Hi,

I am looking for the story behind the rolling stock by the Boonton station.

Seems to be:
1 CNJ wood caboose
6-7 LIRR Ping Pong cars
1 CNJ coach with the ned wall and crashposts cut off to look like an "Observation car"
1 heavyweight with obs platform - do not have any info on

Anyone know that the last car is or who owns them?

Rob

rdavis@rypn.org

Hello Rob

I saw the same cars a few years ago during a field trip to Kanter Auto Parts in Boonton. I remember hearing that they were part of some restaurant/retail complex that failed, or never got off the ground. They looked rough 5 years ago, I imagine thay haven't gotten much better.

Dave Crosby

bing@epix.net

I investigated the possiblity of getting that equipment out of there years ago. It is owned by the gentlemen who own the nightclub which is inhabiting the former train station. If anyone is seriously interested contact me off line & I will give you a contact number. I can tell you that of the group only about half the equipment is in a condition to even attempt to do something with. My plan was to grab whatever was the best & assist the owner in disposing of the rest by parting & scrapping. However the usual problems exist i.e. lead paint & asbestos. That coupled with the fact that they are next to active (NJ Transit) tracks makes this even more dodgy. The city of Boonton would really like to see these go away & I am not the first person to investigate this.The problem is that the cars were set in there about 25 years ago to be a sort of strip mall which did exist for a brief time. The cars were gutted of any interior & windows boarded & electrical boxes mounted on the outside. Since then the windows have been broken out & weather gotten in. Even if you could somehow get them on the active track, they have not moved in a quarter of a century & are all friction bearing. The only option is to truck them out. The problem with that? Very tight clearances,active tracks & lots of power lines. That's on the side opposite the station which also has a high embankment next to it. The cars next to the station have buildings & a 25 foot dropoff keeping them from leaving. I investigated craning them out & the crane you would need that had the kind of reach required was going to bring the cost up way beyond the realm of reason. As with most things in our hobby, nothing's impossible if you have the time & the resources. Unfortunately I am limited in both & I went as far as I could with this. I would be more than willing to help anyone who's interested in these pieces. As stated earlier,the owners & the city would very much like to see this go away.

Ron Freitag
VP & Director of Accessions
Danbury Railway Museum Danbury CT USA


lbhf1@juno.com

Ron,

Did you check the history of the cars? The only one that is a mystery to me is the red car next to the station. The other red one is the hacked up CNJ coach.

Rob

rdavis@rypn.org