the East Granby and Suffield Railroad had to be incorporated in 1901 to build a loop around the farm and rejoin the branch which connected with the Boston & Albany Railroad at Agawam Junction in West Springfield, Massachusetts. From West Springfield to Springfield, trackage rights were obtained over the B&A. The branch opened on September 12, 1902. Less than six months after the Springfield extension debuted via the loop, the Montague property was suddenly obtainable for a pittance. CNE then completed the last 313 feet of the original line, which it had to charter separately as the Short Line Railroad Company, and passenger trains began to run via the farm on March 9, 1903. The loop was retained briefly for freight use but was ended by May 1904. NH acquired financial control of CNE that same year, mostly for the Poughkeepsie Bridge and western connection at Maybrook that it would soon develop to its fullest potential. CNE was allowed to operate separately, but the lease of the Dutchess County Railroad was assigned to NH on December 1 to allow its access to the bridge. The Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut Railroad and Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railway (P&E) acquired by the NH in 1905 and 1907, were both assigned to the CNE and merged into it June 25, 1907 (along with the Dutchess County Railroad). The ND&C gave CNE a route from Millerton southwest to the Hudson River at Beacon, intersecting the Dutchess County at Hopewell Junction, and P&E ran parallel to the main line from Boston Corners southwest to Poughkeepsie. By 1915 the former NY&NE from Hopewell Junction to Danbury, Connecticut, would also be transferred to CNE. In 1910 the Poughkeepsie & Connecticut main line was abandoned in favor of the parallel Poughkeepsie & Eastern Railway from Pine Plains, New York, southwest to Salt Point, where the two lines had crossed The P&E used trackage of the Newburgh, Dutchess & Connecticut Railroad (also merged into the CNE in 1907) from Pine Plains southwest to Stissing, NY. Connections were built at both ends of the abandonment. By the early 1920s, the New York, New Haven and Hartford had acquired access to the CNE lines. However, the NYNHH made limited use of the opportunity for long-distance east-west integration of the CNE lines with the NYNHH network. Passengers wishing for making east-west trips between the Hudson Valley and eastern Connecticut or Boston would need