Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Cedar Hill Rail Yard


At a point Cedar Hill was one of the largest rail yards on the East Coast now it is just a small memory. It once stood proud were Universal Drive in North Haven is today... but a small part still remains, very much so abandon, but well intact. You can still find it nestled behind the strip malls and restaurants, bordering the Quinnipiac River.
Our Experience: Our visit to the rail yard went well. If you are visiting beware there is a lot of rusted metal and the structures are far from safe. Also if you are planning on going it is a very long walk, which can be confusing at times.  I would not recommend coming here in the snow.













































33 comments:

  1. Wow looks like you had a beautiful day for this. I scoped this place out on Google Earth, I'd like to stop in and check it out myself! I see there's still a section of rail with abandoned cars on it just west of that big warehouse, is that still used? I see cars parked in the area. If it's not, the abandoned rail cars would be an interesting investigation.

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    1. It was a great day and I would definitely recommend checking this place out. The small strip next to the plaza is still used and has live trains on it. If you are looking to checkout this place park in the small lot behind Target and keep walking directly back past the fence and thru the woods. Be sure to keep your eyes open during the walk because it’s easy to miss a lot!

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  2. Okay so a couple of buddies and me went to see this place. It was actually really cool. The path right behind Target was really easy and was marked with orange, but the tent city of the homeless back there was sketchy. Also, we saw many of the key features, such as the towers and switch stations, but didn't go any further than the large service building, because it was cold! Unfortunately, my camera wasn't working, so I couldn't take any pictures, but it was a bad day for photography anyway. We got pretty close to the live section of rail used for maintenance, but we didn't have any issues. There were shotgun blasts really close to us, someone shooting for bird, but it gave us quite a shock. Anyway, cool place, and a lot of neat stuff lying around (I took home a deer antler). Also, there was a jet engine carcass laying beside a track, happen to see that?

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    1. Glad to hear it! It is definitely one of the coolest places I’ve been. I also witnessed the tent city and was very sketched out Lol. I did not see the Jet engine though, but I will look for it on my next trip there. This place is not known to most people in the area, and I actually stumbled on it by accident. I’m glad you went and saw it because there has been talk in town lately of building a Bike path and walking trail thru that area and I don't know what that would mean for the remaining buildings and structures. My first post on Pratt and Whitney is definitely another amazing site to check out and might be gone within the next year. If you are interested in checking that place out shoot me an email and I’ll give you the details about how to get on the site. It's a little risky but worth it.

      -Mike
      bobo732@sbcglobal.net

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  3. Yeah! The Google Earth images shows squad cars surrounding the building haha.

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  4. So yeah me and my friends went there, and it was beautiful!! Only thing though I would not recommend going into / near that hazardous zone. From what it looks like they buried a lot of rail cars over there. And whatever those rail cars carried smells awful and is definitely dangerous (lot of oil and gas), but then again there was green water and stuff. Other than that it was a beautiful hike.

    - Jeremy

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  5. I've been there with my friends and it mad cool to go there but many homeless people roam around there

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  6. And of course, restaurants in newhaven there is always the rivalry between Pepe's Fans and Sally's Fans.

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    1. Sallys without a doubt. Pepes has sold out to be a chain.

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  7. safe to go at night? like 9pm at the latest? Great Article, thanks!

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    1. Wouldn't recommend going at night. It is very dark and easy to get lost... Stick to the day time

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    2. Feel free to Email me with any questions about the location
      -Mike
      AbandonedCT@yahoo.com

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  8. Where exactly is the location of this as well? I want to check this out!!!! I can't find an exact location, any address, or nearby stuff, etc.?

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  9. Right behind LongHorn & the plaza is a small part of Cedar Hill still being used today, but yes it was huge at one time. All that property on universal drive was part of it. including Home Depot, the movie theater, all those plazas, Were all part of it all the way to Sackett point rd.It was New haven RR's main freight yard, with the engine yard over off state street which is still used.

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  10. This area is beautiful and full of great history. I hope it will preserved.

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  11. Was there today. Good hike, and got some good pictures.

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  12. Went today but did not see the warehouse structure or tower. Was that farther away from target. Looked like there was a fence at the end of the concrete platform. Figured that was the end

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    1. Facing south at the fence, you want to go west. You probably have to back track a little bit and head towards the Quinipiac River. As you go up the embankment you will see more tracks... follow this south. You will come across a brick tower on your right... it is easy to miss due to overgrowth. Use Bing maps birds eye view and you can get a better idea of the layout.

      -Bill

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  13. Looks like they might do something at Cedar Hill Yard.

    http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20160207/north-haven-new-haven-officials-see-new-life-for-vacant-strip-along-i-91

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  14. i went there today and we started hearing gun shots does anyone know if there is a shooting range near there and also be careful its full of tents that kinda scared me too

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  15. Found this by accident while checking out a well-marked tidal marsh trail. The old funky stuff is super cool, great for photography. I suspect that in warmer months the vegetation covers stuff up and blocks the sight lines, but the coverage was perfect in early April. http://adairphotos.zenfolio.com/p232779884/e8796b3ea

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  17. Don't know whether you guys know this, but there's a WONDERFUL video of this yard during its heyday. The whole film is great, but the footage of the yard starts at 16 minutes in... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag8Xew4R2fo

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  19. Went here a few years ago. Came across it by accident when I was using the Marsh Trail. I have heard that some of the tunnels are actually used by homeless people as a place to live.

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