- A nomination for the C RR of NJ Jersey City Terminal Train Shed was submitted to Preservation New Jersey’s “Ten Most Endangered Historic Places in NJ for 2012” and was selected / added to their list.LHRy assisted the Jersey City Division of Planning in obtaining a $200,000 grant through North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority for a Liberty State Park Transportation Circulator Cost-Benefit Analysis which was supported by NJ DEP Parks. Subsequently, Sam Schwartz Engineering was chosen as the consultant.
- LHRy assisted the Jersey City Division of Planning in obtaining a $200,000 grant through North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority for a Liberty State Park Transportation Circulator Cost-Benefit Analysis which was supported by NJ DEP Parks. Subsequently, Sam Schwartz Engineering was chosen as the consultant.
- NJ DEP - Parks gave LHRy permission to proceed with the funding of a $21,000 contract with Curtis & Ginsberg Architects, to update their 2000 Restoration Study of the C RR of NJ Jersey City Terminal Train Shed. That study has been completed and is posted on our website.
- LHRy had an information table with exhibits and free literature to educate and update the public at the annual City of Water Day Festival at the CRR of NJ Jersey City Terminal. The event was hosted by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (LHRy is a member).
- An agreement was signed between United Railroad Historical Society, Star Trak, Inc., and Bill McKelvey to construct a shop and storage building at the URHS Boonton Yard, funded through LHRy in exchange for work to be done by Star Trak on equipment owned by or to be donated to LHRy.
- A 45 ton General Electric, diesel-electric locomotive, to be donated to LHRy, was acquired.
- Donations in excess of $100,000 have been received by LHRy from individuals and from sales at various meetings and shows.
- LHRy has rehabilitated and repainted a mail and baggage cart at the Central RR of NJ Jersey City Terminal. It is currently on display inside the main waiting room of the Terminal.
- Caps with Liberty Historic Railway of New Jersey logo resembling the Central Railroad of New Jersey Statue of Liberty logo are for sale @ $20 each.
- Promotional rack cards, literature, post cards of the Terminal & book marks are being disseminated by LHRy at various meetings and shows.
- LHRy was given ownership rights to the Lisbon trolley by the Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center. It had been built by the John Stephenson Co. in1906 at Elizabeth for export; served in Lisbon until retirement in 1996; and was purchased and returned to the US in 1997. The car has subsequently been covered with tarps to protect it from weather deterioration.
LHRy Beginnings
Shortly after beginning proposals for improvements to Liberty State Park (LSP) and the Central RR of NJ Jersey City Terminal we decided to incorporate Liberty Historic Railway (LHRy) as an IRS designated non-profit, public benefit, NJ corporation. Our objectives were to (a) Provide a trolley - rail shuttle the one+ mile distance between the Hudson - Bergen Light Rail LSP station and the CNJ Terminal / Ferry Dock; (b) Provide alternate, environmentally friendly, transport for the auto-dominated / dependant LSP - emphasizing the rail mode which promotes more efficient land use by reducing parking demand within LSP; (c) Provide historically accurate railway / trolley ride experiences; (d) Promote restoration of the seriously deteriorated trainshed to be used as a terminus of the trolley shuttle and for display of rail equipment which formerly used the terminal.
LHRy spent nearly $100,000 to advance the above objectives, including our incorporation on January 29, 2010; a Rutgers University, Bloustein School of Planning, Graduate Student Studio study of LSP transportation needs; an award-winning professional study of the transportation needs for LSP by Sam Schwartz Engineering, which concluded that our trolley shuttle proposal was viable. (This $300,000 study was funded by a grant from the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority through Jersey City Planning.); an extensive website; a comprehensive transportation chronology for the area; promotional materials; Curtis & Ginsburg architechural consultants who updated their 2000 report on the trainshed restoration costs; fundraising consultants Ruotolo Associates who concluded that it would not be feasible or possible to raise the estimated $100,000,000 to restore the trainshed; three separate nominations (2012, 2013, & 2014) to get the trainshed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s most endangered structure list - which all failed.
As we progressed with our objectives the Friends of Liberty State Park organization became increasingly opposed to our trolley shuttle proposal to the point of fanaticism. The final nails in the coffin were hammered in place by Super Storm Sandy, which inundated LSP with four feet of sea water, churned by near hurricane force winds. Almost every first floor window and door of the CNJ Terminal building was blown out and the interior was made a wreck. Unfortunately, the six interpretive pannels of historic Te4rminal photos, installed a month earlier were severely damaged. The photo panels were framed by historic wooden rail passenger car window frames. The storm would have fatally damaged any historic rail equipment displayed at LSP. LHRy soon thereafter ceased all work on our initiatives to improve LSP.
Perhaps in the future LSP stakeholders may come to their senses and realize that the auto will increasingly clog park roads and parking lots, destroying what the public comes to the park to enjoy. And, they may realize that moving people to and from the park by trolley could be the solution. Note: There is a location on the north side of Liberty Science Center for a trolley carbarn which is above flood elevation.