BusTalk

[Bill D]

During the late 1800's, the trolley craze spread across Connecticut, as in so many other places. While many companies were established and actually constructed lines, others only existed on paper, as they lacked the financial resources to actually begin construction. The major transportation provider in Connecticut at this time was the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The railroad, in an effort to maintain dominance of public transportation, began buying or leasing many of the trolley operations, and formed a holding company, known as the Consolidated Railway, to operate them.

The New Haven Railroad was not the only party interested in controlling the streetcar lines in the state. The Gas Supply Company, formed in 1895, also became involved in the electric industry, and soon was obtaining trolley operations as well. As this company evolved, its name was first changed to Connecticut Lighting and Power, and later to Connecticut Railway and Lighting (CR&L). CR&L operated streetcar lines in several of Connecticut’s larger cities, and was considered a serious threat to the railroad’s plans to control the industry in the state. The New Haven went all out to obtain CR&L. The CR&L stockholders knew that they had a strong bargaining position, and while refusing to sell, agreed to an attractive lease deal. In August 1906, the CR&L properties were leased to the Consolidated Railway for a period of 999 years. The terms of the leased called for payments of $1.4 million annually, with the New Haven Railroad guarantying 75% of the cost directly, and the Consolidated being responsible for the rest. Thus, the CR&L name disappeared from the streets of Connecticut, while their shareholders sat back and waited for the dividend checks to arrive each year.

In 1907, the New Haven Railroad formed the Connecticut Company, which took over all of the Consolidated Railway operations. The Connecticut Company unified all of the street railway operations, and soon the company’s yellow paint scheme was applied to all of its equipment. In 1915 there was a systemwide renumbering of equipment to replace the fleet numbers of the previous owners. The operation continued to grow, reaching a peak in 1924 with 834 miles of track and well over 1600 passenger cars. Also, in 1921, the Connecticut Company began operating buses, first to supplement the trolleys, and later to replace them.

The depression dealt a harsh blow to the transportation industry, and the finances of both the New Haven Railroad and the Connecticut Company declined to the point where both companies were forced to file bankruptcy in 1935. The stockholders of CR&L filed a lawsuit, to protect their interest. The plan presented to the bankruptcy court, called for converting the entire system to buses, in order to reduce expenses. The court also determined that the lease of the CR&L properties had to be discontinued. The ruling turned over operations in Bridgeport, Derby, New Britain, Norwalk and Waterbury to CR&L, effective November 16th, 1936. CR&L received streetcars and buses from the Connecticut Company, including some new buses which were on order. The trolley operations in the CR&L divisions were quickly converted to bus, and in less than a year the CR&L operation was entirely buses.

While the physical transformation progressed swiftly, the issue of the lease settlement dragged on for several years. CR&L had sought around $12 million, while the New Haven Railroad offered only about 10% of that. The issue made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which awarded CR&L a $4 million settlement in 1941. Interestingly, while the court battle was playing out, the two companies set up joint operations on routes between cities served by each other, with each company running half of the service.

Connecticut Company also was involved with converting its trolley operations to bus during this period, and by the end of 1941 only New Haven still had streetcars in operation. World War II delayed the final conversion, and the New Haven trolleys lasted until 1948. (Note: this delay enabled a group of trolley fans the opportunity to form the Branford Electric Railway Association, and establish a museum operation along a portion of the Connecticut Company route to Branford, today’s Shore Line Trolley Museum.)

The war years brought ridership to record levels, but then a period of steady decline began, as the private automobile found its way into more and more households. Routes and schedules were cut, and in some cases entire divisions eliminated. In 1964, the New Haven Railroad sold the Connecticut Company to the Colony Company, a corporation headed by wealthy Connecticut businessman E. Clayton Gengras, for $3.2 million. Under new ownership, new services were tried to attract riders, but with little success. An experiment to operate railbus service was considered, and TDH-5304 #1712 was set up as a test unit, but problems with union regulations and a lack of government financial aid doomed the proposal. In 1968, an extension of service from Stamford into New York state gave the company ICC rights for forty eight states, an a charter division was established. This also was short lived, and by 1971, the charter rights and equipment were sold off.

The 1970's brought drastic changes to bus operations in Connecticut. Both CR&L and Connecticut Company were faced with the threat of labor strikes. In October 1972, CR&L decided to call it quits, and smaller bus companies in the cities where the company had operated picked up the pieces of the franchise. Connecticut Company survived a six month strike, and the state government finally stepped in to subsidize transit operations in Connecticut. In 1976, the Connecticut Department of Transportation purchased the assets of the Connecticut Company, and it thus became Connecticut (CT) Transit, operating in the Hartford, New Haven and Stamford divisions.

The former CR&L operation in Bridgeport was united under the Bridgeport Transit District, later reformed as the Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority. Private operators in New Britain and Waterbury continue to provide local service, and in 1996 those operations, as well as services operated by the same companies in Bristol, Meriden and Wallingford, became part of the CT Transit system.

Other regions throughout Connecticut formed transit districts to provide bus service. These include Norwalk Transit District, Housatonic Area Regional Transit (HART) and South East Area Transit District (SEAT), as well as several smaller districts. There are also private companies providing commuter express service under contract with the state.

This should give you an idea of how the transit systems in Connecticut evolved. Sources for this piece include “Formation & History of The Connecticut Company and Connecticut Railway & Lighting Company” by R. Patrick Stanford and “Connecticut Company’s Streetcars” by Frederick A. Kramer with Ed Wadhams.


Bill

[Mr. Linsky]

Bill,

An extremely well done piece if I must say so myself.

It certainly puts the whole Connecticut puzzle in prospective.

When you really look at it though, Connecticut's transit history almost mirrors that of most others across the country right down to similar time frames for each transition and final demise or takeover by public authority.

The one aspect of these almost orchestrated transitions came in the early thirties when GM along with Mack pushed hard (and sometimes deviously) to replace traction with rubber tires (compliments of Harvey Firestone!).

Thanks for sharing.

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY

[Bill D]

[Mr. Linsky]

Bill,

I will admit that the CR&L case is unusual and probably has never been duplicated.

Just an aside; I thought the 1,000 year lease bit was ridiculous - didn't these people think there might be some changes and progress over that period which would invalidate such an agreement - even the owners of the Empire State Building only have a 99 year lease on the land it sits on! (and that building isn't going anywhere!).

It may have been coincidence that most traction companies were owned by either rail roads or utility companies and that those operations became a liability to them again coincidentally at about the same time.

It was the weakening of this structure that GM et al (Mack, Hertz, Yellow, Firestone and Omnibus) saw as a perfect opportunity to make the move on the traction industry and eliminate them in favor of their buses.

As you will see in the URL that I have attached, GM in the guise of National City Lines went as far as buying hundreds of light rail companies with the purpose of conversion.

Unfortunatley, it was a mistake that the government could not have foreseen the ramifications of early on, and when they did take action it was far too late to reverse a damage that still preys upon us in the form of the billions of tons of noxious gases that buses have spewed into the atmosphere all these years!

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY

Please Read; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy