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About the HRRC

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Our 177 Year History
The original Housatonic Railroad was chartered in 1836 and was acquired by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in 1892. At that time, the railroad was 175 miles long, with 60 passenger depots. The last passenger train ran on April 30, 1971. The railroad was then land-banked until 1983 when the line from Canaan to New Milford, Connecticut was reopened and the Housatonic Railroad name was used again. The railroad expanded to Pittsfield, MA in 1991 and expanded again in 1992 to include the line from Derby, Connecticut to Beacon, New York. The railroad now consists of 161 miles of rail lines devoted to freight transportation.
Benefits of Doing Business with Us

• We are local in Canaan, Connecticut. Someone is always available to respond to your needs.
• Local service to your siding is customized; we have two crews during the day and one crew at night.
• Rail economics for boxcars are generally superior to truck and intermodal, particularly for long distances, even considering inventory carrying costs.
• Cars move fast on our railroad, both in the loaded and empty directions, which keeps our costs and your prices low.
• We interchange with CSXT at Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
• We are part of the national railroad system - the best rail system in the world and continually improving.
• We are a short line railroad that has a north-south line from Pittsfield, MA to Danbury, CT and an east-west line from Beacon, NY to Derby, CT covering over 160 miles.
• Our workforce is professional, experienced, and diversified.
• We have a railroad-operated bulk distribution facility, a lumber distribution facility operated by an affiliated company, and a rail-served warehouse operated by a third party.
• We have many sites available for industrial development totaling over 600 acres.
• Our management is experienced and progressive, with access to capital.

Shepaug Lumber Distribution Facility

• Operated by Shepaug Distribution Services, LLC.

Location:

• 30 Hawleyville Rd
  Newtown, CT 06440
  P.O. Box 186
  Hawleyville, CT 06440
  Phone: (203) 426-2979
  Fax: (203) 364-1678

Car Spots:

• Seven car rail siding, docks for unloading box cars or cross-docking between box car and truck

Commodities:

• Lumber, plywood, pulp board, brick and other building materials and forest products

Services:

• A full range of distribution services including Truck to Rail Transfer, Storage, Trucking, Lumber Unit Saw, Bar Coding, Unit Lumber Splitting and Inventory Tracking

Truck Access:

• 1/2 mile from I-84, 5 miles from I-684
• Close to major markets: 40 miles to New York City and Northern New Jersey

Features:

• 7 acres paved outside storage;
• additional unpaved storage;
• 40,000 sq. ft. covered storage with smooth concrete floor

Rail Service:

• Housatonic Railroad

Switching Frequency:

• Monday through Friday with seven days available

If you would like to read more about our history, both recent and not-so, click here. Click below to see some images of our railroad in operation, including some terrific historical shots.

This photo, shot in Canaan, CT is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in Lee, MA is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in south Lee, MA is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in south Lee, MA is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in Glendale, MA is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in south Great Barrington, MA is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in south Great Barrington, MA is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in south Canaan, CT is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in south Canaan, CT is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in south Canaan, CT is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in south Canaan, CT is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This photo, shot in Canaan, CT is ©2013, by Dave Honan, to see more of his work, or to purchase prints visit his site at davehonan.com.

This is a great aerial shot, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Outside Danbury, CT snowplowing, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Another great shot in the snow, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

At the Switch, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Running through snow, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Avoiding traffic, a specialty of ours, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Terrific shot of one of our engines, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Train approaching, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Zoo train outside Brookfield, 1956, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Train wreck, Cornwallbridge, March of 68, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Near Brookfield, 1955, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

A special outside Cornwall Bridge, 1964, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

On the Penn Central line, 1970, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

NX13 in Canaan, CT, February 1966, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Near Newtown, CT Dec 1965, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

FL9H number 2047 outside Pittsfield, Oct 1968, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Camp train near Canaan, July 1965, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

A Budd 47 on NX13, Oct 1963, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Outside Brookfield, CT, July 1958, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

The Berkshire Junction in Feb '57, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Berkshire Express outside Pittsfield, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Berkshire Express outside Brookfield, May 59, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Below Cornwall Bridge, May 65, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Our schedule, 1957, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Our schedule, 1957, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Pittsfield April 1968, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Outside Canaan, CT 1960, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Outside Canaan, CT June 1957, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

Outside Canaan, CT 1963, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

HRRC Ticket, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

HRRC Pamphlet 1, ©2013, hrrc, inc.

HRRC Pamphlet 2, ©2013, hrrc, inc.