Come on down to the Fanwood Train Station to learn or to reinforce why model railroading is “the world’s greatest hobby” at the November monthly meeting of the Historical Society of Scotch Plains & Fanwood. Jack de Rosset will be the “conductor” and Warren Michalewsky the “engineer” for our meeting. Jack is the owner of The Model Railroad Shop in nearby Piscataway. Warren is one of the shop employees. The Model Railroad Shop is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, continuously operated model train specialty shop in the United States. It was established by Howell Day on January 2, 1933 and continues through today. In the early days of the shop (and the infancy of the railroading hobby), Howell produced his own line of kits under the names of H.Owen & shop-Craft. It was primarily a mail order business. The next successive owners (1948 Leonard Lippman, 1950 Fred, 1997 Jack de Rosset & Rick Dunbar) expanded the business to include prototypical operations, Die cast models and promotions, handmade models, resin cast models, plastic models, special orders and advanced reservations on “limited runs”. Additionally, there is a broad selection of model fire and rescue vehicles to purchase.
Jack and Warren will explain what the railroading hobby does, what it does not do and its present status with the changes brought about by the computer. They can tell you the worth of collections and amaze the uninitiated with the various scale sizes of model trains, the types available by how made, etc. Various models will be demonstrated.
Since we are meeting at the Fanwood Train Station where the Central New Jersey (CNJ) tracks run, the history of this “Big Little Railroad” will also be covered. It was a short line running from Jersey City to White House Station but it carried a lot of immigrants from Ellis Island and contributed greatly to our NJ history.
The meeting is free and open to everyone. Refreshments and fellowship will follow the program. The meeting starts at 8:00PM on Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016. This meeting is being held specially at the Fanwood Train Station located on North and Martine Avenues. So come on down and hop aboard for the model trains through the years and a history of the CNJ tracks.
For more information about this event, contact Connie Klock, 908-232-9489. For more information about The Model Railroad Shop visit their web: themodelrailroadshop.com
The Osborn Cannonball House Museum, located at 1840 Front Street in Scotch Plains, will be open to the public on Sunday, October 5th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and for Four Centuries in a Weekend on Saturday, October 18, 2025, and Sunday, October 19, 2025 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. both days.
