Beacon station

Last updated

Beacon
Beacon train station platform.jpg
View south down the island platform
General information
Location1 Ferry Plaza
Beacon, New York
Coordinates 41°30′23″N73°59′05″W / 41.5064°N 73.9848°W / 41.5064; -73.9848
Owned by Metro-North
Line(s) Hudson Line
Platforms1 island platform, 1 side platform
Tracks3
ConnectionsAiga bus trans.svg Dutchess County Public Transit
Aiga bus trans.svg Leprechaun Lines: Newburgh-Beacon-Stewart Shuttle
Ferry symbol.svg NY Waterway: Newburgh–Beacon Ferry
Construction
ParkingYes
Bicycle facilitiesYes
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone8
History
Opened1850s (HRR)
RebuiltNovember 21, 1915 [1] (NYC & CNE)
Previous namesFishkill Landing (HRR)
Passengers
20182,828 [2] (Metro-North)
Rank21 of 109 [2]
Services
Preceding station MTA NYC logo.svg Metro-North Railroad Following station
New Hamburg
toward Poughkeepsie
Hudson Line
limited service
Breakneck Ridge
Hudson Line Cold Spring
Former services
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
Chelsea
toward Chicago
Main Line Dutchess
toward New York
Poughkeepsie
toward Chicago
Michigan Central Railroad
Wolverine
Main Line
Croton-Harmon
toward New York
Location
Beacon station

Beacon station is a commuter rail station on the Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line located in Beacon, New York. The station has three tracks, with one island platform and one side platform.

Contents

History

Rail service in Beacon can be traced as far back as December 6, 1849, with the Hudson River Railroad. [3] The station was originally named "Fishkill Landing," [4] and like many others on the Hudson Line, it is also right on the Hudson River. On September 4, 1866, the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad was established with the hope of running from the south side of Fishkill Creek northeast and north to meet the New York and Harlem Railroad at Craryville, New York. This junction and the station were built south of Fishkill Landing, and would be known forever as Dutchess Junction. The first station at Dutchess Junction, which was shared by the NYC&HR and D&C was burned down in April 1876, and rebuilt. The railroad along the river was acquired by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad in November 1869. By 1877, the D&C was taken over by the Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad. In 1881 the New York and New England Railroad built a ferry port near Fishkill Landing station, and added a connecting spur along the north side of the Fishkill Creek (now known as the Beacon Secondary) leading to what became Wickopee Junction, and turned it over to the ND&C. [5]

Dutchess Junction station would face another fire in 1893, and was replaced by little more than a sheltered shed which lasted only into the 1950s. The New York and New England ferry terminal was bought by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, along with the rest of the NY&NE in 1898. In 1905 the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired the ND&C, and in 1907 merged it into the Central New England Railway, which itself was acquired by the New Haven Railroad system in 1904, and allowed to operate under its own name until 1927. In the meantime the NYC&HR became the New York Central Railroad System in 1914.

Beacon station in 1916 Beacon station with new platforms, 1916.jpg
Beacon station in 1916

Between 1913 and 1915, the original HRR line was realigned, and the station was rebuilt in order to accommodate both the Hudson Division of the New York Central Railroad and the connecting spur of the ND&C along the north side of Fishkill Creek. [6] [7] [8] [9] Since Fishkill Landing was consolidated into the City of Beacon in 1913, the new station would be called Beacon as well. Additionally, the station also contained a new ferry dock designed for trains, passengers, and eventually cars. By 1916, the ND&C was moved from the southeast side of Fishkill Creek to the north side of the creek, and the original section between Dutchess Junction and Wickopee Junction was gradually abandoned in the 1930s. The New Haven Railroad continued to gradually reduce service along the ND&C, although they never completely eliminated service. In 1930 the ferry route officially became part of New York State Route 52.

The decline in railroad service during the post-WW II era affected Beacon station as it did with much of the country, but other forces also put the station at risk. Winter freezes along the Hudson (including one that stranded a ferry boat in the Hudson River [10] ), and the construction of the Newburgh–Beacon Bridge brought ferry service at the station to an end. New York Central merged with their long time rival Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 to form Penn Central Railroad, then acquired the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1969, including the former ND&C. Amtrak took over intercity passenger service in 1971, but Beacon station continued to serve only Penn Central Hudson Line commuter trains which by that time ran to Poughkeepsie and was subsidized by the MTA beginning in 1972. A fire in 1976 destroyed the station built by New York Central in 1913, which was demolished later that year to create more parking capacity. [11] Conrail took over Penn Central in 1976 continued to operate Hudson Line trains until Metro-North Commuter Railroad assumed operation in 1983. [12] [13]

On October 17, 2005, ferry service to the station from Newburgh resumed after 42 years in which the Newburgh–Beacon Bridge had sufficed to bring people across the river. This has allowed the MTA to essentially increase the available parking for the station with little new construction due to the availability of land on the Newburgh waterfront. The fare is $1.75 per person each way; unlike Beacon, parking in Newburgh is free. Those purchasing monthly train passes also have the option to include the Newburgh-Beacon ferry in their ticket. Rail and ferry service at Beacon was severely disrupted by Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but not obliterated.

On March 27, 2023, the Track 3 side platform opened for passenger service after a full reconstruction, and is accessible from the south end of the eastern parking lot, including via ADA-compliant ramps. Track 3 had a temporary platform built during a renovation project in the 1990s, though it was removed when the project was completed; the new platform was built atop the preexisting support structure. [14] [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutchess County, New York</span> County in New York, United States

Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later organized in 1713. The county is part of the Hudson Valley region of the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beacon, New York</span> City in New York, United States

Beacon is a city located on the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 13,769. Beacon is part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, New York–New Jersey–Connecticut–Pennsylvania Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beekman, New York</span> Town in New York, United States

Beekman is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is part of the Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie–Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. The population was 14,172 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Henry Beekman, a 17th-century land owner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hopewell Junction, New York</span> Census-designated place in New York, United States

Hopewell Junction is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 1330 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wappinger, New York</span> Town in New York, United States

Wappinger is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The town is located in the Hudson River Valley region, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. The population was 28,216 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from the Wappinger Native Americans who inhabited the area. Wappinger comprises three-fourths of the incorporated village of Wappingers Falls, several unincorporated hamlets such as Chelsea, Diddell, Hughsonville, Middlebush, Myers Corners, New Hackensack, and Swartwoutville, and a number of neighborhoods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishkill (town), New York</span> Town in New York, United States

Fishkill is a town in the southwestern part of Dutchess County, New York, United States. It lies approximately 60 miles (97 km) north of New York City. The population was 24,226 at the 2010 census. Fishkill surrounds the city of Beacon, and contains a village, which is also named Fishkill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro-North Railroad</span> Commuter rail service in New York and Connecticut

Metro-North Railroad, trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York. Metro-North serves the New York Metropolitan Area, running service between New York City and its northern suburbs in New York and Connecticut, including Port Jervis, Spring Valley, Poughkeepsie, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, White Plains, Southeast and Wassaic in New York and Stamford, New Canaan, Danbury, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and New Haven in Connecticut. Service in Connecticut is operated under contract with the Connecticut Department of Transportation. Metro-North also provides local rail service within the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson Valley</span> Region in New York

The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to Yonkers in Westchester County, bordering New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central New England Railway</span> Railroad in the northeastern US

The Central New England Railway was a railroad from Hartford, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, west across northern Connecticut and across the Hudson River on the Poughkeepsie Bridge to Maybrook, New York. It was part of the Poughkeepsie Bridge Route, an alliance between railroads for a passenger route from Washington to Boston, and was acquired by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad in 1904. The New Haven ran the CNE as a separate company until finally merging it in 1927. The vast majority of the system was abandoned by the 1930s and 1940s. Surviving portions of the Central New England Railway are operated by the Central New England Railroad and the Housatonic Railroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York and New England Railroad</span> Defunct railroad in southern New England

The New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) was a railroad connecting southern New York State with Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Boston, Massachusetts. It operated under that name from 1873 to 1893. Prior to 1873 it was known as the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad, which had been formed from several smaller railroads that dated back to 1846. After a bankruptcy in 1893, the NY&NE was reorganized and briefly operated as the New England Railroad before being leased to the competing New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1898.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad</span> Railway line in New York, US

The Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad was a railroad in Dutchess County, New York, United States. Its line ran 58.9 miles (94.8 km) northeast from the Hudson River in Fishkill to the Connecticut state line near Millerton. The Dutchess and Columbia Railroad (D&C), was chartered in 1866 to link rural villages with the Hudson River Railroad and New York and Harlem Railroad. The under-construction line was leased by the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad (BH&E) in 1868. The first segment opened in July 1869, and it reached Pine Plains the following February.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hudson Line (Metro-North)</span> Metro-North Railroad line in New York

The Hudson Line is a commuter rail line owned and operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. state of New York. It runs north from New York City along the east shore of the Hudson River, terminating at Poughkeepsie. The line was originally the Hudson River Railroad, and eventually became the Hudson Division of the New York Central Railroad. It runs along what was the far southern leg of the Central's famed "Water Level Route" to Chicago.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newburgh–Beacon Ferry</span> Passenger ferry in New York

The Newburgh–Beacon Ferry is a ferry service crossing the Hudson River that connects Newburgh with Beacon in the U.S. state of New York. It carries passengers between the two cities during rush hour, primarily transporting commuters from the west side of the river at Newburgh to the commuter train station on the east side at Beacon where they can catch Metro North Hudson Line service to Grand Central Terminal and other points in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishkill Creek</span> Tributary of the Hudson River in southern Dutchess County, New York

Fishkill Creek is a tributary of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At 33.5 miles (53.9 km) it is the second longest stream in the county, after Wappinger Creek. It rises in the town of Union Vale and flows generally southwest to a small estuary on the Hudson just south of Beacon. Part of its 193-square-mile (500 km2) watershed is in Putnam County to the south. Sprout Creek, the county's third-longest creek, is its most significant tributary. Whaley and Sylvan lakes and Beacon Reservoir, its largest, deepest and highest lakes, are among the bodies of water within the watershed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beacon Line</span> Metro-North Railroad line in New York

The Metro-North Railroad's Beacon Line is a non-revenue line connecting the railroad's three revenue lines east of the Hudson River. From west to east, the lines that connect are Hudson Line, Harlem Line, and the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line. It was purchased by Metro-North in 1995 for $4.2 million from Maybrook Properties, a subsidiary of the Housatonic Railroad, to preserve it for future use, training, and equipment moves. Maybrook Properties purchased the line from Conrail after Conrail withdrew from the Danbury, Connecticut, freight market in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsea, Dutchess County, New York</span> Hamlet in New York, United States

Chelsea is a hamlet of the Town of Wappinger in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is located on the Hudson River in the southwestern corner of the town. It takes the ZIP Code 12512 and is in the 845 telephone area code, and has its own fire district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area</span> Metropolitan statistical area in New York, United States

The Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is an area consisting of two counties in New York's Hudson Valley, with the municipalities of Kiryas Joel, Poughkeepsie, and Newburgh as its principal cities. As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 679,221. The area was centered on the urban area of Poughkeepsie-Newburgh. Prior to July 2023, it was known as the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area; whereupon it was renamed to its current name, to reflect population changes among its largest municipalities.

The Maybrook Line was a line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad which connected with its Waterbury Branch in Derby, Connecticut, and its Maybrook Yard in Maybrook, New York, where it interchanged with other carriers. It was the main east-west freight route of the New Haven until its merger with the Penn Central in 1969.

References

  1. "New Station at Beacon Opened". The Poughkeepsie Eagle-News. November 22, 1915. p. 6. Retrieved June 21, 2022 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 METRO-NORTH 2018 WEEKDAY STATION BOARDINGS. Market Analysis/Fare Policy Group:OPERATIONS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS DEPARTMENT:Metro-North Railroad. April 2019. p. 6.
  3. The Hudson River and the Hudson River Railroad—1851 (Catskill Archive, originally published by Bradbury and Guild)
  4. "Railroad Extra -The Hudson River and Hudson River Railroad--New York Central Railroad Hudson Division" . Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  5. Ken Kinlock. "ND&C RR from Dutchess Junction to Matteawan". Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  6. Ken Kinlock. "Railroad at Fishkill Landing NY First Phase". Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  7. Ken Kinlock. "Fishkill Landing Reconstruction". Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  8. Ken Kinlock. "Fishkill Landing Completion". Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  9. Gordon, Reginald (March 1916). "New Stations on the Lackawanna and New York Central". Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way. Vol. 12, no. 3. pp. 83–85.
  10. "- Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley" . Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  11. Anthony P. Musso. "Beacon Train Station serviced two railroads". Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  12. Jeremiah Cox. "Beacon (Metro-North Hudson Line) - The SubwayNut" . Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  13. "Old New York Central Railroad Hudson Division" . Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  14. Minutes of the Regular Meeting | Joint Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Committees (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 21, 2023. p. 7.
  15. Minutes of the Regular Meeting | Joint Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Committees (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 24, 2023. p. 5.

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