I don't come down into Beacon's train station often. So when a bunch of our family were coming down to meet someone who's train terminated at Beacon last night, I had to check things out.
The station is rather small - and rather mazy. It looks clean and well kept, but I was just amazed due to the portrayal my one brother told me about this station. The person told me that this station isn't in the best part of Beacon and that crime is/was high here, but I saw it through the observer's lens. It's clean and although I couldn't help but wait inside a cellphone heated MTA enclosure which was rather naturally-warm, I was amazed that the heater actually worked when the button was pressed.
Also, I was told that there are two "entrances" to the station. After parking at the one, my brother who later met me found out and told me about the other entrance at the other end of the platform, and I was completely amazed that there's no reference to the second entrance here. (He motioned towards the lights near the ferry entrance or towards another parking lot or some other lit overhang.) Perhaps a map of the station on the platform might shed some light to those not familiar with the station, like I was tonight.
His train came in early, nor were all trains that came into or through this station noted as valid trains. When I walked down the platform at first an Amtrak (Amtrak expresses through this station) came whizzing by, and I got scared as I got wind-pushed - having been startled. There were a couple of other trains that came through, but not all trains were listed on the board as "arriving" and departing here. As I left to find greener pastures, a train which was never listed was pulling into this station and the train that my brother was supposed to come in on at 9:07pm, actually came in at 9:05pm on a Sunday, but once it said that Beacon was the last stop, it stopped, let everybody off then continued north to (what I think was Poughkeepsie).
However, very few trains terminate here. I was amazed that this one did. Most northbound trains terminate at Poughkeepsie. You picked a good night for my first experience here.
I'm sorry that we can't meet here that often. It's quite a schlep from the northern town in the county in the late evening on a Sunday. I like their curved overhangs which I sometimes see when I take Metro-North (on occasion). It seems like no matter which direction I'm coming from, the trains always stop at Beacon with plenty of stops south and a handful of stops north, but this one has got that charm that has always intrigued me. Very few MTA trains actually run express through this station, so it's been a highlight of the trip when I come through as of late.
Decide to take the stairs. It gets you up and down to and from the platform a lot quicker than the elevator. Unless you are paralyzed or know someone who needs handicap assistance, the stairs were a lifesaver, as I taught my one brother tonight who tried to unsuccessfully outdo my decision of using the stairs for time. The elevator is rather time-consuming and travels too slow to be of any real use. read more