On this Tuesday’s tour we’re taking a quick look at the New Haven Line station East Norwalk. It is far smaller, and much less interesting than its neighbor South Norwalk, which we’ve already featured on the site. East Norwalk is 42 miles from Grand Central, and has a travel time of a little over an hour to the city.
From visiting Harlem Line stations, I’m very familiar with the “normal” station layout where the east and westbound platforms are across from one another. Usually these stations also have a relatively easy way of passing from one side to the other – either a passageway under the tracks, or a stairwell that links the two above the tracks. East Norwalk, however, is a deviation from the norm. Quite a few of the New Haven Line stations do not have east and west platforms directly across from one another, and this is true here. Also, passing to the opposite platform is not easy at all – it requires you to descend a stairwell, walk around, cross a busy street, and then reascend on the other side.
Photos of the East Norwalk station, taken in 1955. Note the low-level platforms, and the fences protecting the inner two express tracks.
As I said, our tour of East Norwalk will be rather quick – I didn’t take too many photographs while I was there. But there are photos of both sides of the platform, and in a few you can see how far the other side of the platform is. The station building visible in a few of the photos is on the westbound side.
I wish CDOT would install those great-looking New Haven RR station identification signs at all Connecticut stations. Much better looking than the usual New Haven Line sign.
The city of Norwalk built that little station house, though, so we probably won’t see many more.