Judge speeding up removal of PembertonTownship trains
Burlington County Times – December 24, 2012
By Danielle Camilli and Mark Zimmaro
MOUNTHOLLY — The plan to move the trains from the North Pemberton Historic Railroad Station off Fort Dix Road is back on track with a Superior Court judge ordering that an outside conductor oversee their removal.
Superior Court Judge Karen Suter on Friday ordered an independent receiver, who could be a lawyer, auctioneer or other professional, to oversee the removal and/or sale of the trains which have been at the center of the protracted legal fight over the future of the collection between PembertonTownship and the Pemberton Township Historic Trust.
In court Friday, the township, which has been working to have the dozen 1930s-era locomotives and rail cars removed for nearly two years, asked the judge to enforce her Sept. 28 order that the trains be removed from the township property within 60 days.
Richard Garrett, attorney for the trust, asked for more time, arguing that within the past week or two nonprofit officials have had interest in the collection, including from MountHolly. He also said Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst has shown interest in helping with the removal and transport of the trains as a community service project.
Suter said she saw no reason to delay a ruling or give the trust more time. “There is no plan to preserve these trains,” she said. “There has been nothing offered to the court of credible evidence of a plan. You admitted this has been intensely litigated, but maybe you should have been intensely looking for a solution if this is a labor of love as you have represented and if you planned to preserve these trains.”
Pemberton Township Mayor David Patriarca has been the main force behind the attempted removal of the large artifacts. He has described the rail cars as eyesores and a liability to the town. The trust has called the trains “the finest collection in New Jersey.”
The feud between the township and the trust dates back to February 2011, when the group violated an agreement by adding a locomotive to the fleet of rail cars in the backyard of the station.
The move prompted Patriarca to close the station, which the nonprofit trust had operated as a regional history museum for more than a decade. Since then, he also has closed a nature trail behind the station yard. Both remain closed and township attorney, Andrew Bayer, on Friday said questions about the future of both should be directed at Patriarca, who was not in court.
“The trust doesn’t have the willingness or the ability to move the trains and the township doesn’t want to be in the business of removing and selling these trains,” Bayer said, arguing for a receiver to be named by the court. “The trust’s position has been delay, delay, delay. Very little substantive effort has been made.”
Garrett disputed that the trust was ignoring the court order. “It’s true there have been no solutions that have come to fruition. (The trust) has been working on it, making contacts and the trust has not been successful.” He said he believed MountHolly was very interested in acquiring the trains and hopes “it will be a go. It would be the perfect solution. The train collection would remain intact.”
About 10 months ago, the trust approached MountHolly officials to relocate the large vehicles to a vacant station between Pine Street and Madison Avenue. The hub has served as home to a variety of restaurants and a thrift store over the years. A deal never came to fruition as the sought land was owned by three individual owners including a private owner, Conrail and the Mount Holly Municipal Utilities Authority. The Trust also is responsible for funding the moving of the trains, which could cost up to $80,000, according to previous estimates.
The township also has attempted to have the county take over the station as an addition to its Rails to Trails program, but CountyFreeholders balked at the acquisition because of the liability issues and the continuous litigation between the trust and the township. The original plan was to trade the station for county-owned land between the PembertonTownshipMunicipalBuilding and the former ButtonwoodHospital on Pemberton-Browns Mills Road.
Danielle Camilli: 609-267-7586;
email: ;
Twitter: @BCTDanielle
Mark Zimmaro: 609-871-8059;
email: ; Twitter: @mzimmaro