Meriden Linear Trail - History

History

Construction of the Meriden and Waterbury Railroad commenced in 1887 and finished the following year, when the M&W Railroad merged with the Meriden and Cromwell Railroad to form the Meriden, Waterbury, and Connecticut River Railroad. The line never saw high traffic, and by 1924 the section of the railroad from West Main Street in Meriden to East Farms in Waterbury was abandoned.

For decades, the old right-of-way sat unused. Through the Quinnipiac Gorge, no development occurred over the former right-of-way due to its remote nature; throughout the rest of Meriden, most of the railroad remained active until 1966 as an industrial spur to Ragazzino's on West Main Street and the Suzio York Hill Quarry in East Meriden. Since little new development has occurred since then along the right-of-way (with the notable exception of the Mid-State Medical Center), much remains intact with the railroad tracks still in place.

Along the Quinnipiac River Gorge in South Meriden, the former right-of-way began to be used more and more by fishermen looking to access some of the more remote parts of the gorge. Eventually more and more people began to use the trail, including a lot of dirt bike and all terrain vehicle owners.

Looking to preserve the trail from being torn up by these vehicles (as well as from the increasing problem of illegal dumping along the trail), talks commenced in the late 1990s to create a paved rail trail along the old right-of-way of the MW&CRRR through the city, with a side trail connecting southward to connect to the new Quinnipiac River Linear Trail being proposed in Wallingford.