Kent Patterson 128 pages softcover
Developed by a stagecoach
maker in lower Manhattan, Westchester County's first railroad, the New
York & Harlem Railroad, arrived in the 1840s. Since commuting by
train allowed convenient short travel, its arrival accelerated growth
and commerce throughout the county due to New York City's proximity.
Within the same decade, the New Haven Railroad arrived in Westchester
from New England, followed by the upstate-backed Hudson River Railroad
in 1849. At its peak in 1930 and on the eve of the Great Depression,
Westchester County maintained as many as eight rail lines and branches.
Today, three of the county's original rail lines, the Harlem line, the
New Haven line, and the Hudson line, are still in use and as busy as