Sanford | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
General information | |||||
Other names | Topstone, Sanford's | ||||
Coordinates | 41°18′01″N73°27′01″W / 41.300174°N 73.450182°W | ||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||
History | |||||
Opening | 1852 | ||||
Closed | 1938 | ||||
Electrified | 1925 | ||||
|
Sanford station (also known as Sanford's and later called Topstone) was a passenger rail station on the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and later the Danbury Branch of both the Housatonic Railroad and the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. The station was located on the border between Ridgefield and Redding, Connecticut, and was located on Topstone Road. Opened in 1852 as a flag stop and located in the Topstone section of Redding, Connecticut, the original station building was destroyed in 1891 by a speeding freight train. A new station building was erected the following year and would serve until the station's closure in 1938. The station was called so because of the numerous families named Sanford in the area surrounding the station. [1]
Sanford station first opened in 1852 as one of the original stations on the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. On August 11, 1891, the original station building was destroyed when a northbound freight train derailed. The accident closed the line to traffic for two hours. [2] By the early 1900s, the station had begun to serve local cider mills. [1] In 1908, due to the station being confused with the Stamford station, [3] the name of the station was changed to "Topstone", another name for the neighborhood around the station. [4] In 1938, the station was sold for $50 and subsequently demolished in April of that year. [4]
The station consisted of a main station house and an adjacent low-level side platform that was located on the west side of the Danbury Branch's two tracks at this location. The station was flanked on the north side by Topstone Road and on the west by Simpaug Turnpike in Redding. [4]
Ridgefield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Situated in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains and on the New York state border, Ridgefield has a population of 25,033 as of the 2020 census. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. The town center, which was formerly a borough, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place. The town was settled then quickly incorporated by 1709.
The New Haven Line is a 72.7 mi (117.0 km) commuter rail line operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. states of New York and Connecticut. Running from New Haven, Connecticut, to New York City, the New Haven Line joins the Harlem Line in Mount Vernon, New York, and continues south to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. The New Haven Line carries 125,000 passengers every weekday and 39 million passengers a year. The busiest intermediate station is Stamford, with 8.4 million passengers, or 21% of the line's ridership.
The Housatonic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England and eastern New York. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and has since expanded north and south, as well as west into New York State.
The Danbury Branch is a diesel branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line in the U.S. state of Connecticut, running from downtown Norwalk north to Danbury. It opened in 1852 as the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. Until the early 1970s, passenger service continued north from Danbury to Canaan, Connecticut, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Metro-North took over operation of the line from Conrail in 1983, and the modern-day branch is mostly single-tracked.
The Danbury and Norwalk Railroad, chartered in 1836 as the Fairfield County Railroad, was an independent American railroad that operated between the cities of Danbury and Norwalk, Connecticut from 1852 until its absorption by the Housatonic Railroad in 1886. The right of way established by the D&N continues in operation and is now the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line of the Metro-North Railroad.
Danbury station is a commuter rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in Danbury, Connecticut. The station is the northern terminus of the Danbury Branch.
Redding station is a commuter rail stop on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in Redding, Connecticut. The station has one two-car-long high-level side platform to the west of the single track.
Branchville station is a commuter rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, located in the Branchville neighborhood of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Cannondale station is a commuter rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line, located in the Cannondale neighborhood of Wilton, Connecticut. The station building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992 as part of the Cannondale Historic District.
Wilton station is a commuter rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line, located in Wilton, Connecticut. The station first opened in 1852 and is the most used station on the Danbury Branch by weekday passengers.
Branchville is a neighborhood of the town of Ridgefield in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, and is also the name of a Metro North railroad station. Branchville was listed as a census-designated place (CDP) prior to the 2020 census.
Kent Road station was a commuter rail stop on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line. It was located near the border between Wilton and Norwalk, south of a grade crossing with Kent Road in Wilton, Connecticut. It opened in 1976 and closed in 1994. A previous station on the site, South Wilton, closed in 1971.
Brookfield station is a proposed passenger rail station on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line, to be located in Brookfield, Connecticut.
Georgetown station is a former commuter rail station on the Danbury Division of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, located in Georgetown, Connecticut. It was in service from 1852 to 1970. A new station at Georgetown has been proposed.
Norwalk station was a station on the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad located in Norwalk, Connecticut. It opened in 1852 and closed around 1956. A new station at the site has been considered.
Cooper station was a stop on the Ridgefield Branch of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and later the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. Opened c. 1885 as a flag stop in the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut, the station was closed in 1925 when passenger service on the Ridgefield branch was discontinued. The station existed alongside the Florida and Ridgefield stations along the branch. Cooper was named so due to the namesake street it was located on which was in turn named for an unidentified cooper who operated a workshop in the vicinity.
Ridgefield station was a station on the Ridgefield Branch of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and later the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad, located in the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Opened in 1870 as the terminus of its namesake branch line. The station would serve passengers until the discontinuation of passenger service on August 8, 1925, afterwards only accommodating freight service until the NYNH&H abandoned the line entirely in 1964. The station would remain as a part of the Ridgefield Supply Company's headquarters until 2015, when the original station was disassembled, refurbished, and moved to the other side of the property where it still stands today.
Mill Plain was a station on the main line of the New York and New England Railroad and later the Maybrook Line of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. Opened in 1881, the station was originally located in the Mill Plain area in the western part of Danbury, Connecticut. The station was closed in 1928 and served multiple purposes from 1930 until 2018. The station building was restored and moved to the Danbury Railway Museum in 2019.
Winnipauk was a station on the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and later the Danbury Branch of the Housatonic Railroad and the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. Located in the Winnipauk section of the northern part of Norwalk, Connecticut, the station opened in 1852 and was an important stop that served nearby mills before it was closed in 1929.
The Ridgefield Branch was a branch line of the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad and later the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. It ran for 4.0 miles (6.4 km) from Branchville to the center of Ridgefield, Connecticut. After a difficult and costly construction hindered by the topography of the Norwalk River valley, the branch opened in July 1870 after a year of construction. Throughout its existence, three stations existed on the line. In 1925, amid electrification of the neighboring Danbury Line, passenger service on the branch was terminated. Freight service continued to just the Ridgefield station until 1964, when the line was abandoned entirely.