Newburgh Branch

The line starts out at a junction with the River Subdivision (formerly the NY Central's West Shore Railroad) just south of Newburgh, then climbs onto a bridge, crossing the River Subdivision and River Street in Newburgh. At one point, there was also a yard at this location that has since been abandoned. It then abruptly turns west, passing through the town of New Windsor. At West Newburgh, the line again turns southwest past the site where there was once an engine house, turntable, and six-track yard. There was also a station at West Newburgh. The tracks presently end just past a grade crossing at Route 94, passing onto an industrial siding. This was also the site of Vails Gate Junction station, where the Newburgh Shortcut line branched off towards the Graham Line, eventually merging at Newburgh Junction. The abandoned ROW then crosses under I-87 and goes through the valley cut by Moodna Creek, where it passed over Jackson Avenue on a bridge, removed in 1985. The ROW continues roughly following Moodna Creek before crossing under the Moodna Viaduct, which now carries Metro-North's Port Jervis Line, formerly the Erie's Graham Line), originally built as a high-speed freight bypass to the Erie Main. After passing through the hamlet of Salisbury Mills, it crosses Moodna Creek on the first of five truss bridges. It then crosses back to the other side of the creek, on a bridge that is now in the middle of a forest. The third bridge takes the line into Washingtonville. The last surviving station was located here, but it was completely destroyed by fire in the 1990s. Then, it crosses the creek twice more before turning south and running through open fields. After crossing over Route 94 again, this time on an overpass, it skirts the rather large swamp that is situated north of Greycourt, then ends at a wye in the Main Line, which can still somewhat be seen today on the Orange Heritage Trail. This was the former site of a large interchange rail yard with trains on the Erie Main, as well as the L&HR. The only remnant of this yard is a short Norfolk Southern siding off the NYS&W mainline, which was formerly a connection to the yard for the L&HR.

The line opened in 1850 as the New York and Newburgh Rail Road, linking the bustling river port city of Newburgh with the Erie Main Line in Greycourt. In 1869, the Erie took over, and passenger service ran on the line until 1937. Freight service remained, utilizing Erie Lackawanna and later, leased Central Railroad of New Jersey locomotives, until 1977, when the line was abandoned.[1][2] By the 1970s, a single EMD GP7 was the main motive power for the local freight down the branch, usually having less than 20 cars. By March 1974, the line only had two weekly freight trains, and even with the takeover of Conrail in 1976, freight service was on the decline, and ended on December 28, 1977.[3] The tracks were taken out in 1983-1984, but all the bridges over Moodna Creek remain.[1][3]

There were eight stations along the route, plus two shared with other railroads at the endpoints. According to a 1935 timetable, two years before passenger service ended, there were a total of four passenger trains a day. New Windsor and West Newburgh stations were flag stops, partially because the main purpose of West Newburgh station was to serve West Newburgh Yard.[4]

Remnants of the 1908 wreck at Greycourt

In 1908, a train running down the branch derailed at the Greycourt Water Tower, just before the yard. L&HR engines #24 and #89 were involved, both were repaired and put back into service, but were later scrapped.[5]

• 1935 Timetable from Robert McCue's book showing the Shortcut Line and the Newburgh Branch[4]
• 1926 Timetable of the Newburgh Branch[6]