I’m working on a project related to modeling urban railroads as part of an article series for Railroad Model Craftsman magazine. I am looking for one or two photos I could publish that show one of the steep ramps used by NH freight trains to access street-level industrial tracks from the mainline through Bridgeport. Can someone please direct me to some resources where I might find photos of trains using the ramps? The later era, the better. I’ve tried searching online with no luck.
If you have photos to share or resources to direct me to, please contact me. I can be reached at otto@railfan.com – thank you in advance!
-otto-
There were three ramps in Bridgeport at least during my time. The east ramp and the west ramp controlled by SS-60 and lead to and from the lower yard. There were coal trains from Maybrook for the U I plant in the lower yard. They usually ran on a Saturday or Sunday in to Bridgeport and the road crew took the train down the west ramp in to the yard. After the cars were yarded the power would go light to Cedar Hill. The other ramp was at SS-55 (Burr Road) and went east off track 4 to the hole track which had a good amount of industrial switching on it. A day yard job out of the lower yard did that work as well as the work off track 3 just west of Burr Road (Mc Kesson and Jenkins and Handy and Harmon were the three customers that this job worked off track 3. The same day job worked both track 3 and the hole. Normal power was an 0931-0995 class S-1 switch engine. The west ramp tunneled under the main line tracks to reach the lower yard.
Noel Weaver
As a Bpt teenager, I biked down to watch the ‘work train’ many times at Howard Ave. — my dad worked at Dictaphone. Did I own a camera?
Did I take any pix? Answer to second question is NO! So sorry. Had to have seen trains on the Burr St. ramp. Remember Waterbury
trains descending down west ramp and magically coming up the east ramp! Other ramp is on Crescent Ave near Seaview Ave. Factories
served are long gone. And, of course, HRR line ramped down to street level by Bridgeport Brass. Oh how I wish I had taken those pix…
All of the above from New Haven Rail Forum
PenneyVanderbilt 