Does anyone know of a definitive history of the Poughkeepsie Bridge, between Highland and Poughkeepsie, NY? Thanks to Peter E. Lynch’s New Haven Railroad, I know that it was built in 1888 by the Central New England & Western, which was taken over by the Philadelphia, Reading & New England, then re-organized as the Central New England, before being taken over by the New York, New Haven & Hartford. Originally built with two main tracks, it was gauntleted in 1927, and, I think, single-tracked at a later date before it (partially) burned. Any references appreciated. TNX.
Thanks for the info, Paul. Interesting, and quick! I can’t remember who owned the bridge when it “burned”. Was it Penn Central or Conrail? There, apparently, was no structural damage, just enough to get it embargoed. I can’t remember if anyone was charged with arson, but doubt it. Now that it is a “Yuppie” walkway, the chances of having rail traffic over it again are slight. They could single-track it and run trains at night, but there would be public outcry! Wow! A couple of trains, per night, would pay for painting it and some upkeep. My suggestion would be “Fire Engine Red”! That would be fitting, and “hot”! I’ll see if I can find the book mentioned in the www.walkway.org site. There are discrepancies, as to when it opened and the clearance above MHW. Nit picking? Yar!
Re-opening the Poughkeepsie Bridge to rail service would be a waste of money as the connections at Maybrook don’t really exist anymore. Traffic had been re-routed through Albany during the Penn Central era (PC was not going to shorthaul itself by routing through Maybrook) so the line’s reason for existence had vanished.
The bridge burned under Penn Central’s watch and therein lies controversey. With the burning, PC could close the bridge, the line, and the interchange with EL, L&HR, CNJ-RDG-B&O, and LV and keep all New England traffic to themselves via Selkirk by then the only rail crossing of the Hudson River except for passenger only PC,nee PRR, Penn Station main. The ICC forced PC to run a train from Utica to Binghamton over the EL to effect the Maybrook interchange (PC units and train, EL crew). Eventually, as PC somehow kept rerouting away from Maybrook, the train was dropped. That plus the end of PC and the beginning of Conrail which included all the interchanging rairoads.
However, I take exception to the concept that a P’kpsee Bridge route would be a waste today. The former Erie/EL line, the Southern Tier Line of NS (on lease to MNRR [NJT] Suffern to Sparrowbush and Central New York RR [NYSW} Sparrowbush to Bingahmton) is intact if not in top shape. Using Maybrook as a marshalling yard for intermodal and truck trailers from New England and the Port of New York, could be a way out of the expected crush of traffic expected over the next 20 to 50 years. Even with CSX’s single track Boston and Albany route and the improvements Patriot Rail expects to put in place on the former B&M line, the fact is that those two lines are way north of a lot of New England and away from the New York Metropolitan area. Therefore being able to come up out of the City on the east side of the Hudson, or from Boston, Providence, New Haven and other CT points, the P’kpsee Bridge route to Maybrook could be very viable. Oh, yeah, I’m not a professional railroader or marketer, but I would think that those in charge will look closely at this idea within the next few years because traffic, environment, and economics will force them to.
Good points, Henry. Just because the route was closed by PC/Conrail, doesn’t mean it has no value today, or more importantly, 10-30 years in the future. One difficulty in businesses, for many good reasons, is planning for the long term.
In many urban areas when they decided they needed light rail or other than highway public transportation to alleviate traffic congestion and air pollution they drew lines representing where they had to build. Often those lines were over abandoned rail or transit rights of way. I feel that the same thing is going to happen when it comes to needing freight routes out of urban areas and through rural areas: lines drawn will be along abandoned rights of way. And in many cases these lines will be over rail trails which will lead to great struggles, maybe impossible struggles, to reuse them for alleviating road congestion and pollution. There were some “rail banks” at one time, but as time has moved away from the 1970’s, all is forgotten. There are few around today who understand that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel as much as we must reapply its science and art. Unfortunately there are too many others who have grown comfortable in the complacency of having gotten rid of those rail lines for personal use.
Admittedly a long way from my normal area of interest, but wasn’t there another bridge in or near New York City that burned on PC’s watch under peculiar circumstances. I recall reading something about this and I thought at the time it is something I would like to know more about.
No, this and Castleton near Selkirk, are the only two rail bridges across the Hudson south of Albany. This is the bridge that burned, some say under suspecious circumstances, that PC used as an excuse to close Maybrook at a New England gateway for EL, LV, and the B&O-RDG-CNJ group via LHR. PC refusal to repair the bridge stirred the controversey which became moot when they all became Conrail.
Basically what it comes down to is…PC wanted to close Maybrook once and for all, and as has been said route all traffic through Selkirk. The fire, which started after an EL powered train went across the bridge, didn’t do enough damage to close it but enough to give PC the excuse it needed to close it. This left no route for trains out of Maybrook, though there were few left, and some railroads such as the Lehigh and Hudson River with no connection since their traffic was based on being a bridge line with the connection at Maybrook. With Conrail coming inot existence a few years down the road none of it would matter anyway.
An EL powered train on the bridge!? Doubtful…that was all PC/NH territory miles from the EL and Maybrook. It could have been an EL train, however, a connection to or from the EL like NE 99 or 100 or something like that.
And remember the future is not here yet. Yes Amtrak controls the Shore Line but there are other factors in New England that could come into play through Danbury. And coming up from the Big Apple to Brewster could come into play. What was, was; what is, is; what will be is speculation, yes, but if anything needs be done, there will be a way to get it done. West out of NY Metropolitan area is getting full over what it’s got…so the Southern Tier Line looms big for future use by somebody, NS is in control there now. So many things can happen; I just wish will live long enough to see it happen.
I can’t wait till spring when we are going out on a walk over the river. I am working on a schedule for my Ridewithmehenry trip groups which will probably include NJT/MNRR-Amtrak-bridge walk-MNRR-MTA-NJT/MNRR, probably a weekday, too, but could be a Saturday jaunt. 've seen the bridge many times from water level, and have been fascinated by the history and the stories.
It is now a Rail Trail, just opened in October as such…concrete deck, high railings, etc. I’m told there’s even an elevator at one of the ends. Google, Bing, or Ask for pictures and details.
