Rye, NY and New Rochelle, NY- why the switch?

Claytor had no residence in Rye. He lived in Alexandria, Va from the early 60s on (well before AMTK), and please remember he had no association with AMTK until about 1980 or so.

I was assigned to cover the start of AMTK Metroliner service at Rye in 1972 by the Westchester newspapers (worked for them as photog briefly) and it was Harold Graham, AMTK exec VP who I lensed, boarding the train that day. Graham did live in Rye.

HFM
(who also lived in Rye at the time)

"At present, trains to/from the Hell Gate Line must be on the local tracks (tracks 1 and 2, IIRC) at New Rochelle, so they run through the platforms anyway."

Near as I can make out from the MetroNorth diagram, the Hell Gate line can be reached from any track. And presumably this was always true? Wouldn't the NH have wanted its Penn Station trains to reach the center tracks of the 4-track main immediately? Assuming they're not stopping at New Rochelle.

Claytor had no residence in Rye. He lived in Alexandria, Va from the early 60s on (well before AMTK), .

Thanks for that info! Had my people confused!

Back to the original question:

If you decide a train should stop somewhere between Stamford and Penn, then roughly halfway is the most effective, because then total travel time for passnegers getting to the station by car is minimized.

Rye is much closer to Stamford than to Penn; New Rochelle is more like halfway. If you assume potential Amtrak passengers orignate all over Westchester and the Bronx (yes, the Bronx is not what it used to be), then New Rochelle is more centrally located.

Yes, I could understand why Rye could be a good place for an Amtrak stop. Yes, the stations location is literally right by the I-287 and 95 interchange. However, unlike New Rochelle, I don't think it would make a cut for Amtrak service stopping. Even New Roc, the Amtrak servicing the station there is not as good as Stamford or Metropark. Also, MN and Amtrak do not get along so well on the ex-New Haven.

New Rochelle (CP 216), the crossovers to the hell gate in their current state are 10 mph so this would be an oppurtune time to stop. You can reach the branch on any of the MNRR tracks. There is track construction now to increase the speed to at least 45 mph. The idea of a flyover has been scrapped as cost ineffective. If you look at the seat checks Rye is still on them.