STATEMENT

To our followers and supporters,

The last eight or nine days have shown a massive, near-unanimous outpouring of both public and industry support for TOYX’s preservation activities at the Erie Turntable site in Port Jervis, New York. Our social media pages, email accounts, and even our snail mail inbox have been overrun by hundreds of messages, and I apologize to those who have not received a personalized response. I would like to personally thank each and every person who has reached out with offers of assistance or simply kind sentiments.

We’ve made numerous social media posts over the past few days outlining just a small portion of the trials and obstacles we’ve endured in trying to build a historic site from scratch over the past four years. However, I personally believe these posts have missed the human cost that this effort has taken. TOYX is a non-profit organization staffed entirely by volunteers. In 2024 alone, a total of 72 TOYX volunteers spent a combined 2,081 hours working at the Erie Turntable site to construct and improve public exhibits, acquire and conserve artifacts, and maintain the City-owned property. What we’ve achieved over the last four years at the site is the result of the selflessness and dedication of these TOYX members as they sacrificed their time and energy to preserve and interpret the City’s railroading history.

These volunteers, most of whom do not live within City limits, are heartbroken that all of their efforts appear to have been in vain. The City’s decisions not only result in the departure of historic railcars and irreplaceable artifacts, but 72 individuals who wanted to make the City of Port Jervis a better and brighter place and were willing to freely give their time and skills to make that happen. The entire concept that these volunteers were contributing to is being torn out from under them.

We don’t want to leave. Our volunteers want to keep coming to Port Jervis on weeknights and weekends to restore and preserve the very railcars once used by city residents’ fathers and grandfathers. The city’s residents want the irreplaceable memories and artifacts of their ancestors, owned and preserved by our non-profit organizations, to stay here and be cherished in perpetuity. However, the City of Port Jervis is the only body with the decisionmaking power to change the course of events that they have already set in motion.

While we appreciate every message of support we have received, I urge our followers to instead put that effort into contacting the City’s elected representatives. Commenting on our social media posts makes our volunteers feel as though their efforts are recognized, but it does little to change the tide of what is occurring here. Go to City Council meetings, talk to councilmembers on the street, or reach out to them directly at www.portjervisny.gov/citycouncil and tell them you want both TOYX and the Tri-States Railway Preservation Society (and the historic artifacts and railcars owned by both organizations) to stay here in Port Jervis where they belong. Without a new contract in place with the City, all of what TOYX has built over the past four years – and all of what Tri-States has achieved over the past 40 years - will be gone by July 2026.

This will be our last statement on the subject for the foreseeable future. We are proceeding with our plans to depart, with all of our railcars and artifacts in tow, until and unless the City decides otherwise. Rest assured that regardless of what TOYX’s and Tri-States’ futures may hold, neither organization will sell, donate, or otherwise dispose of or part with any artifacts that represent the people, memories, or history of this city. We remain committed to preserving the history of railroading in Port Jervis, even if we are forced to do so outside city limits.

Sincerely,
Rudy Garbely
TOYX President
rgarbely@toyx.org