The map above, stitched together from 1890s 15 minute quadrangles, is intended to show the relative location of stops on the ND&C/MTA Beacon Line west of Hopewell Junction. For the immediate Beacon area, the map below, stitched together from 1947 Army Map Service 7.5 minute quadrangles, might be more helpful:
The railroad history of the MTA Beacon Line west of Hopewell Junction is complicated, and the best place I know to go to get an understanding of it is Penney Vanderbilt and KC Jones's All About Railroads Blog. To summarize: the tracks between Hopewell Junction and Dutchess Junction were built by the Dutchess and Columbia. Later, the NY&NE aquired trackage rights from the line (now called the Newburgh, Dutchess, and Connecticut, or ND&C) between Hopewell Junction and Wicopee Junction and built its own connector to Fishkill Landing on the north side of Fishkill Creek. Eventually the New Haven got control of all of these lines and the original D&C connection to Dutchess Junction was abandoned, NY&NE tracks east of Hopewell Junction were combined with the route to Poughkeepsie, and the Central New England operated the route to Fishkill Landing as a vassal of the New Haven. I have arbitrarily decided that the NY&NE route from Fishkill Landing to Providence is the most pure essence of the "Hartford Providence and Fishkill" that I set out to explore, so that's what I will list as the "mainline." The D&C to Dutchess Junction never was under NY&NE control, but seems related enough that it deserves a mention here as a spur.
Wicopee Junction is where the NY&NE built its own connection from the ND&C track to Dutchess Junction. Once both lines were under the control of the Central New England (owned by the New Haven,) the branch to Dutchess Junction was abandoned in 1916. The rest of the ND&C west of Hopewell Jct and the NY&NE track to Fishkill Landing has survived until 2024 as the Metro North Beacon Line, but the MTA has formally been given permission to start abandoning the line. A 1932 photo on the All about Railroads blog looks very similar to the photos below, but Wicopee Junction might soon look very different.
Click on the thumbnail for the full resolution image
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At Wicopee Junction looking east towards Matteawan, Hopewell Jct, and Hartford. Tioronda Ave is at left (2/2024.) |
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Approaching Wicopee Junction
looking west. The gap in the trees shows the original D&C line to
Dutchess Junction proceeded straight from here. The NY&NE branch to
Fishkill Landing and today's Beacon Station curves right in the distance (2/2024.) |
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At the area where the switch would have been, looking west. The old D&C route is obvious in the snow; the NY&NE tracks to Fiskhill Landing (Beacon) are still present in this 2024 view. Metro North has recieved permission to begin abandoning the Beacon Line, so this view, a 1932 version of which is available here, may soon look very different (2/2024.) |
| Click Here to continue to Dutchess Junction along the D&C |
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Looking east towards Matteawan
from the NY&NE track west of Wicopee Jct. The D&C right of way
comes in from the right (2/2024.) |
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Looking west towards Fishkill Landing (Beacon) after Wicopee Jct (2/2024.) |
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(c) 2016-2024 Timothy M Dowd. Last Modified @ 07:18 EST on 2024-02-25
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