Dominic Mazoch posted:I have heard stories that the PC was involved in making the Poughkeepsie situation happen.
Yes, interesting story there. The bridge was going to be rehabilitated after the fire damage but plans fell through ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkway_over_the_Hudson
In August 1974, the Penn Central applied for $1.75 million to repair and improve the bridge from the federal government through the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1973.[16] By 1975, efforts had shifted to acquiring a combination of state and railroad funding. In November 1975, a formal agreement between the New York State Department of Transportation and the trustees of the Penn Central was approved, allowing the $359,000 insurance payout for the bridge to be spent on repairs, with the state paying the rest ... on April 1, 1976, ownership of the bridge changed with the inception of Conrail. [18] Having been forced to include the route over the bridge (the Maybrook Line) in its new system at the behest of Connecticut Senator Abraham Ribicoff, Conrail announced that it would not promise to repair and use the bridge despite a Connecticut foundation's offer to pay half the repair cost if the bridge were used again. The railroad further said that other work required to make the route usable would raise the reactivation cost to $45.8 million.
Seven years passed ...
... and to sum up, the bridge was falling apart and Conrail basically gave it away to avoid further liability. Previously, rail traffic across the bridge had been in decline because of changing rail traffic patterns.
