New Hamburg is the most northern Hudson Line station before Poughkeepsie although there is a wide 9 mile gap between here and Poughkeepsie. The station has an interesting history because it was closed by the New York Central in 1962 and then reopened by the MTA in 1981; at that point service was under contract to Conrail with Metro-North Railroad created in 1983. The current station has two high-level side platforms that can each accommodate 6 cars for what is now a two-track line (I believe there were four tracks here at one time and the layout of the pedestrian tunnel confirms this). These concrete platforms were clearly built in the 1980s before the ADA laws because they lack tactile warning strips, just a simple yellow line with a tactile warning area and because although each platform has black fencing and a simple ramp up to it since the station is at street level there isn't an ADA connection between the two platforms. The area of the line is grade-separated and regular passengers use a pedestrian tunnel with steps at each portal that have bricks around them. The interior of the tunnel was clearly once concrete but has been given a beatification attempt with faux-marble siding walls. The portal along the New York-bound platform is directly next to the platform while the portal on the Poughkeepsie-bound side is on the opposite side of the parking lot from its platform.
The station is located near the backs of the Hudson River (the river is visible through the trees at the southern end of the platform) with the small hamlet of New Hamburg and splits Main Street into two (the pedestrian tunnel connects the two segments, there was a grade-crossing at one time). Vehicle traffic must use Bridge Street just beyond the northern end of the platforms although this 75-year old bridge is currently being rebuilt (as of November 2013, to be finished in the second quarter of 2014) at a cost of $3.6 million. All traffic wanting to cross the tracks and reach the heart of the hamlet of New Hamburg must use the Reed Avenue Bridge a few blocks north. (A step-free change of platform trip right now would be nearly a half-mile loop).
All access to the New York-bound platform is in the middle of the platform via a single ramp and staircase around the pedestrian underpass at the foot of Main Street (that curves and becomes Railroad Avenue). At street level along the tiny parking lot here is a small modular shed-kiosk called Cafe Con Leche that began in 2013 and is open during morning commute hours for commuters buying their morning coffee kick. The Poughkeepsie-bound platform is along the station's large (about 600 space) parking lot with a number of staircases down to it and a simple ramp with black railings in the middle of it. The main entrance is from the end of Main Street (where a few signs have an incorrect MTA logo) with an exit only driveway at its southern end directly to New Hamburg Raod.
For waiting passengers: the New York-bound platform is has a canopy for about half its length with green framework, the lampposts are modern and also green. The station's only two TVMs are under this canopy as well. The Poughkeepsie-bound platform is completely exposed to the elements except for a long and black (with doors) heating shelter that lacks benches. There is a similar one beneath the canopy on the New York platform.
All Photos: 18 November, 2013
Poughkeepsie 