The Connecticut Company was the primary electric street railway company in the U.S. state of Connecticut, operating both city and rural trolleys and freight service. It was controlled by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (New Haven), which also controlled most steam railroads in the state. After 1936, when one of its major leases was dissolved, it continued operating streetcars and, increasingly, buses in certain Connecticut cities until 1976, when its assets were purchased by the state government.
History Formation and expansion In 1895, after it acquired control of the New York and New England Railroad, the New Haven controlled almost 90% of the steam railroad mileage in Connecticut. That same year, it gained control of its first street railway, the Stamford Street Railroad, on about April 1. That company, which operated local lines in the city of Stamford, was in bad shape financially, and the owners of a majority of its stocks and bonds, wishing to get rid of their investments, found a willing buyer in the New Haven.New Haven, p. 2361 The second acquisition was also a local system, the Meriden Electric Railroad in Meriden, which the New Haven bought on October 18, 1895, from its president.New Haven, p. 2362
However, the next electric railway the New Haven gained control of was a long rural trolley line in eastern Connecticut. Sanderson & Porter, construction contractors, were building the People's Tramway between Danielson and Putnam, parallel to the New Haven-controlled Norwich and Worcester Railroad, and on September 18, 1899 the New Haven signed a contract with Sanderson & Porter to control the line. This agreement was modified on July 18, 1901, by which time Sanderson & Porter had gained control of the Worcester and Webster Street Railway and Webster and Dudley Street Railway in Massachusetts, and subscribed to the stock of the Thompson Tramway, which planned to connect the two segments, thus forming a continuous line between Danielson and Worcester, Massachusetts. Under the terms of this new agreement, the Thompson Tramway was renamed Worcester and Connecticut Eastern Railway on January 24, 1902, and later that year received the stocks of the three other companies, as well as the newly incorporated Danielson and Norwich Street Railway, which was to continue the line south to Norwich. The arrangement was completed on September 29, 1902, when the Worcester and Connecticut Eastern leased the two Massachusetts companies and acquired the property of the two Connecticut companies. Almost simultaneously the New Haven gained control of the line,New Haven, pp. 2363-2364 which, after the completion of several segments in 1903, extended from Worcester south to Central Village, with branches in Connecticut from Elmville to East Killingly (where it connected with the Providence and Danielson Railway to Providence, Rhode Island) and Central Village to Moosup.
The New Haven used this new acquisition as an initial corporate shell for its electric subsidiaries, renaming it Consolidated Railway on May 18, 1904, and transferring the property of the Meriden Electric to it later that month and the stock of the Stamford Street Railroad to it in October. In the meantime, the New Haven bought control of the Fair Haven and Westville Railroad and conveyed its property to the Consolidated in late May. This company served the city of New Haven and surrounding areas,New Haven, pp. 2362-2366 including intercity lines, in conjunction with the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company, to Bridgeport (connecting at Woodmont) and Derby, the latter completed in late 1903. The Stamford Street Railroad also, in late 1903, opened a connection with the Greenwich Tramway, thus completing the trolley link between New Haven and the New York state line. The Wallingford Tramway was incorporated in 1903, and its unfinished property was conveyed to the Worcester and Connecticut Eastern on May 14, 1904, four days before the renaming. This company's line, from Wallingford south to the end of a Fair Haven and Westville line at Montowese, was completed by the Consolidated in late 1904, forming the final piece of a continuous electric railway route between New York City and Boston via Hartford, Springfield, and Worcester.
During the next few years, the New Haven, through the Consolidated Railway, acquired control of and later the property of many electric railways throughout the state. In order, these acquisitions were:New Haven, pp. 2366-2374, 2394-2397 Worcester and Southbridge Street Railway (Worcester to Sturbridge, Massachusetts): control May 25, 1904 New London Street Railway (New London local lines), Norwich Street Railway (Norwich local lines), and Montville Street Railway (connection between the two): control July 30, 1904; property September 29, 1904 Worcester and Blackstone Valley Street Railway (Worcester to Northbridge, Massachusetts): control September 22, 1904 Middletown Street Railway (Middletown local lines and the charter of the Middletown and Meriden Traction Company to Meriden): control October 25, 1904; property November 28, 1904 Greenwich Tramway and New York and Stamford Railway (extending the Stamford Street Railroad through Greenwich into New Rochelle, New York): control December 29, 1904; property (of the former only) September 19, 1905 Berkshire Street Railway (long rural line in western Massachusetts): control January 18, 1905 Springfield Street Railway (Springfield, Massachusetts local and suburban lines): control April 11, 1905 Hartford Street Railway (Hartford local lines, including lines to Rainbow Park in Windsor, Newington, Wethersfield, East Windsor Hill, the East Hartford and Glastonbury Street Railway to South Glastonbury, and the Farmington Street Railway to Unionville): control April 3, 1905; property (except the Farmington Street Railway) September 19, 1905 Suffield Street Railway (Suffield to Massachusetts state line, connecting with the Springfield Street Railway): control April 1905; property September 19, 1905 Branford Lighting and Water Company (East Haven to Branford): control June 29, 1905; property September 19, 1905 Willimantic Traction Company (Baltic, near Norwich, to Willimantic): control October 7, 1905; property December 6, 1905 Worcester Consolidated Street Railway (Worcester, Massachusetts local and suburban lines): control in or after December 1905 Hartford, Manchester and Rockville Tramway and Stafford Springs Street Railway (East Hartford to Stafford Springs via Rockville): control January 25, 1906; property (of the former only) March 26, 1906 Hartford and Worcester Street Railway (franchise only): January 25, 1906 Hartford and Middletown Street Railway (franchise only): March 13, 1906 Torrington and Winsted Street Railway (Torrington to Winsted): control June 22, 1906 The property of the Stamford Street Railroad, control of which had been acquired in 1895, was conveyed to the Consolidated on September 26, 1905.
The effect of these transactions was to give the New Haven control of a large system of electric railways in Connecticut and Massachusetts, many of them connecting with each other. In the meantime, the United Gas Improvement Company of Philadelphia had put together its own system, including most of the mileage in Rhode Island and over one-quarter of the mileage in Connecticut, through subsidiaries Rhode Island Company and Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company. The latter owned the lines in the coastal towns between Stamford and West Haven, connecting with New Haven properties at both ends, as well as a rural line extending through the Naugatuck Valley from Stratford north to Seymour with local lines in Derby and vicinity. To the north, it controlled local and suburban lines in New Britain and Waterbury, connecting with the New Haven's lines at Newington and Mount Carmel. The Meriden, Southington and Compounce Tramway, also controlled by the United Gas Improvement Company, extended from the New Haven's local lines in Meriden to Lake Compounce, intersecting the ends of Waterbury and New Britain lines at Milldale and Southington. A continuous route between Stratford and Waterbury via Derby and Seymour was completed in 1907 by lessor Naugatuck Valley Electric Railway. The New Haven came to an agreement with the United Gas Improvement Company on December 19, 1906, whereby the Consolidated Railway leased the property of the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company, and acquired the stock of the Meriden, Southington and Compounce Tramway, Rhode Island Company, and various power companies operating in Connecticut.New Haven, pp. 2374-2377
Formation of the Connecticut Company in 1907 Expansion continued with the acquisition by the Consolidated Railway of control of the Waterbury and Pomperaug Valley Street Railway (Waterbury-Woodbury) on April 20, 1907 and the Thomaston Tramway (Waterbury-Thomaston) on May 29, 1907. Two days later, on May 31, the Consolidated was merged into the New Haven, and the Thomaston Tramway was renamed Connecticut Company, becoming the operator of all of the New Haven's electric railway properties formerly operated by the Consolidated. The Columbia Traction Company, which owned no railway but valuable charter privileges relating to power generation, was acquired by the New Haven on June 24 and merged with the Connecticut Company on June 30, 1909.New Haven, pp. 2378-2379 The property of subsidiaries formerly controlled by the Consolidated was also conveyed to the New Haven for operation by the Connecticut Company, including the Meriden, Southington and Compounce Tramway (June 29, 1907),New Haven, pp. 2377-2378 the Torrington and Winchester Street Railway (June 29, 1907),New Haven, p. 2374 the Farmington Street Railway (December 31, 1907),New Haven, p. 2370 and the Stafford Springs Street Railway (June 30, 1908).New Haven, p. 2373 This left the New Haven as owner of all the property operated by the Connecticut Company except for that owned by the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company, as well as the portion of the coastal line in West Haven owned by the West Shore Railway, which had been leased to the Fair Haven and Westville Railroad prior to its acquisition in 1904,New Haven, p. 2380 and the short South Manchester Light, Power and Tramway Company, similarly leased to the Hartford, Manchester and Rockville Tramway.New Haven, p. 2386 The largest expansions of the system were made by electrifying various existing steam lines of the New Haven and running trolleys over them, providing connections in 1906 from Middletown west to Meriden and north to Cromwell, connecting at the latter point with a new rural trolley line to Hartford, and a link between Norwich and Central Village. In 1907 an alternate line between East Hartford and Rockville was added to these operations. The segment from Middletown via Westfield to Berlin was also electrified for use by the Connecticut Company, but was later operated exclusively by the New Haven using larger passenger cars.