Whitehall station is an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

intercity train station in the village of Whitehall, New York. It is served by the '' Adirondack''. It has one low-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 ...

with a small shelter on the east side of the track.

History

The Saratoga and Washington Railroad opened from

Saratoga Springs, New York Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

to Gansevoort on August 15, 1848, and on to

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

on December 10. The original terminus was just north of the village center at a dock on the

Poultney River The Poultney River is a river in southwestern Vermont and eastern New York. In its 40-mile long course, the river drains approximately 263 square miles as it flows northwards into the southern end of Lake Champlain. Course The Poultney River's ...

- the southern tip of

Lake Champlain , native_name_lang = , image = Champlainmap.svg , caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada , coords = , type = , ...

- thus establishing the railroad as a competitor to the

Champlain Canal The Champlain Canal is a canal in New York that connects the Hudson River to the south end of Lake Champlain. It was simultaneously constructed with the Erie Canal for use by commercial vessels, fully opening in 1823. Today, it is mostly used by ...

. A extension north to Lake Station on October 1, 1851 eliminated the need for ships to round a dangerous bend in the river. Whitehall station, July 1975

On October 1, 1850, the railroad opened a branch from just south of Whitehall to the Vermont state line near Fair Haven. Along with its Vermont subsidiary the Rutland and Whitehall Railroad (opened on November 1) and the

Rutland and Washington Railroad The Rutland and Washington Railroad was a railroad company based in Rutland, Vermont which was chartered in Vermont on November 13, 1847 and built between Rutland and Eagle Bridge in Rensselaer County, New York in 1851 and 1852. One of the compan ...

(opened several weeks prior), this established a through rail route between

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

and

Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont * Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...

. The railroad built a brick freight house and station at the junction in 1850. After a "complicated series of bankruptcies, reorganizations, leases, and sales", the railroads were consolidated under the

Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad The Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad was chartered on April 14, 1832. It completed between Troy and Ballston Spa on March 19, 1836. The railroad was largely conceived and built by businessmen of Troy in response to Albany's construction of the ...

in 1865, which in turn became part of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad (D&H) on May 1, 1871. D&H subsidiary New York and Canada Railroad opened from Lake Station to

Rouses Point Rouses Point is a village (New York), village in Clinton County, New York, Clinton County, New York (state), New York, United States, along the 45th parallel north, 45th parallel. The population was 2,209 at the 2010 census. The village is named ...

(where the

Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad The Champlain and St. Lawrence Railroad (C&SL) was a historic railway in Lower Canada, the first Canadian public railway and one of the first railways built in British North America. Origin The C&SL was financed by Montreal entrepreneur and br ...

connected to Montreal) on December 1, 1875, eliminating the need for Lake Station as a steamship terminal. The D&H built a new station and freight house at Whitehall in 1892-93. In 1932, the D&H realigned its mainline through Whitehall, with a short tunnel under the village center. The relocated tracks were slightly farther from the station, and a staircase connected the platform to the building. Passenger service on the Whitehall Branch to Rutland ended on June 24, 1934. Passenger service to Whitehall ended on April 30, 1971, as

did not continue D&H passenger service when it took over intercity passenger trains the next day. Service resumed with the introduction of the '' Adirondack'' on August 5, 1974. The former station building was demolished by intentional burning on April 28, 1987. The former freight house is in use by a local business. Construction on a new Amtrak station in the village center began in April 1994 and was completed that November 14. Amtrak began operating the ''

Ethan Allen Express The ''Ethan Allen Express'' is a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak in the United States between New York City and Burlington, Vermont, via Albany, New York. One daily round trip is operated on a north-south route with a 7 hour 35 min ...

'' over the Whitehall Branch on December 2, 1996; because the 1994-built station is north of the junction, the ''Ethan Allen Express'' does not stop at Whitehall.

References

External links

{{Amtrak New York stations Amtrak stations in New York (state) Transportation buildings and structures in Washington County, New York Former Delaware and Hudson Railway stations