Remembering Tony Lash layout

there are not words in my vocabulary to honor those pics. thank you for sharing! IIRC, Tony's layout came down when he retired? was he able to save any parts of it for a smaller one?

Thanks Ben. Tony had some real scenes on his layout.

What happened to Tony. Retire to a tropical island??

He was a great contributor to this forum and what a great layout!

IT would be interesting to find out what happened to the structures and of his train collection of that massive layout. I was glad to see it in person at the 2001 LOTs Baltimore convention. IT was the highlight of that stormy convention for sure.

Geez, this reminds me of something....  

For sure a great layout, Iam glad I saw it a few times over and collected his company cars from MTH. Hope he is doing well in retirement down south.

Thanks, Ben......all great memories!

Peter

I never heard what happened  to everything on the layout, I know tony sold the business where the layout was, but happened to the layout itself after being dismantled 

I'd never heard of this layout before, but those are some really good scenes you posted!

I visited Tony at his layout.  Tony was always fun to be around.

Thanks for the photos,Ben.  Tony Lash's  layout was truly outstanding.  It was certainly all of the rage 10-15 years ago.

Truly an amazing layout,even though I was not able to visit and see it in person.  It seemed that he had everything that  N&W ever had!

Best wishes to you,Tony.

Norm Rish

Flashback. Was able to visit this incredible layout a few times. He had a few trains in the basement too. 

Tony was always good for a laugh on AOL. Kinda miss those days. 

I seen a photo of him in Florida with someone on the forum, that was a while ago. I miss him.

Thanks, Ben!

I have a DVD that features Tony's layout (among others), where Tony talks about how he got started, about his collection and provides a lot of details about his layout. The DVD is "Great MTH Layouts" from TMBV.

It would be interesting to learn what he is up to and what happened to his collection.

Alex

Great pictures Ben!!! 

Thanks for posting 

Alex 

I have a video of Mr. Lash describing his layout, and his experiences with real RRs. Kind of felt like you were his best friend just listening to him.

I never met him in person or his layout. Love to see these pictures though. One of the greats that used to be a regular here. I think we all benefited from him advancing the hobby.

I remember reading many articles years ago on his layout, truly outstanding work.

He had a Trash business Rite ?

Train6666 posted:

I remember reading many articles years ago on his layout, truly outstanding work.

He has a Trash business Rite ?

Had a trash business, actually (Consolidated Waste Industries).  He sold the business a few years ago and is now retired & living (last I heard) somewhere in Florida.

Thank You Ben, I never got to see  Tony's layout in person But I did meet him at York a few times. I always wonted to visit his world, unfortunately work  kept from doing many of the things I would of liked to do.

I too would love to know how Tony is doing, he was such a big part of our hobby for so many years. I hope he is well and still finds joy in his toy trains.

God Bless Tony where ever you are.

Tony's layout was on th eone tour I did get to go on? That layout was a GEM!!!

I was lucky enough to meet and talk briefly with Tony at York in 2009. He was a very enthusiastic, nice guy. He did mention he would be doing something new sometime later on with both Lionel and MTH this time, but he didn't give too much away.

Seeing it in such dimension on TM's video Great MTH Layouts, it's still by far one of the best O gauge layouts I've ever seen, especially Hi-Rail. I loved seeing all the spots paying homage to the Norfolk & Western, but also seeing so many other great MTH trains really showing off on the layout.

That was very thoughtful of you to post those photos of Tony Lash's layout - very, very interesting to see, finally. Though I never got to see it, he was a real good customer of mine when he visited the Orange Hall @ York. You could say that when we saw him making his way down an aisle there, everybody at the tables and booths along the way kind of "snapped to attention" or at least got very attentive to him and his progress, including me. He was an enjoyable character to talk to and seemed down-to-earth pleasant all the time. I esp. appreciate that  you thoughtfully included a photo of him.

FrankM. , Layout Refinements

I was very fortunate to see Tony's layout on one if those tours to his business and MTH Headquarters as well. Pictures don't do it justice as you had to see it in person with all the little details standing out. I'll add some more photos to this when I get home Sunday.

  I was fortunate to see Tony's layout when I went to York in 2010,what a treat to see all of the detail all over the layout.

Mikey

Great layout pictures. Wish I had seen it live.

Norm posted:

...

Truly an amazing layout,even though I was not able to visit and see it in person.  It seemed that he had everything that  N&W ever had!

...

Wouldn't surprise me if Tony had at least one each of everything  MTH produced!!!    Tony was a supreme advocate for MTH back in the day when MTH steam had the well-deserved reputation of being top-of-the-line in the 3-rail O-Gauge hobby.  It's really a shame what happened to MTH steam production when they encountered all kinds of overseas factory issues several years ago.  Although their steam production is back online now, MTH still hasn't reclaimed the spotlight position it had in the Hi-rail market back in the early 2000's.

I got a chance to see Tony's amazing layout in person the year that Washington, DC was the host city for the National O-Scale Convention.  Don't quote me on it, but I think it was Summer 2004.  The part that's tough for pictures to show is the feeling you experienced when you literally walked INTO Tony's layout.  Definitely a world-class layout by a first-class guy. 

Thanks for the memories, Ben.

David

Visited Tony's layout on a Sunday am as we met him there following a train friend's 40th birthday the day before. Tony was at the party as well. That was the best O gauge scenicked layout I have seen in many years until the NJ Hirailers layout. Tony was a great host to open the layout up that morning and run it all. We did get a tour of the basement as what Farmer Bill stated in an earlier post. Just a few trains kept downstairs! Enough to boggle your minds.

Hope he is doing well in Florida. A true statesman for the hobby.

http://youtu.be/9iEweZKu1Ow

Here's some more on Tony's layout wish I could have seen it in person to.

I think Tony had three of everything MTH Made, just in case something failed. 

gg1man posted:

I think Tony had three of everything MTH Made, just in case something failed. 

I wouldn't doubt it, Mario!!! 

I, too, remember Tony and was fortunate to see it when on a tour of MTH's headquarters that included a stop at Tony's layout. It was wonderful to see. I also remember seeing Tony at York.

Ron

Tony's layout was a marvel to see and run on.   Every time I went I would discover something I missed from the time before.  Tony and his son Duke were gracious hosts and fun to be with.   It was great to hear him tell some of the stories when he was younger and how he got into the garbage/recyling business and of course his love of trains.    Hope he is enjoying it down in Florida!

For my 55th birthday, my wife arranged (with help from Jim Barrett) a private visit to Tony's layout.  We had an great day and, as always, Tony was a gracious and generous host.  As a way to thank Tony, I had a box car designed around Tony's CWI business logo and Jeff Sohn painted 2 cars, one of which I gave to Tony and the other I kept.  Shortly after that, Tony asked Jeff & me if we would mind if he used our design and had the car produced by MTH.  Of course we were honored by his request and readily agreed.  My CWI boxcar holds a place of honor on the display shelves in my train room and it's one of 2 Atlas boxcars that were the "prototype" for the MTH car.  I glad to have Tony as a friend and miss him and his generosity with the hobby.

Thanks, Ben for the memories.

I also was fortunate enough to have seen the layout on one of OGR's York bus tours.  It was one of the best private layouts I've ever seen.

Andy

Tony had a fantastic layout. He was a great customer and miss seeing him and Duke at York. He still talks to the members of TOGGs. Maybe one of them can give us a update.

mike.caruso posted:

Geez, this reminds me of something....  

Ben took that photo because it was the "one that got away." 

Andy

Pat Marinari posted:

For my 55th birthday, my wife arranged (with help from Jim Barrett) a private visit to Tony's layout.  We had an great day and, as always, Tony was a gracious and generous host.  As a way to thank Tony, I had a box car designed around Tony's CWI business logo and Jeff Sohn painted 2 cars, one of which I gave to Tony and the other I kept.  Shortly after that, Tony asked Jeff & me if we would mind if he used our design and had the car produced by MTH.  Of course we were honored by his request and readily agreed.  My CWI boxcar holds a place of honor on the display shelves in my train room and it's one of 2 Atlas boxcars that were the "prototype" for the MTH car.  I glad to have Tony as a friend and miss him and his generosity with the hobby.

Thanks, Ben for the memories.

 

What a neat story! To think your very own custom car inspired an actual manufacturer's run!

Tony's layout was great to see and he was always a gracious host.  I miss the year's past when he was more active on the forum and certainly hope he's enjoying retirement.

--Greg

Incredible pictures!  I wasn't back into the hobby until after his layout came down but I can sure see why he was one of the great ones in the hobby!