Flag Stop - Hadlyme. The Valley Railroad's 1PM "Santa Special" passes the Hadlyme Station as she enters the Ferry Road crossing on her run to North Chester. Decades ago, when the Connecticut River line was part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford System, there was actually a station house at this location. Back then, the woods were nowhere near as thick as they are today, and historic photos show that you could see the Connecticut River from the Hadlyme Station. That station was removed from this site many years ago, but the building itself survives as a private home on Ferry Road, about a quarter mile to the west.
Today, Hadlyme is a flag-stop for the tourist trains. Passengers can elect to get off here, and walk to a ferry boat that will take them across the river to Gillette Castle, which is a Connecticut State Park. When they return, they can flag down a later train, for the trip to Essex, where their excursion began. The little yellow shelter that you see on the site of the former Hadlyme Station was constructed a few years ago by a volunteer group called the Friends of the Valley Railroad.
