OGR Forum Party Part 4 - AKA Trainstock 4

Thank you to all the NJHR
It truly is a wonderful/special event you put together every year.

Because of you guys our "circle of friends" keeps growing.
Thx again.
Joe S

To all NJHR members, thanks for providing what has become (for me) the single most enjoyable day of the year.

Thank you Hi-Railers, not only for opening your home to O gauge train lovers, but for also putting sausage and peppers on the menu!! And to everyone I met and chatted with, it was great to see you.

- Mike

Thank's NJHR for inviting all of the Forum member's to the nicest layout my wife Olga and I have ever seen.
What a beautiful layout.
I have to say,the most exciting thing for me yesterday was meeting Mike Wolf for a few seconds.
I have a permanent 15X13 layout with 12 railking engines and two Z 4000s.
I am most certainly not a celebrity chaser,but this is the person that transformed our hobby today as we know it.
To have him come to this event say's alot on how great that layout truly is.
I found Mike to be a real nice guy,he posed for picture's with anybody that asked.
(Mine came out blurry ,If anybody out there is truly an expert on clearing up a digital picture,please contact me)

I guess beyond our world, Mike can walk around and nobody would know who he is.
But in our world,he is truly someone special.

Ben,I wanted to thank you personally yesterday,but the handful of times I saw you,you were talking with a few people,and I didn't want to interrupt.
It was truly worth the ride up from Philly
Beyond the layout,looking at all the inventory and rolling stock of the member's was almost unbelievable to see.
The Tom Snyder and Tony Saprano layout in the other room was also interesting
I also found all the table's with stuff for sale to be reasonably priced and modern.
By the way,
Was that Rich Melvin there yesterday? This forum made it possable for all of us to connect,and also to share an endless amount of idea's and info.,and to learn how to type and write stories, right Alan?
Once again Thank's

I too had a great time at this event and I would also like to thank Ben, Marty, and Berine for hosting all of us and providing the excellent food cooked to perfection by Vinnie. You guys are a great club and I always enjoy my visits to your wonderful layout. I know I am repeating what was said above but a special thanks to Ben for that heartfelt tribuite to Owen. During the event I couldn't help but wish he was there with us in person. I'm sure he was there in spirit.

Very sorry to have missed this great event, but will try and make it up another time. (maybe a sunday )

Im glad it sounds like another amazing event!

Actually thought of going to the Open House today just to raid the "frig" for left overs!!!

LOL ... SAM

Yesterday was truly a "one of a kind" event. Train Stock gets better every year. Everything was first class all the way; the layout, the food, the people, the tribute to Owen.
Ben - the tribute to Owen and the moment of silence was just right.
Vinnie - as usual, the food was great.
NJHR members - the layout is awesome. You folks have raise obsession to an art form.
Folks - it was great seeing everyone I know again. And, the opportunity to meet new people.
All this makes Train Stock, in some ways, better than York.
Thanks again NJHR for all your efforts and your hospitality.

I wanted to think Bernie & Marty for their. hospitality .The entire nj hi-rail gang madellee a grand. event. one inof the most memorable train related get together's since. my first York & the AOL bbq back in 1999

l.nIt was really a treat talking Dick Maddox.Thanks to Ted (kaptn kraft)for dragging Dick to the event .It was nice
seeing u again.
Vinnie, The food was great.Ben u and all the members did your usual outstanding of hosting . THANK YOU!

I cannot say enough good things about the club, the members and owners. As always they have a world class operation. In all my years in this hobby I have never seen such a great group of people. Thank you for a wonderful day.

quote:

Originally posted by SD60M:
All true...but, typical of anything that has the right amount of money behind it.

money can buy a lot but money doesn't buy the genuine sincerity and warmth that the NJhighrailers personify, nor the camaraderie enjoyed by the attendees.

I had a great time yesterday !!! Thanks again to the NJHR for a fantastic time!

I even bought myself a souvenir !!!

quote:

Originally posted by Lionelbill:

quote:

Originally posted by SD60M:
All true...but, typical of anything that has the right amount of money behind it.

money can buy a lot but money doesn't buy the genuine sincerity and warmth that the NJhighrailers personify, nor the camaraderie enjoyed by the attendees.

Amen to that Bill!!

SD60M - please try to rain on someone else's parade.

--Greg

I have to echo the comments of everyone else. This was my first time to this event so I wondered what it would be like for a newbie. Ben worked the room and welcomed everyone like they were his best friend. That is an exceptional talent. Merrell, thanks for helping me get my loco on the track, even for a short while. The fact that a CEO of a major manufacturer makes the trip along with the support of a major train mag makes this something special. Well done guys, well done.

I'd like to thank the NJ High Railers for another great event! Thanks again.

Mike

Our thanks to the NJHR for a terrific time. Jeanne and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Looking forward to Trainstock 5!

Mike

Thank you NJ HI-Railers for such a great event. The food was fantastic and it was a pleasure to talk with everyone. We could not believe how much the layout has changed in such a short time. The brewery and refinery are amazing along with all the subways. Beautiful tribute to Owen,I'm sure he was smiling as he always did.

NormW,

Thanks to all the NJ Hi-Railers and to Marty and Bernie for hosting once again the best annual train party at their awesome train club/layout. A real nice tribute to our Friend, Owen Stur, who is really missed.

And to Alan(Railking), it's beeen some years since we've seen each other and really great to see and chat with you once again. And I did not drag Dick Maddox to Trainstock. He missed it last year and has been looking forward to the event for some months now. He's retired from the hobby but really enjoyed the day there.

As for Mike Wolf, I had it coming to me with my Jets and his Dolphins-he had the upper hand this year on me.

As for Marty and Chris, I had nothing to say-my team just stunk this year. You guys out-did yourselves there for me. I thoroughly enjoyed being embarrassed with your Ted-primed 408E engine with Patriots sounds and boxcar!

I'm waiting for the incriminating pictures to be posted!

Regardless, great day there and the layout just keeps getting better and better.

To the whole gang at NJHR. Had a great time as always! Thank you all for the hospitality. You guy's are like family.

A big thanks to the NJHR for a wonderful day. It was great to see the additions to the layout since my last visit and see the Tom Snyder layout in person. Food and company was great too!

quote:

Ben worked the room and welcomed everyone like they were his best friend.

I thought you guys were my best friends!!!!!

Thanks to all at the NJ HiRailers for another great Trainstock!

I put together a 5-minute video of the Tom Snyder layout here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMTEBJEF44

-Mark

quote:

Ben worked the room and welcomed everyone like they were his best friend.

He sure did, as did several other members. We arrived much later Saturday than we expected, so much of the crowd had thinned out by then. Bummer, I was hoping to meet more of you there, but next year we will arrive much earlier.

We ended up coming back the next day for the regular open-house. Everyone there was friendly and enthusiastic. I got to chat with Ed Boyle for a bit too, which is always fun.

I've seen photos and videos of the NJHR layout many times before, so I was prepared to be bowled over. But to me it was much larger in person, and I spent the first 10 minutes just dizzy with the size, density, and detail of their incredible display.

Then I went around several times taking in scenes. The refinery section is huge - itself nearly as large as my entire home layout. I got to see the Newark Broad Street station that (I believe?) Bernie Winkler made, in person. I've seen many photos of that station, too, but they don't do it justice. The Silk City area is stunning. The engine facility with the operating garage doors is also a real treat. There are too many other aspects to list - just an amazing layout!

My sincere thanks for hosting this event, putting the huge amount of effort into it, and on top of that, going out of your way to make everyone feel so welcome.

Ben, I'm sorry we didn't get to say goodbye - the kids were starting to run out of gas so we had to split. Thanks again for a great experience!

John

Ben, Marty, Bernie, Vinnie and the rest of the crew I want to thank you for the great day. It was great to see the additions and changes to the layout. My jaw dropped when I walked around the layout. It was nice to see Tom Snyder's layout with all the beautiful Standard o trains and the other room with the Soprano's layout. It was fun to see old friends and talk to them.
Guys well done! I look froward to going to next year open house!

Trainstock 4 was the best one yet! Bernie, Marty, Ben, Vinnie, and the rest of the crew outdid themselves again this year.

The tribute to Owen and the plaque given to his wife and family just reinforced how much we are all like family.

The changes to the layout from last year are truly dramatic. The new oil refinery and the new location of the Ballantine Brewery really added to the impact on this world class layout. The two new hotels were a huge hit as well.

The food was terrific as usual and the Tom Snyder layout was very impressive.

As everyone has already said, good food, great people and lots of trains made for a wonderful experience.

I took quite a few pictures and am in the process of resizing them. Once the forum changes over to allow photos to be submitted from my computer I'll share some of the great shots I took of this magnificent layout and of the people who attended!

Steve Tapper

Thanks John. I also do a little editing to my photos especially since I decided to take most of them without flash. I like the look with natural ambient lighting but I also like them to be bright so I usually try to make them a shade brighter.

I'll upload these to photobucket anyway but since I don't use photobucket on a regular basis it takes me more time than I like to spend doing this. I recently had my computer memory hard drive increased to 500 GB so I now have more storage space to keep my photos.

Steve Tapper

The 5 of us (and shaky) had a wonderful visit and look forward to many more....That's me on the far right.

"Shaky"'s name is Irving, if I remember correctly.

I think you are right Dotty. I think I can read the name on the tag as "Irving" also. Certainly a scholarly looking gentleman with a lot of character for sure.

Everyone have great evening.

Ken.

quote:

Originally posted by Lionelbill:
Ben, your heart felt tribute to Owen echoed the way all of us thought and felt about him. Very moving.

I am sorry I missed that.

Here is a shot from Lew Schneider when we were toasting Owen




Everyone here was facing Owens wife and children

quote:

Originally posted by JohnS:
wow, finally a picture of me or should I say my watch

Thats pretty funny John I think Marty Dottie and Chris win the prize for the most pictures

I want to thank the following NJHR members (Ben F, Mike C, Marty and Mat) for a huge assistance on Saturday for providing transportation to and from the local train stations both Hawthorne and Paterson to Trainstock4. Next year we will hopfully be much better prepared. Thanks for the great expereience, freindship and fine food.

Jim r from bridgeboss.com

quote:

Steve, it was our pleasure to have this event. I upload my pics directly to photobucket and then post them here, I never resize them. I think the forum does it automatically


John S (0773H non rompere la mia palle )

You only have to size them down to 120KB if your uploading them to an OGR Forum Photo Album. If the photo is already downloaded on the web and has a URL, all you have to do is copy the URL and paste it in the photo pull down. Then the forum resizes them. I use Photobucket too.

This will all change soon with the new forum. It should be easy as just uploading a photo right to a thread.

quote:

wow, finally a picture of me or should I say my watch

And a darn nice one too John!

Really sorry I had to miss this - are they pictures posted someplace?

Hey, I just realized something, guys.

We didn't have a group photo of all the attendees of Trainstock like we did in the last three years!!!

John T.

Mr. Muffin, There are a number of threads with pix from Trainstock 4. This one, A Few Trainstock Photos by NYC Fan, Tom Snyder's Layout at Trainstock 4 by Number One, Boy Some Guys Can't Take a Joke by Chris Lonero, A Toast To Owen by John S., and Trainstock 4 Photos by yours truly. They go back to page 3.

quote:

Originally posted by bluelinec4:

Here is proof that I was there. My head looks like it is growing out of Mike Wolf's shoulder. Right under the Hellgate bridge.

quote:

Originally posted by Silver Lake:

quote:

Originally posted by bluelinec4:

Here is proof that I was there. My head looks like it is growing out of Mike Wolf's shoulder. Right under the Hellgate bridge.

LOL I thought that was a new tree!!