The Ghent station was a former

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

station that served the residents of

Ghent, New York Ghent is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States, with a ZIP code of 12075. The population was 5,303 at the 2020 census, down from the 2010 census. Ghent is centrally located in the county and is northeast of the city of Hudson. H ...

History

The station catered to a local community that had a substantial industry during the era of the NYCRR, and, earlier, the New York and Harlem Railroad. Prior to this, however, another railroad laid tracks through the community nearby: specifically, the

Hudson and Berkshire Railroad The Hudson and Boston Railroad was a railroad that spanned across Southern and Central Columbia County, New York. It was chartered in 1855 and acquired by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1870, only to face its gradual demise beginning in 1959. ...

, which was completed in 1846 between Hudson and Chatham It went bankrupt and was reorganized as the

Hudson and Boston Railroad The Hudson and Boston Railroad was a railroad that spanned across Southern and Central Columbia County, New York. It was chartered in 1855 and acquired by the Boston and Albany Railroad in 1870, only to face its gradual demise beginning in 1959. ...

in 1855: later acquired by the

Boston and Albany Railroad The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Pa ...

in 1870, which eventually downgraded it to the B&A Hudson Branch. The New York and Harlem laid tracks through Ghent to Chatham in 1852. The line was eventually taken over by the

(NYCRR), and provided both passenger and freight train service. Ghent was the station that served both the Harlem Division and the former

Hudson Branch. The station had a tower that coordinated the two railroads from here to Chatham Union Station until 1936. It also included a hotel named The Bartlett House, which was built in 1870 and has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

since May 8, 2012. However, with the demise of the NYCRR, and its 1968 merger with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form the soon to be bankrupt

Penn Central Railroad The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...

, passenger services ceased on March 20, 1972. Ghent provided commercial freight-only service, and even became a terminus for freight when Conrail acquired the line in 1976 and eliminated it between here and Millerton station in Dutchess County. The station continued to do so until 1980, when the tracks between here and Chatham Union Station were dismantled. The

Harlem Valley Rail Trail The Harlem Valley Rail Trail is a paved rail trail on an abandoned portion of the New York and Harlem Railroad, north of the hamlet of Wassaic and easily accessible by train, one mile north of the start at the Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line ter ...

Association plans to extend the trail along the right-of-way in front of the site of the former station.Harlem Valley Rail Trail map
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References

Former New York Central Railroad stations Railway stations closed in 1972 Former railway stations in New York (state) Transportation in Columbia County, New York Railway stations in Columbia County, New York 1972 disestablishments in New York (state) {{NewYork-railstation-stub