Harlem Line- Mount Vernon West Station

Btw in some official New York Central records (contained in NYC vice president/chief engineer William Wilgus' papers at the New York Public Library Special Collections section, I learned of a third reason why Central wanted to relocate (and expand) the tracks in Mt. Vernon. (Besides grade crossing elimination and to install a third and fourth main track.)

It was to better serve the industries there. Back then there were huge amounts of home heating coal being sold and most communities received it by rail. That's why I would suspect the coal dealer located above Oak Street might've been there soon after the new route was opened. Wilgus wrote that at Mt. Vernon industries were growing and needed more service. He did not see how that could be accomplished unless the right-of-way was relocated.

For anyone not familiar with the area, here's two photos of MacQuesten Parkway in Mt. Vernon today.

The first is looking south along MacQuesten Parkway from the north side of Mt. Vernon Avenue. The railroad grade was originally located on the right, along what is today the south bound lanes of MacQuesten.

The second looks north along MacQuesten Parkway towards Mt. Vernon Avenue and shows what I believe is just about the location (using the 1907 map as a guide) of the original West Mt. Vernon passenger station site. The right-of-way was located where the lower roadway is today. Just behind the building at the extreme left (that's the MTA Police Department's District Six police station) you can see the railroad embankment New York Central constructed in 1910.

I finally came across a photo of the Mount Vernon station on the Harlem line from pre 1910 when the station was moved to it's current location.

That is surprising. The station looks built to a standard beyond what I would expect the old Railroad Avenue station to have been built to. I would have guessed the old station to have been constructed around 1870 or earlier. It could be the station though, who knows.

Can I ask where you found it?

I got this photo from the Westchester Archives. I have a few more photos of Mt Vernon Ave showing the crossing at Railroad Avenue

Mt Vernon Ave crossing at Railroad Ave pre 1910

twancho wrote:I got this photo from the Westchester Archives. I have a few more photos of Mt Vernon Ave showing the crossing at Railroad Avenue

Those are very interesting. By Westchester Archives do you mean the Westchester County Archives? Do you recall what collection the Mt. Vernon photos were in?

Yes, up in Elmsford.

They were in file cabinets of photos from the Westchester Historical Society. They're filed by city and then by category is: schools etc..

Those are interesting photos. I have the vague feeling I've seen the station photo before.

In case anyone is interested, the Westchester County Historical Society (Link) is located on Saw Mill River Road in Elmsford, about a mile south of Rt. 119. I've never been there (yet) but I have seen a list of their holdings and they do have a lot of railroad-related material.


Thanks to twancho for posting the photos. I had read in the William Wilgus papers (at the New York Public Library) that the right-of-way in Mt. Vernon needed to be relocated prior to electrification. Seeing the grade crossing photo at Mt. Vernon Avenue really drives that point home.