Just dropping in to confirm that the 13 pieces of NYGL equipment formerly stored in Passaic are now owned by Operation Toy Train and are currently stored in Hawley, PA (they were removed from Lackawaxen a few weeks ago so that NYS&W could do some track work on the interchange track). Those 13 pieces are a "done deal" (despite any commentary to the contrary), as the court case was closed on September 14, 2020 after it was confirmed by the court that the provisions of the court order had been enacted properly and lawfully over the prior weekend. This equipment is entirely separate from the current litigation in Port Jervis.

As far as condition, the five passenger cars in Port Jervis are in rough shape, but not un-saveable. All are missing at least some of their HEP wiring. The ex-VIA/CN business car "Pride of the Delaware" and the ex-NYC/CN/VIA sleeper "Chestnut Hill" both appear to have roof leaks, just based on what we can see through the windows (we have not had any access to the interiors of the cars). There is obvious water damage to the interior wood paneling in both cars. The ex-SOU/NS coach "Crescent" had its side panels replaced in the 1994 rebuild, and there appears to be some kind of issue with the installation that has caused the panels to warp (it does NOT appear to be water-related). The dining car and table car were both wallpapered inside, and 14 years of humidity and heat have taken their toll. All five cars are missing at least a few windows each to teenagers and rocks, although some of the missing windows were boarded over or replaced in the fall of 2020 when Wilson's mechanical guys were working on the 833.

The E8 is in ostensibly operating condition, although Eric Levin's comments earlier in this thread are likely the most in-depth and accurate survey of the engine's condition conducted in the past decade. Listening to the videos of it when it was fired up back in September or October, it sounds to my ear like it was running on only one of its two engines, which jives with Mr. Levin's report. The RS3 is in desperate need of new radiators, and will need some other minor electrical and cosmetic repairs to be made operational, but is overall in fair shape.

The news article linked in the first post in this thread quotes me directly and lays out all of the details pretty thoroughly, and there's really nothing I can add to that. We're just sitting and twiddling our thumbs waiting for the property in Port Jervis to be made available one way or the other. The partnership of several organizations forming the Port Jervis Transportation Museum has assured the City that they have the resources to properly care for any usable/historically relevant equipment that may become City property and remain at the museum site as a result of this legal action, and Operation Toy Train has offered our connections in the railroad preservation industry to help the City get any equipment deemed "surplus" into the hands of responsible preservationists.

As a final thought.... I really wish this wasn't the way this played out, as I feel it is a poor course of events in what could have otherwise been a very positive situation. Our discussions with the City of Port Jervis began in late 2019 when we explored operating our Toys for Tots collection train to the City using the M&NJ's newly-acquired trackage rights. While that did not come to fruition (due to scheduling difficulties with regular Metro-North weekend traffic), the City began a dialogue about other ways we could bring the Toys for Tots program to Port Jervis in following years. This evolved into creating a semi-permanent home and maintenance base for our equipment in Port Jervis that would act as a "launching point" for our toy collection campaign each December, and simultaneously using our otherwise disused equipment during the rest of the year to establish a railroad museum on the property (a longtime goal of the City). We've been working on this project with the City for just shy of a year now.

Even negating the prior 12 years (2007-2019) that the equipment was stored (neglected and unused) on the property free-of-charge, Mr. Wilson has now had a year to take action or even participate in the City's new plans with a positive impact. He could have long-term or permanently loaned his equipment to the new museum as caretakers, donated it outright and taken a fairly considerable tax write-off for the current appraised value (this option remains on the table), or taken action to remove it from the City's property. I will not hazard a guess as to why he has apparently chosen the opposite route, but it's incredibly disappointing for a lot of folks who were hoping for his cooperation, especially the Port Jervis residents and visitors that have grown attached to Wilson's equipment from a historical perspective. We may still see a positive end result for preservation, but if it happens, it seems it will be via the courts rather than via goodwill.

I will, in due course. For now, I'll refrain from making public statements. However, I may decide to send your grandfather a private communication in the not too distant future in lieu of a public exchange.

I will try to give a little history of Jim (Jimmy) Wilson and his New York & Greenwood Lake Railway. The ex-Erie Dundee Spur was an out of service branch, about 2 miles long that runs from a connection to the NJTransit line in Garfield, NJ to the Dundee section of Passaic. At first there was one customer that shipped out recycled cardboard on a very modest basis. Jim was able to attact a transload operation for construction debris - this was a very successful operation and made the line very profitable.

Around 2007, the NY&GL sold a lot of their unused right of way and adjacent property to the City of Passaic and Verizon for a lot of money. In the Erie and the EL days the Dundee line served a number of industries via a vast array of trackage (the NYS&W also reached some of these industries in Dundee via its Passaic Branch). All of this was long out of service with no hope of industry ever coming back. With the proceeds Jim purchased the E8 and a lot of the cars now scattered between Port Jervis and Lackawaxen.

Jim had a vision - he wanted to run a Summertime Friday-Sunday passenger service from Port Jervis (connecting to NJ Transit service) to Callicoon, NY. He thought there was enough potential business to make it a success. There is some amount of Summer vacation activity along the Delaware and even a decent amount of day trippers to make it seem plausible. I know that Jim was trying to cultivate politicians and local leaders to give him the chance to operate. The line is operated by the NYS&W on lease from NS. Someone would need to convince NS to allow passenger trains to operate on this line - the lease to the NYS&W specifically forbids it.

After the financial crisis of 2008 the construction and debris business dried up - there was also a fire at the transload facility. As a result the NY&GL essentially shut down. From that point on, the NY&GL became frozen in time. Work on the equipment in Passaic stopped and the cars/locomotives sat in Port Jervis, waiting for a call to passenger service that would never come.

Good afternoon folks,

Just wanted to post a quick update on this saga.

The former NY&GL equipment in Port Jervis, including the Erie E8 #833, departed Port Jervis this afternoon for its new (temporary) home. After four months of dealing with a variety of issues, NS finally dispatched a crew to Port Jervis and picked up the cars shortly after noon today. Video will be posted shortly. Additional information will follow in due course.

Fantastic news. I'm glad this came to a much better resolution than anticipated. This will also move up our timeline for the formation of the Port Jervis Transportation Museum on the property, allowing us to take advantage of the summer months as things start to open back up.

No word on a destination. Five cars also left with it, a bit of a surprise, I believe several of the cars are in rough shape. The RS3 is still there.

The E8A is a beautiful locomotive as it appears in the posted picture.

The equipment is currently heading to a location where a fleet of much beloved relics from a long-defunct builder rein supreme and where locomotives from four different builders can be found in regular operation. The 833 may even get covered in coal ash from a passing steam locomotive in the not-too-distant future ...

All five of the cars received the required repairs they needed, the required FRA and NS inspections, and anything else they needed to make them roadworthy, such as FRA waivers, etc.

The RS3 is being sold to a well known organization with a fleet of operable RS3 locomotives and will be heading out of town shortly in the opposite direction of the rest of the equipment.

The equipment's storage arrangements for the remainder of the year are considered temporary. The owner is entertaining offers for most of the equipment (only one or two pieces are to be retained). The rest of equipment will be SOLD. No donations or leases. The equipment may be auctioned if enough interest is there.

That is all for now.

Would their final destination happen to be in South Jersey?

Glad to hear they've been preserved.

Who does one contact to negotiate for sale of any of this equipment?

If anyone is interested in acquiring any of the equipment, they should contact Mr. Raymond Clauss at Star-Trak, Inc. Ray's office number is (732) 236-4507. The company website is: http://www.startrakinc.com/

Ray screens all offers for the equipment owner. He'll pass along the offer, and his recommendation(s), if any, to Mr. Wilson. If the offer is tempting, you'll get a call from Mr. Wilson directly.

Hope that helps answer your question.

I’ve got a solid guess for where the 833 will be given the hints

But I won’t say anything. Loose lips sink ships

Eric,
Are you involved in this or just reporting what you have observed?

Ms. Meghan,

A pleasure to speak with you as always. Since you asked nicely; I got involved in the various NYGL battles when the issue was (then) limited to just their Passaic property. Most (95%) of the information I have reported has come directly from Jim Wilson (with his knowledge and consent). I'm also privy to certain privileged communications that I cannot share (and will not share), for reasons which I know you are well aware of why that is.

I wasn't cautioning people about the NYGL equipment because I felt like being a jerk. I knew what was being discussed and contemplated behind the scenes. I did not want to see anyone go into debt trying to do something with that equipment given the current state of litigation surrounding the one (NYGL) property.

FYI, ... Meghan, should have noted that many people here use the "New York and Greenwood Lake Rwy" moniker when referring to the owner. That is actually not accurate. There are two separate and distinct legal entities involved. One is much older (by a couple of decades) than the younger NYGL entity. The equipment in Port Jervis is not owned by the NYGL entity. It is owned by Jim Wilson's first organization.

With the equipment now out of Port Jervis (save for the RS-3 which is soon heading in a different direction for a much anticipated reunion with many of her operable sisters), the fate of the NYGL is now pretty much sealed. The only reason that the NYGL was not thrown into bankruptcy before now was a result of a requirement that Norfolk Southern insisted upon many years ago.

Mr. Wilson's first organization did not have any type of relationship with NS at the time he relocated that organization from the historic Benson Street Station in Glen Ridge NJ to Port Jervis. NS wanted to deal with just one organization, so the NYGL ended up leasing the track at the turntable and NS gave the NYGL an "interchange agreement" at Port Jervis instead of a traditional (and more appropriate) side-track agreement. Mr. Wilson's first organization was actually a sub-tenant of the NYGL on the City owned track. Since no freight operations were ever conducted, nor was any ever intended to be undertaken, no Federal regulatory approvals were required.

It has been widely (and for the most part accurately) reported that the NYGL lease at Port Jervis had expired by its own terms. However, with the ELRM equipment still there, the lease would have had to been included in the bankruptcy schedules of the NJGL since the City would have still needed to bring a legal action against ALL the tenants to evict everyone from the site.

Not wanting to sweep Port Jervis into the fight over matters related to NYGL's property in NJ, it was decided to take no action regarding a bankruptcy filing for NYGL until after all the equipment left the siding, at which time the there would no longer be any legal or equitable interest that the NYGL held in the siding. Once the RS-3 leaves for Scranton, the NYGL will be formally placed into bankruptcy.

All the former railroad equipment in Passaic, and the entire property in Passaic, will be listed on the bankruptcy schedules of the NYGL. This is where those that jumped prematurely into the fray in the name of "saving" the Passaic equipment will get into trouble. They will all need to hire legal counsel to fight off the bankruptcy trustee.

Based on personal experience, the trustee will successfully set aside any and all of the transactions that purport to convey an interest in the Passaic equipment and will sell off all the equipment to the highest bidder, whomever that may be. Whatever money was spent on moving the equipment will likely be lost. It will be really sad to see some of these people get hurt. I know that some really well intentioned people acted in good faith. I just hoped they had run their sales contracts by an attorney first.

As for the fate of the equipment formerly in Port Jervis, the prognosis is good. All should find good homes. The ex-NYC sleeper-turned-business car will be retained by Mr. Wilson.

The 833 will either be retained (most likely outcome), or sold only to a carefully screened and vetted museum. Sale of the 833 to any other type of private interest will only occur if there is a numeral "2" (or higher) in the first spot on left side of the number and there are enough additional zeros in the check between said number and the decimal point.

As for the remainder of the equipment, everything is negotiable. Reasonable offers will be entertained. Nothing will go to scrap. So, if there is something you have an interest in, make an offer!

That is all for now.

I hope that answered your question Meghan.

833 made its way south to Abrams today on NS H44. It’s heading to Camden tonight to be given off to... well, if the secret wasn’t already out... SMS.