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Beacon Line Overview
The Beacon Line is now defunct, and has been for years. It was
once the Maybrook Brach of the former New Haven Railroad. It
runs from Danbury CT to Hopewell Jct. in Towners on the Harlem
line to it's terminus in Poughkeepsie on the Hudson Line. It
used to start in Shelton, on the New Haven Mainline, cross the
Hudson, to a freight yard in Campbell Hall NY, but while owned
by Penn Central the bridge crossing was destroyed by a fire of
suspicious nature. Furthermore I have never heard anything about
the Beacon line West of Danbury except in the history books. The
Beacon line does not go to New York City. No portion of the line
was ever electrified, and there never was regular passenger
service on the line. It is used primarily for training
exercises, and Metro-North does run some excursions on the line.
An informed source at Metro-North (for whom I have high regard)
advises railfans, "If you are ever offered the opportunity to
take a trip on the Beacon Line, take it. The trip is comfortable
and the scenery is spectacular". |
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Beacon Line Photos |
Background: The beacon line, (at least in parts) was once part
of the Hudson River Railroad. However, in the early 20th
century, it was acquired by the New Haven Railroad (NHRR) ,
or, if known by it's full name, "The New York, New Haven and
Hartford Railroad". Although the NHRR had a vast and extensive
passenger operation, the Beacon line had not had a passenger
service to my knowlegde, though it may have been in previous
times.
The Beacon Line runs (or ran) from Shelton Connecticut to
Maybrook Freight Yard in Campbell Hall, New York, which is
West of the Hudson River. Which needed a bridge.
What makes the Beacon Line so noteworthy is that it was once
had a Hudson River crossing. As the 19th century progressed
into it's final years, and as rail traffic on Hudson River
crossings in New York City and Albany became manic, the need
was recognised for a new crossing in a city somewehere else in
between. South of Albany, and North of NYC, Poughkeepsie was
selected as the most viable place to plant such a crossing. By
1899, the bridge was complete. Throughout the next 75 years
the bridge earned the nickname 'The Lady'. In 1912,
locomotives became heavier and trains longer, requiring the
bridge to be strengthened, so a new steel beam was added in
the middle of the structure spanning it's entire length.
When the New Haven Railroad merged into the Penn Central
Railroad, in the late 1960s, the Penn Central relied heavily
on the bridge for it's freight operations. Despite the Penn
Centrals' bad financial shape, they spent large amounts of
money on the bridges' maintenance. Even so, its condition
deteriorated continuously, prompting the Poughkeepsie Journal,
in July 1972 to pose the question - as had the locals - "How
long will The Lady last?". The question, unfortunately, was
soon to be answered.
In May 1974, the bridge suffered a catastrophic fire. It's
been proposed that a train which had been making a lot of
sparks, and caused a track fire earlier that day, may have had
sparkes caused by friction landing on the wooden structure of
that bridge, igniting the wood, starting a fire that would
quickly run out of control. Ironically, a substnace which the
Penn Central had used to prevent rot, got much of the flak for
helping the firestorm which engulfed the bridge. As the fire
spreaded rapidly, the burning bridge began spewing burning
rubble down onto the City of Poughkeepsie, leaving local fire
officials worried, as buildings began burning. Most
dangerously, buring debris fell at high speeds onto flammable
propanbe/gas tanks. The fire department was worried that "the
whole thing would go", but emergency/water/cooling systems at
that plant prevented a catastrophy. No one was injured or
killed, and damage to personal property was kept to a
surprising minimum.
The bridge however, was not so lucky. 700 feet, (230 metres)
of wood was completely destroyed by fire, and the steel along
that section became comprimised and unsafe. At first Penn
Central officials were confident that the bridge could, and
would, be reapired in about six months. "We have no plans at
this time to close down the bridge," Joseph Harvey,
Philadelphia, a spokesman for the railroad, commented. "Our
engineers have determined that there is no structural damage
to the bridge and that freight service will be continued after
repairs are made." Harvey said that the railroad had not even
considered the possibility of closing the bridge. "We know
that we may have difficulty in obtaining some materials, such
as ties and timbers which are in short supply, but the bridge
will reopen," he said flatly.
Penn Central employees on the ground were not so convinced.
Charles Schaffer, a Penn Central welder, said he thought that
the heat from the fire had removed the temper from the steel
and made portions of the structure brittle. "I don't believe
that you are ever going to see that bridge in operation
again," he declared.
He was right. The damage to the bridge was so severe as to
make it useless. The Penn Central went bust less than half a
decade later, and while the bridge still stands toady, it has
not been used since the fire. I have two photos of the bridge
from when I took a railfan trip to Poughkeepsie. Although I
did not go to Poughkeepsie specially for this purpose, photos
of the bridge have since proven useful. Although it does not
look damaged from my Poughkeepsie Platform Perspective, i
assume that it is damaged beyond repair.
My two photos are:
A close up of one of the sections over the Husdon River
A photograph of a Metro-North work vehicle which has a land
based section of the bridge in the backgroud.
The two above photos are the ones to which I have copyright.
For further information and or photographs on the Poughkeepsie
Bridge 'From Beginning To End', please visit Railroad Extras'
page on the matter.
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