Welcome to Manitou, located 46 miles north of Grand Central, and the second and final limited service station stop to be featured on our tour of the Hudson Line. Unlike Breakneck Ridge, the other limited service station we’ve visited, Manitou does get trains during the week. In the morning, the 8:08 stops at Manitou, and in the evening the 6:16 from Grand Central stops there. Despite such a limited schedule, according to Metro-North’s ridership statistics a handful of people do in fact commute from Manitou. However, the majority of Manitou’s ridership is on the weekend, when it is used by people looking to hike or bike in the area.
Shelter at Manitou station in 1965.
Similar to the other Metro-North limited service stations (Appalachian Trail and Mount Pleasant are the two others, along with the aforementioned Breakneck Ridge) there isn’t too much at Manitou. There are no ticket machines, and only a low-level platform, if you could even call it that. On the southbound track there is a small shelter, although it wouldn’t protect you much from the elements. The inside wall of the shelter has been decorated with paint and some string art, likely not Metro-North’s doing, but left by some quirky passengers.
Shots from the vicinity of Manitou station. Photo on the bottom was taken in 1987 from the Bear Mountain Bridge. From the collection of Otto Vondrak.
The Hudson Line passes under the Bear Mountain Bridge just south of Manitou station. Photo by jag9889.
CSX at Manitou and vicinity. Photos by Michael Foley.
While Manitou station isn’t all that interesting in itself, the area surrounding the station is quite beautiful. You can just make out the Bear Mountain Bridge, which is south of the little Manitou platform. Bear Mountain State Park is accessible to the west of the station and across the river, and the Appalachian Trail to the east. I think that anyone who has the time to make a day trip to either Breakneck Ridge or the Bear Mountain area totally should. They each offer two different hikes in the attractive Hudson Highlands – and a train ride via Metro-North can get you to either in under and hour and a half. In fact, I hope to get over there again sometime for photos, perhaps on a less crappy day!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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I must say, as a Hudson Line rider, I’m really quite surprised that there are actually commuters from Manitou; I would not have guessed that. You mentioned MNRR Ridership Statistics, so I was wondering if you knew exactly how many?
Eri/Erika
Manitou is listed as having 4 daily commuters :)
There are a few houses not far from the station, so I imagine it would be convenient to walk for those residents. Otherwise, I don’t know where the heck you’d put your car!
Haha. I have actually seen those little houses by the river and have wondered by their residents’ use of the train.
Thanks again. Always fun to learn neat little facts like that. :)
You know, I saw the picture with the woman and the dog. When I first looked at it, it looked some midget in a chicken outfit waltzing the right-of-way.
Also, we just parked on the Westchester-side of the tracks (opposite the station platform but towards the Bridge)
Some may not know that, when it was completed in 1924, the Bear Mountain Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. (In 1931 that honor went to the George Washington Bridge and, in 1964, to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.)
Now, the real question is: How the heck do you pronounce it?
On the 6:16, I’ve heard it pronounced by conductors with the vowels in the words goat, mouth and goose.
Usually, I’d go to Wikipedia, but the article on the station there has an ambiguous pronunciation guide (since “ow” is different with a T attached to it), and Wiktionary has the other pronunciation.
So I’m back to square one.
It has been pronounced MAN-IT-TOE
*and*
MAN-IT-TWO
I prefer the Man-it-toe pronunciation, even if it may not be the correct one.
Have you ever heard Joe Schiavone go on a tirade about how to properly pronounce Mahopac? There are plenty of names that even citizens say differently, so I don’t know if there really is a “right” answer.
The Manitou train station plays a prominent role in Episode 7 of Season 2 of Girls. Can you verify that it was not retouched in the filming in any way?