Tearing Down My Layout For The Garden State

Welcome to NJ. Somerset county is nice, my son went to private school in the Gladstone area, it is still very 'horse' country-ish. It has access to route 78, which takes you to Newark, but in the morning that can be a rough commute, 78 often has tie ups on it (without heavy traffic from Somerset to Newark Airport would be about 35, 40 minutes).  I would avoid Essex and Passaic counties, their property taxes are sky high. You may want to check out Morris County, from where I live it is a fairly quick trip via 24-78 to Newark airport and there are towns with decent taxes around where i live as well (I live not that far from locolawyer it seems).

 

Wish you luck, hope it all works out!

 

Did you not tell Dennis to stand over the DUMB truck drivers and HAWK(intimidate) them until WEEEEE admit WEEEEE are not the brightest light bulbs in the pack???  You are harmless...but Dennis sells guns...OMG!!!

bob anson: Building a new house in Nocatee-Willow Cove community.

I sometimes work in NJ and find myself at hotels with my box trailer and never had  a problem. I wouldn't do that in Newark though. Fred

"without heavy traffic from Somerset to Newark Airport would be about 35, 40 minutes"

 

When is there not heavy traffic on I78   Maybe 3 in the morning but its worse than 75 in Atlanta

 

 

Hey Spider 

I might be a little weird but I know exactly what Ron is talking about

I agree with Frank 100% I will be in a similar situation and I've looked at buying a cargo trailer just to pack the trains in and tow it myself. The cost of the trailer will be about $1700-$2500 which isn't a whole lot more than the cost of time and materials to build shipping cases (that could disappear anyway) and is far less than having the equipment disappear in transit. If you can't do that, packing and labeling them in a manner that doesn't draw attention is the best alternative.

Or do this.  Pack the boxes yourself and video everything you pack.  Make sure to include items you borrow for the day from friends who have things you covet.  Stop filming then unpack the borrowed items and return them to your friends.  Have company paid movers ship everything.  Once in NJ, film the unpacking and express great horror at the missing items.  File a loss/damage claim and get some new toys!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before you flame me with comments, recognize this was 100% a joke. 

Thank you Ben...it is a sad state of affairs when ONE builds himself up by tearing others down.  I had a touch of that myself until I saw how it looks in PRINT!!! Guess I never got over the Paterson comment from a year ago...who knows why?  I'm 4 hours away!!!  Then the Rhodes Scholar comment!!! New Jersey is a great State...I travel overnite to every little town...the Seashore, the Mountains...the METRO area.  Lotsa people...lotsa lifestyles...ENUF SAID...sorry for thinking aloud!!! I was joking with Frank...not funny I guess...Ron B.

Nice, useful information.

 

Now has anyone used one of those storage facilities to temporarily store their trains and other items?   For example; someone is moving and they want to pack those items up that they want to move themselves.  They will not have access to their new house for maybe a month so they plan to rent a storage unit close by their new house.  When they finally move in to their new house they plan on emptying the rental unit and bringing everything over.

 

So, is this a safe and viable alternative for moving one's models and such?   These storage units advertise the fact that one needs special keys and such to gain access and they have cameras located throughout the property.

 

Thanks in advance,

Steve

Thanks for the info Fred. We will be staying at a residence inn type of place for the first few months we are there which isn't in Newark. My problem then is where do I store them until the final move. I more than likely will look at a climate controlled self-storage place.

Bigkid, I wasn't looking at Morris County originally, but I've been hearing good things about it recently. We will definitely check it out. I am very interested in tax rates coming from a state with no income tax.

Matt, where will you be moving to? I've decided I'm going to do the trailer thing as well for peace of mind.

There is a term used on the NJ radio show that describes the tax rates in NJ.  Bend Over Here It Comes.  We tax everything and what we don't tax we have fees that are not called taxes but serve the same purpose.  Oh and if you buy a house in NJ and then want to leave there is an exit tax.  The plus side is there are lots of train shows, some good hobby shops, and NJHighrailers should not be missed.

Andy

Half our building is empty  We can probably work something out in a locked room for you

Job hunting in Texas (Houston and Dallas) Where I get the job will determine where/when I move. Dallas has heat, snow, and the occasional tornado; Houston has humidity and the occasional hurricane; San Bernardino and Los Angeles have bankrupt local governments (and other issues I don't want to go into a rant about.)

Hey Dennis PRR2818, actually Piscataway is on our radar screen for places to look at.

Where in NJ are you going?

My wife & I just moved to Charlotte from NJ (Matawan) this past summer for her job.  It's been hard having to adjust from a basement size layout to a bedroom size layout (not really many basements down here)

I've lived in NJ my whole life. For all the bad stuff about this state there is a lot of good also. One of the nice things about NJ is the varied types of places to live. You have country areas, city areas, mountains, waterways and everything in between. I would decide on what type of area you would like to live in and how long of a commute your wife is willing to deal with and go from there.

*ahem* ... mountains?

i lived in a town called Mountainside and i wouldn't even call that a mountain.

 

Lionel chose the right town...

 

 

tend to agree with everything else.

...gary

Your town, being where it is, is definitely misnamed.  Go to the nortwest part of the state in Sussex County and you've got some elevation changes.  Now people from the Rockies might laugh, but there's enough to ski in NJ.

Isn't the so-called "exit tax" actually just a withholding against a large Capital Gains on the sale of the house?

 

Really, Ben?  How much??  Send me an e-mail!!      

 

- Mike

Piscataway is ok - just have to watch because it gets bound up with traffic between Rutgers and the corporate campuses. The Somerset Hills are is nice, Far Hills (where i currently live), Bernardsville, Bedminster and Peapack-Gladstone all have stable taxes compared to some surrounding towns.

I digress but this is serious. Someone above mentioned moving trains and guns.

Whatever you do, make sure you do not pack any guns with your trains.

The following is a very good source/ discussion of what you are faced with as you move from Florida to NJ. If you are caught bringing a gun into NJ you will be meeting a lot of new people who are not interested in trains.

http://www.gunlawguide.com/

I thought that you had to pay an 'exit tax' almost any time that you use a bridge or tunnel to leave NJ.  Crossing into NJ is free, but leaving generally costs.  

Hey Andy! Are you up here yet? id you find a place to settle yet?

Hey Dennis, thanks for asking. The answer to your question is yes and no. We have moved into a temporary residence in Union. My wife is here now working fulltime in her job. I have been up here for 2 weeks looking at homes and getting her settled in. We are going to be out in Morris County tomorrow (Sat.) to look at new construction. I am returning to Florida Monday to wrap things up in the next couple of weeks. My plan then is to rent a trailer and move my train stuff up here. At that point I am here to stay. One great thing about our temporary abode is that we are next door to Union's train station. I can sit on the third floor and watch the 1:1 scale to my little heart's content. How sweet is that?!?! If we decide to build, I'll get to watch the big boys until December.

LOL, if you look out the window, Tuesday thru Fri Morning at approx 6am the Inbound to Newark and then Monday thru Thursday the Outbound to Dunellen, at approx. 735pm wave at the Train! I will be on it!

Good Luck on the house hunt and keep us posted!

Hard to beat Morris County IMHO. I lived in Morristown and commuted from Morris Plains to Hoboken/NYC via the old Lackawana Electrics during the 1970s. 

 

Lived in Elizabeth and worked in Newark's Ironbound in earlier times. Morris County was a major upgrade. 

Andy another good NJ area is Hunterton County around Clinton off of Rt. 78 west of Somerset County.  Quiet country side plenty of hunting & fishing at Spruce Run & Round Valley Resivor.  Living about 1 mile off of Rt 78 it took me less than a hour to get to NJ High-Railers leaving at 4 pm for our weekly meetings on Wed. afternoon. Drive time 45 minutes to Newark, Philly airports or the Pocono mountains.  Any questions drop me a line, address in my profile.

 

Jack