Real estate partners track down antique trolley car hidden in home

<p>A pair of real estate partners got more than they bargained for when they purchased a foreclosed home in Hamilton Township.</p>

News 12 Staff

Nov 12, 2018, 3:27 AM

Updated 2,003 days ago

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A pair of real estate partners got more than they bargained for when they purchased a foreclosed home in Hamilton Township.
Marc Manfred, of Manfreza Properties, said he and his partner spent three days doing demo for rehab on the house s when they realized there was an antique trolley within the house that they had just bought.
A mobile home was built around the train car, which had been nestled in the residential area for about 80 to 85 years.
Families, through the years, made it their home and made additions around it. Those additions made it nearly impossible for anyone to see the trolley car until new owners purchased the property.
Brandon Breza, of Manfreza Properties, says there were a lot of intact windows, glass, the original wood and trolley door.  He says it was encapsulated of mummified because of the existing structure.
The partners put it up for sale on Facebook and within a day, the post went viral.
The people at Liberty Historic Railway of New Jersey saw the post and offered to fund the removal and restoration of the trolley car.
"There are no other trolley cars from the Capital City of New Jersey that survived, so I said we got to save this..." said Bill McKelvey, of Liberty Historic Railway of New Jersey,
Since then, several contractors have been volunteering their time to help tear down the home.
Later this month, the trolley car will be loaded on an 18-wheeler to Iowa to be restored.
Once the restoration is complete, it will then return to the Garden State and be placed in a museum.  The estimated cost of the renovation is $500,000 The wheels alone are $100,000
The project will be funded by the Liberty Historic Railway of New Jersey


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