# Talk:Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad

I'm working on a routemap ({{Meriden, Waterbury and Connecticut River Railroad}}), mostly working from old USGS and Sanborn maps. Mackensen (talk) 13:14, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

@Mackensen Thanks for creating that! A few tidbits from my research:
The MW&CR crossed under the Middletown Branch at Westfield. There was a track connection in the south quadrant, though it's not clear to me whether that existed before the streetcar service began in 1907. See the WESTFIELD2 entry here. (I generally treat that site as a reliable source, FYI, since the author is a recognized expert and it's well sourced.)
It's worth showing the original Meriden entry, which branched off to the south just east of East Meriden. (It's included in the KML map on the article.) While it was only used briefly for steam passenger service, it remained in freight use for decades there after, and it was used by the streetcars as far as Pratt Street as well.
There were connections with the NH&N and the Valley Line, both in the southwest quadrant.
It appears from the 1915 valuation map that it crossed over the NH&N on a bridge.
The downtown Waterbury situation is tricky. It looks like you're showing the original track configuration through Waterbury, where the Highland (NY&NE) and the Naugatuck had separate alignments through downtown, and the MW&CR connected to the NY&NE. The same site indicates that passenger service only served downtown Waterbury from 1889 to 1890, which I'll need to correct in the prose and station listing, so I think your configuration is best.
Pi.1415926535 (talk) 22:29, 13 February 2023 (UTC)
Valuation map appears to show the south quadrant connection at Westfield to the Berlin line, with the Cromwell section abandoned. Link to all 1915 maps. Mackensen (talk) 13:01, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
@Pi.1415926535 revisions finished. Further thoughts? Mackensen (talk) 00:49, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
@Mackensen: Looks great! I made a couple minor changes and added it to the infobox. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 06:00, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
Yes, this article could really use a map, preferably one showing the routes, town names, and perhaps construction/abandonment dates. Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 11:34, 29 March 2023 (UTC)

This source feels self-published. Is Stanford an expert, and is it replaceable (maybe by Hilton & Due)? Mackensen (talk) 12:16, 16 February 2023 (UTC)

@Mackensen: It is self-published, but Stanford does seem to be an expert who's written several other publications on Connecticut transportation. It's cited in a NRHP nomination, and every subsequent book on Connecticut streetcars heavily cribs from it. I've found newspaper sources to additionally verify the specific dates; I'll add those shortly. Pi.1415926535 (talk) 19:25, 16 February 2023 (UTC)