MISSION STATEMENT. . . .

The Tri-States Railway Preservation Society exists for the purpose of maintaining museum exhibits within the City of Port Jervis, New York, of railroad memorabilia for the perusal of the general public and to protect and preserve the railroad history of the city and surrounding area. Society activities aim to manage and care for all existing museum exhibits, collect and catalog artifacts, interpret the history of the Erie Railroad as well as other major regional railways, research and mount new exhibits, and to help preserve places, records, and equipment of earlier times. The society enthusiastically solicits new members from the general public as well as retirees for the purpose of furthering its work and sustaining interest in railroad history.

Following is a list of Society officers:

• President, Julio Petitti, Port Jervis, NY
• First Vice-President, Brian Lewis, Port Jervis, NY
• Recording Secretary, Pat Gessner, Port Jervis, NY
• Corresponding Secretary, Sharon Siegel, Port Jervis, NY
• Treasurer, Robert Edwards, Port Jervis, NY

Society members are solicited for their interest in the Society and their willingness to accomplish its aims, as outlined in the Mission Statement, above. Members are expected to volunteer for various fundraising activities, to assist with researching and constructing new exhibits, and to be present occasionally at exhibit locations to greet visitors.

Annual membership dues are $10 per person, $15 per family, and $20 per business. Members enjoy a 10% discount on all merchandise puchased from the Society Store.

To contact the Tri-States Railway Preservation Society, you can call Julio Petitti at 845-856-7877.

In Honor of the Port Jervis Centennial, The Tri-States Railway Preservation Society presents Handcrafted Wooden Railroad Cabooses. This is a unique show of one-of-a-kind trains handcrafted by local artists and professionals at Port Java, 19 Front Street, Port Jervis, NY and are on view in the front window of Port Java Coffeehouse.

A "Tricky Train" drawing and Reception will occur on Saturday, October 27th, 5PM in Port Java, 19 Front Street, Port Jervis, NY. Trains are the source of inspiration for this exhibit. Each of the 21 artists featured in the show have created unique works of art using a handmade wooden train caboose provided by Julio Petitti, President of the Tri-States Railway Preservation Society of Port Jervis, NY. Elaine Cardella-Tedesco, curated the exhibit. Tickets for the drawing are 1$ each and you need not be present to win a unique train. All proceeds will go to the Tri-States Railway Preservation Society. Tickets are on sale now.

Each artist included in the show works in a different medium traditionally and non-traditionally. Artists included are: SEAN ADDY, ED KRAKOWIAK, BETSY KRAKOWIAK, CLAUDIA BOCKER, JEFF PARKER, PETER KOENIG, NINA MITRO, GERRY GELTMAN, HECTOR BARAS, SUSAN MIILLER, PAT ROCCO, LARRY ZAMPINO, DOMINICK PELUSO, JOAN KEHLENBECK, ELAINE TEDESCO, TYLER KOVENBACH (2007 Bernie Kilbourn Memorial Student Scholarship Winner), CHARLENE TROTTER, HERMAN ZUBE, ROBERTA WEINSTEIN, WILLARD SCHADT, and JULIO PETITTI (Tri-States Railway Preservation Society President).

The Exhibit, "Tricky Train" drawing and Reception on Saturday, October 27th at 5pm are free and open to the public at 19 Front Street, Port Jervis, NY. The show will be open Mon-Sat, 8am - 8pm. For more information about the exhibit call: (845) 856-8889.

We begin this newsletter on a sad note: the passing of our President, James L. Browning. Jim left us in April 2006 after a long and courageous fight with emphysema and related illnesses. He was a devoted railroad historian and one of the founding fathers of our organization. He will be greatly missed by one and all.

James L. Browning, a retired teacher for the Hanover Park Regional High School, E. Hanover, N.J., and head of the English Department, died Monday April 17, 2006 at Bon Secours Community Hospital, Port Jervis, NY. He was 78. A longtime area resident, he was born October 8, 1927 in Newark, NJ, a son of the late James T. and Lillian F. Jones Browning. Mr Browning Graduated from Montclair State College earning his B.A. in English, Speech, and Drama. He continued his education at Rutgers University, where he graduated with his Masters in Education Supervision; continued at multiple colleges, including Teacher's College, Columbia University, N.Y.C., and School of Speech at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He was member and past President of the Erie Depot Preservation Society, Port Jervis; Second Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Minisink Valley Historical Society; and Trustee of the Wallpack Valley Historical Society, Wallpack, N.J. He is survived by two sons, Jonathan Browning of Montague, N.J., and Keith E. Browning of Flanders, N.J.; one daughter, Jennifer S. Benaglio of Somerville, N.J.; and six grandchildren. Private services were held at the convenience of the family. Internment was private. Arrangements were by Knight-Auchmoody Funeral Home, Inc., 154 E. Main St., Port Jervis, NY.

Since there has not been much activity in our society since the name change became a reality, we are now reorganizing and will strive to become a bigger and better part of the local picture. Officers elected at our May meeting were as follows:
President - Julio Petitti
Vice President - Brian Lewis
Recording Secretary - Patty Gessner
Treasurer - Bob Edwards
Corresponding Secretary - Sharon Siegel
Five Member Executive Board - Bob Blackman, Stan Siegel, Ed Petras, Ed Ibold, and Ross Decker

There have been monthly meetings each month since March 2006 and the attendance has been very encouraging. We now have over 30 paid up to date members as of August.

Our web site has been updated and will be kept up to date. There has been one big change and that is the removal of items for sale by mail order. It has become very expensive to operate. All items on our inventory will be sold locally or at train shows from now on. Most items for sale will probably be supplied by the Erie-Lackawanna Historical Society store at a standard wholesale discount, making it possible to turn a decent profit. Please visit http://www.minisink.org/tsrps.htm

Speaking of profits, the society has decided to have a train show locally. It is in the works at the present time. All members are urged to attend monthly meetings from now until November to complete plans for the show on Nov 18th at the Matamoras Firehouse. With all members participating in this effort there is the possibility of enhancing our treasury with more than dues money.

General meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at the Mount Carmel Hall, 21 First Street, Port Jervis, NY. Please make every effort to attend. It is vital to the betterment of the society.

Two Exhibit Sites are Available to Visitors. . . .

While the Tri-States Railway Preservation Society still lacks a permanent museum home, we have nevertheless provided exhibits of some of our artifacts in two Port Jervis locations. One is on Pike Street in the former Elks Home Building, now the Youth Community Center. Just inside the main entrance in the lobby area are four free-standing display cases containing Erie Railroad artifacts and photographs, with each exhibit built around a theme. There are also wall-mounted photograph collections and an operating trolley car on the fireplace mantel. These free exhibits are open to the public every weekday 10 AM to 6 PM. It will be open Saturday 11 AM to 3 PM. Free parking is available on Pike Street near the building entrance or one half block away in the municipal shoppers' parking lot.

The Society Store is also to be located at the Youth Center, hours yet to be determined. The Store offers a greatly expanded range of railroad books, publications, videos, clothing, mugs, pins and patches, and the like, for the Erie Railroad, the DL&W Railroad, the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad, and several other local railroads.

The other exhibit location is in the Common Council Chamber of the Port Jervis Municipal Building on Hammond Street and features a number of Erie Railroad artifacts never displayed before. Visitors to the exhibit may come to the Mayor's office adjacent to the Council Chamber on the second floor where his secretary, JoAnne, will gladly open the doors. Free parking is provided in the Municipal Building's lot as well as on the street, and an elevator is to the left inside the ground-level entrance for those with handicaps.

The exhibit is available for viewing during regular office hours, 10 AM to 3 PM, Monday through Friday. Please remember to sign our Visitors' Registry in both locations. Membership application forms are also provided for those who wish to join the Tri-States Railway Preservation Society.

 

 

The Erie Depot in 1906 before the addition of the baggage room
on the east end and the separate REA building on the west end.

PORT JERVIS ERIE DEPOT LOCATION AND HISTORY. . . .

Located at the intersection of Fowler Street and Jersey Avenue in Port Jervis, NY, the Erie Depot was opened July 8, 1889. While less than two years old, a disastrous fire completely destroyed the building on the day after Christmas, 1890. By June, 1891, construction of a new and enlarged depot was underway on the same site under the supervision of the contracting company of Gratton and Jennings of Buffalo. The present building was opened on February 2, 1892, and served the railroad and the city unaltered for 20 years. The first floor provided a general waiting room, trainmen's locker room and ticket office, smoking and rest rooms, and a ladies' waiting room; a restaurant occupied the west end of the building. The second floor housed offices for the Delaware Division Superintendent, the Port Jervis Trainmaster and Yardmaster, and the Communications Department. In 1912, with the Erie handling a steadily-growing volume of baggage and mail, a large baggage room was added on the east end of the building, along with a Railway Express Agency Annex at the west end. The depot was heated with steam piped from a central location, here the roundhouse, as was the custom of the day. Interior lighting was electrical, and the building's exterior and platforms were well lighted for passenger safety. Built at a cost of only $30,000, this beautiful Gothic-design edifice of red brick, with bluestone trimmings and terra cotta crestings and ornaments, proudly continued to welcome Erie Railroad travelers to the City of Port Jervis for many years.

But automobiles and airplanes were increasingly taking their toll on railroad passenger train travel. Use of the Depot began to decline, with a sharp reduction as the Erie closed down westward passenger service in November of 1966, leaving only a scattering of commuter runs, themselves soon to be abolished. The Depot continued to serve the railroad, now the Erie-Lackawanna, for several years. But in January, 1974, with passengers gone and its offices no longer needed, the depot was permanently closed. With the conveyance of E-L to Conrail in April of 1976, the property was offered to a developer who had expressed interest, but his plans failed to germinate. Having no need for the structure, the new owners boarded over windows and doors and left the once-grand Erie Depot to the mercies of the weather and vandals. Decay and deterioration progressed for several years until talk of demolition began to be heard.

Then in 1984 the Minisink Valley Historical Society of Port Jervis, NY, invoked one of its Mission tenets, that Society efforts be devoted to the preservation of historic places. With Executive Director Peter Osborne leading the way, ably assisted by Janis McCann Osborne of The Gazette, a massive effort was launched to save the Erie Depot, beginning with the acquiring of the necessary funding. Through the combined efforts of the Historical Society, the Port Jervis Development Corporation, and the Depot Preservation Society, formed expressly to save the venerable old building, public interest and enthusiasm were aroused, and through donations and New York State grants, work commenced under the supervision of Mr. Osborne and the three parent organizations. And thus it was that the Erie Depot Museum, installed in the former main waiting room, was born. Using donated and on-loan Erie Railroad artifacts from citizens of the Port Jervis region, Peter Osborne and the participating societies created exhibits that once attracted railroad-minded visitors from far and wide, sharing with them the story of the once-mighty Erie Railroad that contributed so much to the growth of New York's southeast counties. Finally, in the early nineties, the depot building and the Railway Express Agency Annex were extensively and painstakingly refurbished, restoring both structures to their current beauty and usefulness. And so it is that reports of the Erie Depot's death were greatly exaggerated, after all.

Links to Other Great Railroad Web Pages

http://www.erielackhs.org/ - the Erie Lackawanna Historical Society.

http://arhs.railfan.net/ - Anthracite Railroads Historical Society: information on the Reading, D L and W, LV, C of NJ, etc., railroads.

http://www.railroad.net  - offers a wide variety of railroad subjects, historical and contemporary.

http://www.nyow.org - N Y O and W Historical Society; clicking "Hop On Board" takes you to varied and extensive information on the O and W along with several other historical groups.

http://www.ny.existingstations.com  - a very useful and detailed listing of railroad stations still existing in the State of New York, arranged by counties; includes a "Help" section for putting inquiries out on the net; many photographs of stations.

http://www.dnaco.net/~gelwood  - Erie-Lackawanna and Other Fallen Flag and Shortline Railroads; features an excellent collection of photographs.

http://DLW-SussexBranch.com - provides direct access to the history, maps, timetables, photographs, and news articles about the Sussex Branch of the DL & W's former line through Newton to Branchville in New Jersey.

http://www.rrhistorical.com - offers valuable links to the Railroad Historical Society Index, Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, Railroad Historical Database Project, the National Railroad Historical Society, Railroad Historical Research Center, and many other clubs and technical groups of interest to Erie Railroad railfans.

http://el-list.railfan.net - a direct link to Erie-Lackawanna List Members's Page; click "Links" to access The Erie-Lackawanna Railway Internet Resources, then scroll down to find useful information and addresses for New Jersey Midland History for information on:
New Jersey and Midland Railroad
New York, Susquehanna, and Western Railroad
Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad
Lehigh and New England Railroad
New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad
Middletown and New Jersey Railroad

Erie 4-6-2 at Wanaque, NJ 3/10/51
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