Train day with Gerry and Sue Morlitz

Thanks for posting this Marty, it is wonderful to see Gerry's layout after meeting you all last weekend. Hope you all have a safe trip home also.

Myself and Linda had a great time! Thank you Gerry and Sue for being such gracious hosts. The layout is wonderful with lots of trains running and lots of other action! Great job Gerry!

I see Pat and Jean Marinari (both standing) in the second photo from the bottom of the string.

Allan, Pat and Jean stand for great husbands and wives enjoying the hobby together.  A short time ago, Dotty and I got invited to the home of Pat and Jean to view the layout they built together.  I have stated before and will state again that the Marinari home layout is the best home layout I have ever seen in my life.  Dotty and I have talked about the layout many times.  Craftsmanship and detail that is second to none.

what a great day and great hosts, thanks Sue and Gerry

 

Just want to say thank you to Gerry and Sue for a great day with great people

Lets not forget a very nice layout.

 

Thanks again Gerry and Sue

 

   Here's the only two photos I took, the first one is Gerry's police engine in action

the second one is the awesome mountain view right near Gerry and Sues home.

 

Thanks, Alex

Looks like it was a great time wish I could of been there but we are down on the South Jersey shore with my family doing my eye exercises!!!

If I may ask; in the last picture of John S's post, there is some items on the wall. Are they transformers or ?????

I hope everyone had a great time. I know that Sue and I certainly did, and thank all of you who were at the house for being such wonderful guests. A special thanks to Dotty for helping with everything beforehand.

 

Sue had a great time getting to know all the ladies...and of course, the men.

 

In addition to the people Marty named, Bob Bruno, Bob DeGuarde, Michelle S, Pat & Jean, Brian & Lynley were also there. I hope that's everyone that Marty didn't name.

 

Marty was the Trainmaster and made my day much more enjoyable by letting me talk to people and not be concerned about the trains. PRRBill and Bill Parkinson ran the trains also.

 

It was clear the the Trooper Train that Jeffrey Steinbacher made for me (an unshrouded MTH "J") and the brass Northern (an unpainted Third Rail 3751, upgraded to PS2 by Brian Tusin at Train America just before the Lionel acquisition) were the 2 most popular engines. I do like the whimsical, so the Morlitz Lines pink GG1 (MTH premier) and Lionel Yellowbelly (upgraded to PS2 by Frank Timko) also got a pretty good look by a very knowledgable train crowd. I resisted the temptation to take a picture of PRRBill (who is much less whimsical than I am) holding the pink GG1. Some well known people have been shown holding that engine.

 

Funny the way the world works, but I just met Brian Tusin the week before when I went to the Lionel Open House. We were talking and I told him TrainAmerica had upgraded a bunch of engines for me in the "old" days, and when I named some he said he remembered this brass engine. He said he remembered it because it wasn't much fun to work on. So thank you, Brian. You guys did a great job

 

Hey Don, you invite me down to Wildwood Beach and I'll bet that I can do eye exercises with the girls on the beach on a beautiful summer day.

 

Alex's last shot is of the Bear Mountain bridge and Bear Mountain park. This is a beautiful area.

 

Gerry

 

 

 

A big "Thank You" to Gerry & Sue for a wonderful day with great people from within the hobby. Gerry has a fantastic collection and 2 wonderful layouts. The one for the Grandchildren is filled with quite the collection of amusement park rides. The other entails a very nice  yard on the lower level which will take your train of choice to the upper level and across the "Fitzhenry Ironworks". Had a wonderful time with all you train folks. Gerry & Sue, Thank you again

Hi Gerry,

 

 Your layout looks fantastic and everybody looks like they had a great time!! You have quite a collection on those walls!! Hopefully we will see it in person in January 2014

 

Jeff

 

 

Don, you have 38-26-36 vision? 

Bill, do you have anything positive to comment on?  Perhaps you did not like the post.  Some members try to share positive things without crap comments.

Just saw this great thread!!  Gerry....once again I really enjoyed meeting you at the Lionel Service Center open house last weekend as well as all of the other guys too....and of course Dotty! 

 

Looks like you all had a great time and hopefully one day I can see Gerry and Sue's layout in person.  Thanks Marty for posting the shots....this is what the hobby is all about!

 

Alan

Jeff, we would love to have you visit our layout. We only hope we could be as nice to you as you were when I visited yours.

 

John, I'm glad you had a great  time. We loved having you visit. Sometime we have to talk about records.

 

Alan, we would be glad to have you visit us anytime.

 

Gerry

 

Add Jean's and my thanks to Gerry & Sue for a great afternoon.  An amazing layout, collection, food, home, but most of all amazing people.  We were honored and humbled to be invited and included with this group.

Marty,

 

I admit I'm a purist when it comes to the PRR.  i should have put a smiley wink face next to the post about the GG1 which I have now done.  Gerry hopefully knows that I was only kidding him.  While I was the PRRT&HS website superintendent, I constantly had to 'protect' any variations of anything concerning the PRR.  Old habits die hard.

 

Thanks All!

 

I had a great time!  

 

Sifting through the pics now, but here is a good one.

Wish I could have been there. The layout looks great and of course all the pictures of the usual suspects looks like everybody is having fun. 

There was much discussion of Yellow Bellies!

 

 

I shot some videos with my Sony A77 with the 16-50ƒ2.8 lens.  No substitute for a real video camera so please accept my apologies for the shakiness.  And the third video is silent as BillP and Marty were having a private conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you Gerry for your hospitality.  It was a fun day with a great train crowd!!

 

Bill & Brian, great videos. Thank you.

 

David, I wish you had been able to join us. Hopefully next time.

 

Someone asked why I have two Z4K's on the lower (grandchildren) table to run 3 loops and an M&M handcar. After all, that's an awful lot of power for 3 simple loops and a bumper car. The answer is I use the voltmeter and ammeter to teach my grandchildren about electricity. I explain how this is low voltage and much higher voltage (which is dangerous) powers our lights, air conditioners, TV's, etc. I explain volts times amps equals watts (probably beyond them since the oldest is 6). But they begin to get it. Modern technology with the readily visible voltmeter and ammeter is wonderful.

 

Gerry

 

Gerry,

 

I'm gonna sneak in and weather some of that!

 

Dave

BillP...I really like the group shot.  Great picture!!  Gerry, LaKeeta and I will look forward to either you and your lovely coming this way or vice versa!

 

Alan

Looks like everybody had a blast   Sorry I couldn't make it Gerry  Granddaughter took precedence

Gerry, keep Ben away from the trains with his spray cans.

Great Layout guys...and Gals! Gerry, did Erol fall asleep? He looks like it in that one photo next to Marty! LOL!

Hi All,  this is Sue

I just want to say to all the wonderful folks who came to our home...thank you!  I was really nervous about meeting you all and you were some of the nicest people I have ever met.  Gerry has been talking about you for years and it was nice to put faces to all your names.  I look forward to seeing you all again.  Sue

 

 

This is Gerry. Ben, you are ALWAYS welcome. And IMO, grandchildren always take priority.

Dave, I would love to have you come here. No spray cans though.

Alan, there have to be advertisers in the NYC area. Look forward to seeing you.

 

Gerry

 

 

 

Interesting and provocative comment coming from one of the 'sages of the hobby'...

 

Have we ever seen photos of Pat & Jean's layout here before?  If so, I must have missed them (or it could be a function of memory!)

 

How about it Pat - Could you post some for us - perhaps in a new thread?  Thanks

Sure looks like a great day with some of the nicest folks in our hobby. Gerry, you and your wife should be congratulated for hosting a wonderful event.

Gerry,

 

love the block of stores which includes your family's record store. I remember those all so well. How many times did I go into your dads store not knowing that the guys in the store  I would know so many years later and call them friends. 

 

This is what trains are all about, making new friends and finding old friends. 

Sam, their SUPERB layout is featured in OGR's Great Layout Adventures #8. Rich would be glad to sell you a copy. And congratulations on the publication of your great layout.

 

Charlie, Erol asleep at the switch? Well, maybe. But I really think he's just counting his fingers.

 

David, you gotta get up here. The streets in front of the stores will be blacktop by then.

 

Brian, I really do look forward to meeting you and hope you are doing better. BTW, I too have a fair number of passenger trains.

 

Gerry

 

Gerry,

 

trust me, next time I will be there. I will bring my C&O Hudson If that is ok. 

Hi Marty, Gerry's layout looks great. I love the ceramic buildings with plastic models and prewar type of structures such as the HG-Bridge. That is the look I'm looking for on my layout.

I can also appreciate how long it takes to get a project like that to the operating point. It seems like every time I turn around something comes up that pushes my train work to the back burner.

 

Well, Gerry's platform looks great and I'm happy you all had a great time.

 

I was working on the back deck for the past few weekends.

 

But Fall is around the corner and this season the trains will be running.

David, you bring your Yellowbelly and I'll get Marty to bring his. Then we can have 3 "Timko" Yellowbellies on the 3 loops that are the grandchildren's table.

 

SO COOL.

 

Gerry

 

Love the 3rd Rrail 3751 unpainted!

 

Wow looks great in unpainted brass.   I have 3 of those.   So that's what they look like naked!  

 

Look forward to meeting you to Gerry.

Hi All,  this is Sue

I just want to say to all the wonderful folks who came to our home...thank you!  I was really nervous about meeting you all and you were some of the nicest people I have ever met.  Gerry has been talking about you for years and it was nice to put faces to all your names.  I look forward to seeing you all again.  Sue

 

Sue. Why in the world would you be nervous to meet us? After all we are just normal train folk.  Well...............Most of us anyway!