Rockville had already become a major manufacturing center, producing carloads of cloth from mills on the Hockanum River (which fell over 300' in a bit over one mile). The steady source of water provided a resource which enabled much manufacturing. There was a problem, however. The Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad was chartered to reach the Hudson River and Providence. If the Railroad went through Rockville, the slope of the climb out of Rockville to the east made railroad construction impossible. Therefore, the Rockville RR branch line was constructed. So much money and manufacturing flowed into and out of Rockville that it became a major financial, industrial and business center.

—educational plaque, Hop River State Park Trail in Vernon, Connecticut

I tried to imagine the thrill of riding that railroad when it was new. It's still thrilling, in its own way, to walk or cycle the path of the old railroad as it snakes its way through the woods between small Connecticut towns, but the railroad itself is no longer there. Maybe the rhythm of the noise of the trains was just a little like the percussion on this track. But it probably wasn't, and I'll probably never know.