The bridge burned under Penn Central's watch and therein lies controversey. With the burning, PC could close the bridge, the line, and the interchange with EL, L&HR, CNJ-RDG-B&O, and LV and keep all New England traffic to themselves via Selkirk by then the only rail crossing of the Hudson River except for passenger only PC,nee PRR, Penn Station main. The ICC forced PC to run a train from Utica to Binghamton over the EL to effect the Maybrook interchange (PC units and train, EL crew). Eventually, as PC somehow kept rerouting away from Maybrook, the train was dropped. That plus the end of PC and the beginning of Conrail which included all the interchanging rairoads.
However, I take exception to the concept that a P'kpsee Bridge route would be a waste today. The former Erie/EL line, the Southern Tier Line of NS (on lease to MNRR [NJT] Suffern to Sparrowbush and Central New York RR [NYSW} Sparrowbush to Bingahmton) is intact if not in top shape. Using Maybrook as a marshalling yard for intermodal and truck trailers from New England and the Port of New York, could be a way out of the expected crush of traffic expected over the next 20 to 50 years. Even with CSX's single track Boston and Albany route and the improvements Patriot Rail expects to put in place on the former B&M line, the fact is that those two lines are way north of a lot of New England and away from the New York Metropolitan area. Therefore being able to come up out of the City on the east side of the Hudson, or from Boston, Providence, New Haven and other CT points, the P'kpsee Bridge route to Maybrook could be very viable. Oh, yeah, I'm not a professional railroader or marketer, but I would think that those in charge will look closely at this idea within the next few years because traffic, environment, and economics will force them to.
