The Fair Haven & Westville Railroad

Part Three

Early in 1871 a fire destroyed the stables, repair shop, blacksmith shop and a large part of the car shed on Grand Street. No cars or horses were lost, and only a single run of the cars had to be canceled. Temporary stables were quickly erected, and by the first of December new facilities, claimed to be the best in the country, were ready for use. Stalls for 113 horses were provided.

During the summer, other horse railroads in the city were plagued by disease amongst their horses. The Fair Haven & Westville horses were spared, due, the company said, to the exceptional care and good feed given the animals.

Track work was a continuing expense. During the summer of 1871 the track from York Street to Hamilton Park had to be raised to meet the new grade established by the city for Whalley Avenue. This work, including one and three quarters miles of new timber, cost the company $2,000.

At the close of 1871 9,764,033 passengers had been carried on the line since its inception in 1861. The year 1872 was a troubled one for the Fair Haven & Westville Railroad. The Tomlinson Bridge Company raised the level of its roadway between the bridge over the Quinnipiac River and Bridge Street by twelve inches, forcing the railroad to raise and rebuild its track. The track in East Street had to be removed for several months to permit sewer construction. This terminated the Steamboat Dock service for the duration. Then the floor of the stable and car house on Grand Avenue had to be filled with sand to a depth of twenty-four inches to meet the new grade established by the city for the surrounding streets.

On April 27, service to Westville was increased to seventy-seven trips each day on a twelve-minute headway. The cost of horses and cars for this additional service was $3,000, and the additional operating cost was $12 per day. This change, the company said, was a great convenience to the public but unprofitable for the company.

In 1872 the street railway industry in the eastern portion of the United States faced a crisis when disease raced through their stables. "The Great Epizootic," as it was called, did not spare the Fair Haven & Westville. The company stoutly maintained that its stables and feed were not at the root of the problem. Some horses were pastured in the country, and others were sold, while the management sought to buy healthy animals. Two of the twelve cars normally running at this time had to be canceled.

There were 105 horses and fifteen cars on the roster at this time. The working life of a horse was six years. A good horse cost $100 and brought from $40 to $60 when sold after retirement, usualy to a farmer who could get more years of farm work from the animal. Sale of manure from the stables brought in about $50 each month.

It was necessary to maintain many more horses than cars. Twelve to fifteen miles per day was usually the limit imposed on a horse, after which it was returned to a stall of ample proportions in a stable which was clean and well kept. The feed was of high quality, and a daily grooming kept the animals looking their best. The Humane Society kept an eye on the teams and was quick to notice an animal not in the best of condition. This was not only an age when the welfare of the animals was a public concern; the investment in the horses had to be protected.

An amendment to the charter in July 1872 allowed construction of a branch line from the railroad crossing on East Chapel Street through East Chapel and East Pearl streets to Grand Avenue. An alternative to East Pearl Street was South Front Street. Many years passed before this line became a reality.

By the end of 1874 the Fair Haven & Westville had carried almost fourteen million passengers since the first run in 1861. The ridership was slightly higher than in 1873, but the net profit from the operation was lower. The management blamed this on the high cost of feed and on the West Chapel Street branch, which was paying only about half of its operating cost. There were now 116 horses on the roster, and two new cars were ordered to replace two that were considered beyond economical repair.

In 1875 the number of passengers carried dropped to 1,209,277. This was 51,236 less than in 1874. Reasons given for the decrease were sewer construction on Whalley Avenue, which caused delays of up to two hours; and the West Chapel Street line, which now operated to Norton Street and required two cars and ten horses but carried only a few more passengers than when operating to Day Street with one car and five horses.

On May 24, 1875 the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad opened its new station at the foot of Meadow Street, replacing the old depot at chapel and Union streets. This led the Fair Haven & Westville to build a branch down State Street from Chapel Street and through Union Stret to the new building at Meadow Street. This line was opened on August 9 and by the end of the year showed a net profit of $1,106. Due to the narrow width of State Street between Chapel and George streets, that portion of the line was limited by charter to a single track. The remainder of the route was double tracked.

The business depression continued through 1876, and the Fair Haven & Westville made every effort to reduce expenses. Employees not absolutely essential to the operation were laid off, and salaries of all officers except the secretary and treasurer were reduced. Workers' pay was reduced twelve to fifteen percent, with the exception of the conductors and drivers, who continued to receive $2 per day. There were still 128 horses to be stabled and fed. Total ridership for the year was 1,179,766 persons.

In 1877 the number of passengers decreased by 161,930. The business depression and severe snowstorms which caused the suspension of service for two months were blamed. In April the conductors' and drivers' pay was reduced to $1.75 per day.

In 1878 the removal of the Derby Railroad depot from State Street to Meadow Street resulted in a drop of 1,153 riders on the depot line. Total expenses for the year declined almost $2,000 due to the various economy measures. One new car was purchased for use on the West Chapel Street line, one small car, in use sixteen years, was turned in on a larger car and several older cars were partially rebuilt. Snow scrapers were installed on eight cars at a cost of $285, and more than $2,000 was spent on track work.

Also in 1878, at the Bridge Street level crossing over the New Haven Railroad tracks, a car valued at $300 was struck and damaged beyond repair. This incident was one of several which led to a state law prohibiting construction of a street railway line across steam railroad tracks at a grade.

In 1878-79 business increased, due in part to the Moody and Sankey religious meetings. Between March 24 and May 10, 1878, more than 200 meetings were conducted by these evangelists at their tabernacle, located at Whalley Avenue and Dwight Street. Service on the depot line was disrupted for two months by sewer construction, causing a loss of revenue.

At this time tickets were being sold at the company's offices, as well as two other locations in New Haven, two in Fair Haven and one in Westville, in quantities as low as five for twenty-five cents. The cash fare was still six cents. Starting on May 1, 1882, tickets wre sold by conductors on the cars as well as at the other locations.

The year 1880 saw increased passenger loads on all lines. The sale of tickets increasd from 223,900 in 1879 to 263,930. During the fall, the track on Whalley Avenue from Hamilton Park to the West River was paved with cobblestones. These were furnished and delivered trackside by the city and installed by street railroad crews. This paving was to eliminate the washout problem that had existed at this point for many years. Other track work included all new timber on Whalley Avenue from Howe Street to the West River and paving with cobblestones on Grand Avenue from Clinton Avenue to the Quinnipiac River.

In 1880 disease again invaded the stables, ninety percent of the horses being affected by pinkeye. Three died and thirteen were listed as unable to work at the year's end.

In 1883 the bridge over the Mill River in Barnville was declared unsafe by the city. In order to maintain service for its patrons while the city replaced the ailing structure, the Fair Haven & Westville erected a temporary bridge to carry its cars across the river.

Sunday service was initiated on June 13, 1884 and averaged 1,130 riders per Sunday for the balance of the year. Total receipts from this service were $2,134, while expenses were $2,405, making the Sunday service a losing proposition for the company but a boon to many of New Haven's citizens, including churchgoers. For the year 1885 a loss of $279 was reported on the Sunday service.

Also in 1885 the West Chapel Street trackage was extended to the West River as a convenience for those traveling to Yale Field. At this time the roster included twenty-two cars and 148 horses.

On March 24, 1886, the Fair Haven & Westville was authorized by a charter amendment to double track its entire line from Fair Haven to Westville, the type of rail used to be approved by the city. After September 1, the amendment allowed the company to charge no more than a five-cent fare from any point on the system to any other point on the system and required that free transfers to be issued as needed to complete a trip.

In order to prevent misuse of transfers, early issues were illustrated to show the facial features of seven possible riders, the conductor putting his punch mark on the likeness most resembling the passenger to whom the transfer was issued. There were men with a smooth face, mustache, sideburns, chin whiskers and full beard; women were shown wearing either a hat or a bonnet.

At the end of 1886 the roster showed twenty-eight passenger cars, an eight-horse sweeper and 206 horses.

In 1887 the number of passengers carried rose to 2,157,079 from 1,692,883 in the previous year, but at the same time expenses rose from $64,220 to $88,529, due in part to pay increases, including raising the conductors' and drivers' pay from $1.75 to $2.00 per day and stablemen's pay from $1.25 to $1.50 per day. About $525 was spent for route indicators for the cars, ending some of the confusion about their destinations.

For ten months in 1886, before the double tracking, cars ran every twelve minutes to Fair Haven and every twenty-four minutes to Westville. In 1887, with the double track completed, cars ran between Fair Haven and University Place every six minutes and to Westville every twelve minutes. This resulted in a large increase in operating expenses.

By 1887 the Fair Haven & Westville Railroad Company had become a major force in the city's economy. Each year the number of employees, cars and horses increased with the resulting enlargement of the pysical plant on Grand Avenue. The company's general offices were located in the Simpson Block at the corner of State and Chapel streets.

The year 1888, famous for its blizzard, which closed down the Fair Haven & Westville operation for an extended period, saw further increases in service. On May 18 the Sunday service was increased from a thirty-six-minute headway to a twenty-four-minute headway. On July 4 the railroad depot service was increased from a twelve-minute headway to a six-minute headway. At the same time, larger cars and two-horse teams were used on the depot line, adding $310 to the operating expense for the balance of the year. At this time, the roster listed 226 horses and thirty-six cars, seventeen of which had been painted during the year.

By 1891 the number of horses had increased to 283 and the cars to forty-nine, eighteen of which were open cars. Coal stoves had been installed in thirty-one closed cars at a cost of $939, and it was estimated that the cost of operation would be $3 per car per season. Passengers close to the stove were overheated, while those farthest away felt little warmth. Operation of the stove was made the conductor's responsibility, and if he forget to close the draft while attending to other duties the overheated stove might set fire to the woodwork in the car. In one case a car was totally consumed by flames on Grand Avenue at Front Street, much to the conductor's embarassment and the company's displeasure.

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