M J Breen posted:Wow! I grew up in Wayne, NJ and used to go to Flemington and Little Hobby all the time when I was just a kid! I haven’t thought about that place in years. I think the scenic railroad that ran there was called Black River and Western if I’m remembering correctly? We used to put pennies on the tracks that would get flattened when the train ran by.
Yes that’s the Black River & Western. It operates an old CNJ branch from Three Bridges where they interchange with the Nonsense Southern (NS) down to Flemington, Ringos and Lambertville which is the old PRR Bel-Del line.
They currently run tourist trains from Flemington to Ringos with stations in both places, and thanks to the large effort by their volunteers have reopened the line south of Ringos as far as Bowne Station Road. It’s been 20+ years since a train ran to Lambertville but to their credit they are making steady progress on restoring the service. The problem is there’s really nothing for the railroad in Lambertville besides the station (i.e. no freight or revenue). I was a kid and remember riding behind their steam locomotive #60 to Lambertville and listening as the #60 did a whistle salute back and forth to the New Hope & Ivyland’s #40 on the other side of the river, what a great sound.
They currently have their steam engine running, but the tourist railroad is shut down for the season to reopen in March I believe?
Sorry to side track the topic - here’s hoping Northlandz can salvage the operation. Having visited Minatur Wunderland in Germany several times, I can see the potential tourist attraction a large and great layout can have.
Miniatur Wunderland is on my bucket list. I’ve been to Germany a few times since entering this hobby. Either too far away on business, or too tied up with family. If we’re discussing model trains, we can’t go off track.
