NJ Transport Heritage Center News & Update

(A periodic publication of Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center) November, 2001

The designation of Phillipsburg as the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center location and Netcong Station satellite is now law, and the Commission is preparing to purchase the needed properties along the Delaware River. Our fifteen year effort has finally gotten us official status, in spite of some near derailments, engine breakdowns and stone throwers. A grant of $150,000 has been received to proceed with a title search, an appraisal, environmental assessment and mapping. We hope excess funds can be used to hire an executive director. We are indebted to Assemblyman Alex DeCroce for his leadership of the Commission and to the hard work of the Commissioners, Friends Directors & membership, the United Railroad Historical Society and all the transportation related organizations (as well as all the other entities, organizations and businesses) who backed our initiative over the many years. Lastly, we thank the legislators who supported our efforts and individuals who wrote letters and prodded their representatives and who so willingly volunteered their time and effort to our cause. Now begins the big job of raising the funding to build the Heritage Center.

Over the past twelve months we have made outstanding headway toward our Heritage Center goals. We are pleased with the progress at Phillipsburg. Those of you who are members have read the detailed accounts of our achievements in New Jersey Transport Heritage, our twelve page, five-times-per-year bulletin. As good as our progress has been, there are many more projects on our list of things to be done. One thing is certain: the closer we get to the reality of our Heritage Center, the more donations we receive. The Commission is proceeding to establish a foundation for raising capital; setting up an operations entity; secure the money needed to buy the needed properties; and to move forward with construction... For this we will need even more help from each one of you and all of our/your friends. Want to help, click here for an application form.

Some of our recent achievements are as follows;

Three of the recently retired Newark City Subway PCC cars have been promised to the NJ Transportation Heritage Center and are being stored at the new Bloomfield Vehicle Base Facility.
"Friends" has been selected to receive a $315,000 TEA-21 grant for restoring selected items in New Jersey's Historic Bus and Coach Collection.
The entire former Franklin Avenue loop from the Newark City Subway, including the connector turnout has been moved to Phillipsburg on four tractor-trailers. It was disassembled by our volunteers, donated and lifted in segments by contractor M-Track and transported gratis for us to Phillipsburg by local trucker, H. & S. Enterprises. Over 40 retired signals, related equipment and spare parts from the Newark City Subway have been moved west.
Six pallet loads of Public Service, Transport of NJ and NJ Transit archives have been moved to our storage facility at Phillipsburg. Included in the move were six ornate exterior lighting fixtures from the former PRSL Atlantic City railroad terminal, which was last used as a bus terminal.
The library magazine and book collections of the Bell Telephone Laboratories Model Railroad Club have been donated to Friends and moved from Murray Hill to Phillipsburg.
We have acquired truckloads of RR ties in excellent condition from American Wrecking Co., the contractor who demolished the NJ Transit (DL&W) MU Shed at Hoboken.
The final load of steel from the Hoboken MU shed has been delivered to Phillipsburg, including: both overhead crane hooks; two complete jib cranes; the huge "I" beam column which supported them; four Ingersoll-Rand air turbine powered hoist units and some of the overhead crane rail.
Our stockpiles of rail, tie plates, track bolts and joint bars, to build the Heritage Center, are growing.
PSE&G has allowed us to salvage 600 volt DC switchgear and related equipment from the soon to be demolished City Dock Substation in Newark.
At least 35 steel filing cabinets in excellent condition have been donated and moved to our storage site.
A storage lot at Phillipsburg is being leased from NJ Transit.
Two NJ bus drivers have donated a large number of artifacts and memorabilia to "Friends.?
We have acquired a large amount of shelving and other useful materials from a defunct department store.
Railroad Construction Co. donated and delivered a truckload of rail and switch parts to Phillipsburg.
John Ferrante & LoChiatto Paving & Masonry have delivered two huge piles of cobble stones to Phillipsburg.
NJ DOT donated a collection of aerial photo-maps on mylar covering 85% of NJ RR's in 1975.
The success of our 2001 Phillipsburg Open House and Tour day, drawing over 150 people, demonstrated what these pages can not show and tell.
"FRIENDS" 12th ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM - DREW UNIVERSITY SATURDAY, APRIL 6TH, 2002. THE ABOVE ARE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL IN OUR BULLETIN & WILL BE COVERED AT OUR SYMPOSIUM
Save the date...

For full information check www.NJTHC.org or get a flyer by sending a SASE to:

Future Projects, Initiatives & Wish List

We are hopeful that when the old wooden Newark City Subway work equipment is retired it will be donated to the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center.
We are looking for a vintage highway trailer which could be used to demonstrate railroad piggy-back; pick-up; and delivery services. It could also be used for storage of materials and artifacts.
We are looking for historic streetscape fixtures such as: gas & electric street lamp/poles; street & highway signage; transport related manhole covers; slate sidewalk sections; granite curbing; more cobblestones & brick paving materials; etc.
A trailer load of 100 lb. rail from the former Erie RR Riverside Yard, Paterson needs to be moved to Phillipsburg.
The Morristown & Erie Railway has a quantity of 60 lb. rail which we can have if we move it.
More 60 lb. rail is available west of the NYS&W RR Hawthorne Station © we need to pull it up and move it.
We hope to be able to secure more Newark City Subway scrap materials and obsolete parts, including trolley line poles as they become available.
We own an unused 50' x 120' prefabricated steel building, but don't have the money to construct the concrete foundation upon which to erect it.
We are trying to acquire a vintage Jitney; an old taxi of the type Public Service would have operated; and a pickªup truck, but we don't have enough money to purchase them. If we did (or someone would donate to us) we could fit them into our former water company storage building.
We are looking for individuals to help us staff our information/sales tables and display booths.
A pick-up truck and a boom truck (with crane) would really be of tremendous help to us.
We sure could use someone to pursue grants, donations from foundations and general fundraising.
And, we always need people & vehicles who can help us move the materials we acquire.
Last, but not least, we need lots of money to begin the first phases of the Heritage Center.

We need YOU to be (or continue to be) a member of Friends now more than ever!

All of these snippets and much more will be reported to you in greater detail in each 12 page issue of the five times per year New Jersey Transport Heritage. Our annual dues are only $15. We now have over 550 members!

At our Sept. 22, 2001 Annual Meeting we voted to change our name to:

Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center, Inc.

PO Box 147

Phillipsburg, NJ 08865-0147

Website: www.NJTHC.org

To volunteer or order prints & drawings contact

McKelvey
103 Dogwood
Berkeley Hts., NJ 07922-2327
or call 908.464-9335

To order Friends hats, shirts, jackets, etc. contact

Ann Miller
P.O. Box 396
Washington NJ 07882
or call 908.689.0472.

United Railroad Historical Society (URHS) 158 Heights Terrace, Middletown, NJ 07748 or call 732.671.9644 Website: www.URHS.org

EASTRAIL 2002 is again planned to be at the Warren Hills Regional High School in Washington, NJ © Saturday, March 23rd, 2002. URHS is working very hard on future excursions. Details as available are published in our "NJ TRANSPORT CALENDAR," and are available on the URHS web site. Help with restoration projects is a continuing need.

NJ RR & Transportation Museum Commission secretary is same address/phone as URHS.

North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society is working to restore Public Service trolley car #2651 at Phillipsburg. Check out
their website: www.NJERHS.org For membership or other information write them at: PO Box 1770, Rahway, NJ 07065. To volunteer contact Bob Hooper, President, @ 908.8786.4709

Please help spread the word and share this "News & Update" with others.

URHS member organizations;

Anthracite Railroads Historical Society
5 Cushetank Rd.
Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889

Bergen-Rockland Chapter NRHS
P.O. Box 313
Westwood, NJ 07675
http://www.nrhs.com/chapters/bergen_rockland.htm

Conrail Technical Society
165 Woodland Avenue
Summit, NJ 07901-2002
http://www.crts.org/

Erie Lackawanna Historical Society
134 Tenth Street
Wood Ridge, NJ 07075

Jersey Central Railway Historical Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 700,
Clark, NJ 07066
http://www.jcrhs.org

Lackawanna Chapter, Railway & Locomotive Historical Society
P.O. Box 396
Washington, NJ 07882

NYS&W Technical & Historical Society
P.O. Box 121
Rochelle Park, NJ 07662-0121
http://www.nyswths.org/

North Jersey Chapter, NRHS
715 Ainsworth Street
Linden, NJ 07036-4043

North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society
P.O. Box 1770,
Rahway, NJ 07065
http://www.njerhs.org

O&W Railway Historical Society
P.O. Box 713
Middletown, NY 10940
http://www.nyow.org

Phillipsburg Railroad Historians
292 Chambers Street
Phillipsburg, NJ 08865
http://www.angelfire.com/nj/prrh

Tri-State Railway Historical Society
P.O. Box 1217
Morristown, NJ 07962-1217
http://www.tri-state-rail-history.org/

Volunteer Railroaders Association
397 Spring Valley Road,
Paramus, NJ 07652

West Jersey Chapter, NRHS
P.O. Box 647
Palmyra, NJ 08065
http://www.nelliebly.com/westjersey/

Whippany Railway Museum, Inc.
P.O. Box 16
Whippany, NJ 07981- 0016
http://www.WhippanyRailwayMuseum.org

NJ Transport Heritage Center News & Update

Heading toward Phillipsburg!!

We are Making Steady Progress

Our Progress Summarized

We need YOU to be (or continue to be) a member of Friends now more than ever!