After Collinsville Junction the line went past a switch for the spur into Collinsville
proper and then curved to run along the western bank of the Farmington River. For a short ways after the 44/202/179 traffic light
the roadbed is under Rt.44, and emerges at this location, just west of the river tubing pick up site
The line continued to run parallel to the Farmington into Satan's Kingdom, a magnificent gorge. From the pictures in Connecticut Railways: an Illustrated History,
we expected to find remains of the Collinsville Branch of the Canal Rwy on the western side of the river, with the Central along the east bank.
Bushwhacking off of the Tunxis Trail, one can make his way down to the remains of the Collinsville branch.
Looking across the river, one can clearly see the Central running on the eastern side:
Another shot, closer to the gorge:
When one gets to the gorge itself, the trip becomes very difficult. The flood of 1955 has completely obliterated the Collinsville branch here,
and all that remains is where the workers cut into the cliff. Water streams down this in the winter and freezes, making the western side all but
impassable. That being said, here is a shot from the gorge of the eastern bank (with the Central), which appears to have faired somewhat better in the flood:
A bit further towards the northern end of the gorge, one finds the most significant remains of the railroad: the base of the bridge across the river on the eastern bank. From the picture in the railway book
mentioned above, one can see that the Central crossed the river to share a roadbed with the Canal line (they had a union station at Pine Meadow, the next stop from here.) This is but a short walk down from the
bridge on Rt.44:
On the other side of the river, there is some construction at the shore, but it is very low and leveled at the top:
One idea is that the shorter stone was the base of a stantion that water during a flood could flow around without destroying the roadbed on the other side (this didn't happen in 1955.)
Of the combined roadbed on the western side, not much remains now. It would seem that the railroad would have continued towards Pine Meadow in the same pass that modern
Route 44 now takes. The rocks here, all that are left of the cut, run towards Satans Kingdom road, which cuts over them.
Inspection of the viaduct that this road is on reveals that it is modern, with a corregated steel pipe and concrete. This shows that the landscape was dramatically altered here to build the federal highway.
The next visible remains we've seen are at New Hartford
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