The company planned to route their line directly through the coastal village of Wickford, but surveyors were chased out of town by local farmers armed with guns.

[1] The railroad would also connect to Wickford's port, where steamboats could be run to Newport, Rhode Island, a popular summer destination for wealthy New York City residents.

[2] Traveling by ship to Newport from west of Rhode Island meant sailing past Point Judith, an area known for rough seas.

[3] An all-rail trip meant traveling via Providence, Rhode Island, and Fall River, Massachusetts, which took a significant amount of time.

[6] Trains were initially hauled by a Forney locomotive originally designed for operating on elevated railroads, where turning facilities were unavailable.

A pair of side-wheeler steamboats (Eolus and Tockwogh) shuttled passengers and cargo across Narragansett Bay to and from Newport, a trip completed in approximately 75 minutes each way.

[9] In October 1908, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad reported that the Newport and Wickford owed it $40,000 in passenger and freight revenues and would no longer allow the latter company any credit.

[19] The tracks to the dock at Wickford Landing were subsequently abandoned in 1938, with the remainder of the line retained as a freight branch serving local industries.

The branch saw a temporary increase in usage in support of the construction of Naval Air Station Quonset Point just north of Wickford from the late 1930s and continuing through World War II, though once the base was completed it included its own dedicated rail line connecting to the New Haven's mainline (these tracks survive as the Seaview Railroad).

[20] A combination bike rack and sculpture resembling a caboose was built by a local artist in Wickford in 2017 featuring preserved pieces of rail from the railroad.