Right/Wrong Side

Unless your willing to swim across a river, you must pass over the railroad tracks to visit our homestead. There is no way in or out, without crossing the tracks.

So this has me thinking, are we on the other side of the tracks, or the wrong side of the tracks? Or could it be that everyone else is on the other side of the tracks, and we are exactly were we should be?

In May of 1847, a charter was granted by the state of Connecticut to the New London, Willimantic & Springfield RR, which authorized the corporation to build from New London to the Massachusetts line.

The first section of tracks, from Norwich CT north to Willimantic CT, opened in September 1849, and the tracks from Norwich CT south to New London CT opened in October of 1849. The section of tracks that borders our homestead in Mansfield CT, from Willimantic CT north to Stafford CT opened in March 1850, and the tracks from Stafford to Palmer Massachusetts opened in September of 1850.

The name has changed many times over the years from the New London Northern Railroad, the Vermont Central, and today it is The New England Central Railroad.

Today the NECR hauls freight, but in its early days, passengers would travel by train to New London Ct and board a Steamship to New York City.

When I bought this property, I inquired about the rail line and the previous owner told me, "after a while you hardly notice it". I would have to say this is not exactly true, when a train is approaching, Tommy and I usually stop what we are doing so that we can watch the train pass by. Many times we will walk up the road for a closer view.

Even after all these years I never get tired of watching and dreaming of a life as a Hobo. I remember many years ago, I was hitch hiking across the country when I met a fellow traveler who looked like a Hobo, and talked like a Hobo, and he offered to show me how to catch a train.
After spending part of a day sitting on a hill overlooking a train yard, and watching really, really, fast Amtrak type trains speed by, I decided maybe I should stick to hitch hiking.

Times have changed and today we will stay satisfied just watching the trains go by.

Its not just trains that travel the rail line. This would be a really cool job riding the rails in a pickup.

The stone on the side of the tracks is called ballast and here they are dumping more ballast.


In the past the crossing leading to our house would rattle your teeth. In a joint effort, the town and the railroad repaired the crossing, and in the picture below they use a machine that pulls the old ties out, and slides in new ties.

The guys from public works did a awesome job repaving and now the crossing is one of the smoothest in town.

An easy 2-3 mile hike north, the old South Coventry train station still stands, and I believe it now is someones home.

When hiking along the railroad tracks, its not hard to imagine the same place in a different time.

I think we will always remember living on the other side of the tracks.