After leaving the West Simsbury Area, the Central New England crossed into the town of Canton. This must have been somewhere before Dowd Ave, as the roadbed can be found crossing Rattlesnake brook on it's approach to town. This bridge crossing is one of the neatest features we've seen on the line; as it has a completely intact span, including a legible 1912 builders plaque:
This picture was actually taken from the road; this is one of the most accesible features of the line. The roadbed would then cross Dowd Ave and head west. Only a quarter of a mile away (at Dyer Ave) was the Collinsville Junction Depot, where the mainline split west and a spur into Collinsville Center lay. The station at Collinsville Junction is preserved in very good condition:
The station appears to be in use as a garage; the western wall has been removed and replaced with a sliding door. We once stumbled across a list of railroad stations in CT (which we'd love to give a link to but can't find) which claims that this station has been moved slightly, but I can't tell. In older pictures, the south half of the station is on a slight hill... it seems to be here too:
To see pictures of the old station, go to the Connecticut History Online Search Page and search for "Collinsville Junction." The one other thing that should be noted about this building is that the roof has been replaced; this is very apparent as the old roof had a distinctive shape. The green part immediately under the roof is original, though. If one considers the old roof to have been a "W," the middle bump can be seen to be missing from this piece in the top picture and in this one:
After Collinsville Junction the railroad appears to be under Route 44 for some time, before curving to run along the Farmington River into Satan's Kingdom.
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