Harlem Valley–Wingdale station (formerly State Hospital station) on the

Metro-North Railroad The Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company , also branded as MTA Metro-North Railroad and commonly called simply Metro-North, is a suburban commuter rail service operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a New York State publ ...

Harlem Line The Harlem Line is an commuter rail line owned and operated by the Metro-North Railroad in the U.S. state of New York. It runs north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Southea ...

, located in the Wingdale section of

Dover, New York Dover is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 8,415 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Dover in England, the home town of an early settler. The town of Dover is located on the eastern boundary of the ...

. It is adjacent to the site of the former

Harlem Valley State Hospital Harlem Valley State Hospital, south of the hamlet of Wingdale in the town of Dover, was a New York State psychiatric hospital that operated from 1924 to 1994. History The grounds were originally slated to be a correctional facility, Wingdale P ...

History

The station was formerly known as "State Hospital" and was a flag stop between the 1930s and 1960s. It was built to serve the

, and was expanded from a simple wooden platform to a shelter with a wood-burning stove. The Wingdale station (originally known as "Wing's station," then "South Dover station") was approximately one half mile north in the hamlet on Dutchess CR 21 (Pleasant Ridge Road) and opened on December 31, 1848. It was located near such hotels as the 1806-built Jackson Wing Inn, and the 1858-built Duell Hotel, the latter of which still stands today. In the post-World War II era, the station was reduced from a station house, to a shelter along the platform. As with most of the Harlem Line, the merger of New York Central with

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

in 1968 transformed the two stations into

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

stations. Penn Central's continuous financial despair throughout the 1970s forced them to turn over their commuter service to the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...

and abandon service north of Dover Plains. Penn Central continued to provide coal service to the hospital until it was taken over by

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busine ...

, which continued coal service well into the 1990s. The stations were consolidated in 1977 with the State Hospital station being renamed Harlem Valley-Wingdale and the Wingdale stop being discontinued, thus transforming the station into the penultimate station on the Harlem Line, until Metro-North acquired the line in 1983, and re-extended it to Wassaic in 2000.

Station layout

The station has one four-car-long high-level

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

to the east of the track. It originally contained two tracks with a separate spur leading to the coal-fueled power plant for the hospital.

References

External links

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Station from Google Maps Street View

Harlem Valley-Wingdale Station; January, 1984. Photo by Seymour Fass (I Ride the Harlem Line; Facebook Page)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlem Valley-Wingdale (Metro-North Station) Metro-North Railroad stations in New York (state) Former New York Central Railroad stations Railway stations in Dutchess County, New York Transportation in Dutchess County, New York