PORT JERVIS, N.Y. — Non-profit initiative Erie Turntable has announced its lineup of events for 2025, including plans for the inaugural Orange County Transportation Festival in August.
The Port Jervis turntable site, leased by Erie Turntable parent organization TOYX, will be open Saturdays and Sundays from May 10 through Oct. 12 from noon to 4 p.m. for displays of exhibits and equipment. A full schedule is available here. Restoration projects to be the focus of the organization’s efforts in 2025 include an Erie Railroad “Dunmore” caboose to be restored to its 1946 appearance, a 1974 Erie Lackawanna boxcar, and Conrail’s Safety-on-Rails-Theater boxcar. Other equipment slated for painting includes an operable U.S. Army 18-ton locomotive from World War II, a Reading Co. boxcar, and three passenger cars.
“This year’s restorations are focused on equipment with direct ties to Port Jervis,” Rudy Garbely, fleet manager for TOYX, said in a press release. “We’re preserving the skills and knowledge of generations of local railroaders and keeping over 170 years of history alive through our ongoing maintenance and restoration work at the Erie Turntable.”
May 10 will also feature a four-course dinner aboard TOYX’s 1949 Lackawanna Railroad dining car, which has just completed a two-year restoration. The dinner will feature railroad recipes from the 1940s and 1950s prepared in the car’s kitchen. Seating is limited; reservations can be made here. Other dining events will be held throughout the year.
The Transportation Festival will be held Aug. 31 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will feature classic cars, fire trucks, construction equipment, and other vehicles, as well as live demonstration of the facility’s turntable and locomotives. More information on that event is available here.
For more in Erie Turntable, visit the organization’s website.
We stopped by the museum in the rail car when it first opened. The volunteer asked if we were from the area, I said no, he asked where we were from. I answered with Massachusetts, he said I guess they have trains there, then walked away. If they wish to be successful in their mission, they should be more receptive to visitors from out of state. This is especially important when you consider the location is only about 3 miles of Interstate 84 a major highway between New England and Scranton PA.