Canal Society of New Jersey Greets SENECA CHIEF at Liberty State Park, NJ

By Capt. Bill McKelvey        

Click on the photos to enlarge and view captions!

The Erie Canal’s Bicentennial and the Recreated Voyage of the Erie Canal Boat SENECA CHIEF began on the morning of Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at the Buffalo Maritime Center.  Their replica of the 1825 Erie Canal Boat SENECA CHIEF embarked on its Bicentennial Voyage, commemorating Governor DeWitt Clinton’s historic journey from Buffalo to New York Harbor 200 years ago.  Five hundred delegates from the World Canals Conference plus many residents of Western New York cheered the vessel as it left Canalside in Buffalo.  A Buffalo Maritime Center crew, comprised of staff and volunteers, navigated the 33-day voyage, departing from Buffalo’s Commercial Slip—the western terminus of the Erie Canal—and traveling to Pier 26 in New York City.  Along the way, the boat docked at 28 ports along the Erie Canal and Hudson River before reaching New York City for the official commemoration of the canal’s opening.  Some of the more important stops included Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady, Albany, and Kingston, NY.

On Saturday night, October 25th, at 8:45 pm, on behalf of the Canal Society of New Jersey, Capt. Bill McKelvey welcomed and greeted the SENECA CHIEF and her crew to New Jersey and the Morris Canal Big Basin, which was formerly a major Lehigh Valley Railroad pier, warehouse and trans-shipping area.  It is now the 520-slip Liberty Landing Marina (LLM) at Liberty State Park, and SENECA CHIEF, the replica of the 1825 wood canal boat which made the initial trip from Buffalo to NYC on the Erie Canal, tied up for the night at the head of Dock "H", with her escort tug, C. L. CHURCHILL.  This was the southern-most point reached on their Bicentennial Voyage, and LLM was chosen for its security and calm water.

McKelvey presented Brian Trzeciak, Executive Director of the Buffalo Maritime Center (owner /operator of the SENECA CHIEF), with a copy of his 1978 Champlain to Chesapeake, A Canal Era Pictorial Cruise book and literature for the crew about the Canal Society of NJ, D & R Canal Watch, Liberty Historic Railway, and Liberty State Park.  He also met Capt. Ann Loeding, wife of Gary Mathews, Chief Mechanical Officer for the Bel Del RR at Phillipsburg.  She has been a tugboat captain / master for 30 years and piloted the C. L. CHURCHILL between Albany and the NJ – NY port area.  Her first job was aboard the 1907 tugboat PEGASUS, which at the time was tied up at the old Rodermond’s Shipyard at the foot of Warren Street, Jersey City, right across from where the SENECA CHIEF docked.  Ann has made many trips on the Erie Barge Canal with commercial tows, including with the tugboats CROW, CHEYENNE, and JAY BEE V.  She currently works for NY State Marine Highway and makes regular trips on the Champlain Canal with the CHPExpress project as well as a regular run moving crushed stone from a quarry in Ft. Ann, NY south to the Hudson River.  Capt. Ann has also landed many barges at NJ ports and often traversed NJ waters on the way to other ports.       

SENECA CHIEF returned to Pier 25, NYC on Sunday morning, and was open to the public after noon.  On Sunday evening they returned to Liberty Landing Marina and on Monday morning they began their long return trip to Buffalo.  The SENECA CHIEF was constructed at Buffalo between 2020 and June 2024, primarily using volunteer workers.  She is 73 feet long, 13 feet wide, 3 feet deep, and weighs 40 tons.  The original Erie Canal locks the CHIEF was designed for were 90’ long by 15’ wide.

The tugboat which traveled alongside the SENECA CHIEF and provided the propulsion power was the C. L. CHURCHILL, a 33’ long wooden tugboat built in 1964 at Cohasset, MA.  CHURCHILL was originally built for Chester L. Churchill as a steam powered pleasure cruiser.  She was converted to diesel power with a 6-cylinder, 120 horsepower, Ford Lehman engine by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, but retained her large smokestack.  LCMM used her to tow their unpowered replica wooden sailing canalboat, LOIS McCLURE on several extensive excursions.  She was purchased by the Buffalo Maritime Museum primarily for towing SENECA CHIEF, and they have upgraded her with a modern diesel.

Interestingly, in 2005, The Canal Society of NJ September 16 membership meeting was held aboard the new-build replica sailing canal schooner, LOIS McCLURE, from the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, at the Morris Canal Big Basin (now Liberty Landing Marina) at Liberty State Park, Jersey City.  The journey was termed “The Grand Journey from the Green Mountains to Manhattan” which began at Burlington on May 1, visited numerous ports along Lake Champlain, the Champlain Canal and the Hudson River, including Greater New York, Liberty State Park, North Cove, Battery Park City, Kings Point and ending at Waterford, NY.  The tugboat C. L. CHURCHILL towed the LOIS McCLURE on these trips.  Lake Champlain canalboats are known to have used the Delaware & Raritan Canal.  The replica canal schooner, LOIS McCLURE, 88 feet long and 14.5’ at beam was constructed over a four-year period from more than 20,000 board feet of white oak.  White pine was used for the decks, while masts, booms and gaffs were hewn from white spruce.  LOIS McCLURE has now been retired; donated to the Canal Society of New York, and is now a static exhibit on land at Port Byron, NY.

Note that Liberty State Park was once a sprawling railroad yard with more than 100 miles of track, roundhouses, McMyler coal dumpers, thawing sheds, coaling facilities, shops, control towers, float bridges, piers, a marine repair facility, an express / freight building, central boiler plant, etc.  It was primarily a rail and ferry terminal for the Central Railroad of New Jersey but also served the Baltimore & Ohio and Reading Railroads as well as the Lehigh Valley Railroad.  The Lehigh Valley Railroad also served the area at the south end of Liberty State Park now known as West Jetty, Center Jetty, East Jetty and South Lawn – this was Black Tom Island where the Black Tom explosion occurred in July, 1916.  The humungous explosion, which involved stockpiled munitions in warehouses, railroad cars, barges and canalboats, awaiting shipment to Europe during WW 1, was determined to have been caused by German saboteurs.

References: (On the Level No. 91) (American Canals, Vol. 33, No. 4; Vol. 34, No. 1 & 4) (From the Green Mountains to Manhattan: The Grand Journey of the Canal Schooner Lois McClure 2005) (NJ Transport Heritage, Vol. 14, Nos. 2 & 6, Apr. & Dec. 2005) (Buffalo Maritime Center website) (Pier 19 film, about the McAllister Tug and Barge Drydocks – a former Central RR of NJ facility by Industrial Archeologist, Ed Rutsch) (The Big Little Railroad – a 1948 documentary film about the Central RR of NJ) (Assistant Dockmaster, Liberty Landing Martina, Maureen “Moochie” Corrado) (Brian Trzeciak) (Capt. Ann Loeding) (Plus various websites)

LHRy Buys Forklift

LHRy has purchased this used, but in good operating condition, Caterpillar 4,000 lb. lift capacity forklift.  It has been delivered to our Farmingdale site where it will facilitate the disassembly and restoration of the trolley trucks we have.  Please ignore the rear view of the driver who is securing the unit to his truck. 

Blue Comet Lives Again

Liberty Historic Railway Chairman Emeritus, Capt. Bill McKelvey, with his new Blue Comet blue Chevy Equinox beside Jersey Central Lines jersey coast at Whippany Railway Museum. (Steve Hepler photo)

BTW, When you next visit WRyM on an open day, please be sure to see their new Alan S. Wishengrad Pavilion - a wonderful memorial to long time volunteer "Wish," loaded with his collections, artifacts, and remembrances.

DL&W MU Coach Model

This is a ca. 1935 scratch-built model of the new-at-the-time Lackawanna "Edison" MU coach, was built by Phil Buchert and his father Emil of Stirling, NJ.  "Lackawanna" Phil took them to his summer residence in Maine.  In the summer of 2002, Dave and Elaine Phraner traveled to Maine and brought the donated models back to NJ.  The powered coach, trailer, and bridge models will make a fine exhibit at our proposed Lawrenceville museum building.  (Photo by Rusty King)

Two "0" scale Interurban Trolley Models Donated to LHRy

These two "0" scale interurban trolley models were recently donated to Liberty Historic Railway by Michele Spelke, spouse of the late Robert Yuell, who was an outstanding "Fast Line" historian.  They were scratch built by the late Elmer W. Fry and will make wonderful displays at our planned Trolley and Transport Heritage Center at Lawrenceville.  The Fast Line operated just a few miles east of Lawrenceville, NJ.

Stop & Shop Community Bag Program

Today is launch day for the Stop & Shop Community Bag Program! Starting today, and for the entire month of December 2024, when a reusable Community Bag is purchased for $2.50 at the Stop & Shop located at 404 Springfield Avenue, Berkeley Heights, NJ, $1 is donated to LHRy.

The Community Bags are located on displays around the store and at the checkout. For more information about the program, please visit stopandshop.2givelocal.com.

Thank you for your support!!

A Camden & Amboy Railroad Heritage Excursion

By Bill McKelvey, Chairman Emeritus, Liberty Historic Railway

River LINE train at Bordentown Station, Credit: Todd’s Railfan Guide to Bordentown, NJ.

View of the numerous scale models by Pierre Lacombe, of the railroad track types tried by the Camden & Amboy Railroad.  Full sized examples / exhibits of these are planned for the open area between the River LINE parking lot and Farnsworth Avenue overpass in Bordentown.  Photo by Larry Gross.

Camden & Amboy Railroad Tour and Orientation participants on 8.26.2024 L to R: Bill McKelvey, Chairman Emeritus, Liberty Historic Railway (LHRy); Charles (Rusty) King, Retired Chief Dispatcher, NJ Transit; Bill Strassner, Signalman extraordinaire, CNJ and other roads; Greg Bender, Director, LHRy; Larry Gross, Director, LHRy; Doug Kiovsky, VP, Bordentown Historical Society; and Pierre Lacombe, Geologist & Railroad Historian, with the nearly 200-year-old Farnsworth Avenue Stone Arch Bridge / Tunnel in the background.  Photo by Ellen Kovac.

Taking advantage of the week of free fares offered by NJ Transit at the end of August, Liberty Historic Railway put together a group of interested railroad historians for an excursion tour of the River LINE between Trenton and Camden, with a focus on the Bordentown area. This line closely follows most of the original Camden and Amboy route – New Jersey’s first railroad. Larry, Rusty and I met at Chatham station and took a Morris & Essex (M&E) train to Secaucus. There, we transferred to a Trenton train. At Trenton we discovered that Greg and friend Ellen Kovac had gotten on the same train at Metro Park. We walked across the street to board the next available River LINE train, only to find that Bill Strassner was on that train from Bordentown. We all got on that southbound train and rushed to the “railfan” seats just behind the operator. In a few minutes of travel alongside the former route of the Delaware & Raritan Canal, we arrived at Bordentown and were joined by Pierre Lacombe and Doug Kiovsky.

We walked over to the freight track at the south side of the Bordentown station parking lot where Pierre displayed his C&A model track type exhibits. Pierre explained each of the fourteen styles of track construction to us and provided us with numerous pages of maps and diagrams to educate us on the wonderful C&A history. We then walked northeast on the freight track towards the Farnsworth Avenue Bridge / Tunnel, with Pierre pointing out the C & A sleepers, stone date blocks, and the markings of height above mean sea level, as well as the construction of the historic retaining walls. There we posed for a group photo at this most historic railroad location.

HIGHLIGHTS;

  • The 1831 Farnsworth Avenue, Bordentown, stone arch bridge / tunnel is America’s oldest bridge built over railroad tracks. Initial traffic over the bridge was stagecoaches as well as other horse-drawn vehicles and pedestrians. In 1899 trolley tracks were laid over the bridge and used regularly until 1931. Since then, traffic over the bridge has consisted of automobiles, trucks, buses and pedestrians.

  • The Camden & Amboy Railroad Bordentown right-of-way is the World’s first site to use Stevens’ style flat bottom “T” rails and doghead spikes.

  • The first public transport of people by the John Bull steam locomotive occurred 1-mile northeast of Farnsworth Avenue, starting at the present Rt. 206 on November 12, 1831.

  • The tracks under Farnsworth Avenue have been in continuous use since 1831.

  • The Bordentown Historical Society proposes that a tourist shuttle using a River Line train be run on the former C&A freight track for the C&A 200th anniversary celebration in 2031. LHRy fully supports this proposal.

  • LHRy proposes that a trolley shuttle would be a desirable long-term tourism attraction for this three-mile-long former Camden & Amboy freight track at Bordentown and would be willing to provide funding for implementation.

We next walked two blocks north to Angie’s Luncheonette, where LHRy treated all to lunch. Following lunch, we boarded the River LINE train south for Camden and then retraced our route back to Trenton, Secaucus and Chatham. It was a long, but most interesting and educational day. LHRy is a sustaining member of Bordentown Historical Society and has pledged funding to construct and install the C&A track exhibits at Bordentown.

When it gets closer to the 200th anniversary of the Camden & Amboy, wouldn’t it be wonderful to see a River LINE train wrapped in the image below?

Dodge Pickup Restored

This is the LHRy - owned / restored 1990 Dodge ¾ ton hi-rail pickup truck from Earle Naval Weapons Station, Colts Neck, NJ.  This truck was used to maintain the extensive rail system at Earle, which carried ammunition and shells, such as the 5-foot tall, 1,900 to 2,700 pound 16" shells, by the truck, from bunkers out onto the piers in Raritan Bay for loading on ammunition supply ships.  Behind the truck is one of the spare 237,000-pound 16" /  50 caliber Mark 7 barrels from the Battleship New Jersey, preserved at the Mahan Collection Foundation in Basking Ridge.  The barrel was transported by road from Camden to Basking Ridge by J. Supor & Son Trucking & Rigging Co. of Kearny.  Photo by American Truck Historical Society, Metro-Jersey Chapter member Louis Rebecchi, courtesy of Kathryn Piper and Gary Mahan.

Touch-A-Truck Event

On Sunday, May 19th , 2024, a Touch-a-Truck event for the Bernards Parents for Exceptional Children was hosted by the Mahan Collection at Basking Ridge.  The most popular attraction for the several hundred attendees was the 2 foot gauge Mahan Lake and Mack Pines Railway, which ran continuously..  This was the most significant event since its construction which was mostly funded by Liberty Historic Railway.

PU Tower Support

On Sunday, 19 Nov., 2023 we gave the officers and directors of the PU Tower Organization a tour of the Phillipsburg Pump House property.  They are very anxious to move, sandblast, prime, paint, and erect the CNJ steel flagpole from the Elizabethport Shops which we have at the Pump House.  (That's McKelvey shanking hands with their President, Dan Richter, beside Fanwood No. 7 Mack Pumper.)

New Jersey’s Newest, the Mahan Lake and Mack Pines Railway

By Capt. Bill McKelvey     

This adventure began nearly a decade ago when Pete Jedlika of the American Industrial Mining Company (AIMC) museum acquired all three of the former NJ Zinc Company (NJZC) Atlas storage battery locomotives from Stirling Hill Mining Museum and moved them to their Ohio facility.  Following several years of negotiation, Liberty Historic Railway (LHRy) finally signed an agreement where by AIMC would restore one of the 2.5 ton, two-foot gauge, locomotives and deliver it back to NJ in operating condition.  They did an absolutely splendid job!  Since we had no location for it to go, Gary Mahan of the Mahan Collection Foundation, Inc. in Basking Ridge agreed to accept it.  Specially fabricated storage batteries and a charging system for the NJ Zinc battery locomotive were shipped from India in early August, but did not arrive in time for the September 9th open house.

In further discussions with Gary, Liberty Historic Railway (LHRy) offered to fund and construct the track on which to operate the NJZC locomotive at Mahan’s large museum.  McKelvey laid out the proposed loop line with a tail track along the shore of Mahan Lake with the help of friend Andrea Murillo to get an idea of the material needs.  Since it spanned a large field (used for parking during major events) between the lake and a stand of evergreen trees, we volunteers called the line the Mahan Lake & Mack Pines Railway. 

With the assistance of railroad contractor, John Nolan of Diamond Crossing Enterprises, we ordered two tractor-trailer loads of used, but old, 30 pound rail, new steel ties, joint bars, track bolts and four prefabricated turnouts from Kovalchick Corp. near Johnstown, PA.  We unloaded it quickly at Basking Ridge with the large, heavy duty, former U. S. Army fork lift (named Pvt. Snafu) which Gary had acquired from Capt. Phil Francis, at McKelvey’s suggestion.

Gary had his grounds contractor spread the ballast along the planned track route.  We began track construction with a cadre of volunteers, and, with the wood jig made by Nolan, and the all-terrain fork lift supplied by Mahan, the straight panels were assembled quickly.  There were four steel tabs riveted to each steel tie to hold the rail.  These had to be rotated 45 degrees to the locking position.  The force required to do this destroyed the electric impact wrenches and the sockets we acquired.  We soon upgraded to air impact wrenches using Gary’s tools and portable air compressor.  However, the torque force continued to destroy sockets and tools.

It did not take us long to discover that unlike standard railroad track, where the heavy wood timbers hold the rail in place when bending into curves, the steel ties were far too light to stay in place…  We tried to bend the rails several different ways, none of which worked…   McKelvey, anticipating the need to bend rails, had contacted Tom Bauer of the Bucksgahuda & Western RR at St. Marys, PA, in advance, and arranged to borrow two heavy steel manual rail bending jigs.  We very quickly discovered that our volunteers (unlike old time railroaders) did not have the brute strength to power the benders…  However, Gary, ingeniously rigged up a hydraulic ram to the big jig to do the work and it worked very well!

Unfortunately, with the summer heat and heavy manual work which our volunteers were not used to, we began to burn out and deplete our helpers.  In the end, LHRy paid Gary’s son-in-law, Rob Piper, and hired laborers to complete the job.  Gary went far beyond our initial plans in adding extras to the project, such as the following: 1. A carbarn to protect all rail equipment was constructed, utilizing, in part, heavy oak timbers we donated / salvaged from the NJ Transit Madison station rebuilding project – it is well decorated, both inside and out with vintage signs and artifacts, 2. Heavy creosoted timbers salvaged from the Free Bridge at P’burg, which we donated, were used to build two heavy duty grade crossings, 3. A fine replica, elevated, water tank was constructed, 4. We also donated a concrete telephone booth from Hudson Yard at Phillipsburg which is now fully restored and decorates the end of the tail track beside Mahan Lake, 5. Three former Newark City Subway signals which we donated, are now restored and mounted along the railway, 6. One of the standard gauge bumper blocks, which we donated decorates the end of a short siding west of the carbarn.

We would need a passenger car to carry passengers on the railway – LHRy bought a steel coach from Youngstown (OH) Steel Heritage – J & L Narrow Gauge RR and their founder / president, Rick Rowlands delivered it to Basking Ridge.  It did not have trucks, but LHRy had two options: 1. A pair of two-axle car frames acquired from Stirling Mining Museum and 2. A pair of truck parts from the former Hyper-Humus Co. peat harvesting operation at Newton, NJ which the late John Hemmings had rescued, replicated the missing wood structural beams and reassembled into serviceable trucks.  Gary chose the Hyper-Humus trucks and they are now working well under the coach.  The car frames from Stirling Mining Museum were donated by LHRy and used as the bases for two replica-appearing coal jimmies. 

Gary wanted a second locomotive.  He found former Leslie Salt Corp. (from the San Francisco Bay area which produced 1,000,000 tons of salt per year in 1959 from evaporation ponds), No. 4 for sale in Maine.  It was a 7.5-ton, hydrostatic drive, Cummins powered, diesel locomotive which was built by Rogers of Albion, PA.  Rogers, a builder of over the road heavy haul trailers for the construction, mining and other industries was established in 1905 and continues in business.  Between 1957 and 1961 Rogers built up to 28 narrow gauge locomotives.  Gary’s skilled shop workers added a stack, sand and steam domes, headlights, a bell, a face, buffers, blue paint, a sound system, and voila, a THOMAS locomotive!  This locomotive and the previously described steel coach carried passengers for the grand opening on Sept. 9th.

Over the years LHRy and Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center have made many other donations to the Mahan Collection, such as the 1923 former Apgar Trucking Bulldog Mack tractor; the 1947 Mack Model EF scissors lift coal delivery truck; a 1960’s US Army Mack M123A1-C 10-ton tractor; and we donated toward the costs of moving the battleship NJ 16” barrel from Camden to Basking Ridge.  We have also loaned the Mahan Collection a very heavy NJ Zinc Company, Stirling Mine ore car and the 75-ton lifting hook from the former Central Railroad of New Jersey Elizabethport locomotive shop.  McKelvey was elated when Gary presented him with a commemorative brick reading “Presented to Bill McKelvey in recognition for his service at The Mahan Collection Foundation, Inc. @ 53 Cross Road, Basking Ridge”.  I would personally like to thank all the volunteers who helped us!

The Mahan Collection Foundation, Inc. is an Antique Trucking Museum formed in 2001 as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit with one of the largest collections in the world.  The nearly 200 trucks on the 40-acre site are displayed throughout 6 buildings, plus scores of other trucks, construction equipment, military vehicles, artifacts, signs, etc. on display outside.  A crew of 4 full time restoration enthusiasts keep the museum going with new acquisitions and restorations in the works each year.  Between three and four hundred attended the open house, including two bus loads from an American Truck Historical Society chapter from Connecticut.  Members of the Metro Jersey Chapter ATHS worked as volunteer parking attendants, guides and helpers for the day.  A fleet of golf carts were provided for the elderly and disabled.  Coffee, donuts, soda, juices and water were available, and two food trucks provided lunches, with an ice cream truck arriving in the afternoon.  It was an excellent show!  We were blessed with the weather as lightning, thunder and rain held off until after the closing hour…

Volunteers who helped build the Mahan Lake and Mack Pines Railway included: John Nolan, Alan Bird, Rusty King, Alan Ballester, Robert Cottino, Jeff Jargosch, McKelvey, and we paid Nolan’s helper Rocco.  All photos by Alan Bird.

Saving Richard Wilson's Collections

By Capt. Bill McKelvey

In 2020 Richard had to move to an assisted living facility.  Recently, he moved to Alcoeur Garden, a specialized care facility on Rt. 34 in Aberdeen.  In the interim his home at 214 Sterling Place, Roselle, NJ has been unoccupied.  Richard’s cousin, Patricia Ruther, who also lives in Aberdeen, NJ has been kindly helping Richard and preparing his home for sale.  Mitchell Dakelman purchased Richard’s model trains, but there remained his large, diverse and eclectic collections of books (many are hard cover, color, and of very desirable subjects), periodicals, bulletins, videos, CDs, movie films, post cards, artifacts, etc.  There were an estimated 1,500 items in total…

McKelvey called Pat Ruther and asked if we might assist in saving Richard’s collections, and she welcomed our help.  Having just turned 84, I realized that I would need help from a couple of younger, stronger guys.  I recruited Jersey Central Chapter member, Bob Hingel of Shot Hills, and long-time friend, Charles (Rusty) King of Florham Park.  Rusty retired from NJ Transit as Chief Dispatcher at MMC a few years ago.  The afternoon before, David Corson, a volunteer from the National Museum of Industrial History, at Bethlehem, PA, made a “just in time” pick-up of over 100 sample sections of railroad rail, plus other artifacts, freeing the plastic crates they were stored in as well as floor space for Wilson’s collections.  

We mobilized early on Saturday morning, July 1, and the three of us met Pat in Roselle.  Pat had obviously been diligently working for weeks preparing for the move.  Nearly all the railroad books were neatly tied in bundles of 6 to 10.  We packed the loose items into the dozen plastic milk crates we brought with us.  We began by schlepping the books out the front door to the top step of the porch, and from there into our vehicles in the driveway, without climbing the stairs each time.  That made it a short, easy move first to fill my CRV to the brim and then Rusty’s pick-up truck – to the weight limit.

By noon we had finished loading and departed Roselle for Berkeley Heights to unload.  There we could back the vehicles right up to my front steps as there is no curb on my street and the lawn is perfectly flat…   My neighbors are used to my logistics methods as I do this frequently…  The milk crates allow stacking to seven feet, and we did the same with the tied books, as floor space in my “ware”- house is rather limited.  We then departed for Harlee’s at New Providence for a well-deserved lunch, courtesy of Liberty Historic Railway.  That evening I got a call from Pat Ruther – we forgot to get the items which she had in her car!  So, on Sunday morning I returned to Roselle and filled up my car again, but the trip was worth it as I got items we overlooked and/or did not see the prior day.  Needless to say, that material will stay in my car until I do enough processing to make room in my house.

In order to get back floor space in my home I will be under pressure to sort Richard’s collections and get them to their designated repositories.  We are fortunate in that the Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center is establishing a library in the Phillipsburg Union Station Museum, which they own.  It will become home to books with generic or general transportation subjects, and also, in secure, glass fronted, locked book cases will be a hand-picked reference collection of local / NJ titles.  Duplicate NJ Canals books are given to the Canal Society of NJ.  We will make available at PU Station the common railroad periodicals which visitors may take as they are not saleable and are too bulky to economically store.  However, there will be a sign “FREE MAGAZINES <> YOUR DONATIONS ARE APPRECIATED”.  Pat allowed us to have a steel milk can – which will be perfect for donations as it is very heavy…

Specific non-NJ and other broad US subject books will go to the Industrial Archives and Library in Bethlehem, PA.  They, incidentally, share duplicates with the National Museum of Industrial History, also in Bethlehem.  In recent years I have sent thousands of books to these two organizations because they want them and they come to Berkeley Heights and pick them up.  We have not found similar libraries in NJ with such desires.  In fact, Tri-State Railway Historical Society (NRHS) established a railroad library at the Morris County Library, but library management changed and it was disbanded.  The NRHS, itself sold off its research library of books.  Richard’s films will go to Mitch Dakelman who is the Media Specialist for the NRHS and their collections are stored in Phillipsburg Union Station.

Now, a bit about Richard Wilson:  He was born in 1948 and was the third generation of Wilson’s to occupy 214 Sterling Place, Roselle.  His father and mother lived there with his grandparents, and Richard grew up there and continued living there after they all passed.  Richard graduated college and then worked for Social Security and Disability in their Newark office.  It was a good walk to the Roselle / Roselle Park station (Roselle Park is on the north side of the Jersey Central and Roselle is on the south side of the railroad) and Richard commuted by train via Elizabethport to Newark.  Incidentally, Roselle was the World’s first town and railroad station to be lit by electric light (perhaps that was the incentive for the Wilson’s to move there in the first place), and Frank Reilly worked as an agent at that same station in his early days on the Jersey Central…  Although their paths surely passed at the station, they did not get to know each other until later in life as members of railroad clubs.

Richard was a long-time member and recent past president of the Jersey Central Chapter (NRHS); he was also a member of the Railroadians, the NJ Midland RR Historical Society, the Central RR of NJ Historical Society, Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center, and he participated in the Homer Hill dinner meetings.  A very big thank you to Richard, Pat, Rusty, and Bob !

Over the years I and Liberty Historic Railway have processed, handled, and/or re-distributed collections from the following individuals and organizations:   Edward T. Francis; John Brinckmann; Marie Wright; North Jersey Chapter, NRHS; Bob Yuell; Harold Geisenheimer; Al Riker; Bill Kessinger; North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society; Tri-State Railway Historical Society; United Railroad Historical Society; Phil Craig; Ted Gleichman; Charles Leemans; Al Mankoff; Dr. Chuck Wrege; and MANY others.  Now, I would now very much like to retire… 

The Canal Society of NJ’s Morris Canal Boat Exhibit and More…

by Capt. Bill McKelvey

The Greater Byram Morris Canal Day, Formerly Waterloo Canal Day,  weather prediction for Saturday, June 24, 2023 was not good – much rain.  Indeed, it did rain heavily on my way to Waterloo from Berkeley Heights.  But, the weather at Waterloo turned out to be excellent, and we had a good volume of visitors.  My assigned location was to be a docent at the Canal Society of NJ Morris Canal Boat Exhibit.  It was my first visit since the primary exhibit was delivered.

This exhibit had its origins in Hurricane Sandy which struck on October 29, 2012.  Heavy surf and high tides pummeled the Jersey Shore.  In the aftermath low-lying flood damaged buildings were ordered to be raised out of the range of future storms.  One long, narrow building in Highlands, NJ was being raised in 2016 when it was discovered to have been built on the forward section of a Morris Canal hinge boat.  It was soon documented and the word went out to the historic community.  Joe Macasek, President of the Canal Society of NJ spread the word, and the action part was the need for preservation.  I took a look at the site and though that we might save a part of the bow section, but not the entire boat.  We got permission to from the owner, Eileen Scanlon, who donated the parts of the boat we wanted to save.  The streets in the area were very narrow and the corners sharp – not at all tractor-trailer friendly.  However, I immediately thought of my good friend Capt. Phil Francis of the Ridgewood Fire Dept.  Phil had a Kenworth tractor and Landoll trailer, plus a big fork lift with balloon tires.  On his days off from the fire dept. he frequently hauled lumber in from Pennsylvania to a dealer in Bergen County.     

I called Capt. Phil I explained the road layout to him and asked if he might be able to park his tractor-trailer nearby and go in with the fork lift to retrieve the boat section.  Phil made a reconnaissance visit a few days later and relayed that he could do the job.  Shortly thereafter we set up the retrieval day in the Fall of 2016 (after Summer traffic abated) and Phil arrived with his rig and the fork lift.  It was a long day, but we finally got the load of history delivered to Waterloo while there was still daylight.  However, we ran out of time as we tried to get the large hull section through the small doorway of the Samuel T. Smith Carriage House at Waterloo with the fork lift.  It was successfully accomplished the following day with a large team of volunteers and mechanical help. 

In the many months following a wonderfully comprehensive, Canal Boat Exhibit was designed and put into place by Joe Macasek and a cadre of Canal Society volunteer workers.  The circumstances of the boat discovery, movement, and preservation are excellently documented by photos, diagrams, models, artifacts, and even maps showing the discovery location of the boat and the route Capt. Phil’s fork lift took from the site through driveways and back yards to his parked tractor-trailer several blocks away.  There is on display a full-size mock-up of a Morris Canal boat rudder, bilge pumps, a mule feed box, night hawkers, ship knees, stoves, conch horns, samples of coal and iron cargoes, etc.  

In the nearby Canal Society of NJ Museum building there are many more superb exhibits: side by side models of the several canalboat types which visited NJ’s Delaware & Raritan Canal and a Morris Canal boat; a model of a Morris Canal inclined plane; carvings of canal workers performing various duties; and much, much more.  There is also Smith’s Canal Store, a Canal Lock, A Blacksmith Shop, a Gristmill, and scheduled Canal Boat Rides - more than enough to keep a visitor fully engaged for a day…  Visit and enjoy!

The day was made complete by the timely visit of the lady who donated the boat sections, Mrs. Eileen Scanlon and her granddaughter.  Many photos were taken of her to document the occasion for posterity. 

Reference: (Canal Society of NJ, On the Level, No. 125, Jan., 2017)

Photos below courtesy of CSNJ member, Ken Roser.

All Aboard Phillipsburg!

By Capt. Bill McKelvey

The Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center finally opened its doors to their long-awaited historic Phillipsburg Union Railroad Station Museum.  The event preceded the opening day of the 35th annual Phillipsburg Ole Towne Festival.  Interestingly, the station was originally also a local trolley stop as well as a motor coach stop for several local and interurban operators in the past in addition to serving four railroads – the Jersey Central, Lackawanna, Lehigh Valley, and Pennsylvania.

The grand opening fundraiser featured a ribbon cutting by Mayor Todd Tersigni, the Phillipsburg High School Band, an elaborate buffet dinner prepared by Main Street Cafe, including local specialty wines & beers, and dessert on Friday, June 16th 2023 at 5:30 pm.  Tickets to this historic event were $100 and 100% of the proceeds are going to the further restoration of the Station. 

For 25+ years, the Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has been dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and operation of New Jersey’s transport artifacts and vehicles.  They own a fleet of 33 vintage motor coaches.  Other NJ preservation groups also own buses, trolley cars and rail equipment.  The Friends organization is headquartered in the historic Phillipsburg Union Station, which it owns.  This restoration project has been in the works for many years, and it's finally coming to fruition for the "Friends" and The Town of Phillipsburg.

In the weeks leading up to the event, Aaron Coleman, who is a local resident owning a professional cleaning service and is a director of the Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center, led a major construction completion and cleanup effort, plus bringing in and installation of new exhibits and orchestrating the event with many volunteers.

Prominently displayed is the large “TERMINAL” sign which was preserved years ago by “Friends” members from the former Public Service Coordinated Transport trolley, All-Service Vehicle and bus center on Sip Avenue at Journal Square (Hudson & Manhattan RR, now PATH station) in Jersey City.  Also pictured below are individual displays of the railroads which operated in Phillipsburg, bus, and other transport artifacts and memorabilia.  The canal era is represented by a mackette, a small clay model created by sculptor, William D. Kilpatrick, of the executed large statue of a Morris Canal boatman, which was installed on the Hudson Bergen Light Rail at the corner of Essex and Hudson Streets in Jersey City in 1999.  So, the model is displayed at one end of the Morris Canal and the executed statue commissioned by NJ Transit at the other.  Visitors can be educated and entertained by viewing the exhibits, especially the display of numerous historic railroad excursion and fantrip flyers of trips which passed through Phillipsburg.

Coleman is also leading an effort to establish a transportation trail and corridor between Walters Park, Phillipsburg Union Tower & Station and Lehigh Junction, starting point of the Delaware River Rail Excursions which operate to the south.  This corridor could ideally include the reconstruction of the Jersey Central Railroad roundhouse and turntable and a trolley and / or railway to connect the major venues in Phillipsburg.  Phillipsburg Union Station is at the center of it all and welcomes your visit.  For opening hours and times check their website: www.friendsnjthc.org  .   

A big thank you is in order for the many organizations and individuals which provided in kind help and donations toward the Phillipsburg Union Station restoration effort and the new exhibits displayed there.  Some of them are:  Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center; Invertase Brewing Company - beer; Kays Electric; Liberty Historic Railway - exhibits; Main Street Café, Phillipsburg - food; Moreau Construction – craftsmanship of molding, ticket windows, and restroom partitions; NJ Transit – exhibits and artifacts; NJ Youth Corps of Phillipsburg, Michael Muckle, lead – cleaning of property inside and outside; Norfolk Southern – for authentic train action by the station; Platinum Star Cleaning – funding and project management of restoration completion, cleaning, and exhibit displays; Town of Phillipsburg; TWA Designs – exhibit displays; and Warren County – restoration grants.

Please note that a web cam has been established at Phillipsburg Union Tower, across Main Street from PU Station.  It is available intermittently, to view trains operating on the Norfolk Southern Lehigh Line through Phillipsburg. 

Here is the YouTube link... LIVE NS Lehigh Line PTZ Railcam Phillipsburg, NJ LE76 AUDIO+720p

Photos below are courtesy of Aaron Coleman and Thomas Hellyer, both of the Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center plus Tap Into Phillipsburg.