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METRO NORTH Waterbury Branch By Peggy Darlington with Assistance from Glenn L. Rowe This line runs from Bridgeport to Waterbury and is served by two car diesel trains. The line has one track. Prior to a 1955 flood which wiped out a bridge north of Waterbury it was a through line to Boston . Another flood around 1980 closed the line from Bridgeport to Derby/Shelton , then two tracked, for a year or so and was rebuilt as presently configured. Bridgeport. The station has four tracks and two wall platforms with crossunders and station houses on both platforms. A small maintenance-of-way yard is to the northeast of the station. Within the confines of the station, I-95 passes diagonally overhead. Old low platforms were found north of the station. The main station is on the west side. The station also houses the Greyhound bus station as well as the ferry to Port Jefferson, Long Island. The northbound station platform is actually over the water! We leave Bridgeport on the main line and just before we pass through Stratford Old low platforms were spotted at the south end. (the abandoned station Devon.) before we turn off to the northwest via a single track. The curve is long and wide and the wheels did squeal. The line climbs an embankment giving a postcard view to the west and to mountains further west. We briefly level off on a plateau then start to descend. After a curve to the northwest, a siding appears to the northwest of our line, which splits into two tracks. It went to Botsford, Newtown and Danbury. We continue to the northeast and enter our first station, Derby/Shelton. The station has one low platform on the west side including a station house with a hip roof. The station is at grade level and features a bus shelter. There is no grade crossing at this station. Ansonia follows, with a short low platform on the east side and is ADA compliant with a mini lift. The platform has a bus shelter made of wood that needs paint. North of the station, we pass an industrial zone before reverting to a rural character. We pass a rock dam and nice lake to our west. This branch reminds me of the Hudson Line. Civilization intrudes and we arrive at our next station, Seymour. The station has a low platform on the west side. A brick bus shelter passes for a station house. We descend further, picking up speed and again civilization interrupts our view of nature. We have arrived at Beacon Falls. It was added in the 1980s The low platform is on the east side and is a strange platform, not quite low and not quite high--. Rather it is about mid-level and features a mini-lift. it was an old station now reopened. We continue northward and continue our descent. We are now in a deep earthen valley that soon broadens out. Industry intrudes again and we arrive at Naugatuck with a low platform on the west side. There is a station house here but it is in a state of disrepair and is closed. A closed, station, Union City, follows. We continue our descent and soon pass through an industrial area on both sides, with the buildings almost within touching distance of our train. We pass through a freight yard and enter Waterbury, our last stop. The station has a high platform on the east side and an ornate station house that unfortunately is closed. The track continues north of the station after passing a low platform also on the east side. In place of this station house, we now have a bus shelter. I found a sign indicating renovations were made in 1997. This branch earns 5 stars
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