page_title: New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
section_title: Expansion and acquisition
hierarchical_section_title: New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad / History / Expansion and acquisition
caption_attribution_description: English: Railroad bridge and other bridge over the Norwalk River in Norwalk, Connecticut Description: "Bridges Over Norwalk River, South Norwalk, Connecticut Postcard, Pub by Hafner's East Side News &amp; Confectionery Store, East Norwalk, Conn And The American News Co, New York, [...] Postally Used - PM South Norwalk, Conn Jan 21, 1914, One Cent Stamp Intact".
context_page_description: The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, commonly known as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968, dominating the region's rail traffic for the first half of the 20th century.
  Beginning in the 1890s and accelerating in 1903, New York banker J. P. Morgan sought to monopolize New England transportation by arranging the NH's acquisition of 50 companies, including other railroads and steamship lines, and building a network of electrified trolley lines that provided interurban transportation for all of southern New England. By 1912, the New Haven operated more than 2,000 miles of track, with 120,000 employees, and practically monopolized traffic in a wide swath from Boston to New York City.
  This quest for monopoly angered Progressive Era reformers, alienated public opinion, resulted in high prices for acquisitions, and increased construction costs. Debt soared from $14 million in 1903 to $242 million in 1913, while the advent of automobiles, trucks and buses reduced railroad profits. Also in 1913, the federal government filed an antitrust lawsuit that forced the NH to divest its trolley systems.
context_section_description: The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad was formed on July 24, 1872, through the consolidation of the New York and New Haven Railroad and Hartford and New Haven Railroad. It owned a main line from New York City to Springfield, Massachusetts via New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, and leased other lines, including the Shore Line Railway to New London. The company later leased more lines and systems, eventually forming a virtual monopoly in New England south of the Boston and Albany Railroad.
  The first line of the original system to open was the Hartford and New Haven Railroad, opened from Hartford to New Haven, with steamship connections to New York in 1839, and to Springfield, with rail connections to Worcester and Boston, in 1844. The New York and New Haven was built later, as it ran parallel to the Long Island Sound coast and required many bridges over rivers. It opened in 1848, using trackage rights over the New York and Harlem Railroad (later part of the New York Central Railroad system) from Woodlawn in the Bronx south to Manhattan. With the opening of Grand Central Terminal in 1913, New Haven's New York City terminal was moved there.
caption: Train over the Norwalk River (1914 postcard)
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