Hike #1374; Yorktown Heights to Brewster

 

Hike #1374; 11/21/20 Yorktown Heights to Brewster with Polly Delafield, Justin Gurbisz, Stephen Argentina, Jennifer Tull, Jack Lowry, Sarah Jones, Diane Reider, Kirk Rohn, Serious Sean Dougherty, Russ Nelson, Ewa, Brittany Audrey, David Adams, David J. Williams, ?, and Joe Wolff.

This next hike would be the final one in my Putnam Division Series.
Apologies for names I didn't get on this one; I'm very far behind on the journals so this is going on a lot of memory, and just using the history notations I was still making.

I had my first "Old Put" experience years ago as part of holiday New York City hike. The line is abandoned right from the station stop at Marble Hill and is abandoned through Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. I loved that it was so much like the abandoned lines near home that I've always loved, and one would never think they were in New York City.

We hiked bits of this line, and one day I decided we were going to do the whole thing from New York City to where it ended in Brewster.

Construction began on the Putnam line in 1879. Service began on the line in 1881 as the New York and Putnam Railroad, affectionately known as the "Old Put", and it came into the ownership of NY Central in 1894.

The line was a success for many years until, like most lines, ridership began to decline in the 1930s.

The line was slowly trimmed back and abandoned in stages starting in 1958 when the section we were hiking stopped offering passenger service. Freight service on it ended in 1970.

Today, it is a trail, but known under separate names. In Van Cortland Park it's the Old Putnam path. When it enters Westchester County it is the South County Trailway, and it's paved.

There is another earlier portion of it that is trail with yet another name in the Pocantico Hills, Rockefeller State Park. The north part of Westchester County it is the North County Trailway, and in Putnam County it is the Putnam Trailway.

The changes in names are really confusing and silly. To me, it's just the Old Put. We had had great times hiking this line and incorporating other adjacent parks as loops and such over time. I think we'd done a total of seven or eight hikes that used some of this line prior to this hike.

This time, the Empire State Trail was considered to be almost complete, and it uses the Old Put, so it made sense to continue with that as a series.

The route of that continues from Brewster to the north on the Maybrook Line of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford, and we had somewhat recently hiked that from Poughkeepsie to Hopewell Junction. At the time of this hike, the trail was not yet connected along that line from Brewster to Hopewell Junction, but it was getting close. I'd already followed the Maybrook Line from Ohioville near New Paltz to Hopewell Junction, so when we finished the Old Put, we'd focus efforts on that line, and the series would sort of continue.

We met in Brewster, and I had figured on trying to use parking at Kobacker's Market, where a trail leads up to the old Maybrook Line. A portion of it was already trail at that point, but it just didn't go through.

Unfortunately, we couldn't leave all of the cars parked there. We would have to figure something else out. Polly lives in Brewster, and so she said we could park and ride on Rt 312 north of town. I didn't realize where exactly she meant, and having everyone follow up there led me to realize this was way far out of the way. It would only be two miles more at the end of the hike, but two miles is quite a lot after a long day, especially walking on pavement.

We used the parking lot anyway, and we'd figure it out where no one would have to walk back up the hill to the park and ride later. We shuttled from there to the south, to Yorktown Heights where we parked at Yorktown Green Shopping Center, where we finished the previous Old Put hike. From there, we simply walked across the lot and over to the rail bed.

There are some remnants of the former rail use as we walked. After we got across Hanover Street, I spotted the remnant of a telltale, which was something to alert workers of a coming low clearance overpass. There was also a mile marker denoting 37 miles to New York City.

Obviously 37 miles is only two of our hikes worth of stuff, but it goes to show how many other trails we did adjacent to this, and how we milked it for all we could get. That's what made the hikes so special.

In fact, this hike was the only one in the entire series where almost the entire thing was on the Old Put.

We crossed Northmore Drive, Sawmill River Road, Granite Springs Road, and Mahopac Road passing through the communities of Amawalk and Granite Springs. We had a very long stretch of no road crossings and pleasant back woods after we went across Mahopac Road. Jack and Serious Sean both brought their guitars; Jack his carbon fiber acoustic and Sean his electric, and so there was plenty of singing and fun.

It was just a good, social time right from the start, and no one was pushing too hard. Near the beginning, at what must have been Northmore Road, Stephen went and purchased pizza and shared it.

The next crossing was Tomahawk Street at a little settlement known as Baldwin Place.
There was once a passenger station just ahead of the crossing on this line, which no longer stands today, but a small freight depot building that stood just adjacent to it is amazingly still there where it always stood.
Baldwin Place was also the site of a junction between the main line and what was known as the Mahopac Mine Branch. It served iron mines of the same name near present day Kirk Lake.
The branch line was abandoned in 1931.

I noticed on the drive up that there were some old bridge abutments alongside the road, which I thought might have once been a part of that branch, but I didn't double check which was we went to see if it was possible. It may have also been the Lake Mahopac Branch from the Harlem Valley line.

We continued ahead and checked out the old freight station through the trees on private land to the right of us, and then continued north on the line.

We headed north from here and crossed Mill Road. We then entered woods and skirted a property with winterized wrapped up boats. 

Harlem Crossing was just ahead on the line we were following toward the town of Mahopac.

At this point, a 7.2 mile branch of the Harlem Valley rail line known as the Goldens Bridge Branch crossed over the Old Put.
The Goldens Bridge Branch is named for the little village where it breaks off of the main Harlem Valley line. The branch was built in 1871, predating the Putnam line by almost a decade. It was built to bring weekend vacationers from New York City up to Mahopac Lake.

The branch would have crossed the Old Put, and then paralleled it to its terminus in Mahopac. 
The line crossed the Old Put at grade until 1948 and was then replaced by a switch. 

Although the Old Put ceased passenger service, the Harlem Valley line operated passenger trails on the Goldens Bridge Branch, and by way if it on the Old Put as far as Brewster until 1959.

Just ahead, and parallel with Bucks Hollow Road, there were tracks still in place to the left of the trail. I'm not sure whether this was the Goldens Bridge Branch, or if it was the Old Put and the trail we were following was routed off of it slightly. The trail went up a bit onto a sort of shelf, and I questioned whether the Putnam line actually went up there, or if it was just built as a trail. I now realize it was probably the Putnam line.

The right of way that I was seeing apparently below would have been the Goldens Bridge Branch, probably near its terminus (some maps refer to this as the Mahopac Branch). Just ahead, there was a building below to the right called the Freight House Cafe. I thought it was just a fanciful name for the place, but now that I realize that the Goldens Bridge Branch might have been at a lower level over there,

The freight house cafe certainly looked like was the freight house, and it was confirmed to still be standing in 2015, so that was likely it. It was actually a pretty cool cafe building because it had a sort of system with a line and string that food could be ordered from the level of the trail and paid for the same way.

Just across the rail bed from this, and closer to the same level as the trail, was a building that was definitely a station.
I didn't recognize it as such at first.
We regrouped at the spot where the Put used to cross Bucks Hollow Road, and Russ I think it was pointed back that the building that was for the American Legion was actually the old station.
There were once two stations for this location. The Harlem Valley line's Goldens Bridge branch ended nearby at a hotel called the Thompson House, later the Hotel Mahopac post 1926.
The Thompson House started out as a hat factory, and then a boarding house in 1851. Following a fire in 1869, it was renovated into a hotel that held 400 guests. Today the site is a public library.

After the arrival of the Putnam line, the realization that there were two stations serving the same community led to both railroad lines simply utilizing the Mahopac Station that still stands as the Legion.
At this point, the railroad actually went along the east side of the building, and a road went along the west where the trail is today.

We continued ahead on the trail along a slope just above Lake Mahopac, and came to another crossing called King's Row. Just before that I spotted a building below that looked like it might have been another station, but really shouldn't have been.
We were getting hungry, and it was about time we stopped to have some lunch. Just below, and on the shore of Lake Mahopac, was the Four Brothers Pizza restaurant. We chose this for our stop.

We were seated at a very long table, and there was a splendid view out over Lake Mahopac from inside.
I took in the view a bit from a porch area, and I ordered a personal pizza with all sorts of glorious crap.

We had a really nice break and afterwards were on our way back along the trail heading northbound.
The trail took us on or close to the rail bed, parallel with other roads, and then across Croton Falls Road. The trail deviated somewhat from the rail bed there, and then got back on it after Mud Pond Road on the left.
We passed through a very nice section of woods on a fill, and then the trail turned off slightly to the left and climbed higher above the old rail bed, which was down in a cut that was holding a lot of water.

We continued along, and soon we came closely parallel with Lake Casse. Just beyond, we passed beneath Sheer Hill Road via an underpass built for the trail rather than rail.

We soon passed beneath Weber Hill Road via a tunnel built for the trail. The trail then went uphill once again to avoid a wet cut that the railroad went through. We weaved around from east to north and then crossed Weber Hill Road at grade.

As we continued north, we soon reached Crafts Road. This was another small station stop back in the railroad days.
Back in 1886, the Brewster Standard periodical described Crafts as follows: "Crafts is a station devoted mainly to the shipping of milk, an extended valley to the east is seen, bounded only by mountain ranges, far off in the State of Connecticut".

I set up some then and now photographs of the place, and we moved along pretty quickly.
The Craft family donated the property necessary to build the station with the stipulation that the stop be named "Crafts". A small community appeared around the stop. 

Howard E. Craft established the Crafts General Store adjacent to the shelter station, and the building still stands in the same place as a private residence today.
In addition to being a store proprietor, Mr. Crafts also served as postmaster, Express and Freight agent, and passenger (he had a store in New York City). The store later became Frances J. Ganung and Co. Store in 1890, and was later run by Chauncey Craft, the son of Howard.

We headed across Crafts Road and then went onto a rather high fill over Drewville Road, which the trail crossed on a new modern pedestrian bridge spanning the valley.

This was actually the third bridge to span the area over Drewville Road.
When the railroad was first built, there was a long wooden trestle spanning the quite wide valley here.
This was a constant headache because locomotives would accidentally catch the span on fire, and locals would have to be hired to put it out.
The old wooden trestle was more than half back filled with dirt, and two concrete abutments supported a new iron girder bridge over the road, built in 1891. That bridge was torn out after the abandonment of the Old Put.

We meandered around some bends and crossed Hickory Run Road.
In this stretch, there seemed to be another right of way to the left of us. This was either at one time a passing track, or otherwise an earlier alignment of the Old Put from before the grading was improved.

We next crossed over the West Branch of the Croton River on another pedestrian bridge similar to the one that had been put in to replace the original rail bridge we'd just gone over a little before.

We pushed ahead and took a little break at the intersection of a trail that leads up into a development to the right. We sang some songs and continued on to the north, and then came across a spot where a road used to cross over the right of way. Abutments were still in place, and it looked to be where Willow Road, which would have been the predecessor to present day Rt 6, would have crossed.

We made our way around a corner here, and then came to a spot where we were very close to Rt 6, and had a splendid view of Lake Gleneida. The trail remained beside Rt 6 for a time here.

We passed maybe a spring house or something of the sort abandoned in the woods just to the right of the trail. Some of this way might not have been right on the rail bed, because there seemed to be another spot where it was lower and wetter.

The area along the lake was once the home to the Drew Seminary, long before the railroad even operated here. It burned several times and eventually closed, but the building was rehabilitated and expanded upon to produce an interfaith magazine called Guideposts that was in production on this site until 2011 when it moved to Danbury CT.

The Carmel Station used to stand in the section before the rail line turned away from the lake, and was used here until the Harlem Valley line stopped their use of it in 1959.

The rail bed now was so disturbed that it was hard to say where for sure it went, but it turned us away from the lake and then took us on a rather high fill. We then crossed over Rt 6 and continued east on the high fill.
Lands below the rail bed in this area were once the Putnam County Fairgrounds from 1851 until 1913. Farming was declining even then in the county, and the most popular attraction at the time of the fairground ending was horse racing. Equestrian interests took over the site, and one such enthusiast named Fred Dill moved to the area from Goshen in 1933 and took over some of the property. He eventually donated a large tract of the grounds to Putnam County.
Just after the bridge, and toward the end of the fill section, Russ and Ewa were going to cut out a little bit early, but not before showing us a little bit more history.

There was a spot where the railroad bed appeared to become more intact again, and skirted a hillside, and to the left was another grade that without being told, I'd never have seen it.

We stopped the group here, and Russ explained that this was the started but of course never completed New York, Boston, and Montreal Railroad.
The fill that would have carried the railroad became more obvious as we started off into the woods and saw where the construction had taken place.
The right of way moved off to the west, and apparently disappears at a hillside where they might have built a tunnel if the railroad had ever really been finished.
Russ and Ewa headed out, and the rest of us continued on the rail bed, which was on a shelf high above a quarry and a junkyard.

We continued on and the shelf gave way to more level grade land, and we passed beneath Route 6. 
We passed beneath Old Rt 6 a little while after that, and then we were skirting the Middle Branch Reservoir as it was getting dark.
Soon, the rail bed went out onto a causeway in the middle of the reservoir. 

There were some nice twilight views over the water from the middle, but everyone pretty much wanted to be done by this point. I had wanted to try to get to this point before dark, or maybe to at least see the sunset, but we just missed it.
We continued along, crossed Old Mine Road, and then over Rt 6 again on a bridge.
We came close to Rt 6 again, and then crossed Putnam Ave. 
Just after this point, the tracks started back up, still used here as an industrial spur. The trail turned left to parallel them for a bit here.
The trail only continued further on a short distance to reach the next bit of Putnam Ave, and then ended.
From that point, it was dark, and no one wanted to go extra distance if it could be avoided.

My plan here was we would just follow the tracks on the access road into the train yard ahead, and then cross the tracks to reach Markel Park in Brewster. It sounded simple enough.
We walked right on through and reached the main Harlem Valley line with no problem, but once we got across we found that Markel Park was enclosed by a chain link fence.
I think there was a bridge over Tonetta Brook we used to get past that obstacle, and I think we had to scale the fence once we got to the other side in order to get into the park.
That was probably the most stress of the entire day, because after that it was just easy through the park, out to North Main Street, and back to Kobacker's Market.
I'm not exactly sure how it all worked out; someone ended up having a car there and we were able to shuttle people back up to where we had parked all of the others, and we made our way back.
I was really happy to reach another little milestone with the completion of the Old Put, and really looked forward to getting on the Maybrook Line next.