Camden & Amboy Track Styles Panel

Liberty Historic Railway provided the Bordentown Historical Society with the funding to erect a kiosk to display this Camden & Amboy Railroad "Track Styles" and several other educational / information panels.  The kiosk will be located near full-size replicas of the 14 styles of C & A Railroad Tracks.  The display will be located on the east side of the RIVERline Bordentown Station Parking Lot.  This area was a part of the "Y" between the C & A Lines to South Amboy, Camden, and Trenton.  We worked with Pierre Lacombe, the designer and construction leader of the project.

Berkeley Heights Train Display

In cooperation with the Berkeley Heights Recreation Department, Liberty Historic Railway set up a model Trolley and Railway layout for the Annual Santa's Visit to Town Hall, which attracted hundreds of children.  The operating layout, with moving ice skaters, was behind glass so they could see it but not touch it.  Many thanks to Rusty King for his help!

Trenton Trolley Snow Sweeper Video

Trenton & Mercer County Traction Company acquired a wood-bodied snow sweeper built by Russell in 1921 as their No. 51;  It was sold to Third Avenue Railway System, NY,  as their No. 82 in 1935;  In 1938 it was sold to Toronto Transportation Commission as their No. 39;  In 1973 it was purchased by NJ Transit for use in the Newark City Subway and renumbered 5246.  It was retired and moved to the National Capital Trolley Museum for storage for 5 years ca. 2010, and returned to the Newark Light Rail facility at Bloomfield for storage.

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.)