In 2024, the P&W convinced some shippers on an old New Haven industrial track in Stratford, Ct to start handling freight by rail instead of by truck. Unfortunately, Stratford is west of New Haven and thus in CSX territory, so the STCO has to interchange with that railroad instead of directly with the P&W.
No worries, though; until the day came when either the P&W got trackage rights or managed to work out a trackage rights agreement between Stratford & the P&W’s Naugatuck branch, it could interchange with CSX and still maintain something resembling the Parsons Vale system’s service guarantees.
So the P&W chartered the Stratford Commercial Railway to rebuilt & operate this 2 mile branch, equipped it with a freshly manufactured ILW eco-425, and had it operational by the end of the year.