Ghent station (New York Central Railroad)

The Ghent station was a former New York Central Railroad station that served the residents of Ghent, New York.

Ghent
General location of former station. Note the former railroad hotel which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
LocationNew York State Route 66 and Railroad Avenue
Ghent, New York, 12075
Coordinates42.3270°N 73.6187°W / 42.3270; -73.6187
Tracks0
History
OpenedMay 10, 1852[1]
ClosedMarch 20, 1972 (passenger service)[2]
March 27, 1980 (freight)
Former services
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station
Philmont
toward New York
 Harlem Division Chatham
Terminus
Mellenville
toward Hudson
 Hudson Branch Payn's
toward Chatham

History

The station catered to a local community that had a substantial industry during the era of the NYCRR, and earlier the New York and Harlem Railroad. Prior to this however, another railroad laid tracks through the community nearby, specifically the Hudson and Berkshire Railroad which was completed in 1846 between Hudson and Chatham before going bankrupt and being reorganized as the Hudson and Boston Railroad in 1855, which was acquired by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1870, who eventually downgrading it into the B&A Hudson Branch. The New York and Harlem laid tracks through Ghent to Chatham in 1852. The line was eventually taken over by the New York Central Railroad (NYCRR), and provided both passenger and freight train services. Ghent was the station that served both the Harlem Division and the former Boston and Albany Railroad Hudson Branch.[3] The station had a tower that coordinated the two railroads from here to Chatham Union Station until 1936.[4] It also included a hotel named The Bartlett House, which was built in 1870 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since May 8, 2012.[5]

However, with the demise of the NYCRR, and the 1968 merger with Pennsylvania Railroad to form the soon to be bankrupt Penn Central Railroad, passenger services ceased on March 20, 1972.[2] Ghent provided commercial freight-only services, and even became a terminus for freight when Conrail acquired the line in 1976 and eliminated it between here and Millerton Station in Dutchess County. The station continued to do so until 1980, when the tracks between here and Chatham Union Station were dismantled. The Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association plans to extend the trail along the right-of-way in front of the site of the former station.[6]

References
  1. "Railroad Hopes to Realize $432,386 in Millerton - Chatham Line Abandonment". The Poughkeepsie Journal. August 26, 1962. p. 9B. Retrieved December 30, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Layton, Preston (March 21, 1972). "PC Ends Run, Strands Riders". New York Daily News. p. 22. Retrieved December 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Railroads from Albany to Connecticut; B&A Hudson Branch
  4. Ghent to Chatham trackage history
  5. National Register of Historic Places listings; May 18, 2012
  6. Harlem Valley Rail Trail map


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