Over the past 5 years Liberty Historic Railway has spent nearly $100,000 attempting to 1. Jumpstart restoration of the Train Shed in Liberty State Park; 2. Provide a 1+ mile trolley shuttle between the Hudson Bergen Light Rail station and the Ferry Dock @ the terminal; and 3. Provide a place to display pedigree items of rail equipment which served the Terminal and have been preserved by United Railroad Historical Society.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has announced that our application for their 11 Most Endangered Structures List for the Train Shed was rejected for the third year in a row (three strikes). LHRy will not make any additional attempts to save the structure as a feasibility study concluded that it was not possible to raise from private or corporate sources the $26,000,000 to stabilize the shed nor the $92,000,000 to fully restore it. So, it will either collapse or be demolished, probably to make way for more parking for additional visitors to Liberty State Park by motor vehicle...
Our second objective to provide a viable and needed transit link in the Park was vehemently and fanatically rejected by the Friends of Liberty State Park (strike 4). So, the motor vehicle will continue to be the necessary access to the Park which is already auto dominated.
Our third objective to restore a short rail connection to move a display sample of rail locomotives and cars, which used the Jersey City Terminal was also fanatically opposed by Friends of Liberty State Park (strike 5).
We are glad that we gave these needed amenities our best and full effort, but we are deeply disappointed that all three initiatives have met with failure.
However, we are most pleased to report that NJ DEP Parks is proceeding with our recommended upgrading and restoration of Train / Track announcement signage and interpretive panels for all 20 tracks on the concourse of the Terminal. Restoration of the Superstorm Sandy damage to the Terminal is well under way and it should reopen in 2015.