Upcoming NJERHS Events

Monthly Meetings

  • Every Third Tuesday of the month, 7:00 PM - Membership Meeting via Zoom and weather permitting, at the historic Merchants and Drovers Tavern in Rahway, located at 1632 St. Georges Avenue in Rahway, New Jersey, on the corner of St. Georges Avenue (Route 27) and Westfield Avenue. There is parking in the yard behind the building, accessed from Westfield Avenue.

    Please note: we are returning to an old NJERHS tradition of 7:00 PM meetings!

    The meetings consist of an informal gathering at 6:30 PM with food (Dutch treat - everyone pays for their own). A brief business meeting is held at 7:00 PM, followed by a presentation lasting roughly an hour and a half. Upcoming presentation entertainment appears on the list below!


    Please email njerhs_meetings@outlook.com before 6:00 PM on 3rd Tuesday for program details and a Zoom link to the meeting.

    • Dec. 17, 2024 - George La Pierre will be presenting a short documentary about the Chicago underground railway, and a collection of 1950's home movies, again contributed to the Society by Trustee, Bill McKelvey. Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • Nov. 19, 2024 - George La Pierre continues presenting additional Pennsylvania traction postcards, from the Frank Miklos collection. Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • Oct. 15, 2024 - George La Pierre will be presenting a recently scanned group of Pennsylvania traction postcards, from the Frank Miklos collection. Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • Sept. 17, 2024 - George La Pierre continues last month’s program with additional footage of the Lehigh Valley Transit Company’s final years. Also courtesy of Bill McKelvey, is a relatively short video of passenger cars being delivered to East Broad Top, from the early 1990's. Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • Aug. 20, 2024 - Member George La Pierre will be presenting video footage of the Lehigh Valley Transit Company’s final years, courtesy of Bill McKelvey’s collection. Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • July 16, 2024 - Long time supporter Rich Taylor will present a program of Canadian electric railroads. Due to the 18th century air conditioning at the Merchants and Drovers Tavern Museum, this will be a Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • June 18, 2024 - Mitch Dakelman will be presenting a collection of recently scanned images of North Jersey traction, including some color slides, as well as some negatives from, the late, North Jersey Chapter NRHS, which may not be familiar. Zoom meeting, exclusively.

      Mitch says:

      "FROM GLASS PLATES TO DIGITAL : New Jersey's streetcar heritage from its beginnings to the present.

      The glass plates were collected by Ira Deutch before they were trashed by PSE&G, forerunners of the PSNJ streetcar system. Today it’s operated by New Jersey Transit.

      There are 8x10 black and white negatives, on glass, and cover the building of the New Jersey Public Service System, including, northern New Jersey, Jersey City, Hoboken and southern Jersey.

      Over the years, New Jersey's streetcar system has been well documented, primarily through Albert Creamer, another PSE&G employee who saved prints, negatives, and photographed streetcar systems throughout the country. This collection was once part of the North Jersey Chapter of the NRHS, and was handed over to me after the passing of Mrs. Wright, who curated this collection for many years. Other photographers came out and covered the last runs of Atlantic City and Shore Fast Line, and of course, Newark's famous subway PCC cars.

      There are thousands of negatives and prints, dating to the early 20th century, as well as, photo albums and maps. It will take a great deal of time to digitize all of this material, which has been added to the NRHS Photo Gallery on the National Railway Historical Society's website.

      On top of that, starting in 1982, I began to collect color slides of railroad subjects, starting with the Pennsylvania Railroad's GG1's, a project that I did with the late Joseph Van Hoorebeke, Jr.

      So., we will add some color slides of PSNJ from the late 1940s, also Atlantic City and Shore Fast Line, which had been documented on Kodachrome.

      This is still in the works, so we'll see what we will have on show day!

      Presented by
      Mitchell E. Dakelman
      Photo Curator, NRHS

    • May 21, 2024 - Through the generosity of Trustee McKelvey and the assistance of member Mitch Dakelman, we have permission, from the copyright owner, for a public viewing of "Public Service Coordinated Transport: Trolleys and All-Service Vehicles" by Mark I Productions. If all goes well, everyone will want to stop the film, back up, and discuss what they see. We also have the end of "Trolleys of the Northeast.." Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • April 16, 2024 - Award winning rail photographer George Hiotis (Trains Magazine, The Center For Railroad Photography and Arts, etc.) will present selected electric railroad images from his lifetime collection.

      From his bio: "George is a professional photographer from Clark, New Jersey, whose career is a result of having borrowed the family camera to take pictures of trains. He made his very first picture at the Jersey Central station in nearby Westfield in the mid-1950s, and his interest advanced beyond the hobby stage in the early 1970s. He has nurtured a great passion for railroads, in both their mechanical and human aspects, most often aiming for an unusual representation. His work, which has appeared in both general- interest and railroad publications, spans a wide variety of subjects. He has won two grand prizes as well as first and second prizes in the Trains magazine photo contests, plus second and third prizes in the Center for Railroad Photography & Art contests."

      He will be showing work including: Mattapan Trolley, San Francisco PCC cars, Milwaukee Road, New Haven (early 1960s), New York Central (early 1960s) and PRR. Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • March 19, 2024 - George La Pierre will be presenting a digital collection of vintage Al Creamer films from the late 1940’s graciously donated by Bill McKelvey. The videos primarily cover northeastern traction and steam.

    • Feb. 20, 2024 -   This month: Entertainment will be by Jack May, long time railfan and member of the Society as well as the Electric Railroaders Association. Jack will present light rail material from his fall 2023 visit to California, emphasizing major developments in the last five years, including  BART and its new fleet; the VTA system in the San Jose area; San Francisco’s Muni including the new tunnel to Chinatown and historic streetcars and cable cars; the SMART DMU system in Marin County; and in the Los Angeles area the new K-Crenshaw line, the underground regional connector, and the Arrow DMU line from San Bernardino to Redlands. Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • Jan. 16, 2024 - Acting President, Bill Keigher will present footage of St. Petersburg, Russia (~70 mins.). Zoom meeting, exclusively.

    • Dec 19, 2023 - Many images and some broadcast TV from the Nov. 30 re-dedication of 2651. Acting President, Bill Keigher will present vintage footage of the Sacramento Northern (~50 min.) and trolleys from DC., Baltimore, Atlantic City and Boston (~35 min.). Zoom meeting, exclusively.

  • Ongoing - Exhibit
    “The New Jersey Trolley Era” is soon to be on display at the Phillipsburg Union Train Station.