Dutchess Junction is on the east bank of the Hudson River just south of Beacon NY. This map was drawn after the NY&NE had built their ferry and yard facilities at Fishkill Landing at upper left in 1881. Fishkill Landing and Matteawan were combined into the City of Beacon in 1913. The first mayor of Beacon was a former ND&C RR conductor named Frost.
**********
Drawing of the Dutchess Junction station in 1873.
The double track main line of the NYC&HR RR runs through the middle. At right the tracks of the Dutchess & Columbia RR go up the hill and across the Tioronda bridge over Fishkill Creek to Wicopee Junction and Matteawan. The bridge in the distance is left from the failed BH&E RR plans to build a deep water port on Dennings Point at the far left. The pilings in the bay were intended to hold a trestle which was never completed.
The station was jointly owned by the two railroads and the D&C offices were on the second floor over the passenger waiting room at right. An overhead walkway connected the passenger station to the freight house on the left. This station was destroyed by fire in April 1876. All of the D&C office records were lost in the fire.
**********
This newspaper clipping describes the Dutchess Junction station fire in April 1876.
**********
View of Dutchess Junction about 1880.
J. W. Swanberg collection
Over the years the center of ND&C Railroad activity was Dutchess Junction. At the peak of operations, Dutchess Junction was a thriving town with a train station that served two railroads, the ND&C Railroad and the NYC&HR Railroad. There was also the busy ferry and freight dock for Hudson River boat traffic. The ND&C Railroad repair shops were located at Dutchess Junction as well. Workers lived in tenement houses owned by the railroad. Descriptions of the ND&C facilities include a locomotive repair shop, a carpenter shop, brass foundry, paint shop, car repair and build shop, coal and water facilities plus a turntable with a roundhouse and train yard. Adjacent to the ND&C Railroad property was a brick manufacturing company. Dutchess Junction was a bustling, active community.
Today there is very little evidence that Dutchess Junction ever existed. When you ask, Where is Dutchess Junction?, most local residents respond with only a puzzled look. The nearest passable road is more than a mile away, but if you hike through the trees to Dutchess Junction, all you are likely to find are a few overgrown foundations and some scattered bricks. Metro-North and Amtrak trains thunder past what seems to be only woodland along the banks of the Hudson River.
**********
The last Dutchess Junction station.
The first Dutchess Junction station was detroyed by fire in April 1876. The replacement station also burned in November 1893. The station in this photo was actually the third and last station at Dutchess Junction. The 1893 fire also burned the ND&C RR lumber shed, storehouse, roundhouse and the timber supports of the water tank. Three steam engines were severely damaged in the roundhouse fire but #1 was driven to safety by an ex slave named George Washington who was working as a night watchman. It was early in 1894 before the ND&C trains were back to a normal schedule.
**********
Dutchess Junction agent in an undated photo.
**********
Dutchess Junction in 1950
Lee Beaujon collection
By 1950 a lonely passenger shelter was all that remained of the bustling town of Dutchess Junction. Even that shelter is now long gone.
**********
We are going up the hill out of Dutchess Junction over the Tioronda Bridge and through Wicopee Junction.
**********
Tioronda Bridge over Fishkill Creek in Beacon NY.
Just up the hill from Dutchess Junction the ND&C tracks crossed high over Fishkill Creek. This bridge was strengthened and repaired a number of times while it was in service. The last train across this bridge was in 1916. Shortly after that the bridge was sold for scrap by the CNE.
This area is now part of Madam Brett Mill Park in the City of Beacon NY. The bridge is gone but the stone abutments are still guarding the spillway.
**********
Tioronda Bridge abutments still stand in Madam Brett Mill Park in Beacon NY.
**********
This would have been the track level view over Tioronda Bridge
**********
New York Rubber plant in the background.
The NY&NE RR built a ferry facility at Fishkill Landing in 1881. They leased trackage rights on the ND&C from Hopewell Junction to Wicopee Junction. They built their own tracks from Wicopee Junction to Fishkill Landing. Wicopee Junction was near the east end of Tioronda bridge. At this point the NY&NE tracks connected to the ND&C tracks from Dutchess Junction.
After many years and many different names, these tracks are still in service and owned by Metro North MTA. There is no regular train service on this “Beacon Branch” but they are keeping the line open for possible future use.
**********
Wicopee Junction in 1932 was no longer a junction.
The watchman’s shanty is gone and the former ND&C tracks end at the tanks in the distance. Tracks to the right go down the hill to Fishkill Landing. Just beyond the tanks is what remains of Tioronda Bridge abutments.
**********
ND&C RR engine #6 in 1882.
This engine was built by the Brooks Locomotive Works in 1873 and purchased new by the NYB&M which went bankrupt that same year. The trustees of the NYB&M leased this engine to the ND&C in 1877. The ND&C purchased her from the trustees in September 1888. The CNE scrapped this engine in 1912 or early 1913.
**********
Mostly Matteawan
**********
The D&C RR along Tioronda Avenue in 1869.
Between Wicopee Junction and Matteawan the tracks run alongside of Tioronda Avenue. This photo is of a D&C RR train before Wicopee became a Junction and before the City of Beacon was formed. This scene today is part of the City of Beacon. Behind the train is Tioronda Bridge and Dutchess Junction. Ahead of the train is the station stop at Matteawan. These tracks are still in service today and owned by MTA Metro North RR.
**********
The New Haven RR alongside Tioronda Avenue in 1949.
Eighty years have passed since the previous photo but little has changed along Tioronda Avenue in Beacon NY.
**********
Matteawan NY 1876
At lower right the D&C RR tracks run along Tioronda Avenue. You can see the two-story Matteawan station toward the upper right with a couple box cars parked on the siding. Just beyond in the upper right corner you can see a tower on a factory building. This distinctive tower shows up on several old photos of Matteawan and later Beacon. Also visible is a siding leading into a coal handling business. In later years new concrete silos were built to hold the coal.
**********
Matteawan station on Main Street in the 1870’s.
A few years after this photo, another story was added to this station to hold the offices of the ND&C RR successor to the D&C RR. This scene is now part of the City of Beacon.
**********
Matteawan station after the third floor was added.
When this building was renovated in the 1990s, the record books of the ND&C RR were found in the loft over the third floor. Those books are now at the Beacon Historical Society in the old Howland building which is on the corner of Tioronda Avenue just to the right of the church steeple.
**********
Matteawan station in 1933.
Gasoline powered railbuses were used for the last few years of passenger service. Some old timers may recall riding the “galloping goose” to high school in Beacon or Poughkeepsie. Railbus service ended in September 1933.
**********
Matteawan station in 2003.
This building now contains a beauty shop, nail salon and apartments.
**********
Matteawan station RR fans.
The Matteawan station has been visited by several fan trips from the Danbury RR Museum.
**********
Crossing guard on duty in Matteawan
**********
Main Street in Matteawan in 1869.
Here again you can see the tower attached to the factory building. This scene is now part of East Main Street in the City of Beacon NY. The Matteawan station was just off the right edge.
**********
Main Street in Matteawan in the “blizzard of 88″.
This is almost the exact same view as the previous picture. Notice the horse drawn street car behind the snow bank. Later photos of this area show the top section of the tower was removed.
**********
Derailment in 1976
Almost 100 years later the tower was badly damaged by a train derailment. Notice the Penn Central truck at far right. After the accident the tower was removed completely so that only the markings of a stairway show on the factory wall.
**********
Derailment in 1976
Almost 100 years later the tower was badly damaged by a train derailment. Notice the Penn Central truck at far right. After the accident the tower was removed completely so that only the markings of a stairway show on the factory wall.
**********
These coal silos are still standing in Beacon.
***********
Go To World’s Greatest WebSite
>>> New York Subways
>>>Commuters, Car Culture and The Jenny Plan
>>>Long Island Railroad
>>>Chicago, South Shore & South Bend Railroad
>>>POTUS – Trains for the President
>>>Milk Trains
>>>The Fabled Rutland Milk
>>>The Muhammad Ali Hyperlink
About Our Great WebSite
>>>>>>About Troop Trains
>>>Metro North Railroad
>>>A Collection of Short Stories about Railroads – Book One
>>>>>>Buffalo Creek Railroad
>>>A Collection of Short Stories about Railroads – Book Two
>>>>>>Troy & Greenbush Railroad
>>>DL&W Railroad, Erie Lackawanna and Lackawanna Cutoff
>>>Circus Trains
>>>>>>Disposition Of Circus Trains
>>>Robert Moses – Against Mass Transit
>>>Troop Trains
>>>>>>Troop Train Movie
>>>Railroader Biographies
>>>>>>George H. Daniels
>>>>>>Plimmon H Dudley
>>>>>>Leonore F. Loree
>>>John W. Barriger: Rail Historian and Railfan
Contact and Great Blogs
Other Interesting WebSites
>>>Ontario & Western Railroad
>>>Connecticut To Philadelphia
>>>Central New York Railroad
>>>Chicago, Rail Capital
>>>The Ride To Choate
>>>Union Pacific Railroad-established by Abraham Lincoln to span the continent
>>>The Warwick Valley and Other Railroads West of the Hudson
>>>Short Line Railroads
>>>>>>Little Falls & Dolgeville
>>>>>>Gary Railway
>>>>>>The Owasco River Railway
>>>>>>Dexter and Northern Railroad Company
>>>Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
>>>Washington, the Nation`s Capital
>>>Royal Tour 1939
>>>The Monon Railroad
>>>Big 4 Bridge: Jeffersonville to Louisville
>>>Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad
>>>The Southern New York Railway
>>>Electric Railroads
>>>Lines West
>>>High Speed Rail
>>>Northeast Corridor
>>>New York State
Some Fascinating WebPages
>>>New York State Railroads, and NY Central Railroad
>>>Delaware & Hudson Railway
>>>Lehigh Valley Railroad
>>>Head End Equipment
>>>Boston & Maine Railroad
>>>The Four Railroads of Utica
>>>>>>Gulf Curve, April 1940 New York Central Accident
>>>>>>New York Mills Branch On The West Shore
>>>Railroad Mergers
>>>Railroad Bridges and Tunnels
>>>My last ride on the JFK Express subway in April 1990
>>>Chicago Bypass
>>>Van Sweringen Brothers, Nickel Plate and Other Ohio Railroads
>>>New York City Transit Planning
>>>Tahawus: Railroad to a Mine
>>>Chicago Rail Fair
>>>Joint Winter Olympics for Montreal and Lake Placid
>>>Abandoned Railroads
>>>>>>Putnam Division Abandonments
>>>Amtrak’s Secret Business
>>>Alphabet Routes
>>>EMD Model 40
>>>Budd RDC
>>>Benton Harbor – Once A Rail Center
>>>Snow and Railroads
Central New England Railway
>>>>>>The Central New England In Connecticut
>>>>>>New York and New England Railroad
>>>>>>1937 Fan Trip
>>>Central New England Railway In New York State
>>>The Railroads Of Pine Plains
>>>CNE in Hopewell Junction
>>>The Maybrook Line Across Dutchess County
>>>The Great Bridge At Poughkeepsie
>>>Poughkeepsie Bridge After The Fire
>>>The Rhinebeck & Connecticut Railroad
>>>Central New England Railway Connecticut Connection
>>>Maybrook Yard
>>>>>>Maybrook Yard 1940’s (Maybrook Journal)
>>>Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad (ND&C)
>>>>>>CNE/NDC Dutchess Junction and Matteawan
>>>>>>CNE/NDC Glenham to Hopewell Junction
>>>>>>CNE/NDC Hopewell Junction to Millbrook
>>>>>>CNE/NDC Bangall and Pine Plains
>>>>>>CNE/ND&C between Pine Plains and Millerton
>>>Fishkill Landing
>>>>>>The First Phase Of The NYC Rebuilding At Fishkill Landing
>>>>>>The Second Phase Of The NYC Rebuilding At Fishkill Landing
>>>>>>The Final Phase Of The NYC Rebuilding At Fishkill Landing
>>>Poughkeepsie & Eastern in the Poughkeepsie Area
>>>Poughkeepsie & Eastern North from Poughkeepsie
>>>One of the railroads that made up the CNE Railway was the Poughkeepsie & Connecticut
Environment
>>>WEATHERTOPIA
Supply Chain Management
>>>Supply Chain Synchronization
Vacation French Riviera
>>>Castillon
>>>Menton
New Haven Railroad
>>>George Alpert, Last New Haven President
>>>Essex Steam Train
>>>Newport and Rhode Island Railroads
>>>Railroads To Cape Cod
>>>Cedar Hill Railroad Yard In New Haven
>>>Housatonic Railroad
>>>Manufacturers Street Railway in New Haven
>>>Train Stations Of Connecticut
>>>Boston and New England Railroads
>>>New Haven RR Signal Stations
>>>Connecticut Railfan
>>>Connecticut Freight Railroads
>>>Shoreline Bridges Of The New Haven Railroad
>>>Old Railroads Of Connecticut
>>>The Trolley In Connecticut
>>>The Shepaug Valley Railroad
Penney Vanderbilt and KC Jones: All About Railroads 
You must be logged in to post a comment.