A trip to Mercer and then Corner Field Hobbies...well we had to see it.

Great job with the photos, Marty! We will be featuring the Cornerfield layout in a future issue, and I have been in touch a number of times over the past several months or so with Tom and Tom Jr. Was initially planning to get over to do the photos earlier, but Tom wants to wait until the expansion is ready, and I am fine with that. We will give it good exposure in the magazine, and that, I hope, will help to draw even more visitors to their door.

I had hoped to make it over to Mercer yesterday for the motorcycle event held right out in front of Dave's Mercer Junction Train Shoppe, but other tasks assigned by my spouse intervened. Will certainly be over there on Tuesday though for my customary visit to the shop and chat sessions with some of my train pals. Also hoping that an expected new shipment from MTH will be in by then because I have two, and possibly as many as four, new locomotives on order. Will definitely be broke, train-budget-wise, after I write that check!

Marty thanks for sharing , this is a must see for me ! 

Alex 

What a terrific looking layout. I get up that way every once in a while, will be stopping next time.

   Bill T.

Holy smokes, that's aswesome!  I like they way they got that York Hotel from Menards to fit. Looks great with the lights.

Thanks again Marty for sharing. I would love to visit this layout. Can you give us a location/address so that us in the midwest might find it ???

Roger

16720 Pioneer Rd, Middlefield, OH 44062

Northwest of Youngstown, Ohio

WOW ! I just Google earth the address....even has a baseball field. This family has it all.

This layout looks awesome!  Thanks for the photos and videos.  It is now on my list of places to see.  For those who have seen this layout and Mr. Muffin's layout in Atlanta, IN; which do you think is larger?  I saw Mr. Muffin's layout when his store was in Carmel, and it's the largest I've ever seen.  I think his layout now is even larger.

Great layout and great pix!  Thanks!

Marty ... it would be very helpful to offer a geographical location, too.  Thanks!

rthomps posted:

Great layout and great pix!  Thanks!

Marty ... it would be very helpful to offer a geographical location, too.  Thanks!

Northwest of Youngstown, Ohio wast enough?  LOL. Eastern Ohio .. due east of Cleveland.  

That is awesome! 👍  Thanks Marty. 

Wow, never heard of this before but now it’s a must see for me.  I actually end up in Mercer a few times a year to visit the in laws.  Maybe some day I will run into another forumite at Dave’s shop!

Marty and Dave,  Thank you for all the great photographs and videos!  You did a better job than I did of showing everyone the detail and extent of the layout!  If you are anywhere in the area of Northeast Ohio or Northwest Pennsylvania, please allow time for a side trip to Corner Field!!  You will be glad you did!!

I need to go there.

How big is that layout?

I think Dave got that info but I want to say 30' x 80' and they are adding on!

I found this pano I did.  Note the Challenger is stretched and the E8's (I think that's what they were) look like Beeps.

A few other panos...

Speechless. That place is awesome. Road trip!!!

I'm just wondering who built the layout and scenery ?

Freight Train Jim posted:

I'm just wondering who built the layout and scenery ?

Tom Sr. explained that the layout was a family effort.  Some of the buildings were made by another gentleman as I mentioned earlier.  A lot of the buildings are MTH, Lionel, Menard's and others.  A lot of operating accessories that you can purchase from your favorite manufacturer.

One thing that really impressed me as well is the operating accessories were all operating and Tom was very adamant that they do.  There is so much going on that you really have to pay attentions to every square inch or you will miss something.

Yes, there are scads of operating accessories with buttons on the fascia with instructions as to which accessory each controls (usually right in front of you) and how to control.  I was with a large group of adults, so not many of them were being used, so I tried some and can report all I tried worked great!  Adults standing, will miss a lot of the details that are down at a child's eye level.  Be sure to stoop down a bit to see a lot more, as if there isn't an amazing amount to see at adult eye level.

Very nice and thanks for posting the pics and info. Did they say how long it took them to build all of this? I would also like to visit both of these places someday!

I would be one of those that wouldn't want to leave. It would be like getting your cat out of it's carrier when visiting the vet. 

Wow! Amazing layout. 7 hour drive so won't be getting there any time soon but have to add it to my bucket list.

Hmm... I guess it will be a good trip for the Detroit 3 Railers!

To answer the question as to how long it took to build, Tom Sr. replied to me, "my wife and Tom Jr. my daughter ... built it in 4 and a half years.  Just the 4 of us."  Also, concerning the expansion he replied, "by Thanksgiving we hope the new section will have a train running in it.  And as you know the detailing will take a while."

Thanks, Mark!  That is pretty incredible progress with only 4 people.  I don't doubt their expansion will be done quickly.  Mine is far from finished. I've been thinking about expanding it for probably at least 3 years now. At this rate I may never finish... 

It’s pretty amazing that a whole family could be so like minded to do such a project!  

Mark Boyce posted:

It’s pretty amazing that a whole family could be so like minded to do such a project!  

Yep, my family just thinks I'm nuts!

J Daddy posted:

Mark Boyce posted:

It’s pretty amazing that a whole family could be so like minded to do such a project!  

Yep, my family just thinks I'm nuts!

This is a fantastic thread, super great train shop at Mercer Junction, and a wonderful review of the Corner Field Layout.  Question, What brand is the Turntable and it’s size? I love Yard areas and this is one nice layout. This will be on my Tour of Great Layouts list, hopefully soon. Thank you Marty and Dave. Keep the good pictures coming. Happy Railroading.

leapinlarry posted:

This is a fantastic thread, super great train shop at Mercer Junction, and a wonderful review of the Corner Field Layout.  Question, What brand is the Turntable and it’s size? I love Yard areas and this is one nice layout. This will be on my Tour of Great Layouts list, hopefully soon. Thank you Marty and Dave. Keep the good pictures coming. Happy Railroading.

The Turn Table is Ross. It was able to turn a VL Big Boy so you could go by that but I would say at least 32". Tom told us a Millhouse transfer table is slated for the expansion to handle diesels.

That's some layout Marty, I don't think it'll fit in my basement!

Yesterday three members of the Pittsburgh Independent Hi-Railers Andy, Dave and I stopped  to see this Layout.  If you every have a chance do not miss seeing it. We will be going back again. Thanks Tom a Tom JR. we had a great time. 

Roger, they are approx. 20 miles NW from my place. I need to get there my self, the pictures look amazing!! Great job Tom Sr & Tom Jr

Jeff

Just fantastic!  

Peter

I hope ALL of us who visit this (and other) publicly-available layouts and museums realize that they need money to keep up and running.  SO- at one such as Corner Field- BUY something from their hobby shop!!  If its a museum only- make a contribution!!

Let's not get so focused on buying everything online, and at the absolute lowest price that we forget who is paying the bills.

DOC posted:

Yesterday three members of the Pittsburgh Independent Hi-Railers Andy, Dave and I stopped  to see this Layout.  If you every have a chance do not miss seeing it. We will be going back again. Thanks Tom a Tom JR. we had a great time. 

How long did you stay. Once in there it's hard to leave. LOL. 

Mike is right!  I easily found something to buy at CornerField; a K-Line 2-bay dumping Hopper to go with my Lionel dump ramp.  I put a donation in as well!  I don’t mean to blow my own horn, the visit was worth way more than I spent.  I actually think I cheated the Eleshs!.