". The Day. New London, Connecticut. April 19, 1915. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  8. ^ "Cedar Hill Will Get Railroad Yard". The Day. May 30, 1917. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  9. ^ "New Haven Will Have Big Terminal". The Day. New London, Connecticut. August 3, 1918. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  10. ^ Duff, Beth Longware (October 28, 2003). "Traveling The Rise And Fall Of The New Haven Railroad". The Hour. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  11. ^ "Meriden In Safety Zone - New Train Stop System Installed". The Meriden Daily Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. September 1, 1925. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e Rhodes, Michael (2014). North American railyards (Updated and expanded ed.). Minneapolis, MN. p. 233. ISBN 978-0-7603-4609-9. OCLC 876669596.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ "New Haven Road Spends $81,000,000 in Decade On System's Improvement". The Day. New London, Connecticut. September 4, 1926. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  14. ^ Marteka, Peter (23 April 2016). "A Trip To The Past Along The Forgotten Quinnipiac River". The Hartford Courant. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  15. ^ "Attempt To Wreck Express Averted By Section Hand". The Montreal Gazette. Montreal, Canada. August 30, 1928. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  16. ^ "N. Haven R.R. to Spend $1,750,000 on Yards". Evening Tribune. Providence, Rhode Island. April 3, 1929. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  17. ^ a b c d Schmelzer, William (June 10, 1941). "The Freights Roll Over Main Street". The Meriden Record. Meriden, Connecticut. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  18. ^ a b Lucey, Charles T. (June 1, 1943). "New Haven Lines Day & Night Move Freight By Water". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  19. ^ "Vital Rail Trestle Burns In New Haven". The Day. New London, Connecticut. July 6, 1953. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  20. ^ "Rail Trestle Leveled By Fire". The Meriden Record. Meriden, Connecticut. July 6, 1953. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  21. ^ Grube, Ken (March 15, 1958). "Dick Duggan Now Rides 'Head-End' Of New Haven Road's Vast System". The Day. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  22. ^ "Railroad Recalling Workers at Maybrook". The Newburgh News. Newburgh, New York. August 26, 1959. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  23. ^ a b c d "Cedar Hill Former Railroad Hub". The Morning Record and Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. August 16, 1978. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Walsh, Peter J. (September 5, 1974). "Penn Central Must Repair Rail Bridge". The Evening News. Newburgh, New York. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  25. ^ "PC Bridge Repair Delay Hit". The Evening News. Newburgh, New York. September 2, 1975. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  26. ^ "Rail lawyer predicts 'fight' over freight". The Day. New London, Connecticut. July 17, 1975. Archived from the original on September 16, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  27. ^ a b c Pach, Peter B. (August 26, 1976). "Track repairs expected to hit $3 million in state this year". The Morning Record. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  28. ^ "Raised span in Berlin increases rail traffic". The Morning Record and Journal. Meriden, Connecticut. February 3, 1977. Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  29. ^ Sterenberg, Bill (October 20, 1981). "Key Beacon, Newburgh RR lines may be cut". The Evening News. Newburgh, New York. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  30. ^ "Wastes at Rail Yard Investigated". The Hour. Norwalk, Connecticut. March 22, 1988. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
  31. ^ Berry, Bryan (August 10, 1989). "Enforcing dump laws isn't easy". Record-Journal. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  32. ^ Vantuono, William C. (April 5, 2016). "Conrail at 40: An experiment that worked". Railway Age. Archived from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  33. ^ a b c d Housatonic Area Regional Transit District (July 2011). "Rail Freight In The Housatonic Region" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  34. ^ "Providence and Worcester Railroad – A Genesee & Wyoming Company". Retrieved 2021-10-12.
  35. ^ "Fire at North Haven CSX Yard Contained Overnight". North Haven, CT Patch. 2016-07-23. Archived from the original on 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  36. ^ "North Haven Fire Department Extinguishes Blaze at CSX Yard". North Haven Fire Department. 2016-07-23. Archived from the original on 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  37. ^ "CSX.com - CSX System Map". www.csx.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  38. ^ Amtrak (2016). "Connecticut 2016" (PDF). Amtrak. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  39. ^ Sniffen, Taylor (30 October 2019). "Urban explorers find joy in abandoned properties in Connecticut". New Haven Register. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  40. ^ "USING BARGES TO REVIVE A RAIL ROUTE". The New York Times. May 4, 1986. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
  41. ^ "Connecticut Turnpike". Archived from the original on June 24, 2007. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
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