Middlesex COUNTY · Railroads & travel
Old Saybrook: a railroad junction
A station, interlocking tower and the work of moving trains safely through a junction.
Historical focus · 1871–1999
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The story in photographs
Photograph date not recorded; survey documentation compiled after 1933
Detail of depot north elevation looking southeast - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Depot, 455 Boston Post Road, Old…
Detail of depot north elevation looking southeast - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Depot, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
Image credit & source
Creator not identified / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse termsPhotograph date not recorded; survey documentation compiled after 1933
Detail of depot south elevation looking northeast - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Depot, 455 Boston Post Road, Old…
Detail of depot south elevation looking northeast - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Depot, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
Image credit & source
Creator not identified / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse termsPhotograph date not recorded
Interior, second floor, looking east showing interlocking machine - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Interlocking…
Interior, second floor, looking east showing interlocking machine - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Interlocking Tower, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
Image credit & source
Creator not identified / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse termsPhotograph date not recorded
Interior, waiting room, looking southeast - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Depot, 455 Boston Post Road, Old…
Interior, waiting room, looking southeast - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Depot, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
Image credit & source
Creator not identified / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse terms1977
Old Saybrook Mechanical Interlocking Tower. Old Saybrook, Middlesex Co., CT. Sec. 4209, MP 105.00. - Northeast…
Old Saybrook Mechanical Interlocking Tower. Old Saybrook, Middlesex Co., CT. Sec. 4209, MP 105.00. - Northeast Railroad Corridor, Amtrak Route between New York-Connecticut and Connecticut-Rhode Island State Lines, New Haven, New Haven County, CT
Image credit & source
Jack Boucher / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse terms1977
Old Saybrook Mechanical Interlocking Tower. Old Saybrook, Middlesex Co., CT. Sec. 4209, MP 105.00. - Northeast…
Old Saybrook Mechanical Interlocking Tower. Old Saybrook, Middlesex Co., CT. Sec. 4209, MP 105.00. - Northeast Railroad Corridor, Amtrak Route between New York-Connecticut and Connecticut-Rhode Island State Lines, New Haven, New Haven County, CT
Image credit & source
Jack Boucher / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse terms1977
Old Saybrook Mechanical Interlocking Tower. Old Saybrook, Middlesex Co., CT. Sec. 4209, MP 105.00. - Northeast…
Old Saybrook Mechanical Interlocking Tower. Old Saybrook, Middlesex Co., CT. Sec. 4209, MP 105.00. - Northeast Railroad Corridor, Amtrak Route between New York-Connecticut and Connecticut-Rhode Island State Lines, New Haven, New Haven County, CT
Image credit & source
Jack Boucher / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse termsPhotograph date not recorded
View looking east - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
View looking east - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
Image credit & source
Creator not identified / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse termsPhotograph date not recorded
View looking northeast - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Interlocking Tower, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook,…
View looking northeast - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Interlocking Tower, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
Image credit & source
Creator not identified / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse termsPhotograph date not recorded
View looking south - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
View looking south - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
Image credit & source
Creator not identified / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse termsPhotograph date not recorded
View looking south - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Depot, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
View looking south - Old Saybrook Railroad Station, Depot, 455 Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook, Middlesex County, CT
Image credit & source
Creator not identified / Historic American Buildings Survey–Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress
No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted.
Original source · Reuse termsTHE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTOGRAPHS
People, places, and change.
Two routes meet
The Connecticut Valley Railroad opened its route toward Hartford in 1871. At Old Saybrook it met the coastal railroad, turning the town into a junction. The depot’s angled plan accommodated the separate lines and platforms while allowing passengers to share a waiting room. Its shape preserves the practical geography of that interchange. [1]
The interlocking tower, about 1912
A new tower replaced one destroyed in a derailment around 1912. From its upper floor, an operator used a bank of levers to control switches and signals. Mechanical interlocking helped prevent conflicting train movements. The tower is evidence of railway safety work that usually remains outside a passenger’s view. [2]
A twentieth-century station landscape
The federal survey documents the depot’s exterior, waiting room and surrounding tracks, including changes associated with the 1930s. Photographs from 1977 record the older manual tower machinery. Each image is dated separately so that changing buildings, equipment and uses can be followed without blending periods. [3] [2]
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Building dates and photograph dates are recorded separately. Later photographs are identified in their captions; unknown exposure dates remain unknown. Follow each image’s credit and reuse terms.