Hi all:
The Ocean County Society of Model Railroaders club in Lakewood, New Jersey serving the Monmouth/Ocean Counties on the Jackson/Howell borders of Lakewood has moved from All Saints Episcopal Church in Lakewood where we have been located there since 1992. The club initially was formed in 1987 at an Aamco transmission store on route 88 in Lakewood as a HO club. It became a dual gauge, HO and O club in 1992. We vacated the church basement completely on September 24, 2016 and now located inside Pine Park sharing the building with the Lakewood Historical Museum in Kuser Hall next to Lakewood Country Club and Maggie's restaurant off of West County Line Road on the Lakewood/Jackson/Howell border. Our address in GPS is 502 Country Club Lane.
A little history behind why we made the move. Since we were located in a basement of a church that has been around for close to 100 years, we were having issues with the pastor aka our landlord, it was time to look elsewhere for another location. We were able to secure a new location at an old boys school called "The Newman School" built in 1927 in the basement of Kuser Hall. It is 1 of 5 buildings that was left untouched by Lakewood township which was the science and physics building. It is built like a fortress with poured concrete walls and bricked ceilings.
The move did come with costs involved to our club. We had to fully renovate a basement of a school built in the 1920's that ceased operation in the 1960's. No one has used the basement in many years. It was a task that started in April 2014 for us with the result that we have 2 operating layouts there. One room has the HO layout which is modeling the NY/LB RR from the 50's and the other room has the S and O gauge layout.
We recently signed a 50 year lease with the town of Lakewood for the space we have in Kuser Hall. It guarantees our longevity as long as the club is in existence and can be renewed in October 2074.
You can google map us with our name or use our address, 502 Country Club Lane for directions if you want to visit us. Our club will continue to be known as the Ocean County Society of Model Railroaders. Check our website here, facebook page and the ogaugerr.com online forum in the photo/video section for updates on what we started out with at Kuser Hall and where we are at now.
THE CLUB IS OPEN TO VISITORS ON TUESDAY & FRIDAY NIGHTS FROM 6:30PM-10:00PM AND BY APPOINTMENT. WE ARE NOW CHAIR LIFT ACCESSIBLE TO AND FROM THE BASEMENT. CALL OUR CLUB NUMBER AT (732)363-7799 or email me in my profile.
Thank you,
Ted Bertiger
President-OCSMR
