The world’s greatest train set rolls into New Jersey

John Scully, from Metuchen, NJ, is sharing his passion and love of miniature trains with the rest of New Jersey and the many visitors to the Liberty Science Center.

John and his wife Regina donated the 3,000-square-foot layout which took a team of architects, electricians, engineers and artists 15 years to complete in John Scully’s basement.

The painstakingly built display was a replica of the Lackawanna Railroad with New Jersey’s Cranberry Lake as the centerpiece.

Scully did a tremendous job recreating as best as he could the replica of a railroad line that he was familiar with as a child. The line was from the Hoboken Terminal to Netcong to Cranberry Lake. Scully used blueprints, vintage photos and prints from available historical sources.

The research took years and the construction was created to the exact specifications that each element of the research showed.

When you think about everything you would see on the close to 2-hour train trip that the line represents, including the number of buildings, foliage, people, vehicles and sights that you experience on that trip, it is pretty extensive. It was that trip that was built to replica.

The setting is 1952, the buildings were hand-constructed and included moving people, electric lights in the buildings with street lamps and backlit signs with billboard advertising are all part of the amazement of this display. The vehicles and even the clothes worn by the people on display are from the 1952 era.

The Liberty Science Center is welcoming this museum-quality display and it has announced that the display will now become a permanent piece in the newly expanded Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. All aboard! Grab the family and check out this amazing display.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host Big Joe Henry. Any opinions expressed are Big Joe’s own.

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