Twilight of New Haven Railroad Electrics

The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad – the New Haven for short – was one of the proud old companies of New England for nearly a century. Best known for its nearly incomparable fleet of passenger trains connecting Boston and New York, two hundred thirty miles apart, the New Haven also ran commuter and local trains and an extensive freight operation.

Since the late 1930s, the New Haven had been battered by bankruptcies, hurricanes, World War Two traffic, speculative managements, an interstate highway built parallel to its primary main line, airline competition, losses from its intense passenger operations, and shifting economic conditions in New England that rocked the railroad to its core.

It’s now the mid-1960s. The New Haven has again been bankrupt since 1961. Its trustees were making valiant efforts to stem its financial erosion even as they sought safety for the road in the impending merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads. On January first, 1969, the New Haven Railroad would be no more.