 Minerva SystemsDr. Cora Angier Sowa |
CORA SOWA'S RIGHT-OF-WAY:RAILROAD HISTORY OF CORA ANGIER SOWAPage 5The Poughkeepsie Bridge |
The eastern pier of the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, in a picture taken in 1972.
You can also contact me at casowa@aol.com.
On the present page you will find:
To go to other pages of "Cora Sowa's Right-of-Way," choose the following sections:
- Click here for the first page:
- On and Around the Southern Pacific ("Malley" cab-forwards and Tehachapi)
- The Alaskan Railroad
- The Southern Pacific Coast Line at Chatsworth and the Ojai Branch
- The Old Los Angeles Subway Tunnel ("Belmont Tunnel") and Toluca Yards
- Union Station, Plaza, and Angels' Flight
- The Train of Tomorrow
- Click here for the second page:
- Click here for the third page:
- Click here for the fourth page:
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- Click here for the sixth page: Engineers in the Family I, Walter Angier, civil engineer
- Click here for the seventh page: Engineers in the Family II, Philip Angier, civil engineer
- Click here for the eighth page: Engineers in the Family III, Alexander Lodyguine, Russian (and American) inventor
The Poughkeepsie Bridge
When there were trains on the Poughkeepsie Bridge
I lived in Poughkeepsie, New York in the early 1970's. My husband John was working at IBM and I was teaching Latin and Greek at Vassar College. At that time, there were still trains running over the great railroad bridge, and I took many pictures of it, sometimes with a train on it. I climbed onto its approaches and explored its foundations, photographing it from every angle. The bridge is now deprived of its rails but is preserved as a New York State Park and walking trail as the Walkway Over the Hudson. Although without trains of its own, it still offers great views of today's trains, Metro-North, Amtrak, and CSX, on both the east and west banks of the Hudson River, as well as a view of the Mid-Hudson highway bridge to the south. Of course, many of us would prefer to see trains again on the great span! Some pictures of the bridge as it was appear below, followed by pictures of it in its new incarnation, taken in 2010.
Luckey Platt's department store on Main Street (gone out of business since then) featured a lovely stained glass window depicting a train on the bridge and a Dayliner boat going under it. The window was dramatically placed at the head of the stairs to the second floor. Pictures of the window also appear here.
There are two bridges over the Hudson at Poughkeepsie, the railroad bridge (1889) and the Mid-Hudson highway bridge (1930). My grandfather, Walter Eugene Angier, and my uncle, Philip Powell Angier, both civil engineers, played roles in the history of both bridges. Walter Angier, partner in the firm Modjeski and Angier, directed work on the strengthening of the railroad bridge in 1910 (a third line of girders was added between the original two). Philip Angier was resident engineer for the Mid-Hudson Bridge, which opened in 1930. (The firm was by then Modjeski and Moran). Walter Angier, though semi-retired, probably also had a hand in its design, especially the difficult construction of its foundation. For archival material about their work, see "Engineers in the Family I" and "Engineers in the Family II" on the next pages of "Cora Sowa's Right-of-Way."
A train goes over the Poughkeepsie Bridge in 1972
The approach to the bridge from the Poughkeepsie side, 1972
Scenes from the west bank of the Hudson
A rainy day on the Poughkeepsie side
The neighborhood of the bridge
The Poughkeepsie Bridge becomes a State Park and hiking trail
In June, 2010 (on a gray day that kept threatening to rain), a bunch of us from the New York Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society visited the old bridge in its new incarnation as a hiking/biking trail, the Walkway Over the Hudson, a New York State Park. After visiting the bridge separately or together as we wished, by foot and/or bike, we met for lunch in an Irish tavern across the street from the newly refurbished Poughkeepsie train station. In June 2011, on a sunnier day, we repeated the experience.
Pictures, taken on both occasions, of bridge and station as they are today appear below. Although trains no longer go over it, the bridge offers great views of trains on both the east and west sides of the river. Pictures of these also appear below. We hope this will become an annual event!
THE TRACKS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE HUDSON (2010)
A TRAIN GOES DOWN THE TRACKS ON THE WEST SIDE, JUNE 2010
WATCHING ANOTHER TRAIN ON THE WEST SIDE, JUNE 2011
I took the following pictures looking straight down on another mixed freight. Below these are pictures of the same train taken from another angle by John Sowa.
A SIDE VIEW OF THE TRAIN (SAME AS ABOVE) GOING DOWN THE WEST SIDE WITH A DETAILED LOOK AT ITS CONSIST (JUNE 2011)
The following pictures are of the same train as the ones above, taken from a different angle by John Sowa. You can see the diversity of the car types (and by implication, the diversity of products) hauled by these trains.
LEAVING THE WALKWAY
VIEWS OF THE BRIDGE FROM THE POUGHKEEPSIE STATION
To go to other pages of "Cora Sowa's Right-of-Way," choose the following sections:
- Click here for the first page:
- On and Around the Southern Pacific ("Malley" cab-forwards and Tehachapi)
- The Alaskan Railroad
- The Southern Pacific Coast Line at Chatsworth and the Ojai Branch
- The Old Los Angeles Subway Tunnel ("Belmont Tunnel") and Toluca Yards
- Union Station, Plaza, and Angels' Flight
- The Train of Tomorrow
- Click here for the second page:
- Click here for the third page:
- Click here for the fourth page:
************
- Click here for the sixth page: Engineers in the Family I, Walter Angier, civil engineer
- Click here for the seventh page: Engineers in the Family II, Philip Angier, civil engineer.
- Click here for the eighth page: Engineers in the Family III, Alexander Lodyguine, Russian (and American) inventor
All photos and other material on this site, unless otherwise identified, are copyrighted by Cora Angier Sowa.
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