Kent Road station

Kent Road station was a commuter rail stop on the Danbury Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line. It was located near the border between Wilton and Norwalk, south of a grade crossing with Kent Road in Wilton, Connecticut. It opened in 1976 and closed in 1994. A previous station on the site, South Wilton, closed in 1971.

Kent Road
The former station site of Kent Road, seen behind a pile of concrete and cement blocks in May 2012.
General information
Location11 Kent Road, Wilton, Connecticut
Coordinates41.163564°N 73.420262°W / 41.163564; -73.420262
Line(s)Danbury Branch
Platforms1 low level side platform
Tracks1
History
Opened1852, January 12, 1976
Closedca. 1971, January 16, 1994
Previous namesKent (1852–1886)
South Wilton (1886–1971)
Hopkins (1933–1945)
Passengers
199415
Services
Preceding station Metro-North Railroad Following station
Merritt 7
toward South Norwalk, Stamford or Grand Central
 Danbury Branch Wilton
toward Danbury

History

Original station
South Wilton station in a postcard sent in 1906

The original station located at the site was located on the north side of Kent Road and was originally called Kent.[1] Kent was opened in 1852 by the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. The name of the station was changed to South Wilton when the railroad was leased by the Housatonic Railroad in 1886, possibly to distinguish it from the HRR's already existing station in the town of Kent. The station served the nearby Kensett Sanitarium,[2] Which burned down in 1912.[3] The station was also known as Hopkins. Which is possibly a reference to Fred Hopkins, who was the station agent at the Wilton station for many years.[4]

The station was closed by Penn Central on February 1, 1971. The station was demolished not long afterwards.[5][6]

Replacement station

The station was replaced on January 12, 1976, when a new station called Kent Road was opened on the south side of Kent Road by Penn Central to serve Perkin-Elmer's headquarters in Wilton.[7][8] However, ridership at the station gradually decreased over time and by 1985, the station served just a dozen daily riders.[9] Metro-North discontinued service at Kent Road on January 16, 1994.[10] ConnDOT director of rail operations Dick Rathburn cited the station's lack of parking, poor geographic location, dwindling ridership, and potential obsoleteness with the newly renovated Merritt 7 station located just 1 mile south. Rathburn even claimed that the station "Was only put up as a temporary measure to provide transportation for Perkin-Elmer employees."[11] The station consisted of a low-level side platform and a small shelter, which are no longer extant.[12]

References
  1. Harvey, Smith (1858). ABC Pathfinder Railway Guide. New England Railway Publishing Company.
  2. Report. South Wilton, Connecticut: Connecticut Public Welfare Council. 1905.
  3. Ritchie, Adele (January 29, 1912). "PATIENTS FLEE TO WOODS AS FLAMES LEVEL SANITARIUM". The New York Herald. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  4. Bepler, Virginia and Laurie (November 1997). Wilton,Connecticut in the Golden Age of postcards. Wilton,Connecticut: Arcadia Pub. p. 17. ISBN 9780738590325.
  5. "Stations: SO". Tyler City Station. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
  6. Cornwall, Peter L. (January 1, 1987). In The Shore Line's Shadow: The Six Lives Of The Danbury And Norwalk Railroad. Flying Yankee. p. 94. ISBN 0-9615574-5-1.
  7. "Stations: HE–K". Tyler City Station. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
  8. "P-E Commuters to Get Train Service in Wilton". The Bridgeport Post. January 4, 1976. p. 93.
  9. Charles, Eleanor (July 28, 1985). "Rail Station for Corporate Park". The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  10. "Trains Will End Stops at Kent Road Sunday". The Wilton Bulletin. Wilton, Connecticut. January 12, 1994. Retrieved February 15, 2012.
  11. Viccora, Andrew Q (September 29, 1993). "Kent Station will close". Hersam Acorn Newspapers. The Wilton Bulletin. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  12. Bachelder, Len. "Extant Connecticut Railroad/Railway Structures in Fairfield County, CT". rrshs.org. Railroad Station Historical Society. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
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