Campbell Hall junction in its heyday. Photo provided by Alex Prizgintas. (
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What today appears as a rural, picturesque community in Orange County was once crucial junction for railroad traffic in the Hudson Valley.
Alex Prizgintas with the Hudson Valley Division of the National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) will share “Campbell Hall: Orange County’s Forgotten Railroad Nexus” at the Goshen Public Library & Historical Society on Saturday, May 10, at 12:45 p.m.
Campbell Hall saw its first railroad in the 1870s, and for the text three decades, the growth showed no signs of stopping. Most of Orange County’s long-distance railroad traffic passed either close or inside the boundaries of Campbell Hall, with service from four railroads, sometimes five . Perhaps most important was the nearby Maybrook Yard, often known as the “Gateway to the East” with its connection to the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge and New England. While Maybrook was the place where trains were sorted for their distant destinations, Campbell Hall served as the “interchange” where these trains passed in either direction, seeing countless, if not hundreds, of trains each week. Today, Campbell Hall still retains an important regional presence for railroading, but its era as a railroad junction has largely vanished—now preserved through maps, documents, and photography.
The talks is open to the public.