Pawling station is a

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

stop 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

Pawling, New York Pawling may refer to: *Pawling (town), New York, in Dutchess County **Pawling (village), New York, in the town of Pawling *** Pawling (Metro-North station), train station for the village **Pawling Nature Reserve, in the northern section of the t ...

History

Although the

New York & Harlem Railroad The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and was the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and 18 ...

traversed the Pawling community as early as the late 1840s, the town did not receive a dedicated passenger station until the construction of one by the

New York Central & Hudson River 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 Midwe ...

in 1881. Despite the establishment of a nearby "Wood station" in 1860, the Pawling station became a focal point for the town's development and continued to serve passengers following the village's incorporation in 1893. The station was one of the stops on the Harlem Line for trains such as the ''

Berkshire Hills Express The ''Berkshire Hills Express'' was a full-service passenger train of the New York Central Railroad that went from New York City to North Adams, Massachusetts, in the Berkshires. It served as a channel for tourist travel from downstate New York, ...

'', offering limited-stop service between New York City and destinations in the

Berkshires The Berkshires () are highlands located in western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut in the United States. Generally, "Berkshires" may refer to the range of hills in Massachusetts that lie between the Housatonic and Connecticut River ...

region, including

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the most populous city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsf ...

and

North Adams, Massachusetts North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the home of the largest contempor ...

. In 1950, these direct trains were replaced by shuttle transfers. As with the rest of the Harlem Division, the Pawling station was incorporated into the

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, ...

(PC), following the 1968 merger of the

New York Central 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 Midw ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

railroads. PC's ongoing financial difficulties throughout the 1970s led to the transfer of its commuter services 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 ...

(MTA), which continued operations through the formation of

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 ...

in 1976. The station's ticket office ceased operations on March 11, 1977. Additionally, the station depot was destroyed by fire on November 30, 1984. Presently, the former station serves as the headquarters for the local chamber of commerce.

Station layout

The station consists of a 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.

Notes

References

External links

Getting to the Appalachian Trail

Pawling NYC station (Dynamic Depot Maps)

Tuesday Tour of Pawling Station (I Ride the Harlem Line)

Station from Google Maps Street View
Metro-North Railroad stations in New York (state) Former New York Central Railroad stations Pawling, New York Railway stations in Dutchess County, New York 1848 establishments in New York (state) Railway stations in the United States opened in 1848 Transportation in Dutchess County, New York {{NewYork-railstation-stub