Mount Beacon Incline Railway

Mike Piersa · **Posted:** Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:27 pm

Saw the base of this abandoned railway in NY. An electric driven hoist and passenger car parts are supposed to exist further up the line.

Chris · **Posted:** Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:27 pm

hmm, mike what weight rail was that :wink:

blownoutcylinder · **Posted:** Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:34 pm

Those almost look like 65lb'ers--pretty light looking rails at any rate--

Mike Piersa · **Posted:** Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:38 pm

They were pretty light, maybe in the 40-60 pound range.

Chris · **Posted:** Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:59 pm

hmmm, interesting.

Doug · **Posted:** Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:15 am

If the Mt Washington Rlwy is any indication. Then the motors and cars were much smaller than would have been scene in even regular branch service.

Just curious? Any idea what the gauge was? And was this freight, passenger, ski or mixed?

Doug · **Posted:** Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:19 am

Another point, the loading had to be real light. That grade is major, I would say it was pushing adhesion to the max. ( Smooth Steel on Smooth Steel ) .

Most likely small wheel diameters and lots of them.

Mike Piersa · **Posted:** Sat Mar 14, 2009 12:47 am

It must have been some sort of narrow gauge, in the neighborhood of 3 feet. Maybe the photo will provide a sense of scale:

The line was used for passenger (tourist) service. More information is online here:
http://www.inclinerailway.org/homepage.htm

Mike Piersa · **Posted:** Wed Mar 18, 2009 11:04 pm

Here is a link to photos from Steve Kijak showing the remains of the railcars midway up the incline:
http://s232.photobucket.com/albums/ee194/sjkijak/Beacon%20Incline%20Railroad/

Chris · **Posted:** Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:19 am

thats a pretty strange wheel arrangement!

Brian · **Posted:** Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:12 am

Wow this is a pretty interesting place, any history on it? Where is this located I would like to hike it this summer.

Doug · **Posted:** Thu Mar 19, 2009 8:38 am

Well it is now obvious why we don't know the gauge.

They didn't have one. From the Wheel/Axle picture it would appear that they held tight to one rail and let the gauge wander.

Hence a double flanged wheel on one side and a wide no flange wheel on the other.

Strange. But as tourist lines go, that isn't a bad idea.

SPORTSMAN · **Posted:** Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:34 pm

New troop here.

Great website, lots of great info here.

I'm an amateur , fledgling, historian of the Hudson Valley.

Mount Beacon got it's name from its revolutionary War history. It was where the final "Beacon" fire to announce to General Washington that the British were coming up the Hudson. Near the peak the river views are very nice, with a view of Hasbrouck House, Washington' headquarters while the Continental Army was sequestered at the New Windsor Cantonment.

Hasbrouck House and the Cantonment are great places to visit, often called the birthplace of the Republic.

Later, Beacon was a weekend getaway. Folks took the inclined railway to the top to enjoy the scenes, the casino, and the hotel. The foundations are still there today. Beacon was a place to ski for some years, but the snow was too infrequent to maintain that business.

http://www.usgwarchives.org/ny/dutchess ... chess.html

Some views from Beacon and it's "Glory days".

Scenic Hudson now maintains the walking trail there, called the most arduous hike in Dutchess County as it gains almost 1K feet in a half mile.

http://www.scenichudson.org/search/node/Mount+Beacon

Again, great board!

esaresky75 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:40 pm

Quote:

hmmm, interesting.

Chris, are you think free track for no. 9?

Chris · **Posted:** Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:19 am

not for the 9 :wink:

Mount Beacon Incline Railway

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