Conrail spun off the northern portion of the Connecticut Central line to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1982. The B&M named its portion the Armory Branch, after the nearby Springfield Armory. Operations continued until 1990, with the line being formally abandoned in 1993. Meanwhile, Conrail cut back its portion of the line from East Windsor to the new terminus of South Windsor in 1986. The four miles from East Hartford to South Windsor were all that remained of the Connecticut Central until 1996, when the state of Connecticut, dissatisfied with the progressive abandonments of the line, purchased the right-of-way between East Windsor and the Massachusetts state line in Enfield. Operations were transferred to two new shortline railroads: the Connecticut Southern Railroad began serving the line between East Hartford and South Windsor, while the Central New England Railroad began operating from South Windsor to East Windsor, following the return of that portion of the line to service.
