The New Haven RR Image Page -- The Boat Race Trains

THE IMAGE PAGE

The 'image page' is where we put a changing variety of New Haven Railroad photographs and advertising material for you to enjoy. Be sure to check back here often because we plan to refresh these images on a regular basis.

The Boat Race Trains

June 1st, 2000

The New Haven Railroad operated special excursion trains, called "boat race trains", which paced the annual college shell races whenever they were held on the Housatonic and Thames rivers in Connecticut. Up through at least 1955, the New Haven even maintained a small fleet of special "boat race cars" which were flat cars fitted with stadium-type seats. The boat race trains actually followed the shells as they raced along the river next to the New Haven's tracks. All materials from the collection of Marc Frattasio.

This boat race train folder, which dates from the late 1930s, advertised a "Triangle Regatta" or competition between three colleges; Yale, Columbia, and Penn State. This race was held on the Housatonic River in western Connecticut and the train operated over the New Haven's Berkshire Line.

This boat race train folder from 1940 promoted another shell race on the Berkshire Line between three colleges; Yale, Cornell, and Princeton. The New Haven's boat race trains were always heavily patronized by college alumni and were very popular.

This Yale vs Harvard boat race train folder dates from the late 1950s. By this time, the New Haven Railroad had long since disposed of its traditional flatcar based boat race cars and was using conventional passenger cars to pace the races. One important advantage for the New Haven and boat race train patrons when the railroad stopped operating the old open-air boat race cars was that the conventional trains always featured a grill car.

The New Haven's trustees continued to operate the boat race trains into the 1960s. In fact, the New Haven continued to operate these trains up until the end of its corporate existence as a result of the Penn Central merger effective January 1st 1969. Boat race trains during the 1960s often used two sets of EMD FL-9 diesel-electric-electric locomotives, one set on each end of the train, for ease of bi-directional operation.

This is one of the last boat race train folders distributed by the New Haven Railroad prior to the Penn Central merger. The boat race trains which operated out of New London ran over the Norwich and Worcester Line next to the Thames River.