Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Shoreline Electric Railway Co. 1910-1929

Use (Historic)

• Transportation
• Other: Power generation

Largest Documented Workforce

n/a

Historic Narrative

The Shore Line Electric Railway Company was chartered in 1905. It served New Haven to Guilford and Old Saybrook, with extensions to Ivoryton/Deep River and Stony Creek. Construction of the power house began in 1908 and was completed by 1910. The reinforced concrete structure and stack housed two Curtis steam turbines, three Bigelow-Hornsby boilers, switching equipment and auxiliary apparatus. It drew feed water from a reservoir about a mile to the west and condensing water from the Connecticut River. The generating station supplied current to the Shore Line Electric Railway, the New London and East Lyme Railway and for operation of the Connecticut River Bridge. Sub-stations were located in Saybrook (7 miles from the eastern terminus) and Guilford (14 miles from the western terminus). Each of the sub-stations contained three converters, three transformers and switching equipment. At inception, the system consisted of twelve passenger cars, one box car locomotive and a snow plow. The main car barn, also reinforced concrete, was at Saybrook Junction, and housed offices, sub-station, machine shop, work shop and storage for twenty cars. The Guilford sub-station had storage space for four cars.

Number of Existing Buildings

One

Dates of Construction

1910

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

Reinforced concrete with flat roof and stepped parapet on east and west facades. Horizontal tri-partite steel frame windows with concrete sills and lintels punctuate the southern elevation; garage openings punctuate east and west elevations. Two curved concrete hoods at the southwest corner of the building likely correspond to electrical connections.

Exterior Material(s)

• Concrete

Structural System(s)

• Structural Concrete

Roof Form

• Flat

Roof Material

• Concrete Slab

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

n/a

Condition Notes

n/a

Specific Location

One 4.1 acre parcel at the north end of Ford Drive, south of the railroad and east of route 1.

Adjacent To

• Railroad

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 049/ 026 / Link →

Acreage

4.1

Use (Present)

• Commercial
• Vacant

Form Completed By

n/a

Date

n/a

Bibliography

1. LeMonte, Lamar. 'Old Saybrook Trains and Trolleys' (Old Saybrook Historical Society, n.d.).
2. Sperry, A. William. 'The Shore Line Electric Railway' in Twenty-Eighth Annual Meeting and Proceedings, Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers (CSCE, 1912).