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Harlem Line Overview
Despite its trains going to Grand
Central, the Harlem Line starts as a four track line at Mott
Haven Junction, and continues almost due North. It carries the
New Haven line and its trains as far as Woodlawn. Not far North,
Fleetwood or thereabouts, the line narrows and becomes three
tracks. It then reaches North White Plains, the pre Metro-North
end of electrification. A major yard is located here, where
M-series MU, Penn Central era ACMUs and some old switcher
locomotives can be found. It is definitely worth a visit. North
of the station, the line narrows again and becomes two track.
Most stations as far as Brewster North are two track with one
island platform configuration. The line reaches Brewster North,
the present day end of electrification. If you were travelling
on an electric MU, you would need to transfer to a diesel
locomotive hauled/pushed train to continue further North. There
is a yard in Brewster North, but there is not much there. |
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Harlem Line Photos |
There is a bridge that may offer
a good view point ... but with those fences?? I learned on a
recent photo trip that fences on bridges tend to screw things
up! Anyway, North of Brewster North the line dieselizes and
narrows to become one track. Somewhere around here is Hopewell
Junction, the interchange with the now partially defunct
Beacon line. The Harlem line used to terminate at Dover
Plains, but Metro-North extended the line to Wassaic in 2000.
History
The following info was provided by Pierce Haviland's Rail
Website
THE HARLEM LINE CAN TRACE ITS ROOTS BACK to the original New
York & Harlem Railroad charter in 1831. The charter was for a
line to run from 23rd Street to the northern tip of Manhattan.
At that time, 23rd Street was too far north for most people,
so the charter was changed to start the line at Prince Street.
In 1852, the line reached 131 miles north to Chatham where it
connected with the Boston & Albany line (when the new Grand
Central was built, this mileage would change to 127). In 1862
it was bought by Commodore Vanderbilt and became a part of his
empire that would include the Hudson River Railroad and the
original New York Central railroad.
In 1972, passenger service to Chatham was quickly abandoned by
the Penn Central and the rails north of Millerton, New York
were removed. A decade later, more rail was removed and the
line terminated at Wassaic, New York. Under the 1971 contract
with the MTA, passenger service remained as far as Dover
Plains, 75 miles from Grand Central Terminal. Metro-North took
over from Conrail in 1983. In 1985, Thornwood station was
removed as electrification was extended to Brewster. Today,
Metro-North has restored direct service to Grand Central from
Wassaic (one train in each direction) and has a shuttle
service from Wassail to Brewster North, where hourly service
is provided through to Grand Central. The Brewster North
station (Putnam Junction) is conveniently located near the
Carmel exit on Interstate 84, just west of the interchange
with I-684.
Chuck Brandt has contributed photographs (to the Haviland rail
website) from the 1950s when the upper Harlem was busy with
freight and passenger service.
Another planned improvement to the Harlem Line is the
connection to the third main track in Fleetwood station in
Mount Vernon, New York. The third track is necessary to expand
service on the northern portion of the Harlem Line.
The Harlem Line no longer extends to Prince Street in lower
Manhattan, but if you walk south on Park Avenue from Grand
Central Terminal, you will notice an automobile tunnel bypass.
This tunnel was built by the New York and Harlem Railroad!
Before the current Grand Central Terminal was built, passenger
coaches were detached from locomotives and pulled to Prince
Street by horses. You can't travel downtown by horse drawn
coach today but you can take the Subway.
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