The Nutmeg followed an earlier Highland Express along the same route in the 1930s.[3] There were other unnamed trains that followed this route; however, these were local trains and most of them did not go further west than Hartford. Even in earlier years, such as 1921, travelers continuing west on the same line beyond Waterbury, along territory of the former Central New England Railway, to Danbury, Brewster, Hopewell Junction, Poughkeepsie and Campbell Hall, New York in the mid-Hudson Valley, would need to transfer in Hartford or Waterbury for a Hartford - Campbell Hall train.[4]
The Nutmeg was a weekday train, and there were local running trains that made the trip on weekends.[5] The NH could not continue the route further west to Danbury or to Putnam County, New York because the company had removed tracks from essential points from Waterbury west to Southbury in 1937.[6]
The route was rendered unusable after a major flood during Hurricane Diane in August, 1955 washed out the bridge over the Quinebaug River, west of Putnam, Connecticut. The flood led to the suspension of passenger train traffic between Blackstone, Massachusetts and Hartford. The New Haven RR continued daily unnamed trains between Waterbury and Hartford, and several trains a day between Blackstone and Boston. The Waterbury-Hartford service ended in 1960.[7][8][9] With the closing of the route, Connecticut's interior cities no longer have east-west travel options available by rail.