Jump to content

Spuyten Duyvil station

Coordinates: 40°52′44″N 73°55′22″W / 40.8789°N 73.9227°W / 40.8789; -73.9227
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Arjayay (talk | contribs) at 11:53, 8 October 2018 (Duplicate word removed). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Spuyten Duyvil
The Henry Hudson Bridge above the Spuyten Duyvil platform.
General information
LocationEdsall Avenue off Johnson Avenue
Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx, New York 10463
Coordinates40°52′44″N 73°55′22″W / 40.8789°N 73.9227°W / 40.8789; -73.9227
Owned byMetro-North Railroad
Line(s)
  Hudson Line
Platforms1 side platform
1 island platform
Tracks3
ConnectionsLocal Transit Hudson Rail Link: J, K, L, M
Construction
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone2
History
Electrified700V (DC) third rail
Passengers
2006237,380 Steady 0%
Services
Preceding station   MNRR   Following station
Template:MNRR lines
  Former services  
NYC
Template:NYC lines

The Spuyten Duyvil Metro-North Railroad station serves the residents of the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood of the Bronx, New York via the Hudson Line. Trains leave for Manhattan every 25 to 35 minutes on weekdays. It is about 10.4 miles from Grand Central Terminal and travel time to Grand Central is about 23 minutes.

As of August 2006, daily commuter ridership was 913 and there were 100 parking spots.[1] More than half of the commuters travel to the station using the Hudson Rail Link bus.[2]

During 2013, two trains derailed near the station. A freight train hauling garbage lost nearly half its cars in July between Spuyten Duyvil and Marble Hill, requiring four days to clean up before one of the tracks could be reopened.[3] In December, a passenger train derailment north of the station resulted in four passenger deaths (the first in the railroad's history) and 75 injuries.[4]

Station layout

The station has two high-level platforms. Northbound trains utilize an eight-car-long side platform, while southbound trains use a four-car-long island platform. Directly east (railroad south) of the station, Track 4 merges with Track 2. Directly west (railroad north) of the station, Amtrak's Empire Corridor services merges with the Hudson Line.

M Mezzanine Exit/entrance, crossover between platforms
P
Platform level 		Track 4 ← Hudson Line toward Grand Central (Marble Hill)
Island platform, doors will open on the left or right
Track 2 ← Hudson Line toward Grand Central (Marble Hill)
Track 1 Hudson Line toward Croton–Harmon or Poughkeepsie (Riverdale) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right Disabled access

History

Fires and vandalism

Through the 1950s and the 1960s, the New York Central Railroad depot at Spuyten Duvyil was subject to a lot of vandalism. Throughout this time period, multiple stations were also subjected to fires, including Marble Hill (1951 and 1960[5]) and Mount Saint Vincent stations (1957[5]). The railroad let the station depots at Spuyten Duyvil be subject to damage, with the windows on the wooden structure boarded up and broken. The depot was always locked and only staff was an employee to sell monthly commutation tickets. There were complaints about the stairways being closed, requiring people to cross the tracks. Vandalism was also common, along with common crimes such as burglary.[6] Someone stole the oil heater from the depot in 1956.[7] The southbound depot caught fire in 1956 as well.[8] The railroad tried to sell the northbound depot in 1957 for uses other than a railroad station, but no one took advantage.[9]

On July 29, 1957, the station caught fire at 7:20 am. The New York Central suspended service along the Hudson Division. The fire was under control by 8:44 am, but the railroad congestion took a while to be handled. More than 5,000 people were delayed from work to the damage.[10] The damage to the station included the station depot, parts of the platform and parts of the stairway. The repairs were finished in August 1957.[11] Locals wanted some changes in how buildings are maintained after the fire in July 1957, noting that the railroad did not even patrol the area to keep people from destroying the depot.[12] In December 1957, the railroad razed the northbound depot, with all operations shifted to the southbound depot, rebuilt from the 1956 fire.[8]

Yet another fire broke out on the morning of April 19, 1966. This fire engulfed more of the platform and the stairs leading down to the platform. However, this time, the fire department had trouble reaching the station due to poor parking by commuters and had to spend time getting the hoses down from nearby Johnson Avenue to fight with. The fire lasted forty minutes and held up three trains. The railroad made quick repairs to ensure clean service on April 20.[13]

However, the station depot burned for good on June 29, 1969, when the southbound station depot and the downtown platform caught fire once again. Around 2:30 pm that afternoon, the station building walls and platform. The platform itself had suffered a fire on June 24, taking out 30 feet (9.1 m) of the structure. The fires delayed some Penn Central Railroad trains, but not many due to a smaller Saturday schedule. Despite extinguishing both fires, no one could answer the source of the blaze.[14] A lean-to that was built for Spuyten Duyvil burned down in the winter of 1958–1959. Despite that, a building was constructed for the maintenance crews to use, leaving the commuters exposed to the elements. This included using the stairs as shelters for rain.[15] The railroad put up two three-sided "chicken coop" shelters for commuters to use, to their displeasure. The residents put up signs referring to the shelters as "'roosters" and "hens" to voice their displeasure.[16]

Local pressure led to some bowing from the New York State Public Services Commission in February 1970, who promised the commuters a new, larger shelter above their heads at the station. The new structure would include infared heaters to keep the commuters warm.[17] However, that was not the end of the fires at Spuyten Duyvil. The northbound platform, the scene of multiple fires, burned down once again on July 21, 1970.[18] This fire leveled the wooden northern platform.[19]

References

  1. ^ "Hudson Line". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
  2. ^ Grossman, Manny (December 27, 2007). "Spuyten Duyvil Station Makes Room for Buses". The Riverdale Press. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved 2010-02-27. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Flegenheimer, Matt; Hu, Winnie (July 20, 2013). "Metro-North Line Is Tied Up After a Freight Train Derails". The New York Times. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  4. ^ “Metro-North Train Derails in the Bronx”, New York Times, December 1, 2013
  5. ^ a b "Marble Hill Station Fire Causes Central to Launch Investigation of Facilities". The Riverdale Press. July 28, 1960. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  6. ^ Langhans, George A. (October 11, 1956). "Against Central Raise". The Riverdale Press. p. 12. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  7. ^ Rudy, Will H. (May 3, 1957). "A Case of Trains, Pigs and People..." The New York Post. p. 4. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Old Spuyten Duyvil Station Now a Part of Area's History". The Riverdale Press. December 5, 1957. p. 3. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  9. ^ "Central Seeks Service Cuts In Riverdale". The Riverdale Press. September 18, 1958. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  10. ^ "Bronx Fire KOs Trains On Hudson Division". The New York Post. July 29, 1957. p. 2. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  11. ^ "Station Fire Damage Repairs Almost Finished". The Riverdale Press. August 8, 1957. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  12. ^ "Time for a Clean-Up". The Riverdale Press. August 1, 1957. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  13. ^ "Spuyten Duyvil Station Hit by Fire". The Riverdale Press. April 21, 1966. p. 10. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  14. ^ "Qood'bye SD Station..." The Riverdale Press. July 3, 1969. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  15. ^ "Fires, Wrecks And Vandalism Add To Commuter Woes". The Riverdale Press. July 31, 1969. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  16. ^ "Our Broody Commuters". The Riverdale Press. October 2, 1969. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  17. ^ "Spuyten Duyvil Commuters Get Roof Over Their Heads". The Riverdale Press. February 26, 1970. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  18. ^ "Fire Again Halts Trains". The New York Post. July 22, 1970. p. 60. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  19. ^ Kormes, Steve (July 30, 1970). "Spuyten Duyvil Station". The Riverdale Press. p. 1. Retrieved September 5, 2018.

Media related to Spuyten Duyvil (Metro-North station) at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spuyten_Duyvil_station&oldid=863051756"