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Beacon
View south down the island platform
General information
Location	1 Ferry Plaza Beacon, New York
Coordinates	41°30′23″N 73°59′05″W / 41.5064°N 73.9848°W / 41.5064; -73.9848
Owned by	Metro-North
Line(s)	Hudson Line
Platforms	1 island platform, 1 side platform
Tracks	3
Connections	Dutchess County Public Transit Leprechaun Lines: Newburgh-Beacon-Stewart Shuttle NY Waterway: Newburgh–Beacon Ferry
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	8
History
Opened	1850s (HRR)
Rebuilt	–November 21, 1915 (NYC & CNE)
Previous names	Fishkill Landing (HRR)
Passengers
2018	2,828 (Metro-North)
Rank	21 of 109
Services
Preceding station Metro-North Railroad Following station New Hamburgtoward Poughkeepsie Hudson Linelimited service Breakneck Ridgetoward Grand Central Hudson Line Cold Springtoward Grand Central
Former services
Preceding station New York Central Railroad Following station Chelseatoward Chicago Main Line Dutchesstoward New York Poughkeepsietoward Chicago Michigan Central RailroadWolverineMain Line Croton-Harmontoward New York
Location

Beacon station is a commuter rail station on the Metro-North Railroad Hudson Line located in Beacon, New York. The station has three tracks, with one island platform and one side platform.

History

Rail service in Beacon can be traced as far back as December 6, 1849, with the Hudson River Railroad. The station was originally named "Fishkill Landing," and like many others on the Hudson Line, it is also right on the Hudson River. On September 4, 1866, the Dutchess and Columbia Railroad was established with the hope of running from the south side of Fishkill Creek northeast and north to meet the New York and Harlem Railroad at Craryville, New York. This junction and the station were built south of Fishkill Landing, and would be known forever as Dutchess Junction. The first station at Dutchess Junction, which was shared by the NYC&HR and D&C was burned down in April 1876, and rebuilt. The railroad along the river was acquired by the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad in November 1869. By 1877, the D&C was taken over by the Newburgh, Dutchess and Connecticut Railroad. In 1881 the New York and New England Railroad built a ferry port near Fishkill Landing station, and added a connecting spur along the north side of the Fishkill Creek (now known as the Beacon Secondary) leading to what became Wickopee Junction, and turned it over to the ND&C.

Dutchess Junction station would face another fire in 1893, and was replaced by little more than a sheltered shed which lasted only into the 1950s. The New York and New England ferry terminal was bought by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, along with the rest of the NY&NE in 1898. In 1905 the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad acquired the ND&C, and in 1907 merged it into the Central New England Railway, which itself was acquired by the New Haven Railroad system in 1904, and allowed to operate under its own name until 1927. In the meantime the NYC&HR became the New York Central Railroad System in 1914.

Between 1913 and 1915, the original HRR line was realigned, and the station was rebuilt in order to accommodate both the Hudson Division of the New York Central Railroad and the connecting spur of the ND&C along the north side of Fishkill Creek. Since Fishkill Landing was consolidated into the City of Beacon in 1913, the new station would be called Beacon as well. Additionally, the station also contained a new ferry dock designed for trains, passengers, and eventually cars. By 1916, the ND&C was moved from the southeast side of Fishkill Creek to the north side of the creek, and the original section between Dutchess Junction and Wickopee Junction was gradually abandoned in the 1930s. The New Haven Railroad continued to gradually reduce service along the ND&C, although they never completely eliminated service. In 1930 the ferry route officially became part of New York State Route 52.

The decline in railroad service during the post-WW II era affected Beacon station as it did with much of the country, but other forces also put the station at risk. Winter freezes along the Hudson (including one that stranded a ferry boat in the Hudson River), and the construction of the Newburgh–Beacon Bridge brought ferry service at the station to an end. New York Central merged with their long time rival Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 to form Penn Central Railroad, then acquired the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1969, including the former ND&C. Amtrak took over intercity passenger service in 1971, but Beacon station continued to serve only Penn Central Hudson Line commuter trains which by that time ran to Poughkeepsie and was subsidized by the MTA beginning in 1972. A fire in 1976 destroyed the station built by New York Central in 1913, which was demolished later that year to create more parking capacity. Conrail took over Penn Central in 1976 continued to operate Hudson Line trains until Metro-North Commuter Railroad assumed operation in 1983.

On October 17, 2005, ferry service to the station from Newburgh resumed after 42 years in which the Newburgh–Beacon Bridge had sufficed to bring people across the river. This has allowed the MTA to essentially increase the available parking for the station with little new construction due to the availability of land on the Newburgh waterfront. The fare is $1.75 per person each way; unlike Beacon, parking in Newburgh is free. Those purchasing monthly train passes also have the option to include the Newburgh-Beacon ferry in their ticket. Rail and ferry service at Beacon was severely disrupted by Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but not obliterated.

On March 27, 2023, the Track 3 side platform opened for passenger service after a full reconstruction, and is accessible from the south end of the eastern parking lot, including via ADA-compliant ramps. Track 3 had a temporary platform built during a renovation project in the 1990s, though it was removed when the project was completed; the new platform was built atop the preexisting support structure.

References

1. "New Station at Beacon Opened". The Poughkeepsie Eagle-News. November 22, 1915. p. 6. Retrieved June 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
2. ^ METRO-NORTH 2018 WEEKDAY STATION BOARDINGS. Market Analysis/Fare Policy Group:OPERATIONS PLANNING AND ANALYSIS DEPARTMENT:Metro-North Railroad. April 2019. p. 6.
3. The Hudson River and the Hudson River Railroad—1851 (Catskill Archive, originally published by Bradbury and Guild)
4. "Railroad Extra -The Hudson River and Hudson River Railroad--New York Central Railroad Hudson Division". Retrieved April 25, 2016.
5. Ken Kinlock. "ND&C RR from Dutchess Junction to Matteawan". Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
6. Ken Kinlock. "Railroad at Fishkill Landing NY First Phase". Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
7. Ken Kinlock. "Fishkill Landing Reconstruction". Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
8. Ken Kinlock. "Fishkill Landing Completion". Archived from the original on May 28, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
9. Gordon, Reginald (March 1916). "New Stations on the Lackawanna and New York Central". Railway Engineering and Maintenance of Way. Vol. 12, no. 3. pp. 83–85.
10. "- Sound and Story Project of the Hudson Valley". Retrieved April 25, 2016.
11. Anthony P. Musso. "Beacon Train Station serviced two railroads". Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
12. Jeremiah Cox. "Beacon (Metro-North Hudson Line) - The SubwayNut". Retrieved April 25, 2016.
13. "Old New York Central Railroad Hudson Division". Retrieved April 25, 2016.
14. Minutes of the Regular Meeting | Joint Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Committees (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 21, 2023. p. 7.
15. Minutes of the Regular Meeting | Joint Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Committees (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 24, 2023. p. 5.

External links

Media related to Beacon (Metro-North station) at Wikimedia Commons

• Metro-North station page for Beacon
• List of upcoming Metro-North train departure times and track assignments from MTA

• Metro-North Railroad stations in New York (state)
• Former New York Central Railroad stations
• Former Central New England Railway stations
• Beacon, New York
• Railway stations in Dutchess County, New York
• Railway stations in the United States opened in the 1850s