15-05-24 PHOTOS: Hudson River Walk

Ok, I know I am rather late to the party on this one, but I finally had a chance this past Memorial Day to head on up to Poughkeepsie and take a walk over the Mighty Hudson on the former New Haven Railroad Highlands Bridge. My trip also involved a ride on the Metro-North Hudson Line to Croton-Harmon as well as a return trip via Amtrak's Empire service to Poughkeepsie. I would also like to thank fellow Subchatters Alex and Amanda for hosting me on this adventure.

Photos of the trip can be seen here.

I kicked off my journey catching Regional Train 162 hauled behind ACS-86 #622.



Hudson Line express service on the weekend is the province of diesel hauled trains and mine was no exception. Here is Shoreliner IV cab car #6313 in the trailing position as the train departs for points north.

M7 MU's #4093 and #4229 hanging out with friends in the Croton yard. 

P32AC-DM #203 and #222 hanging out under the sanding tower at Croton.

Fromt of M7 #4209.

P32AC-DM #226 passing in front of HM tower.

CDoT owned Shoreliner I cab car #6223 in the trailing position as it heads into the ready service yard. Note the mis-matched lettering with one being in the new old Penn Central font. 

The Walkway over the Hudson added a few historical touches like this old searchlight signal.

The bridge provided an excellent view of the stored MNRR P32AC-DM trainsets. In residence that day were #'s 224, 205, 209, 216 and NH painted 229.

View of the Mid-Hudson bridge from the walkway.

It's pretty amazing how well the bridge has held up over the years despite all the deferred maintenance. God bless 19th century over engineering. 

It's a long way down.

CP ES44AC's #8869 and #8878 passing the milepost 72 automatic on the former Conrail River Line. 

The train was probably returning crude oil cars to the tar sands of Canada.



The halfway point on the bridge.

A signature feature of the bridge had been an AC grid distribution circuit, however a dispute over rent caused the owner of the line to de-power it and send it under the river instead.

As I returned to the east bank I caught a bit of a race between a northbound Empire Service train on the Hudson Line and a northbound CSX freight on the River Line.



Marine traffic on the Hudson is a not uncommon occurrence. Here is the MV Skelt riding high in the water as it makes its way south to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Highlands Bridge as seen from the bank of the Hudson. Click here for a wider view.

View looking up from the mid-point elevator. The bridge was one of the first made of steel, which contributed to its longevity. You can see the degree of over engineering.

View of the island platform at the Poughkeepsie Station with MNRR Shoreliner II cab car #6129.

The Station has retained its New York Central heritage.

Rear view of MNRR P32AC-DM #225 with a CDoT coach.

P32AC-DM #212 sitting next to #225.

Amtrak P32AC-DM #700 departs the Poughkeepsie Metro-North station with Train 291, the northbound Ethan Allen Express.



Shortly thereafter the westbound Train 49 showed up behind shabby looking P32AC-DM #708 and departed just as my southbound Empire service train arrived.

Well that's all she wrote for this trip. Next week tune in for the first part of my rather disappointing cross country trip on Amtrak's Sunset Limited.