The proposal that was eventually built was the Poughkeepsie Bridge at Poughkeepsie. The Poughkeepsie Bridge Company was chartered in June 1871 to build the bridge, and the first train crossed the bridge on December 29, 1888. The Hudson Connecting Railroad was chartered in 1887 to build southwest from the bridge, and about the same time the Poughkeepsie & Connecticut Railroad was chartered to continue the line northeast from Poughkeepsie. The bridge company had hoped to acquire the Poughkeepsie, Hartford & Boston Railroad, but was unable to, and so chartered the P&C to run parallel, ending at the Hartford & Connecticut Western Railroad at Silvernails, NY. The connections were not completed until 1889, and on July 22 the two approaches merged to form the Central New England & Western Railroad. That same year the CNE&W leased the Hartford and Connecticut Western, giving it a route from Hartford all the way across the Hudson River to Maybrook and Campbell Hall, New York. Maybrook/Campbell Hall soon became a major junction point for many railroads transferring cars to the CNE&W. The Delaware & New England Railroad was also formed in 1889 as a holding company to own the CNE&W and Poughkeepsie Bridge Company.