In 2021, while the Housatonic Railroad was fighting with Metro-North over the disposition of the Beacon Line (Metro-North wished to abandon it over the objections of the Housatonic), the Providence & Worcester inserted itself into the fight by proposing to merge with the HRRC, then apply the substantial resources of the Parsons Vales legal team to keep the Beacon Line operational.
After some discussion, and agreeing to leave the existing management in place, the two railroads agreed to a merger, and in mid-2025 the HRRC became a subsidiary of the P&W.
Immediately post-merger, the P&W sent track crews to start cleaning up and making the Beacon Line usable for trains, including putting a new southbound interchange between the HRRC & Metro-North at Brewster and electrifying (at 750vdc third rail) between Brewster & Danbury (so the Danbury Railroad Museum could run fantrips with their third-rail equipment if they wanted.)
The HRRC’s lines from Danbury to Pittsfield, Mass & Newburgh, NY are still operated by the HRRC, but their line from Danbury to Derby has passed completely into the hands of the P&W.
Roster
Post-merger, most of the HRRC’s locomotive roster was sold (4 locomotives were kept; GP9 #22, which was rebuilt into a GP9d; RS-3m #9935, which was rebuilt into a RS-350, and two ex-Southern GP38-2s – which the HRRC had purchased for parts – which instead went to Derby for conversion into RS-38s) and replaced with locomotives that had recently been displaced by the Parsons Vale’s ongoing electrification project.
| number(s) | class | builder | formerly | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 488,489 | DL13m2 | ALCO | D&H #454,454 | rebuilt by ILW |
| 1235,1236 | DL37 | ALCO | NP #905-906 | |
| 1738 | DL32b | ALCO | HRRC 9935 | rebuilt by ILW Schenectady |
| 1739 | DL19a | EMD | HRRC 22 | previously BAR #22 |
| 1740-1741 | DL35 | EMD | Southern 2737,2743 | rebuilt at Derby 2025 |