The United Railroad Historical Society of NJ is proud to announce that it has officially moved into its new restoration shop at its rail yard in Boonton, NJ. The 6600-square foot building is the first indoor workspace that URHS has owned in its 37-year history. URHS is seeking donations to refurbish the empty building into a fully-functional restoration facility.
“For more than a decade, we had been working out of an old box car. This upgrade could not be a bigger deal for our volunteers,” said URHS President Kevin Phalon. “Our team’s capabilities have increased greatly over the last few years, but we have always been beholden to the weather and the hassle of working outdoors. Being inside has already made a huge difference in such a short amount of time,” said Phalon.
The 66 by 100-foot building is constructed primarily out of recycled shipping containers. It provides for two passenger car-lengths of work space under cover, plus 3200 square feet of indoor storage and workspace in the containers themselves. Built in 2012, the building was previously leased to a for-profit entity until that lease ended in October. URHS took that opportunity to move its own operations into the building.
URHS is seeking donations to build out the new shop. Individuals can donate directly to URHS online at URHS.org/donate, or by mail to 104 Morris Ave. Boonton, NJ 07005. The estimated cost to make these initial improvements is $25,000.
“We still have a long way to go to turn this building into a full-fledged restoration shop,” said Phalon. “The building is very bare-bones. In the immediate future we will need lights, a paved floor, electric, compressed air, internet, and most importantly, a security system.”
Volunteers intend to outfit each of the four ground floor containers into purpose-built shops for tools, welding and machines, paint and body, and parts storage. Additionally, part of the building will be used as a permanent office for URHS to run its business.
“Now that we have an indoor space, we are able to do work that we could never do before,” said lead mechanic Erik Stenzel. “We are looking to acquire more shop machinery such as lathes, a milling machine, and other metal working tools to outfit our soon-to-be machine shop.”
The building will be used to restore locomotives and cars from URHS’s nearly 60-piece collection. It will also be the home base for maintenance of the New York Central Hickory Creek and Tavern-Lounge No. 43 as they operate as part of URHS’s Hudson River Rail Excursions program.