Wassaic (Metro-North station)

Wassaic

Train departing the station, seen from its entrance road to the south
Location Route 22, 0.6 miles (0.97 km) north of the Hamlet of Wassaic
Amenia, New York
Coordinates 41°48′53″N 73°33′44″W / 41.8147°N 73.5623°W / 41.8147; -73.5623Coordinates: 41°48′53″N 73°33′44″W / 41.8147°N 73.5623°W / 41.8147; -73.5623
Line(s)
  Harlem Line
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 1
Construction
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 10
History
Opened 1857 (1857)
Closed March 22, 1972 (1972-03-22)
Rebuilt July 9, 2000 (2000-07-09)
Services
Preceding station   Metro-North Railroad   Following station
Harlem LineTerminus
  Former services  
New York Central Railroad
Harlem Division
toward Chatham

Wassaic is a Metro-North Railroad station that serves the residents of Wassaic, New York (part of Amenia) as the northern terminal of the Harlem Line. Trains leave for New York City every two hours, and about every 30 minutes during rush hour. It is 82 miles (132 km) from Grand Central Terminal and travel time to Grand Central is approximately two hours, eleven minutes.

The station consists of a single side platform, on the east side of the single track line. Metro-North also has a small rail yard just north of the station, to store locomotives and cars used for peak service.

This station is the northernmost station in the Zone 10 Metro-North fare zone. It is located on New York 22/343 just north of the hamlet of Wassaic.

History

The first Wassaic train station was about a half-mile south of its current location and was situated in the actual town section of Wassaic. The station operated by New York and Harlem Railroad, and later New York Central Railroad served the surrounding village area, as well as towns even as far as Connecticut. Freight service was provided for mainly three industries in Wassaic, the Tri-Wall Container Corporation and Maxxon Mills Feeds. Bordens Milk operated a factory in the hamlet of which there was a side track provided for the purpose of transporting milk to points south. A furnace was located nearby and an early hotel, "The Wassaic House" was erected in 1851, following the construction of the railroad. In 1968, the railroad merged with longtime rival Pennsylvania Railroad to form Penn Central Railroad, and thus the station and line became property of the newly merged railroad. On March 22, 1972 Penn Central abandoned service north of Dover, and in 1990, rails were removed from Millerton south to milepost 81.33 which became the northernmost point of the freight operation by Penn Central on the Harlem Line.

The physical end of the track is located just north of the current Wassaic yard, at mile post 83.68, there is no track or railroad past that point, but the roadbed, which is still visible, is slowly being reclaimed by nature. The Harlem Valley Rail Trail now operates a paved trail over the existing road bed. Some 45.8 miles (35.9%) of track have been removed in two stages following some bitter court battles.

Before the station reopened on July 9, 2000,[1] Metro-North Railroad rehabilitated the tracks and grade crossings that existed north of Dover Plains and moved the physical location of the Wassaic Train station to approximately one half mile north of the old station and constructed a new rail yard facility. The moving of the station to it new location resulted in the re-laying of tracks over the existing rail bed approximately three quarters of a mile where the tracks end.

Platform and track configuration

1 ■ Harlem Line for Grand Central

This station has one four-car-long high-level side platform to the east of the track. The Harlem Line has one track at this location.

References

  1. ↑ Rowe, Claudia (July 9, 2000). "6 Miles for $6 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
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