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I never had a chance to visit Marty's layout or sign his wall, but I met and chatted with him, and with his beloved companion, Dottie Perry, many times at the York Meet. He was a true ambassador for this hobby and just a wonderful guy to know. Trust me, he is much missed, not just by me, but by a great many in the hobby. And he will always be fondly remembered. Dottie remains one of my faithful Facebook friends.

Last edited by Allan Miller
@BenLMaggi posted:

And for those of us who are new, can you explain what this is? Thanks.

There was a guy named Marty Fitzhenry who was a legend in the O Gauge railroading world  Marty Passed away in 2020  He had a section of his layout that he asked everybody that visited his layout to sign   The picture is the piece of the wall with all the signatures 

I want to thank all of you NJ Hi Railers who took the time and made the effort to preserve the heart of the layout.  The bench work would have been impossible to save,  but you got the important stuff.  Thanks to your efforts Marty's memory and legacy will live on for decades to come.  Dotty P (aka Betty for a few days)

@necrails posted:

Saving the spirit of this layout if important, i hope it can be replicated in some form at the paterson location.

That’s going to be hard to do but you wil see many recognizable pieces from it on our layout.  The first thing I plan to place is the model of Marty’s house that Alex m built.  Just have to find some corvettes to go with it

Last edited by bluelinec4

Taking down Marty's layout was, in every way, a tough job. Along with the emotional difficulty, it was physically difficult as he built it like a fortress. I spent a lot of time on top of the benchwork that held Marty's large passenger yard, and it was rock-solid. I think it could've held a real GG1.

The signature wall was pretty much the last item we removed. After careful inspection, it appeared that it wasn't sheetrock, but instead it was a thin masonite board fastened to the wall with brads. It's as if Marty had planned that the wall would someday be removed and preserved. It came off very easily, but I was sweating bullets as I went around it with my prybar!!

John

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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