By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com
At 57, I’m too young to remember when the train station in Torrington was open for business, but I still feel sadness over its razing and outrage over the fact it wasn’t preserved and repurposed. Given its location, a stone’s throw from Christmas Village and a short walk from the YMCA, there no reason (except lack of foresight) that it couldn’t have been turned into a cornerstone in the revival of downtown Torrington.
A fond memory from childhood actually involves riding a train in Torrington. My father’s company, the mechanical contracting business T.A. Walker, backed up to the tracks just north of Church Street and freight trains would occasionally stop. One day, a train was parked behind the building and my father convinced the engineer to take me for a quick ride. I scrambled up into the cab of the locomotive and off we went. I don’t recall how far we traveled but it may have been as far as the Newfield Road. It certainly was fun.
Demolishing the train station serves no purpose except to rid the town of an eyesore. 
I suspect the same fate might have happened to the train station in Cold Spring, N.Y., which sits on the Hudson River. Instead of a becoming decaying shell awaiting a wrecking ball, the train station there was preserved and converted into a pub and restaurant, Cold Spring Depot, complete with an outdoor patio where bands play on the weekend.
Cold Spring Depot is a tourist destination; a downtown jewel that recalls the town’s history. All Torrington will have now is a patch of dirt.
