Harlem Valley-Wingdale (Metro-North Station)
History
The station was formerly known as "State Hospital" and was a flag stop between the 1930s and 1960s. It was built to serve the Harlem Valley State Hospital, and was expanded from a simple wooden platform to a shelter with a wood-burning stove. The Wingdale station (originally known as "Wing's station," then "South Dover station") was approximately one half mile north in the hamlet on Dutchess CR 21 (Pleasant Ridge Road) and opened on December 31, 1848. It was located near such hotels as the 1806-built Jackson Wing Inn, and the 1858-built Duell Hotel, the latter of which still stands today. In the post-World War II era, the station was reduced from a station house, to a shelter along the platform.
As with most of the Harlem Line, the merger of New York Central with Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 transformed the two stations into Penn Central Railroad stations. Penn Central's continuous financial despair throughout the 1970s forced them to turn over their commuter service to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and abandon service north of Dover Plains. Penn Central continued to provide coal service to the hospital until it was taken over by Conrail, which continued coal service well into the 1990s. The stations were consolidated in 1977 with the State Hospital station being renamed Harlem Valley-Wingdale and the Wingdale stop being discontinued, thus transforming the station into the penultimate station on the Harlem Line, until Metro-North acquired the line in 1983, and re-extended it to Wassaic in 2000.
Station layout
The station has one four-car-long high-level side platform to the east of the track. It originally contained two tracks with a separate spur leading to the coal-fueled power plant for the hospital.
References
- ^ "Conrail's New Timetables Effective Sunday, Oct. 30". The Pawling-News Chronicle. October 26, 1977. p. 14. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- ^ METRO-NORTH 2018 WEEKDAY STATION BOARDINGS. Market Analysis/Fare Policy Group:OPERATIONS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS DEPARTMENT:Metro-North Railroad. April 2019. p. 6.
- ^ "Harlem Division Timetable". New York Central Railroad. July 12, 1959. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ "Harlem Division Timetable". Penn Central Railroad. February 5, 1968. Archived from the original on August 31, 2010. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
- ^ Dana 1866, p. 216.
- ^ "New York and Harlem Railroad ---- Winter Arrangement". The Evening Post. New York, New York. December 12, 1849. p. 4. Retrieved December 12, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Grogan, Louis V. (1989). The Coming of the New York and Harlem Railroad. New York: L.V. Grogan. pp. 185–188. ISBN 0-9621206-5-0.
- ^ "Metro-North Railroad Track & Structures Department Track Charts Maintenance Program Interlocking Diagrams & Yard Diagrams 2015" (PDF). Metro-North Railroad. 2015. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
References
- Dana, William B. (1866). The Merchants' Magazine and Commercial Review, Volume 55. New York, New York: William B. Dana. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
External links
Media related to Harlem Valley – Wingdale (Metro-North station) at Wikimedia Commons
