Nostalgia & History > Maybrook, NY

Located in upstate New York roughly 20 miles above the NJ state line, Maybrook was once a major classification yard in the northeast. The Erie, NYO&W, Lehigh New England, the Lehigh and Hudson River all fed traffic destined for New England into the yard.  The New Haven carried everything east, crossing the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie on the famous bridge.  There were 33 classification tracks at one time.  Traffic began to drop with the demise of the Ontario & Western in 1957, followed by the L&NE in 1961.  The EL merger had only a minor impact, but the Penn Central merger had a major one.  With the absorbtion of the New Haven in 1970, the yard dwindled to just some EL and L&HR interchange.  The fire on the Poughkeepsie bridge in 1974 sealed its fate.  Today the area is largely occupied by a trucking terminal, with the remains of the yard office and a few structures still there in the trees.  A single track runs through the site, but dead-ends at the I-84 overpass.  There is a small museum dedicated to the yard on the main street in town. Here are a few images from various sources.

1.  A New Haven RS-3 sits in the yard.  Photographer unknown.  March 1968.

2. New Haven power at the engine terminal.  Also 1968.

3. Penn Central RS-3 5562 at the engine house.  Photo by Gary Madden, 1972.

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4.  My only visit when the yard was still active was in February 1973.  I was still using a Kodak Instamatic camera at the time, so the images aren't the best.  This set of 5 GE's was headed out to pull a train east.  I can remember them passing under the Rt 208 overpass moving ever so slowly while rocking side-to-side on the iffy track while we were dodging fast moving semi-trucks on the highway.

5.  A set of EL Geeps parked.  There was a turn out of Port Jervis to reach this yard.  Also February 1973.

6. From a visit to the remains in 2015.  The solid concrete structures have remained including the yard office.

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One of my favorite places to visit in the early 70's, even though it was on the decline. Is that overgrown structure the former "Y" where crews once laid over?

TJY

An interesting set of photos.  Thanks for your posting.
ALLEN

Thanks for posting these shots of Maybrook, once one of the key freight yards in the Northeast, and the western gateway for the New Haven, who owned and operated the yard.  Maybrook Yard once had two humps for eastbound and westbound traffic (I believe these were rider humps, and at some point were converted to flat switching).  According to some old newspaper articles from the 1940s, as many as 50 trains arrived at Maybrook Yard daily, and a similar number departed.  After the war, operations at Maybrook began a long, steady decline due to many factors, including the de-industrialization of New England, the building of the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Interstate highway system, and the declining health of the railroads that used it. 

In addition to the railroads mentioned in the previous post, the New York Central also moved traffic through Maybrook Yard, over the old Wallkill Valley Railroad that connected with the West Shore at Kingston, NY.  The NYC line did not come directly into Maybrook Yard, but connected with the Erie at Montgomery, NY, a few miles west of Maybrook.  The NYC cars then moved over the Erie between Maybrook Yard and Montgomery, via Campbell Hall.  Does anyone know what the arrangement was between the NYC and the Erie?  Did NYC crews actually operate into Maybrook Yard on trackage rights?  Or did the Erie handle the cars between Montgomery and Maybrook for a fee from NYC?  

Its interesting that the largest yards on the New Haven were only a short distance apart.  Cedar Hill Yard at New Haven, Connecticut was less than 100 miles to the east.  It also had dual humps, and was a more modern yard, with retarders rather than hump riders.  



  

icancmp193 Wrote:
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> One of my favorite places to visit in the early
> 70's, even though it was on the decline. Is that
> overgrown structure the former "Y" where crews
> once laid over?
>
> TJY

The former YMCA is now a community center, and houses the museum mentioned in the thread.

Maybrook was a happening railroad town in the day, now largely forgotten.

Excellent post !!

cr7998 Wrote:
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> In addition to the railroads mentioned in the
> previous post, the New York Central also moved
> traffic through Maybrook Yard, over the old
> Wallkill Valley Railroad that connected with the
> West Shore at Kingston, NY.  The NYC line did not
> come directly into Maybrook Yard, but connected
> with the Erie at Montgomery, NY, a few miles west
> of Maybrook.  The NYC cars then moved over the
> Erie between Maybrook Yard and Montgomery, via
> Campbell Hall.  Does anyone know what the
> arrangement was between the NYC and the Erie? 
> Did NYC crews actually operate into Maybrook Yard
> on trackage rights?  Or did the Erie handle the
> cars between Montgomery and Maybrook for a fee
> from NYC?  
>
Found these in my train orders collection
  

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RayH - thanks for sharing the train orders.  In the second train order, appears it is an EL crew, using EL locomotives, moving the cars between Montgomery and the New Haven connection, which would have been at Maybrook.  

Just finished reading Maybrook Gateway by Peter Brill. Amazing how busy Maybrook was back in the day!

Did one trip to Maybrook Yard maybe 1964. Never forget the strong pungent odor of ammonia from the leaking ice plant.

Posted from Android

1964 would have been a great time to visit Maybrook.

By 1970, northeastern industries were closing, brass, clocks, hats, tool makers etc were closing up.

Fewer factories, fewer shipments.

Posted from Android

My one time at Maybrook provided me with shots of Alcos and GEs of the New Haven and a CNJ RS3 which was pulled in courtesy of the L&HR - probably all mid to late 60's!