Asbury Park, NJ A New Jersey Non-Profit Corporation
Established 1963 100% NMRA
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The Garden State Central Model Railroad Club is Leaving our headquarters of 35 years in Asbury Park due to the sale
of the building. We are looking to relocate to a home where a new museum quality display can be built and opened for the general
public on select days. It will just be the second move in the 46 year history of the club which was founded in 1963 in Long Branch, N.J.
Here is a link to a PDF file that explains how you can help
See pictures here on our website of our former HO-gauge layout with a 300 foot mainline which traverses four rooms.
The railroad featured prototype scenes of the Lehigh Valley, Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), Reading and Erie railroads, modeled after actual places along our route from Scranton,
PA to Jersey City, NJ. The layout featured the huge Bethlehem Steel Mill in Bethlehem, PA -- a fantastic model built almost entirely from scratch! Trains roll past the REA building and the
infamous Coney Island Texas Weiners in Scranton, past the well-known blue tank in Allentown and call on the docks of Jersey City complete with it's operating McMyler coal dumper... all in 1:87th scale!
Sadly, we lost our home and this layout is gone, but we can't wait to get started on our next one!
The Club Visits Rick Spano's Sceniced & Undecided Railway
See more pictures of our visit.
Jim Judge routing traffic during the operating session on Rick Spano's Scenic & Undecided Railway.
The whole gang
front row kneeling: Rob Davis, Jim Judge, George Speidel
back row: Frank, Jimmy Niedermaier, George Gojdics, Jules Heiliczer,
Bob Judge, Billy Brown, Danny Brown and Rick & Linda Spano.
The Club's 'Thursday Morning Modeling Group' visits Manville yard and Bound Brook
to watch some trains run.
The Club's 'Thursday Morning Modeling Group' made up of members off on Thursday mornings or retired, went to Princeton Junction N.J.
to watch some trains run.
The Last Run in Asbury Park was a great sendoff. It gave
many of our loyal fans a chance to see our wonderful layout one more time. It
also gave many new people a chance to see what we can do. Just wait 'till they see our next layout!
Communipaw on the Garden State Central
Here is a timeless shot of Communipaw New Jersey on our Garden State Central layout. Most of the work was done by Mike Curry,
with the help of a few friends.
Photo by Rob Davis
Pictures of Past Members Out Having Fun
This is one of many pictures supplied by member Tony Organek of members out on railfanning trips. Check them out. Rob Davis came up with some information
but as you can see we need more.
GSC Model Takes First Place at NMRA Meet
We took the model of the Lehigh Valley railroad tug "Bethlehem" that the late Frank Machinsky had built to the
NMRA division meet in Wilmington Delaware.The meet was hosted by the Delaware
guys in conjunction with the Philadelphia and South Jersey divisions. The contest for the meet was
railroad marine. I thought that Frank's beautiful model should get a chance to shine. Well, it won first place and
I could see Frank smiling at that.
Cub Scouts Visit Club Modules at Camp Evans
Cub Scouts from Pack 66 in Edison visit the Garden State
Central's modular layout at Info Age Learning Center at Camp Evans.
Photos by Steve Lang
Some of the 60 scouts who visited that day.
Jim Judge runs trains for the scouts. Jim and Club member Steve Lang
showed the scouts the fun you can have with model railroading.
"40 Best" Slide Night A Big Success
Friday night's 40 best slide night had a great turnout. The festivities featured
slides, digital images and video. The subjects were varied and held the crowd's
interested until after midnight.
See the Pictures
The creator and director. Jim Judge setting things up.
The assistant director Mike Curry.
The Circus Comes to Easton
Bob Judge's circus truck comes out from under the Lehigh Valley Passenger Station in Easton on the Garden State Central.
5 Club members run the New York and Long Branch 05/03/2008
George Speidel, Dave Albertson, Jules Heiliczer, Bob Judge and Jim Judge pose next to Bradley Beach Yard on Dave
Albertson's New York and Long Branch layout. They ran 2 operating sessions for visitors from the NMRA division meet.
Dave's well detailed layout is prototypical with many buildings being scratchbuilt. A great time was had by all!
New Video Added
We've just added a new video of the McMyler dumper in action to our YouTube videos.
Profile shot of the CNJ's McMyler dumper on Pier 18 in Jersey City, NJ.
Mike Curry setting up a Friday night operating session.
Bob Judge switching Keyser Valley Yard.
Dave Albertson enjoying running Scranton's Taylor Yard.
Magnets used for routing during operations
For the last month we have been
running operating sessions on most Tuesday and Friday nights. This is
first time the club schedule has been run using DCC. It really adds to
the flavor of the session. You must really be aware of where you are
and where other trains are too. Running into another train is always a
possibility and congestion around yard areas means everyone must pay
attention. On the plus side, the realism is enhanced and things like
helper engines and realistic switching make the session fun. Most of
the engines (but not all) have sound and this adds to the enjoyment. To
hear a busy yard with switch engines moving cuts of cars while
passenger trains head for the station and a mixed freight pulls into
the yard, with horns signaling and bells ringing can be about as close
as you can get to real railroading without a railfanning trip. See more
pictures of operations on the Garden State Central.
