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Hi all:

The OCSMR club in Lakewood, New Jersey on the Jackson and Howell borders of Lakewood serving the Monmouth/Ocean Counties has moved from All Saints Episcopal Church in Lakewood where we have been located there since 1992. We vacated the church basement completely on September 24, 2016 and are now located inside Pine Park in Kuser Hall sharing the building with the Lakewood Historical Museum next to Lakewood Country Club and Maggie's restaurant off of West County Line Road on the Lakewood/Jackson border. Our club www.ocsmr.com is a dual gauge club with HO and O gauge combined in one club. Last night was our first meeting in our new home as a club.

A little history behind why we made the move. Since we were located in a basement of a church for 24 years that has been around for close to 100 years, we had a small problem with the last, not the current pastor, it was time to look elsewhere for another location. We were able to move to an old boys school built in 1927 called “The Newman School” into Kuser Hall which is 1 of 5 buildings that was left untouched by Lakewood township and was the science and physics building. It is built like a fortress with poured concrete walls and bricked ceilings and can withstand any rumblings from God.

The move did come with costs involved to our club. We had to fully renovate a basement of a school built in the1920's that ceased operation in the 1960's. All I can say it was a task that started 2 years ago for us with the result now that we have 2 operating layouts that are being landscaped and scenicked.

You can google map us with our name or us our address,1550 Country Club Lane for directions if you want to visit us. So our club will continue to be known as the Ocean County Society of Model Railroaders. Check our website, (www.ocsmr.com), and facebook page for updates of what we started out with at Kuser Hall and where we are at now.

Thanks.

Last edited by Ted Bertiger
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HO has their own room across the hallway from us. Our O gauge room is about 18 x 35 feet and the HO room is about 20 x 40 as they had the added area which was at first to be the kitchen/repair area for both. Plans did change and we were able to build a separate room for O and S Gauge repairs within a large room down the hallway. When the school operated, that entire room served as the coal bunker with the shute being  still intact on the wall and the large coal furnace is right at the doorway there.

Also, in the basement is an original science room lab. At each end of the hallway, we have 2 storage rooms/closets that we re-built the wood studded walls to keep our modular layouts, etc.

Also, both rooms were about the same condition when we started renovating. Hallway was not in much better shape. Many, many hours of sweat labor went into restoring those areas.

Last edited by Ted Bertiger

Actually, the O-gauge room is 18 by 36 feet.  The new layout occupies about the same area as the Church layout did.  The shape and wider aisles make the size of the new layout somewhat smaller.  The new layout has a shorter track run (about 150 feet per loop) but there are 4 loops instead of 3 as on the old layout (200 feet each).  So, overall track run is about the same.  The HO-gauge room is 18 by 32 feet.  It was in  better shape than the O-gauge room.

Attached are pix of a recent shot of the O-gauge layout with the same view as the first pic and a view of the HO-gauge room viewed in about the same orientation as the first O-gauge pic.

 

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Images (2)
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Last edited by LocoBudd

The O gauge layout photo that Bud just posted with the windows closed up in the rear is the same view of the room with my initial photo. 

QUITE A DIFFERENCE YOU THINK ? We took off about 5,000 pounds of plaster mixed with some concrete off the walls and ceiling, ran electric in the ceiling for the LED lighting, for the AC units and for the 2 ceiling fans. Then double painted all the walls and ceiling.  One heck of a labor Job! 

 

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:
Joe Mania posted:

You guys have come a long way. I can't wait to come see for myself. 

Wait I think I know you. Didn't you do work for my friend? A lionel postwar S2 Turbine? I think you gave him a break on the bill or something for a Christmas gift.

That's certainly possible. Young guy just getting into the hobby?

Joe Mania posted:
RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:
Joe Mania posted:

You guys have come a long way. I can't wait to come see for myself. 

Wait I think I know you. Didn't you do work for my friend? A lionel postwar S2 Turbine? I think you gave him a break on the bill or something for a Christmas gift.

That's certainly possible. Young guy just getting into the hobby?

Yeah, I think he gave it to you at a train show in Milltown, NJ last year..

RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:
Joe Mania posted:
RaritanRiverRailroadFan4 posted:
Joe Mania posted:

You guys have come a long way. I can't wait to come see for myself. 

Wait I think I know you. Didn't you do work for my friend? A lionel postwar S2 Turbine? I think you gave him a break on the bill or something for a Christmas gift.

That's certainly possible. Young guy just getting into the hobby?

Yeah, I think he gave it to you at a train show in Milltown, NJ last year..

Yup, that was me. 

Hello Ted:

It’s been a long time since we spoke but I wanted to thank you for your story covering the clubs move.

As much as I like operating with our modular club, it would also be nice to have a more permanent location like you and your club now has.

Don’t do as much traveling as I use to, but if I’m in the area I will be sure to contact you.

Please keep posting updates when possible and have a great day.

Charlie

Charlie,

Our club always had a permanent location for the past 24 years in a church basement and we paid rent and utilities. We have moved to Kuser Hall, an old boys school which was called The Newman School that stopped operating in the 60's and the building was pretty much left abandoned for almost 50 years. We had to clean up and renovate the basement which took many months, about 2 years worth of sweat and labor to get where we are at now.

Our next project is soldering all the gargraves track on the 2- O gauge lines which we have done about 40% of them. We still have 2 more loops to build. Going to have 4 operating lines on this layout.

Last edited by Ted Bertiger

Pix to where we are now with trackwork.  Plywood was covered with 2x4 ceiling tiles glued to the plywood with reverse side up.

2016-06-04 005

2016-06-04 006

2016-06-04 011

2016-06-25 002

Scribing track lines.

2016-06-25 004

Track laying apprentice begins his training.

2016-07-09 003

2016-07-16 002

2016-07-28 003

Apprentice graduates at the top of his class.

2016-07-30 004

2016-08-06 002

2016-08-13 001

End of track........?

2016-08-15 002

First run.

2016-08-19 002

2016-08-27 005

2016-08-31 001

2016-09-02 002

Fine tuning the position of the roundhouse.

2016-09-30 004

2016-10-08 002

 Start of track 3.

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Images (19)
  • 2016-06-04 005
  • 2016-06-04 006
  • 2016-06-04 011
  • 2016-06-25 002
  • 2016-06-25 004
  • 2016-07-09 003
  • 2016-07-16 002
  • 2016-07-28 003
  • 2016-07-30 004
  • 2016-08-06 002
  • 2016-08-13 001
  • 2016-08-15 002
  • 2016-08-19 002
  • 2016-08-27 005
  • 2016-08-31 001
  • 2016-09-02 002
  • 2016-09-30 004
  • 2016-09-30 006
  • 2016-10-08 002
Last edited by LocoBudd

Bud's apprentice aka "butch in training" has progressed through a few levels of training.

Level one- track laying, bending curves on pre-cut forms, using the proper amount of screws to secure track to ceiling tiles. We only ordered 10,000 Screws! I am working with a Screw Ball! 

Level two- soldering rails together, wiring between the rail joints and soldering.

Level three- cutting rails properly with Dremel tool ( just completed that training last Saturday). 

And so we go onto track #3. Should get interesting afterwards when we have to do the elevated part.

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