25-02-08 PHOTOS: New Cannan

One of those services that is easy to overlook is the Metro-North New Canaan Branch which runs between Stamford and the small town of New Canaan. Included in the New Haven's suburban electrification scheme it managed to hold onto its electrification unlike the nearby Danbury Branch. Today the 8-ish mile line is mostly served by shuttle trains making main line connections at Stamford and to use up some Amtrak expiring companion coupons a friend and I made plans to day trip the line from Baltimore taking Amtrak to/from Stamford and connecting to the Metro-North shuttle from there. The following is a summary of how that worked out.

In order to get all the way up to Stamford at a reasonable time we had to catch one of the first northbound Regionals from the BWI airport rail station. Power for that day's trip was ACS-86 #607.

On the trip up I encountered Acela NG power car #2104 at Philly, SEPTA ACS-86 #909 and Amtrak ACS-86 #650 with a southbound Regional near Co-Op city.

Due to the close connection at Stamford I only had had time for this one photo of an inbound Metro-North  train to GCT before boarding the New Canaan shuttle.

While the line isn't fast or super exciting, it was interesting to reverse my typical perspective of the  Merritt Parkway as well as suburban back yards abutting the single track like it was some sort of suburban trolley.

The line has no passing facilities and typically sees hourly service with the shuttle laying over at Stamford. Today the shuttle was a 6 car train of M8 MU's with a car and a half hanging off the platform at New Canaan.

The balance of the layover is carried out at Stamford so my first act was to briskly walk down to the Grove St crossing to catch the departure. Endcap units were #9445 on the west and #9108 on the east.

The hour headway allowed just enough time to eat at a diner in central New Canaan. Hurrying back I remembered to take a photo of where an MU had smashed through the buffers in 2023, but little to no evidence remained of the incident with the possible exception of more robust buffer stops.

Despite an effort in the late 1950's to build a new station a half mile to the west, the community has seen to the preservation of the historic 1868 station structure. 

Back at Stamford the New Canaan shuttle will hang out on track #5 until its scheduled departure. Apart from peak periods, the shuttles will head directly out on Track #5 which offered a straight shot onto the New Canaan branch at a junction about a mile east of the station.

 

 

Stamford is a significant Metro-North terminal station that sees a baseline service of two trains per hour to Grand Central. Unfortunately the service is not spread evenly with the inbound Stamford locals departing shortly after a New Haven express props off any connecting passengers. Terminating locals will head east into the MU storage yard. In the following sequence we can see the arriving eastbound local pull into the storage yard just before the westbound express pulls past the occupied ready service tracks.

Then an the eastbound express arrives for local passengers making the transfer before the westbound local train pulls out of the yard crossing all the main line tracks to pick up anyone waiting on track #3.

Stamford also sees an above average amount of Amtrak service with both Regionals and Acelas making stops here due to Stamford's position as a financial services hub. Here we see ACS-86 #609 arriving with a westbound train and #658 at the head of an eastbound. 

The current Stamford station was built in 1987 above the tracks replacing a previous wooden structure that was similar to what is currently at South Norwalk. An additional expansion in the early 2000's added island platforms to supplement the original side platforms. 

The SS38 STAMFORD interlocking tower still stands east of the station area.

My original plan was to catch the 3pm Acela back south, but an MBTA derailment at South Station indefinitely delayed the departure forcing me to ultimately switch to what evening's Vermonter before it sold out. Preparing to leave as the sun set I got a consolation prize in the form of Sperry Rail Service doodlebug #129 parked on a storage track just west of the station platforms. 

I also caught an eastbound double headed Regional with ACS-86 electrics #617 and #603.

Because the Vermonter wasn't running exactly to time, Metro-North dispatchers saw fit to go ahead with the westbound shuffle with the express train lead by M8 #9137 on track #3 transferring passengers to the Stamford local lead by M8 #9621 on track #5. 

This of course forced us to go up and over to catch our southbound Vermonter, lead by ACS-86 #659, from track #2. 

Despite the 2-3 hour delay getting home, the trip worked out well and I already have some plans in the works to visit the Danbury Railroad Museum in a similar fashion.