Amusement Parks ?? There were almost none in Litchfield County except Electric Park on Highland Lake, Winsted, Connecticut. A Trolley Park. Virtually nothing is known about it. I will on this page place some 'tid-bits' of information as discovered. There was another Amusement Park supposedly in Terryville (Plymouth), Connecticut...Hlopko Park... I have found ZERO on it. Many towns held Carnivals, Fairs, etc. and still do till this day. I have found some old pictures that suggest Parks that might have been Amusement Parks in older days and I might post such here. This page is in ongoing construction as information is discovered. |
Winsted, in the last 10 years of the nineteenth century,was witness to many important historical events.
At the dedication of the Winchester Soldier's Memorial Tower, with our state governor, lieutenant governor and chief justice in attendance, 2,000 people marched in a parade, and later 3,000 guests were served dinner at the Rink.
The Electric Railway between Winsted and Torrington, with a spur to Lyman W. Case's Highland Park on Highland Lake was completed. This railway gave Torrington access to the Railroad Center in Winsted, the spur line made Highland Lake easily accessible to travelers from around the world. Change and the nineties were here ----- Credits:As Shown....
Car #3001 and her two sisters, #3000 and #3002 were built in 1922 in Springfield Mass. at the Wason Manufacturing plant as double ended, double truck Birney safety cars. Each car weighed just under 30,000 pounds. They rode upon Brill 77E1 trucks equipped with 4 Westinghouse 506A, 25 hp motors. A K-6P controller at each end of the car acting through a line switch allowed very economical single man operation. The cars initially had one single bi-fold door at each end located to the right of the operator. For only seven years would they operate back and forth between Torrington and Winsted or take crowds to Highland Lake.
With the closure of the Torrington Division trolley operation in 1929, all three cars were sent to New Haven, Conn. Here two single bi-fold treadle doors were added to each car, one door at each end to the left of the operator. At that same time, the wooden slat seats initially installed in the car were replaced with rattan seats. The cars operated on low volume lines and as school trippers. When trolley service was abandoned in New Haven on September 25, 1948, once more #3001 was on the road, this time to the Connecticut Trolley Museum. Car #3000 also found a home at the Shoreline Trolley Museum in East Haven, and it is reported that the body of #3002 still exists in the New Haven area.
History by Roger K. Steele, reviewed by William E. Wood, January 2001.--and Credit Connecticut Electric Railway Association...