In the Waterbury Republican for Sunday, April 4th, there is a piece about land owners in Torrington lining up to sell property to the state for the new court house which is apparently going to be built in Torrington. Among the land owners who desire to sell property to the state is the E. J. Kelly Company. This company owns the old passenger station as well as a good size plot of land around this building. The state and I suppose others as well will likely go through the various properties before making a decision regard just where they will build this new facility. My guess is that the old passenger station in Torrington may not be around too much longer. If anyone has desires to model this line or station, I suggest you take a little trip up in that neck of the woods soon.
The station was last served by regular passenger trains on December 4, 1958. Memo to HP, any chance the Naugatuck RR will make it to Torrington this year with passenger trains?
Torrington
Oh another looming atrocity in the long line of missed opportunities to save a bit of Connecticut's past.
Torrington station
No scheduled trains on the NAUG to Torrington so far this season. However, if perhaps a group was interested in a charter, I suspect something could be arranged that would please all involved.....It really is a shame about the station. Kelley will not even keep it closed up against weather and vandals.
Torrington Station
Over the years there have been many redevelopment plans put forward in Torrington, many dealing with the Kelley property. One reason all have failed, I was told, is the fact that Kelley is holding out for a financial offer that is far beyond the value of his property. It was also said that it is an "all or nothing" deal on the property - he will not sell off pieces.
It is correct about the station probably not being around much longer. Despite of being closely tied with his family's business for over a century, the current Kelley apparently couldn't care less about historical preservation, and reportedly denied permission to allow the station building to be stabilized at no expense to him. Water has been pouring into the building for years and it redevelopment does not do it in, Kelley's neglect will.
Any restoration will cost far more than what most historical organizations, including the RMNE, could afford or justify. This is especially sad as the interior was examined several years ago and was found to be very original in appearance where not damaged by water.
Torrington Station
"Greed is Good" Gordon Gecco (Movie Wall Street)
Torrington Station
In this instance, "Greed is NOT Good," Paul Eagan (Peck Ave, Plymouth MA)
Torrington
In defense of the Kelley Company at least more or less. I am sure they paid the New Haven Railroad a pretty good buck for the old station property and they also have like paid a good buck for property tax over the years of their ownership.
The E. J. Kelley Company is an old, well established family owned company in Torrington that over the years has dealt with coal, oil, furnace repairs, trucking, buses and other transportation matters. That they are still in business in this tough business climate and in a marginal area at best indicates to me that they must be doing something right.
My grandfather and my father both knew the some of the Kelley family many years ago and they were/probably still are shrewed business people.
Torrington needs the court house and the stimulus that it can provide and if the old passenger station has to be sacrificed in the process, well that is the way it goes. I am sure it would cost a small fortune to fix it up, it is a lot bigger and more complex than Thomaston and I am sure RMNE will attest to the work that took place and is still taking place at Thomaston.
If I had really deep pockets, I would buy the property just to save it but I don't and probably nobody else has who would be interested in its preservation. I had a lot of really good memories around that station during my childhood years.
Water damage or not, the building might be more solid than it looks, not sure. I know it has wooden floors and most of the stations of that period and design had or still have concrete floors. Not much left of the old canopy but it used to run most of the length of the platform. It was well lighted at night too. The baggage room was used right up until the 1955 flood too. Still remember the penny gum machines in there too, there were two of them.
There were actually plans by McGinnis to replace that station and the freight house on Pearl Street with a new, small combined facility much closer to the Church Street Crossing back in the early 1950's but like the others, it never happened. Seems to me that I have a set of the blueprints somewhere here of that proposed new facility.