Railroad Museum of New England, Thomaston
Connecticut
The eighteen eighty-one Thomaston Station anchors a large collection of preserved historic railroad equipment. The Railroad Museum of New England operates here through its subsidiary, the Naugatuck Railroad, running excursion trains on the original Naugatuck Railroad right-of-way. The Naugatuck Railroad began operating in May of eighteen forty-nine and reached Winsted that September, serving all the mill communities along the Naugatuck River valley from Winsted down to Bridgeport.
Today the museum runs scenic excursion trips along the river valley, pulling vintage passenger equipment behind a diesel locomotive past the river gorge and the remnants of the valley's brass-mill era. The museum relies heavily on volunteers.
