Had the opportunity to visit Poughkeepsie NY, and took a walk on the old Highland-Poughkeepsie trestle, which is now a NY State Park, called "Walkway over the Hudson". A 2.5mile round trip, it is a great walk, with magnificent views of the river, the Mid-Hudson bridge, etc. Of course, one can also see the tracks on each side of the river, as well as the remnants of the line which went across the trestle. Here's a signal on the approach to the bridge. And this is an old siding, on the Poughkeepsie side. The main right of way is a paved walkway, and these were the only remaining tracks I could find
From the trestle, looking down into the Poughkeepsie yard and, in the other direction, two Metro North trains at the terminal On the other (west) side of the river, here's a photo of the CSX line. Didn't see any trains :-( Here's a photo of the bridge from its heyday More can be found at this Wiki site, and at the park site
Only other good train photo from trip is this one, from outside the LV station in Ithica NY Didn't get a chance to explore (the other members of the family don't understand... at least the wife snapped the photo for me).
That building closest to the River sure has me thinking of depot styling. Is it possibly an ex-station? Boxcab E50
Yes, that is one great BRIDE who takes a train picture while a guy is busy driving. But let the guy keep his bride for himself. As for the BRIDGE, I guess as a state park it is fair game.
Glad you could enjoy your walk over that beautiful bridge without trespassing on CSX property.....:tb-wink: It's really sad that Conrail, then CSX did not see fit to repair the bridge after the fire, which by the way did not do that much damage. The New Haven ran a lot of freight traffic over that branch between New Haven, CT and Maybrook, NY well into the '60s. I imagine CSX would appreciate now having that shortcut between Long Island Sound terminals and the west without having to go north to Boston or Springfield, MA, then joining the ex-B&A to the Selkirk, NY yard, before going west.
41°42′38″N 73°56′40″W. The track and signal are right at the eastern terminus of the park. There was also the remains of what looked like an old semaphore pole there (no picture).
I don't think so. Looked more like a standard small brick house right on the water. You can see it in the Google Maps satellite photo at River Road and Willow Dock Rd. It is just north of this building there was nothing station or depot like about these when actually looking at them.
The view looking down on Poughkeepsie sure brought back memories. That is the old New York Central right-of-way, four mainline tracks plus the two sidings. Thanks for sharing that with us. I have been away from that area for so long it's nice to see that some things remain to remind us of what once was in railroading back there. And what Hank said about the bridge and the New Haven traffic. :tb-biggrin:
This a fascinating account the history of the Poughkeepsie Bridge with lots of vintage photos and links. It's a long read, but I found it extremely interesting. http://www.kinglyheirs.com/CNE/PoughkeepsieBridge.html The meat of the Poughkeepsie Bridge history starts a little ways down the page, past all the links and ads.
