Older Larchmont station that was replaced by the current station
1955 sketch of the replacement Larchmont station
Today’s stop on the tour of the New Haven Line is Larchmont, one of the handful of stations on the line located in New York state. Larchmont, situated about 18 miles from Grand Central and in between New Rochelle and Mamaroneck, is a rather unique set-up. The station and platform run parallel to Interstate 95 – and the parking garage for the station is constructed over the highway. The older station was demolished around the 1950’s when the highway was being constructed, and was replaced with what we have now.
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The photos above are all from the collection of the Larchmont Public Library
Larchmont has all the newest Metro-North train tech, with both video boards in the overpass that list the next nine trains, as well as announcement boards over the platform that identifies the next train and where it will be stopping. These are standard at larger train stations, such as Harlem-125th and White Plains. There is a small station building, but it was closed during my visit. Which is unfortunate, because there was an Arts for Transit mosaic in there which I didn’t really get to see. I still must wonder why the heck Arts for Transit places artwork in station buildings that are most often closed. The forty foot long mosaic is by artist Joy Taylor and is titled The Four Seasons.
Taylor isn’t a stranger to Metro-North and Arts for Transit – she submitted a proposal for the sculpture at Wassaic station, which was ultimately not selected (the piece by Anne Huibregtse that was selected was a perfect match for the station). From the photos on the internet I’ve seen, the mosaic looks beautiful, however I never got a good look at it. You’ll find a single photo of the mosaic below (taken through the window of the locked station), along with the rest of my photos from Larchmont station.
The parking lot and Interstate use the right-of-way of a second railroad, the New York Westchester and Boston, which hauled passengers to a station at the Harlem River where they could transfer to the New York subway. No surprise that an enterprise with those features would fail.
That 11,000 Volt overhead catenary pole warnin sign you’ve got here;
http://www.iridetheharlemline.com/resizer.php/larchmont3.jpg?width=274&height=206&image=http://www.iridetheharlemline.com/wp-includes/images/upload_images/larchmont3.jpg
Can still be found near Mount Vernon East station, despite the fact that the New Haven Line runs on third rails south of Pelham.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Vernon_East-11,000_Volts.JPG