While the route operated each day excepting Sunday, there were local stops unnamed trains available on Sundays. At peak years of post-World War II service the route was supplemented by other named trains for the New Haven's Berkshire Division route: Housatonic,Litchfield,Mahaiwe,Mahkeenac,Taconic.[4]
The route served as a path to country homes of New Yorkers,[5] as well as to towns such as Canaan and New Milford in the transportation service-neglected northwest Connecticut, an area lacking Interstate highways or major airports. The route south of Danbury Union Station towards South Norwalk station was electrified until 1961.[6] North from New Milford to Canaan, short of the Connecticut-Massachusetts state line, the route followed the Housatonic River. In summer months the train made stops in Lenox, Massachusetts, the town hosting the Tanglewood Music Festival.[7]
Decline
By 1961 the Berkshire was cut to a Friday north-bound run; the Litchfield operated as a Sunday evening route from Pittsfield to New York. The diner-lounge was eliminated by 1961 in favor of parlor cars.[8] Finally, in 1968, the Berkshire name was dropped, and unnamed trains served the route until 1971 when the New Haven successor Penn Central discontinued service on the line.[9][10]
References
^"New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Table 18". Official Guide of the Railways. 71 (3). National Railway Publication Company. August 1938.
^New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad timetable, November 14, 1943, Table 6
^ Lynch, Peter E. (2005). New Haven Railroad passenger trains. St. Paul, Minnesota: MBI Publishing Company. pp. 58–65. ISBN978-0-7603-2288-8.
^New Haven Railroad June 2, 1955 Timetable, Table 11