NY&NE/NH Maybrook Passenger Service/Brewster

I thought I"d post some interesting stuff I dug up on a google search (who very nicely cache stuff even if the URL expires). If you follow some of the links, you can get good shots of timetables (might be useful for checkthedoorlight if he wants to add abandoned NH stops to the Maybrook Main):

http://www.historicpatterson.org/Exhibi ... roads1.php

The New York & New England Railroad was a regional carrier in Connecticut, and had aspirations to be a bigger player in railroad industry. The New York and Harlem Railroad had already arrived in Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess Counties, and provided access to New York City. The New York & New England decided to do more than simply exchange passengers with the Harlem, and its opportunity came when the New York and Northern Railroad began building a line from the Bronx north through Westchester and into eastern Putnam County in the village of Brewster. This is the line that eventually became the Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad. The New York and Northern wanted a connection to New England, and the New York and New England wanted a connection to New York. The NY&NE started building west in anticipation of the connection opportunity. Both railroads reached Brewster in 1880, and a connection was built at Putnam Junction, just south of the current Metro North rail yard in Brewster. This connection became an important and popular stretch of track, and was used to carry special trains to the Danbury Fair starting in the 1890s through the 1960s. The Fair was popular with Harlem passengers who were able to travel the short distance from the Harlem's Brewster Station in the center of Brewster Village to Putnam Junction. The New York and New England continued to push west towards the Hudson River. A connection with the Harlem was built at Towners Station. At Hopewell Junction, the railroad purchased track rights to Beacon from the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad. From Beacon, the plan was for passengers to reach Newburgh and points west by first crossing the river via ferry. This line became one of the first east/west lines, but the crossing of the Hudson River by ferry was awkward and difficult.

http://www.nhrhta.org/htdocs/ss_list.htm

http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:b7e ... d=16&gl=us

Unfortunately the New York Central as well as a lot of other railroads including especially the New Haven were required to
provide money losing commuter and local passenger service and at the same time was being taxed heavily by the state,
counties and localities for the priviledge of providing this losing operation. Anybody wonder why branch line passenger
trains came off in total in the years following the end of WW-II?
The New York Central was required to provide agency services in such small places that in some cases there wasn't even a
a town or village. It is no wonder that the railroads were losing a fortune in their operations in New York State. New York
wasn't the only state involved in this rip off of the industry, New Jersey, Massachusetts and other states were just as bad.
As for the Maybrook Line, this line really existed over a long period of years as a profitable and efficient carrier of through
freight traffic between various western connections at Maybrook and Cedar Hill, Waterbury, East Bridgeport and Hartford.
Once Hell Gate Bridge was completed, the line had only local passenger service and that came out of the timetables quite
early in the scheme of things.
In addition to Danbury Fair specials the Yale - Army football game provided passenger business over this line in the form of a
specail train in one direction or the other. The route was New Haven Railroad from New Haven to Campbell Hall, New York,
Ontario and Western to Cornwall and the New York Central (West Shore, River Division) from Cornwall south to West Point.
I have an O & W train order for one of these special trains dating back to the early 50's. New Haven Railroad engines and
passenger cars were used for these specials over the entire route and pilots were assigned by the O & W and the NYC to
complete the trips.
Troop trains, circus trains and other special movements also took place through the years on the Maybrook Line.
The line also attracted a good number of fan trips too.
Noel Weaver

One of the things that struck me most was with both the New Haven and New York Central in such close proximity, there were several passenger stations in such close proximity: Patterson and West Patterson, and Towners (Junction). I believe there were two stations in Dykemans as well, and definitely in Brewster. Of course, the utility of each service was different: one North/South line with destinations in Mt, Kisco, White Plains, NYC, the other across farmland and dairy farms. I lived in Patterson for a year (Cornwall Meadows) in 1991, and it was "bucolic" even then. It was still mostly a shuttle operation then, an RDC I think, maybe a mini-bomb.

Too bad the connection at Putnam Junction is long gone: that would be useful today.

I am not keen to see any line abandoned and torn up but the State of New York would have been much better off if they had
spent the money in 1976 to save the Harlem between Wassaic and Chatham then the Beacon - Danbury section of line which
has no freight business and little potential for passenger busines either. I suppose it could be used again as a through
freight route to Danbury or even Cedar Hill but there are other alternative routes which seem to be working out OK in this
case too.
With regard to the Harlem Line, settlements are increasing and increasing in size all along this line including the abandoned
stretch north of Wassaic. In my opinion, it was a real blunder when they allowed this line to be sold, abandoned and torn up.
Noel Weaver

Sarge wrote: This connection became an important and popular stretch of track, and was used to carry special trains to the Danbury Fair starting in the 1890s through the 1960s.

Slight exaggeration. The connection was abandoned in or about 1960. The last passenger special I remember going to the Danbury Fair was 1953 or so, and it was a New Haven train coming from the Danbury end. I won't swear there were none after that. I was a kid then and not an authoritative train follower yet.

Sarge wrote: The Fair was popular with Harlem passengers who were able to travel the short distance from the Harlem's Brewster Station in the center of Brewster Village to Putnam Junction. The New York and New England continued to push west towards the Hudson River. A connection with the Harlem was built at Towners Station.

I am not aware there was ever any kind of connection at Towners, at least in modern times. Perhaps there had been one back in the 1800s, in NY&NE days. Penn Central put one in in 1975, at Dykeman's, but that doesn't count for this discussion.

Noel Weaver wrote:the Yale - Army football game provided passenger business over this line in the form of a
specail train in one direction or the other. The route was New Haven Railroad from New Haven to Campbell Hall, New York,
Ontario and Western to Cornwall and the New York Central (West Shore, River Division) from Cornwall south to West Point.
I have an O & W train order for one of these special trains dating back to the early 50's. New Haven Railroad engines and
passenger cars were used for these specials over the entire route and pilots were assigned by the O & W and the NYC to
complete the trips.

I have often thought it must've been a great experience to ride one of those. Talk about rare mileage!!! The last two such specials were run in 1954 and 1955 (Yale didn't play Army in 1956 and by the 1957 football season there was no O&W to run on!). Photos show that in the last couple of years of operation the special was about 14 cars powered by two 790 series (C-liner) diesels, with a second pair of diesels trailing ---- both for protection power and to facilitate the necessary changing of ends at Campbell Hall.

I bear no responsibility for the accuracy of the postings, it was just meant as info.

Towners connection: I don't think it was an official connection, but the stations were pretty close.

I picked up a few New Haven lines schedules (east and west) off of E-Bay dating from the 1910's and 20's with the passenger schedule and a pretty good map. I'll try to scan and post.

I also picked up some later NYC schedules with the Mahopac Falls branch, I'll try to post those as well (in the NYC forum, of course).