Marty,
Thanks for sharing the story of your layout. I wish you many more years with it!
Happy 4th of July!
Chris
.."and many more" 
Marty Fitzhenry, thanks for your fellowship and congenial expertise. You're never too weary to promote the greatest hobby, always the first to wave hello and have something good to say. The Munoz Lines would never have run if not for you. Many years and miles to go !
Eliot and Ginny
That's awesome to think someone's layout has been up and running for so many years and has had the number of visitors yours has had!
Think of all the people who have come together because of it - what a true testament to this great hobby!
Congratulations on 30 years!
-Greg
Congratulations Marty!
Congratulations Marty.1982 until now is a great record for a train layout. All the best in the future.
congrats on the milestone, and beating the Big C. Please, would love to see pics of your wall!
I will do a post on those who have signed my wall in two weeks. This week I have Pat and Jean Marinari signing and in two weeks, Mike Caruso.
Signing Marty's wall will undoubtedly be the highlight of our 1500 mile road trip to Nova Scotia and an absolute honor to be considered a friend of the kindest and most generous guy in our hobby. Also one of the top technicians anywhere. It's no surprise that Lionel and MTH have both used Marty and his layout for testing. They could not have done better.
Congrats on your 34th anniversary!
Marty, congratulations on your perseverance in constructioning and operaturing your layout over 34 years, wish you many more years of enjoying this hobby, thanks for being a role model for us old timers and for the new people entering this hobby, also appreciate your postings and responses on this Forum.
John
Guys/gals, thank you very much. I appreciate everybody on this forum. I have always read every post and learned many things from other members. MTH and Lionel folks have always been welcome to my layout/home. I am not about Orange vs Purple I love them both. I feel the OGR Forum has defused much of that and we are all train guys/gals. The hobby has created many friends. When the two guys below heard I was sick, they both came to me and gave great support. What many people do not know is they are the best of Friends. They have been close for years.
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Pat Marinari, I am looking forward to you and Jean signing my wall. Whenever anyone asks me what is the best home layout I have ever seen, the answer is easy. The layout that Pat and Jean built together is still number one in my book. The best in the country.
Pat and Jean are master builders.
Hi Marty,
I think I've signed the wall, but if I haven't let me know and I'll roar right down.
Here are a couple of photos from times past. One shows the photo shoot taken in 2008 for the 2009 article in O Gauge RR. The second taken in about 2002 shows my grandson watching the trains.
Lew Schneider
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And here are two more from the 2008
photo shoot series.
Lew Schneider
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The above shoot was for a video called the streamliners on the History Channel.
Congratulations Marty!! What a wonderful milestone for you and your layout!!
I hope you run some long fast freights for many years to come.Keep on tracking.
Congrats Marty! 34 years! WOW! You've got 28 years on mine.
I like that picture of you in the RailKing shirt. Appropriate naming of a shirt for you.
Gerry
Congrats !! I was reading through my collection of early CTT magazines and your name popped up as an asset to the hobby.
Marty,
Congratulations on the longevity of your layout. It is the best layout that I have had the opportunity to run my trains on. More importantly, you have been a great friend for many years and I have had the privilege to visit you, Dotty, Ralph and your layout on many occasions, and I look forward to every visit. I will be coming again at some point before the summer is over.
You Dotty and Ralph are the best!
Erol Gurcan
I haven't been to the forum for a few days so I'm a little late in saying Congrats on 34 years together, Happy Birthday to the layout and thanks for your service as an Officer of the law.
A belated Happy Birthday to the layout and congrats and thanks to you, Marty, for keeping it going and for all you've contributed to the hobby.
Marty,
Don and I have been saying, "we've got to take a ride up to see Marty and his layout one of these days..." for a while now. Time to come up with a plan! Congrats on your layout's 34th!
Ed
Congratulations, Marty. Regards, RJR.
Congrats Marty!
Happy birthday to your layout!
Thank you for all of your contributions and support of the hobby.
Jeff
I have the good fortune to live about 45 min from Marty and have been to the layout on many occasions including many "train nights" before York. Marty is a true ambassador to our hobby and more important a true friend. Congrats Marty.
Marty,
Always great to hear from you and your buddies, 34 years of great layout, keep the big wheels rolling! Thanks for representing our hobby thru the years!
PCRR/Dave
So for every trip Mike made to you, it cost him a $100? We both know how great his Dolphins can play, except for last year's stunning victory.
I tell my wife we always have an open invite to a train-friendly, football-foe friend of mine to see your extravagant layout!
I'm very happy for all the time you've had your layout for you and others to enjoy! Heck, have a birthday party-op session for the layout!
It kills me when I hear anyone in person or online talk about a layout they'd just finished the initial build, and some jackwagon asks when they're going to chop it up and start again. Folks, not everyone thrives on building a layout. I hated building my layout up to the point when I was getting scenery in place. In other words, I didn't enjoy my layout until it started looking like a layout. There's not a chance in heck I'm going to voluntarily tear it apart and start over, no sir-ee!
The idea that a layout can exist for this long proves I'm not the only one who doesn't thrill to the idea of taking a chainsaw the layout 10 minutes after the initial build is done. I can't imagine a mind that would find that to be fun, yet so many do that.
Nope, my goal is to talk about my layout several years from now in the present tense, and going over all the small improvements and changes I'll surely have made by then (as all layouts can use each), as opposed to how many other layouts I've built in the intervening years...
You made some great points. I had a plan from the start and kept to it. I used the best materials for benchwork and the same for wiring and panel switches. Those are things guys (some) tend to cheap out on. Before I started my layout I tore my older (smaller) house down as I have a great lot. I built my new house with the layout in mind in every step I took. In the train room (complete basement) I finished the ceiling. I used a steel beam to hold the house up to avoid lallys. I put polyethylene on my wall studs before covering them with wall board. All outside walls are double insulated as I used 2X6 for knee wall studs and not 2X4s. I kept my furnace, washer, dryer, and sink in one corner of the basement so they would not bother the train room running space. I went as far as doing the same before pouring the cement floor. I did everything I could to keep dust out/down and make a warm environment. I covered the floor with indoor/outdoor carpet. I have a separate heat zone in the train room. Every square inch of wall is covered with hot water baseboard. After doing all that work, I never need to turn the heat on in the winter.
Yes, what I did was over the top. Friends laughed at me when I was building the house. Be as it may, I have a warm, dry, and 99 percent dust free train room. Getting back to what P51 talked about, to build something like this took planning. Guys/Gals, do not rush into a train room and throw something up you may tear down later down the road. Like everyone else, I am not rich but needed to plan it right and execute my plans to the desired finish.
Trains are a great hobby and sharing your layout experiences over the past 34 years is testament to that . Having built a layout myself I well know the work, friendship and enjoyment that comes of it. Marty has been a good will ambassador , an excellent contributor and a prominent name in this hobby. My vote for another great 34 years and my congratulations to Marty for the good work that he has done.
Marty, I recently came across what I believe was the first magazine coverage of your layout...and I think I have all the issues that covered it since. Great work!
Marty,
Never met you, probably never will, but I have read many of your posts since I have been a member of this Forum. You have helped me in more ways than you will ever know and simply can't thank you enough for keeping the spark of toy electric trains in my blood.
George
Marty:
Congratulations on #34!
We always remember our visit, and we hope to come back to do it again!
All the best
Bruce and Chris
Marty Fitzhenry posted:
You made some great points. I had a plan from the start and kept to it. I used the best materials for benchwork and the same for wiring and panel switches. Those are things guys (some) tend to cheap out on.
I think that's one overall concept we share, in that each of us apparently spent a LOT of time planning, and thinking everything through before the first piece of wood was cut. People accused me of procrastinating, but I wanted my layout to what I actually wanted, not something I dove into without checking the depth of the water first.
But it's not like I wasn't doing anything in the meantime, as once the benchwork and track were in place and I could run trains, all my freight and passenger cars were already modified, painted, decalled and weathered and in boxes waiting for the day they could be run.
I think there's a good lesson for others to see what you did, Marty, as to what makes for a layout you'd want to have around for over 30 years.
You have a great looking layout Marty !
That is a great mile stone of 34 years for one layout.
Marty Fitzhenry posted:Lou, it is you I thank. I think of you every time I use one of my ROW transformers. I still need you to sign my Train America sign big Mike gave me. A spot is open for you next to Mikes signature. It proudly hangs in my train room today.
Guys, I am very happy with all the good wishes you have sent me.
That is a big, beautiful sign that looks great in your trainroom. It's a little bit of a story as to how you ripped that off from a building in Ohio and got it all the way to Dedham.
Gerry
I received it from the owner Mike Reagan. I am glad you drove or I would still be walking home from Ohio with it. Thank you again. The airplane was not an option. I have had a few people make me an offer for it. I received it as a gift from Mike and when I die, it will go back to him if he wants it or it is going to the NJ Hi-Railers. This sign is a piece of the history of our hobby. I feel Mike Reagan is a great part of the toy train history.
