The New Haven empire

1940 map.

To many southern New Englanders of a certain age, “The New Haven’’ was “The Train’’. Founded by the merger of the New York and New Haven and Hartford and New Haven railroads, the company had near-total dominance of railroad traffic in Southern New England for the first half of the 20th Century, both passenger (including much commuter service) and freight. Many people (including New England Diary’s editor) lived where they did in no small part because there was a nearby New Haven train station. The longer runs had dining cars with remarkably good food and parlor cars with arm chairs. But travelers smoked them up.

A New Haven Merchants Limited train in Boston in 1965. The Boston-to-New York service’s cars were all parlor cars.