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Railroad Museum of New England (RMNE)
THOMASTON, CT
4.5· 751 Google reviews
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About Railroad Museum of New England (RMNE)
Depart from the restored 1881 Thomaston station aboard the Naugatuck Railroad, the operating arm of the Railroad Museum of New England, with excursions running several days a week from May through December over a roughly 20-mile former New Haven line between Waterbury and Torrington. The station houses historic railroad displays and a display track of vintage equipment, and special event trains take over in the fall and winter months.
📍 THOMASTON, CT 06387
History
The Railroad Museum of New England traces its lineage to the Connecticut Valley Railroad Association and its successor, the Connecticut Valley Railroad Museum, founded in the mid-1960s. The volunteer group ran steam excursions across Connecticut in the late 1960s and played a key part in launching Essex's Valley Railroad in 1971, where its growing collection lived through the 1980s. The RMNE name and trademark were adopted in 1987 after the organization reassessed its goals, and following a search for a permanent home it was offered the ex-New Haven line from Waterbury to Torrington in early 1995. That June, RMNE incorporated a new Naugatuck Railroad Company — exactly 150 years after the original road's 1845 charter — and tourist trains commenced in September 1996 over right-of-way first opened for service in September 1849. The railroad is headquartered at Thomaston station, built in 1881, last used by passengers in 1958, and set afire by vandals in 1993; ownership passed to RMNE in 1996, the roof was replaced in 1997 with a grant from a local bank, and volunteers have steadily restored the building toward its mid-century appearance.
The Trains
RMNE holds one of the largest collections of preserved historic railroad equipment in New England — more than 60 pieces of full-sized rolling stock with New England heritage, representing the New Haven, Boston & Maine, Maine Central, Rutland, and Bangor & Aroostook railroads, plus smaller artifacts from signals to railroad corporate records. Steam power includes Canadian Pacific No. 1246, a G5c-class 4-6-2 Pacific built in 1946 by the Montreal Locomotive Works, purchased at auction in October 1988 and currently stored. Recent shop output includes the 2024 cosmetic restoration of former Maine Central snowplow No. 70, built in 1936, and the 2024 restoration of ex-Bangor and Aroostook "State of Maine" potato car No. 2569. Volunteers and Naugatuck Railroad employees maintain and operate the fleet, and a display track of historic equipment stands at Thomaston station.
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