Liberty Historic Railway Inc.

05/03/2026

Mission accomplished! With a lot of help, the 105 year old NJT snow sweeper made it to its new home. Last weekend, a crew from multiple states and organizations, with the support of NJT, prepped NJT snow sweeper 5246 for its move to a secure indoor storage facility in Mercer County. During the week, the sweeper was shrink wrapped and on Friday it was loaded up for the ride to Mercer County.

Today, with a wide-ranging crew on hand, the 5246 was unloaded safely into its new home.

As a bit of history, 5246 began its career as Trenton and Mercer County 51 having been built by Russell in 1921. After that system gave up streetcars in 1934, the sweeper went to the Third Avenue Railway in NYC, as number 82, before, once again, moving on, this time to Toronto, where it wore S-39. It was acquired by Transport of New Jersey for the Newark City Subway after their own sweeper was destroyed by a fire in 1971. 5246 continued to serve the NCS through the beginning of the LRV era in the early 2000's, when it was finally retired by NJ Transit. NJERHS and LHRy worked together to ensure the T&MC 51 lives on. If you're anywhere near the Trenton area, and are interested in assisting with the restoration/stabilization, contact Liberty Historic Railway.

03/27/2026

Very happy to announce that our Lisbon trolley #346 has safely made it to GOMACO in Ida Grove, Iowa for restoration to operation. The 346 was built by Stephenson in Elizabeth, NJ in 1906-1907 with a series of cars destined for Lisbon, Portugal where it ran into the later 1990s, quite a career. Gomaco Trolley Company is a manufacturer of vintage-style streetcars. The company has supplied replica-vintage streetcars to several transit systems in the US and has also restored and rebuilt authentic vintage streetcars for other systems. LHRy discussions with GOMACO have been going on for quite some time as we looked at all options for the restoration of the 346.

Learn more about our mission at www.lhry.org, and if you’re interested in volunteering at our Farmingdale site or the new Mercer County facility, reach out to [email protected] or [email protected]

If interested in making a donation, please see: https://www.lhry.org/donate

02/24/2026

Have to admit, I was a little concerned about the tent over the 288, but it survived the Blizzard of '26 just fine. If it ever warms up, we can start to do some real work on it.

01/03/2026

As Liberty Historic Railway, Inc. wraps up 2025, we’re proud of a year filled with preservation wins—supporting projects like the Berkeley Township Historical Society and the restoration of their 1925 Plymouth, the Black River Railroad Historical Trust and Lackawanna coach #605, plus statewide initiatives including Bordentown’s John Bull 200th anniversary.

Behind the scenes, major progress continued on Trenton 288 with truck restoration work and museum planning meetings, and we’re thrilled to share that LHRy officially took ownership of the Lisbon trolley #346 late in 2025. Even better, we secured a facility in Mercer County—setting the stage for an exciting announcement coming early in 2026.

2025 laid the groundwork—2026 is shaping up to be big. Learn more about our mission at www.lhry.org, and if you’re interested in volunteering at our Farmingdale site or the new Mercer County facility, reach out to [email protected] or [email protected]

If interested in making a donation, please see: https://www.lhry.org/donate

10/23/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17H9pVK1zL/

09/27/2025

09/25/2025

Conrail blue is coming to Railroad Museum [for a day] 2025! NJ TRANSIT is generously lending no. 4208 for display at our event and Saturday’s night photo shoot.

No. 4208 honors NJT’s rich history with Conrail, which operated passenger trains throughout New Jersey from 1976 to 1983 and was the immediate corporate predecessor to NJ TRANSIT Rail Operations. Many of the rail lines, stations, and rolling stock that formed the original NJ TRANSIT Rail came directly from Conrail, and most of NJT’s railroad operating employees at that time had previously served with them. Of course, that also means a large portion of the URHS collection, which was donated by NJ TRANSIT, was once owned by Conrail as well.

Please join us in thanking NJT for their contribution to our event, and come see it up close this Sunday!

09/24/2025

09/16/2025

On Sunday, 9/28, NJ TRANSIT will activate a special one-day shuttle service between Denville and Boonton, making it easier for people traveling to the United Railroad Historical Society of NJ's Annual Railroad Museum [for a day]. Learn more at njtransit.com/scoot