Central New England Railway Home Page This page is an overview of the entire railway in Connecticut and New York.
Central New England Railway in New York State This page is an overview of the railway as it existed in New York State.
Central New England Railway in Hopewell Junction This page is about the CNE in the Hopewell Junction area.
Central New England Railway's Great Bridge at Poughkeepsie This page is about the CNE' bridge at Poughkeepsie.
The Rhinebeck & Connecticut This page is about the Rhinebeck & Connecticut which became part of the Central New England Railway.
The Railroads of Pine Plains Pine Plains was the intersection of three railroads, all of which became part of the Central New England Railway.
Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad One of the railroads that formed the Central New England Railway was the Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut. The CNE / ND&C from Dutchess Jct to Matteawan. The CNE / ND&C Glenham to Hopewell Jct. The CNE / ND&C from Hopewell Jct to Millbrook. The CNE / ND&C from Bangall to Pine Plains. The CNE / ND&C from Pine Plains to Millerton.
Connecticut Connection A trip along the Central New England Railway (CNE) from Canaan, Connecticut to the New York State Line.
Maybrook Yard The major freight yard where the CNE connected with other railroads was at Maybrook.
The Maybrook Line across Dutchess County The "Maybrook Line" was important to New England before the advent of Penn Central and before the Poughkeepsie Bridge burned.
The Poughkeepsie Bridge after the 1974 Fire The "Maybrook Line" lost its importance with Penn Central. See the effects of this fire on Eastern Railroading.
P&E in the Poughkeepsie Area Part of the The Central New England Railway (CNE) was the Poughkeepsie & Eastern (P&E)
P&E North of Poughkeepsie Area Part of the The Central New England Railway (CNE) was the Poughkeepsie & Eastern (P&E)
Poughkeepsie & Connecticut One of the railroads that formed the Central New England Railway was the Poughkeepsie & Connecticut.
The Central New England in Connecticut A great WebSite from Tim Dowd on the remains of the CNE in Connecticut
Fishkill Landing The Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad became part of the CNE. The New York Central ran from New York City to Albany and beyond through the Hudson Valley. The two roads met at Fishkill Landing. The first phase of the NYC rebuilding at Fishkill Landing starting in 1913. The second phase of the NYC rebuilding in 1914 and 1915. New York Central in the Fishkill Landing Area.

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Bernie Rudberg's "The first phase of the NYC rebuilding at Fishkill Landing starting in 1913"

Fishkill Landing NYC station before the reconstruction. Beacon Historical Society collection It looks like the photographer was standing on the old road bridge over the main line. This area today is the Beacon train station for MTA Metro North.

NYC station at Fishkill Landing before reconstruction Beacon Historical Society collection At far right you can see the freight area that would be used for the passenger service during the reconstruction.

Fill operations to expand Fishkill Landing. Beacon Historical Society collection In the distance, on top of Mt Beacon you can make out the shape of the dance hall and casino. Just down a bit and to the left of the casino you can just make out the slanting tracks of the Mt Beacon Inclined Railway. Some of D. W. Griffith’s early silent films were shot on Mt Beacon.

Old ferry dock on Fishkill Landing Point. Beacon Historical Society collection The reconstruction moved the old ferry dock facilities to a new location just north of the point next to the new train station.

Reconstruction is under way. Beacon Historical Society collection The road to the old ferry dock on the point runs off into the distance. The trolley is turning onto the old road bridge over the NYC main line. The CNE station is gone. It used to be about where that big pile of dirt is left of center. Behind the pile of dirt you can see the water tower for the former NY&NE car ferry yard. By 1913 there were no more car ferries but there was still a freight dock in service for river boats and barges.

NYC freight at Fishkill Landing. Beacon Historical Society collection The old ferry dock on the point is in the distance and the newer ferry building is left of center. This ferry building is temporary until the new ferry docks are built about in the center of this photo. A new train station will also be built in the center.

Fishkill Landing/Beacon Ferry in 1912 Richard Teed collection This ferry building was torn down after the new ferry building was completed in late 1913. In 1912 this was Fishkill Landing. In 1913 it became part of the City of Beacon.

Construction begins on the new ferry building. Beacon Historical Society collection The temporary ferry building is at left with the “Ferry Lunch” next to it. At right is the beginning of work on the new ferry building. In the foreground there seems to be parts of foundations of buildings torn down to make way for the new track alignment.

New track alignment at Fishkill Landing. Beacon Historical Society collection

The new ferry building is completed. Beacon Historical Society collection The new ferry dock seems to be in operation in December 1913. You can see a boat near the dock. The old passenger station is still in place but many other buildings are gone to make way for the new NYC mainline alignment.

New ferry in full operation. Beacon Historical Society collection It seems to be a breezy day in May 1914. The flags are standing out on the new ferry building and also on the ferry boat at far left.

Pedestrian bridge at the north end Beacon Historical Society collection At the north end of Fishkill Landing yard there was a pedestrian bridge for access to the dock area. This would have been a great place to watch the construction work.

Fishkill Landing ferry Beacon Historical Society collection In this view of the Fishkill Landing ferry and yard you can see the pedestiran bridge at far right. The new station will be built to the right of where the teams are coming off the ferry.

Join the Central New England Railway Forum The Central New England Railway (CNE) was a railroad across northern Connecticut and west across the Hudson River in New York. It eventually became part of the Poughkeepsie Bridge Route (an alliance between railroads for a passenger route from Washington to Boston) and later a line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

Join the New York & New England/Central New England Forum at RAILROAD.NET

New station construction has begun. Beacon Historical Society collection The foundation of the new station seems to be in place in the center. The pedestrian bridge is very evident at far right. In the foreground is the street leading to the bridge over the NYC main line.

New station foundation Beacon Historical Society collection At lower right is the foundation of the new train station while freight and passenger service continues in the background.

NYC passenger train at Fishkill Landing. Beacon Historical Society collection Construction on the new station continues in the foreground while a NYC passenger train stops at the temporary facility in the background. You can see a group of people walking from the train toward the new ferry building.

Station construction from a boat on the river. Beacon Historical Society collection A bit more of the new station building is beginning to show in this view from a boat in the river.

Fishkill Landing NYC freight yard. Beacon Historical Society collection In this general view of the Fishkill Landing yard you can see the new pedestrian stairs up to the new road bridge at far left. They are at the new main line alignment which had not been built yet.

The new road bridge is in place. Beacon Historical Society collection A new steel road bridge has replaced the old bridge over the main line. In this photo both bridges are shown. From the looks of the road approach, it seems like the new bridge is not yet in use. You can see the pedestrian stairs leading up to a walkway on the new bridge. Note in the center background that the temporary ferry building and launch are now gone.

Fishkill Landing road bridge. Beacon Historical Society collection The photographer was standing on the new road bridge to take this picture of the old bridge. New station construction continues in the background.

Fly Along the Central New England Railway! If you have "GOOGLE EARTH" installed on your computer, you can "fly" along the routes of the Central New England Railway with the "PLACEMARK" below: (Click to get GOOGLE EARTH)
The Central New England Railway
We will be adding more routes Because many of the locations on our tour have varying "resolutions" of the pictures, you may need to stop the tour and adjust the height you are viewing. On several locations, you may also stop the tour and click on the placemark icon for more information. Tell us where you want to fly and give us any of your comments

Just Around the Corner by Bertrande H. Snell

Bertrande H. Snell, author of the following article, a native of Parish, Oswego County, N.Y., was a telegrapher all his working life. For many years he was employed by the New York Central Railroad, and for 33 years was a telegrapher for Western Union in Syracuse. Bertrande Snell commenced his writing career with the Syracuse Syracuse Post-Standard in 1945 and continued it until shortly before his death in 1949. His columns were primarily of a reminiscent or historical nature, which included railroad stories.

Syracuse Post-Standard, Jan. 27, 1946 Just Around the Corner By Bertrande Snell The Pennsylvania Division of the old New York Central, known to old-timers as "The Fall Brook," connects with the main line at Lyons and winds south through Corning to Clearfield, Pa. It crosses the Pennsylvania state line at Lawrenceville and, from there on, it runs through the Alleghenies. It is in reality a true "Scenic Route," although, alas, there are no longer any passenger trains scheduled on the line south of Corning. (Note: Last passenger train through Wellsboro Jucntion and up to Wellsboro was April 6, 1935). In 1912, there was a little way station known as Beeman between Lawrenceville and Presho. Here vegetated, at this time, a telegrapher by the name of Honnis. he had little to do, save report the passing of the numerous coal trains and ponder on the vicissitudes of human life. these activities he interspersed at too frequent intervals with a satisfactory flow of the famed Tioga county triple-elixir. As he sat thus, day by day, his grievances, real or fancied, grew space, until he became a man obsessed. One day his muddled brain gave birth to the Great Idea, and he acted thereon with promptness and despatch. The very next morning, he hied himself to Corning, where were located the division offices. He made directly for division superintendent, D.W. Dinan's office . He swung open the office door and discovered Mr. Dinan seated behind his desk, facing the door. Without preliminary, Honnis dove into his hip pocket, with quick if trembling hand; fished out a snub-nosed revolver and fired three shots in the general direction of the official. At the sound of the shots, assistant superintendent L. P. Van Woert rushed from his adjacent office; but halted abruptly, at sight of the armed figure in the doorway. Before Van could do anything about making himself scarce - which he, afterward admitted was his primary intention - Telegrapher Honnis reversed his weapon and shot himself in the head, dying as he slumped to the floor. Having thus satisfactorily provided for his own future, the gentleman exits from this narrative. Superintendent Dinan, it was found, had suffered but one hurt - a slight flesh wound in the right shoulder. Another of the bullets had sliced off a coat button, and the third went wild. This tragedy, not unnaturally, caused considerable furor in railroad circles throughout the country, and one result was that railroad officials were not nearly so easy of access for a considerable period thereafter. The big boys didn't exactly lock their doors; but they took precautions! Which precautions form the groundwork, for the following anecdote, which has a slightly different finale from the preceding one. A few months after the event recorded above, a young telegrapher on the Hojack - we will call him Fred, principally because that's not his real name - was the victim of a series of events, which eventually led to his dismissal. He was working on the west end, between Oswego and Rochester, at the time; and he decided to go to Watertown and try to induce Superintendent F.E. McCormack to reconsider. Resplendent in his "Sunday suit" of navy blue, and with a purposeful glinting his somewhat less-than-eagle-eye, he descended upon the division office and sought out the chief dispatcher, George Henry Williamson, his immediate superior. "Sorry, Fred," counseled George Henry. "I can't do anything for you, the Old Man has the goods on you and he won't budge." "Well, " replied Freddy, "I'm gonna see him, anyway. I'll sure give him a line. Gee! I don't want to get fired just now - I ain't got time for it!" "Won't do you any good, I'm afraid," counseled the chief dispatcher, "but it's your funeral, suit yourself." With which comforting assurance, George Henry turned away and applied himself to his own worries. So, Fred hung his overcoat on a nail, buttoned his tight-fitting suit-coat about his manly torso, and stepped into the hall, declaiming as he do so: "I'll fix old F.E.M. plenty!" Well, the chief clerk finally let him into the superintendent's sanctum, but he had hardly begun his plea to the boss when the door opened and in walked a "harness bull," a man in plain clothes. The cop waltzed directly to our wondering hero and asked: "Your name is Fred Ennis?" And without waiting for an answer, he continued: "Just step out into the hall a minute, we want to talk to you!" Fred glanced at the boss, but got no encouragement there. F.E.M.'s face showed nothing but a look of blank bewilderment, so Freddy accompanied the two men to the door. Outside, the two ranged themselves on either side of the luckless brass-pounder and the man in civvies spoke for the first time: "You come up from Wallington this morning, didn't you?" "Yes," replied Freddie, "that's right." "Boss fired you a couple days ago, didn't he?" Fred nodded, miserably, still uncomprehending. "Frisk him," said the questioner to the uniformed man. The cop slid practiced hands around Freddie's middle. One hand halted in the vicinity of his right hip pocket, where his tightly buttoned coat revealed a bulge. "Huh!, here it is. I guess," he grunted. He dove into the pocket and with a flourish drew forth - Freddie's big curved meerschaum pipe in its shagreen care! "Hell!" snorted the detective, "That ain't no gun. Excuse us, young feller - and - and - keep your mouth shut about this." And the two marched away, much disgruntled. It developed that, when Fred had left the dispatcher's office, his loud assertion that he'd "fix" F.E.M., was overheard by a passing caretaker. Noting the bulge on Freddy's hip, he immediately recalled the Corning affair, and with visions of manslaughter in his mind, he hurried to the street, where he fortunately (?) found a policeman chatting with a force detective, and hurriedly spilled his beans. Still eschewing any fiction in this veracious narrative, it is nice to be able to record that Mr. McCormack called Fred back into his office and, after learning the details, indulged himself in a hearty laugh - and reinstated him on the payroll.

REFERENCE SECTION

The CNE from Wikipedia

The NY Central Railroad from Wikipedia

The New Haven Railroad Historical and Technical Association has created a great map of the New Haven Railroad at its greatest extent. Click below to see it.

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