Tri-States Railway Preservation Society

12/12/2025

TOYX President Rudy Garbely has issued a statement regarding the situation in Port Jervis and its impact on both TOYX's volunteers and the ongoing preservation of Port Jervis's history. Read the full statement at https://www.toyx.org/statement

This will be our last statement on the matter for the foreseeable future, pending any change in the decisions of the City of Port Jervis, NY that would permit the exhibits of both the Erie Turntable and the Tri-States Railway Preservation Society to remain intact at the turntable site.

12/10/2025

1985: The Depot Preservation Society is formed to preserve the former Erie railroad station in Port Jervis. The building is acquired by the City, and the society is instrumental in the fundraising and restoration of the building. Society establishes a museum in the main waiting room.

2002: With restoration work completed, City evicts the Society's museum and then sells the building to a developer, who converts the public asset into private office space. The artifacts owned by the Society are sent to temporary storage on Franklin Street.

2004: Small, temporary exhibit spaces are established in both the lobby of the City-owned Youth Community Center on Pike Street and along the walls of the Common Council chambers in City Hall. The Society's collections are relocated to these two display locations. The Depot Preservation Society changes its name to Tri-States Railway Preservation Society to reflect the shift in focus.

2010: The organization's exhibits are evicted from City Hall. These exhibits are then crammed into the small available space alongside the existing exhibits in the Youth Community Center.

2021: Tri-States is notified by the City that it will be evicted from the Youth Community Center in 2022 so the lobby space can be used for a different purpose.

2022: TOYX volunteers acquire a boxcar specifically for Tri-States' use and have it moved to the City-owned Erie Turntable site. Exhibits are relocated from the Youth Community Center to the boxcar.

2025: City verbally states that all leases for the Erie Turntable site will terminate July 26, 2026. The organization, which has had its exhibits evicted by the City government four times in its history, finally gives up and makes plans to leave the city and take all of its property with it.

12/09/2025

Nearly all artifacts in our museum are meticulously tagged with the donor's name - or, if loaned, the loaner's name. Some of these tags date back to the 1990s, when this collection was still located in the Depot on Front Street and our organization was still known as the Depot Preservation Society.

For example, Councilman-at-Large Hockenberry has informed us that a sign in the museum belongs to him personally, and the sign is properly tagged as such in the museum. We are making arrangements to return that to him promptly. Anyone else for whom we have a record of their loan, or for which they can produce verifiable paperwork, is welcome to reach out to us at [email protected] to have their artifacts returned to them.

All of that being said, there are no items in our collection tagged as being either on loan from, or donated by, the City of Port Jervis. The vast majority of what we have on display - approximately 90% or more - is owned by our organization.

The only things we are unsure of are the display cases themselves, as they were not "accessioned" like a regular artifact with the related detailed recordkeeping. While it was assumed that they were owned by Tri-States after being in our possession for over 30 years, it is possible that some of them may not have been properly transferred to Tri-States ownership.

We have asked repeatedly over the last two weeks for the City of Port Jervis to produce any evidence in writing that the City owns (or ever owned) any of the artifacts or display cases in Tri-States' collection. They have produced no evidence to date. It is worth noting that the exhibition or storage of Tri-States' owned artifacts in a city structure or on city property does not constitute a transfer of ownership to the City. We have already offered, both privately and publicly, to return anything for which a verified owner other than Tri-States can be established.

Instead of providing evidence or having any constructive conversations on the subject, the City is ignoring us while essentially holding our boxcar hostage. They have not acknowledged our requests - in writing - to have the City's power lines disconnected from our boxcar (which, notably, were installed by the City electrician directly on the boxcar in 2023 instead of on a new telephone pole adjacent to the boxcar, which has yet to appear). With live power lines connected, we are unable to move the boxcar and comply with the City's termination of lease agreements.

We ask that the City of Port Jervis and its representatives retract any verbal or written/online statements accusing us of any impropriety. We are simply abiding by their wishes and removing our property from their land, although we're not exactly sure what they anticipated happening if they evicted the group that owned most of the city's historical artifacts. If they don't like the consequences of their decisions, there's still time to rethink them.

12/09/2025

A CRASH COURSE IN NON-PROFIT MANAGEMENT

When an artifact is donated to a non-profit educational organization, it becomes the property of that organization. It is that organization's duty to preserve and interpret that artifact in perpetuity. Artifacts that are loaned to an organization fall under the same preservation requirements until and unless the rightful owner requests its return.

TOYX owns the boxcar in which its museum is located, and Tri-States (a subsidiary of TOYX) owns approximately 90% of the artifacts inside the museum that have been donated to the organization over the past 40 years. The remaining handful of artifacts are on loan by local residents and tagged and recorded as such. These will be returned to the owners upon request.

It is worth noting that the vast majority of our artifacts were donated when our organization was originally housed in the old Depot on Front Street. These were then stored by the City after we were kicked out of the Depot, then moved to the Rec Center, and finally moved to the boxcar at the turntable site after we were kicked out of the Rec Center. At no point has anyone besides our organization owned those artifacts, and the City has no valid claim to their ownership.

We are not aware of any artifacts in the museum actually owned by the City itself. We are currently working to determine if the City owns the display cases in which the artifacts are kept, and we will happily return them to the City upon receiving proof of their ownership.

The artifacts owned by our organization (again, about 90% of the contents of our museum) will remain with the boxcar when it is moved off-site as a result of the City's decisions, as it remains our responsibility to preserve and interpret them regardless of our museum's physical location. This will unfortunately result in a great loss of cultural heritage for the City's residents. The City Council is already aware of this and continues to pursue our departure.

TL;DR: You cannot evict a non-profit organization and expect to keep all of its owned property. The organization and its collections are one and the same.

12/03/2025

Our museum is being forced to leave Port Jervis by the actions of the City Council. Unfortunately, that means that over 40 years of artifacts from this amazing city are leaving with us. Stay tuned as we establish a new home, and learn more about how to help (and how to ensure our collections are preserved) at www.toyx.org/portjervis

12/02/2025

We are pleased to be joining our friends at TOYX as we move into the next chapter of preservation at the Erie Turntable!

Note that membership in the two organizations will be combined effective January 1, 2026. A membership in TOYX will cover both organizations. Current Tri-States members, whose memberships expire at the end of the calendar year, are now able to renew at TOYX for the 2026 calendar year at www.toyx.org/membership.

TOYX, Inc., the non-profit organization that operates the Erie Turntable site in Port Jervis, New York, is pleased to announce its November 20th acquisition of the non-profit Tri-States Railway Preservation Society as a subsidiary corporation. This acquisition is the culmination of over four years of close cooperation and partnership in the preservation of Port Jervis's railroad history.

Tri-States will remain an independent but wholly-owned educational non-profit and will continue its mission to preserve and interpret railroad history in Orange County, New York. As a subsidiary of TOYX, Tri-States gains access to TOYX's insurance policies, financial assistance, and additional resources to maintain its boxcars, build its collections, and further its educational mission. Historical exhibits currently operated by TOYX will be managed by Tri-States going forward.

10/13/2025

This past weekend was the final museum opening for this 2025 season. We wish to thank all the visitors and hope they stop by in the future for updated displays. We are looking forward to the 2026 season with a projected opening on May 16th and 17th.
Memberships are available at a low expense. The museum has been able to operate with free admission for all thanks to your generous donations and yearly memberships.

I leave you with a few photos of our good friend Bill Schill who recently passed. God Bless you Bill, may you find peace!

Enjoy the seasons ahead and we hope to see you again in our future. Bill Carlisle, President of TriStates.

09/06/2025

The museum will be open this weekend from noon to 4pm.
On Saturday we will quietly celebrate our good friend and fellow member William Schill who recently passed on. As you approach the entrance, look up to see the new plaque permanently placed in memory of Bill. When entering look on the right where you will find a poster showing an article on Bill written by Amy Bridge of The Journal in 2016, republished in The Journal for Summer 2025. Kind words about Bill that still ring true.

On our TV's a short slide show will play showing photos of Bill and a video interview where he talks about growing up in an Erie Railroad family in Port Jervis. So easy flowing it makes you think your at his kitchen table having a cup of coffee.

Also on this Saturday a group of Bill's friends are having a "Celebration of Bill" at the UpFront Exhibition Space on 31 Jersey Avenue in Port Jervis from 1pm to 5pm.
We hope you find the time to attend one or both!

"If you have met Bill... Then you know Bill"

What you see is what you get with Bill!... a great friend for life.

Oh...And as you leave...look at our bench...

08/20/2025

Join us for a special festival at the Erie Turntable celebrating the history of transportation in Orange County, New York! $5.00 general admission, historic vehicles and exhibits attend free!

08/17/2025

Another fine weekend at the museum!
Two special visitors. James X2!

Our first James just might be a future railroad as he shows his “lantern” moves! Our 2nd James is a retired railroader, been there - done that!
And he left behind some fine donations for the museum! Always a huge thank you for that!

Ralph, our greeter for the day welcomes each and every visitor with a guided tour!

Come visit next weekend, open noon to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday!

08/02/2025

To give us a look… tristates.org
We thank all who have taken the time to visit!
Weekends noon to 4pm… both Saturday & Sunday until mid October 2025.
Admission is always free!

TRI-STATES RAILWAY PRESERVATION SOCIETY MUSEUMlocated at the Erie Turntable86 Pike Street, Port Jervis, NY 12771open on select Saturdays and/or Sundays from noon to 4PMMay through October Click Here for Full Site Schedule special or group access by appointment - click here to contact us The Tri-Stat...

07/14/2025