NEW YORK — A mudslide on Metro-North’s Hudson Line has disrupted Metro-North service and halted Amtrak operations between New York City and Albany, N.Y.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority says the slide occurred this morning (Saturday, Oct. 21) in the village of Briarcliff Manor, blocking all four tracks at the slide site. Metro-North is currently offering limited hourly service between Grand Central Terminal and Tarrytown, and limited hourly service between Tarrytown and Croton-Harmon, with “very limited bus service” connecting those operations, according to a press release. There is no train or bus service at the Philipse Manor, Scarborough, and Ossining stations; the current situation is expected to last through the weekend. Metro-North is recommending the Harlem Line as an alternative.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that “our top priority is to restore service as quickly as possible;” and added in a social media post that the goal was to allow normal operations by Monday morning’s commute.
Amtrak, meanwhile, says in a service advisory that all New York-Albany operations are suspended for Sunday. Other cancellations and schedule adjustments include:
— Cancellation of both directions of the New York-Chicago Lake Shore Limited, although the train’s Boston section will operate between Boston and Albany.
— Cancellation of Empire Service trains 233, 244, and 280; trains 281 and 283 will operate Albany-Niagara Falls, N.Y., only, while train 284 will operate only between Niagara Falls and Albany.
— Both directions of the Maple Leaf will operate only between Toronto and Albany.
— Both directions of the Ethan Allen Express will operate only between Burlington, Vt., and Albany.
Who ever the owner is, I hope he had a good homeowners policy.
This is not the original house or landscaping for the lot. The original house here was demolished in 2004 and replaced with the current one. That is when the landscaping was changed dramatically. Also when the block terrace of the lot was done they removed many of the trees and shrub that grew there. Why? It blocked the view of the Hudson of course.
The owners in 2009 had the slope of the terrace changed in order to install a backyard pool which increased the amount of dirt at the top with what appears another layer of stone.
If you look at the top picture in this article you can see the original stoneline on the right before they piled on more dirt.
It appears the homeowner was probably aware this could go, there is a sat photo of where they filled in a crack that formed where the slide started. The photo is dated 2023.
One thing I learned in my career is that retaining walls are one of the most difficult of structures. Three feet of rise is a landscape wall. Three feet one inch of rise, and above, design is to be signed and sealed by a Registered Professional Engineer.
And why couldn’t AMTRAK run the Lake Shore all the way from Chicago to Boston? Why limit it to just Boston to Albany? After all, NYC passengers could then have caught a train to NYC. In fact, AMTRAK could have automatically booked them on the next connecting train.
Or split Lake Shore at Springfield; then NY Section to NY Penn via Hartford and New Haven.
If only we still had the Harlem! As in all the way through to Chatham! I NEED Dover Plains to Chatham. Hey the NY taxpayers spent $10 mill to give me Utica-Lake Placid in 1980 IN REGULAR SERVICE; they could be generous again! As for THAT Wall, putting too much house on a fill…bet that situation is waiting to happen elsewhere all over. As for detouring over the B&A–maybe AMTK and CSX just forgot how. AMTK doesn’t do detours any more in the East!
Goofy affluent homeowners created yards on a ridge line using backfill. Disaster waiting to happen.
Yeah, let’s all kick ‘‘em when they’re down. He should be livin in a double wide with a goat tied up out front like me. Not a beautiful home overlooking the Hudson.
Wealth is a stewardship to be aspired to. Not scorned.
Harmon is sometimes also referred to as the Harmon Yard, where in 1969, I had the privilege of photographing the Nickel Plate 2-8-4 Berkshire 759, departing with a trainload of rail fans to the Golden Spike Centennial celebration in Promontory Point, Utah.
A significant mudslide just north of New York City as heavy rains soaked the region for a second day. Best of good luck to the MTA crews!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
If only the tracks hadn’t been torn up on the northern end of the Harlem Line, trains would have been able to be rerouted through
Chatham to Albany and beyond.
Tarrytown is MP25 from GCT and Croton-Harmon is MP 33. Because of the mudslide, there is no rail service between them. MNR has arranged some bus service while missing some stations that are hard to reach.
As usual, Amtrak is offering no substitute bus service. Many New Yorkers don’t have automobiles so they’re stuck.
“limited hourly service between Tarrytown and Croton-Harmon”. I believe this should be Limited hourly service between Albany and Croton-Harmon. Then slide is between Tarrytown and Croton-Harmon
It’s confusing. There is MNR train service between GCT and Tarrytown, bus between Tarrytown and Croton-Harmon and MNR train between Croton-Harmon and Poughkeepsie.
Croton-Harmon is the renamed Harmon station where the 20th Century Limited changed power from an electric to a streamlined Hudson.
That’s true. Until April 1963, the Croton-Harmon station was known as simply Harmon.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün