The Fair Haven & Westville Railroad

Part Four

Shortly before midnight on June 13, 1892, the New Haven & West Haven Horse Railroad operated the first electric street car in the New Haven area. The trip started at the stables on Campbell Avenue and proceeded to Savin Rock, then to Church and Chapel Streets in New Haven and back to the stables in West Haven. So successful was the trial run that regular service was started within a few days. The next year saw the State Street Horse Railroad electrified, followed by the Winchester Avenue Railroad.

Opposition to the electric cars represented a variety of fears; the cars would frighten the horses, the wires would fall on the cars in a storm and electrocute the passengers, the wires and poles would be an encumbrance on the streets, the wires would be a danger to firemen fighting fires, and the suburbs would profit at the expense of the city. New Haven officials, taking a more realistic view, felt that some streets would have to be widened and regraded and some curves eased to accommodate the larger and faster cars.

Probably no group was more anxious for electrification than those Fair Haven residents who lived within smelling distance of the 348 horses housed in the stables on Grand Avenue.

In 1893 charter amendments gave the Fair Haven & Westville the right to build a number of new lines on various streets, including Ferry and South Quinnipiac streets in Fair Haven; Fountain Street, Central Avenue, Tryon Street, Forest Street, Rock Street, Springside Avenue and Wintergreen Lake Road in Westville; and a line through park property to the summit of West Rock. As in previous instances, most of these lines were never built. In the same year the company was given the right to operate its lines "by means of either cable or the overhead or other electric system, or any other motive power except steam, or may make use in part of each of said systems."

In 1894 work on the electrification of the Fair Haven & Westville lines progressed rapidly with $280,192 being spent on construction and equipment. Starting on October 15, seven electric cars were operated with power purchased from the Winchester Avenue Railroad. Then, on November 15, the first engine in the Fair Haven & Westville's powerhouse on the banks of the Mill River at Grand Avenue was started, and on the following day the line operated with its own power supply. By the end of the year only three horse cars were in use, and these were soon discontinued. The 1894 roster included:

It was the custom of street railways to provide a parlor car for the use of its officials on travels about the system and on visits to other properties. In 1894, the Fair Haven & Westville had built by the Jackson & Sharp Company an eighteen-foot, six-inch vestibuled parlor car. The car was mounted on a Peckham four-wheel truck equipped with two General Electric Company No. 800 motors and was air-brake equipped.

Outside, the car was painted royal blue and striped in sky blue and gold. The window sashes were mahogany, and the end doors were fitted with beveled glass. The interior was painted blue and gold with window shades in two tones of brown. Roof linings were painted sky blue with a dull yellow border and were ornamented with flowers painted in natural colors. The floor was laid with Wilton carpet, and twelve cane chairs, no two alike, were installed. This car passed to succeeding companies and was finally converted for conventional passenger service. In 1915 it was assigned to the Derby Division of the Connecticut Company and was scrapped there in the 1920s.

The Manufacturers Railway was chartered in 1893 to operate a freight service from Mill River Junction on the New Haven Railroad via a private way parallel to James Street and through East Chapel Street, James Street and River Street to East Pearl Street. This operation used horses and borrowed Fair Haven & Westville equipment until December 11, 1896, when they put their first electric locomotive in service. The Manufacturers Railway charter allowed the Fair Haven & Westville Railroad, the State Street Horse Railroad, the New Haven & Morris Cove Railroad and the proposed New Haven Street Railway to use the track in James and River streets, an arrangement to be worked out between the railroads covering charges for the track use. In East Chapel Street between the private way and James Street the Manufacturers Railway used the Fair Haven & Westville tracks. Operating crews and power for the Manufacturers were supplied by the Fair Haven & Westville.

The New Haven & North Haven Street Railway was built in 1893 and ran out Quinnipiac Avenue from Grand Avenue to Montowese Avenue in North Haven. This line was operated by the Fair Haven & Westville, and an additional fare was charged for the trip.

In 1894 there was agitation to have newsboys aboard the trolley cars of the Fair Haven & Westville, but this was voted down by the board of directors in January 1895.

In 1895 a second car barn, a duplicate of barn No. 1, was built next to No. 1 on Grand Avenue. The cellar was concrete, and water lines were installed for car washing and fire protection. These facilities were on the north side of Grand Avenue between Blatchley Avenue and Fillmore Street. The company had slowly been purchasing property in this block for several years.

On March 22, 1895, the line from the railroad crossing on East Chapel Street through East Chapel and East Pearl Streets to Grand Avenue was finally opened. Later, on October 30, 1897, the city opened a new bridge spanning the New Haven Railroad tracks at this point, and through trolley service from Norton Street to East Pearl Street was initiated. On March 27, 1985, track was opened on Water Street between Bridge Street and State Street.

The 1895 operation included 10,660 horsecar miles and 1,199,121, electric car miles. The roster at this time included:

The electric operation brought about a need for heavier rail, and in 1896 several miles of seventy and seventy-four pound rail was installed. Almost five and one half million people were carried in this year, with eighty-eight electric cars.

The Fair Haven & Westville took possession of the New Haven & Centerville on January 1, 1897, and the tracks at Broadway and York Street were connected, allowing Dixwell Avenue cars to run directly to the railroad station.

On October 31, 1898, the stockholders approved a merger with the New Haven Street Railway, and in 1899 the stock of the Whitney Avenue Horse Railroad was purchased, bringing that line into the fold. The combined operation proved to be an advantage to the company and to the riders, who were allowed free transfer privileges between the various lines.

In 1897 the company operated, 1,308,660 car miles, carrying 5,538,585 passengers over 20.56 miles of route with 186 employees. The roster included fifty-three closed cars, fourty-six open cars, two plows and four sweepers. The expenses per car mile were 15.68 cents, while the earnings were 31.48 cents.

In an effort to increase business, the company built a restaurant near the end of track at Mansfield's Grove. The Momauguin, as the restaurant was known, opened for business on July 3, 1899 and operated at a loss, but increased ridership more than made up for that.

The operation of the old New Haven Railway powerhouse, located on the Quinnipiac River at Ferry Street (now known as Station B), was proving costly due to inefficient equipment. In 1899 additional generating equipment was intalled in the Fair Haven & Westville plant (now known as Station A) on Grand Avenue, and the old New Haven Railway plant was relegated to an emergency-only status.

During the summer of 1900, the Branford Electric Railway was completed from the green in East Haven to the center of Branford. The Fair Haven & Westville entered into a five year agreement to operate this line. Six additional cars were purchased, and a service with twenty-four-minute headways was established from Yale Field to Branford.

In May of 1900 the Fair Haven & Westville purchased the controlling shares in the Winchester Avenue Railroad and the New England Street Railway. At this time the Fair Haven & Westville had obtained by lease, purchase, merger or consolidation the following properties:

New Haven & West Haven Horse Railroad
West Shore Railroad
Winchster Avenue Railroad
Whitney Avenue Horse Railroad
New Haven & North Haven Street Railroad
New Haven & Centerville Street Railway
New Haven Street Railway
New Haven & East Haven River Railroad
Lake Saltonstall Railroad
Edgewood Street Railroad
New England Street Railway
State Street Horse Railroad
Branford Electric Railway

The Fair Haven & Westville Railroad was now the largest street railway operation in Connecticut, with a passenger load for the year 1900 of 16,249,157 persons.

This was a period of double tracking and heavier rail. The track on Derby Avenue was extended to Forest Street. Until this time there had been four tracks in Chapel Street between Church Street and Temple Street and three tracks between Temple Street and College Street. The former Winchester Avenue Railroad tracks were now removed, leaving only the double track of the Fair Haven & Westville in the street.

A charter amendment in 1901 approved extensions of the Derby Avenue line to Milford Road, where it would connect with the line of the Connecticut Railway & Lighting Company running out of Derby.

At a meeting of the Board of Directors in 1901 it was voted to comply with a regulation of the New Haven Board of Health and intall "No Spitting" signs in all the cars. At the same time it was voted to lease office space in the Malley Building.

On the morning of August 6, 1902 a majority of the motormen and conductors went out on strike, closing down the operation. The next day the men presented this message to a meeting of New Haven officials and businessmen:

The company replied that eleven employees had been discharged previous to a July 29 meeting, at which they understood a union had been formed, that union membership was not disqualifying, and that all men would be treated equally. They said that the men had been discharged for cause, the company being responsible for public safety.

Management was concerned over the loss of revenue and issued a statement saying that if the strike were speedily terminated they would take back all men employed at the onset and would reconsider the cases of the men who had been discharged. During the afternoon of August 9, the men returned to work.

On August 11, 1902, the board of directors voted to equip all double truck (eight wheel) cars with air brakes as rapidly as possible. Later in the same meeting it was voted to sell student tickets at half the normal fare.

On May 18, 1903, there was the threat of another strike. The union requested an increase of five cents per hour for motormen and conductors. The company replied that no mention had been made of pay increases at the time of the strike and that the increase, requested would cost the company $60,000 per year. The request was denied. One week later the company, hoping to avert trouble, agreed to pay twenty-five cents per hour as the overtime rate but retain the twenty cent existing rate as the normal pay rate. This change was acepted by the union and went into effect on May 30, 1903.

Land for a loop track at Yale Field was purchased in 1903. The loop was to be used only for special events such as football games in order to handle the large number of trolleys used.

On February 29, 1904, the New Haven Railroad made a purchase offer for the Fair Haven & Westville which the board of directors felt they could not refuse. Thus on May 20, 1904 it was agreed to accept the sum of $8,700,075 for the property, rights and franchise of the Fair Haven & Westville Railroad and an additional $1,664,000 for the Winchester Avenue Railroad Property. This money was to be distributed to the shareholders.

The Fair Haven & Westville and the Winchester Avenue propreties were conveyed to the Consolidated Railway, the New Haven Railroad's trolley operation, on May 23, 1904, thus ending the fourty-three years of Fair Haven & Westville operation on the streets of New Haven. On February 28, 1910, the Consolidated Railway was conveyed to the Connecticut Company, which became the principal operator of trolleys in the State of Connecticut.

Trolleys continued to run on Grand Avenue — the Fair Haven & Westville's first route — until July 18, 1938, and on Whalley Avenue, the western end of the route, until November 15, 1947, when buses were substituted. On September 25, 1948, the last trolley operated on the streets of New Haven and in the State of Connecticut was retired, marking the end of an era.

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