In Pemberton Township, a dispute over over historic locomotives

Decades ago, the trains used to stop at the quaint brick railroad station in Pemberton, then chug away again to Fort Dix and other towns on the way to Hightstown.

But two historic locomotives and 10 rail cars now at the station aren't going anywhere, if the Pemberton Township Historic Trust has its way - even though a judge has ordered their removal.

The nonprofit trust, which opened the station as a museum in 1999, was told Friday by Superior Court Judge Karen Suter to find a new location for the cars within 60 days. The ruling came after a long battle between the township and the trust over the fate of the cars, which officials have called an eyesore.

There's a problem, though, said Michael Tamn, the trust's president. His organization lacks the money for such a monumental move - not to mention the permits to move the cars on public roads and a location willing to accept them.

"It would take a miracle," said Tamn, 78, of Mount Holly. "The move could cost more than $80,000."

The trust will appeal the court decision, he said, and hopes eventually to reopen the station for public tours.

Passenger service ended there in 1969 and freight service stopped in the late 1970s.

About 20 years passed before the station found a new role as a museum with static displays and long-term plans for a short operating rail line providing rides.

But a dispute arose between the town and the nonprofit over the arrival a locomotive from the old John A. Roebling Co. steel mill in Florence.

The township said the addition violated the terms of its license to operate the Pemberton station. It closed the site to trust members in June 2011, and the council later voted to rescind the lease with the trust, Tamn said.

Trust volunteers said the township was concerned about liability issues, though it hadn't taken any action after the acquisition and storage of other cars over the last several years.

Mayor David Patriarca could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

The move of the rail cars could help open the way for a land-swap agreement, originally proposed in 2009 between the township and Burlington County.

In the proposal, Pemberton would give the 15.1-acre station and adjacent rail property to Burlington County in exchange for 11.1 acres of county-owned land next to the township's municipal complex on Browns Mills-Pemberton Road. The feud over the fate of the rail cars seemed to delay those plans.

"We want to resolve the issue so we can serve the people and have children come in and learn about the history of South Jersey and Burlington County," Tamn said. "We worked off of donations and never asked for money from the township."

The township-owned Pemberton station was built in 1892 by John S. Rogers of Moorestown and replaced a wood-frame station that burned in November 1891. It's on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.

The trust volunteers help raise money for the station's needs each year. They will hold their annual Train, Toy and Collectible Show from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 17 at Pemberton Township High School in the 100 block of Arney's Mount Road in Pemberton.

"I would like to see [the dispute] just go away," said Adrienne Leonard, vice president of the trust and a longtime township resident. "I'm praying all the time to see it end."

"Other towns have train stations and made use of them, and we were well on the way to doing the same when this happened," she said.