The NJ Hi-Railers Train Club was known for its former O scale layout, located on one of the floors in a former silk mill in Paterson, N.J. At 185.5 x 30 feet, with over 7,500 feet of track (equating to 70 scale miles), visiting the immaculate display firsthand was said to be an experience that photos and videos couldn’t do justice. Both club and layout are now moving to a new permanent home in Boonton, N.J. In a time of transition, and a busy one at that, NJ Hi-Railers President Ben Fioriello takes us behind the scenes in this interview with Trains.com Staff Writer Lucas Iverson.
Watch the insightful video recording of this interview with Ben Fioriello of the NJ Hi-Railers on Trains.com Video
Q: Who are the NJ Hi-Railers, and how did the organization get its start to eventually construct the former layout?
A: The NJ Hi-Railers started as a modular club in the 1990s. We used to go to all the local train shows in New Jersey. This little kid named Mat Horning then started to visit all the time, and introduced the club president to his father, who had recently bought a building in Paterson. The club at the time lost its space in Rockaway, N.J., where we used to store the modules. So Mat said [without talking to his father initially], “Well, you can set it up in my father’s new building.” Of course, his father said yes, and the club set the modules up in this giant room.
Once they were set, Mat’s uncle Bernie, who was the co-owner of the building, got the train bug. He started buying things to add onto the modules. But then he bought another layout from a guy who lived in Franklin Lakes, and connected it to the modules. The now-former layout just kept growing and growing. Mat’s uncle put a lot of money into it. They gave us that room for nothing and didn’t charge us for electrical heat because it was part of Mat’s dream as well as his uncle’s dream, really.
Q: Could you provide some background regarding the former layout and what the public expected when visiting the massive display?
A: I don’t think anybody really appreciated the immensity of the layout. We always used to try to get people’s first impression of walking in the room. And when they walked in, they were like, “Wow, look at the size of this thing!”After a while, we kept building in that room, and actually had one of our members [who was a chef at an Italian restaurant] cook for all of us. So while we were working on the layout, he’s cooking hot dogs. So besides expecting to see this huge train layout, the visitors were then expected to eat really well.
That’s one thing our club always prided itself on was trying to make it feel like family when you walked in. I used to go to train shows and other clubs where they always had barriers of plastic walls or ropes to keep kids away from the layouts. We didn’t want that, and we got great feedback from a lot of people who experienced the layout.
Q: What were the decisions behind relocating?
A: It really wasn’t our decision to make. Bernie is in his 80s now and wanted to retire. So, they sold the building. The new owner wanted market value for our room, which was 12,500 square feet, and there was no way we could afford that.
We did have a lease we were working on that could’ve lasted another nine years. So the new owner offered to buy us out of that lease. We took that money and found a new building in Boonton. One of our members is actually holding the mortgage for us to buy that building. So it’s not like in five years down the road that we have to move out again. This is our building.
Q: What have been the key takeaways so far in finding the new location, relocating, and planning to construct the new layout?
A: We’re in the process of taking the layout down. Right now, we’re at a point where all the track is off the layout and most of the benchwork is down. We’re now starting to focus on other things. We’re moving 32 display cases over to the new building. That’s the first step to make room and reach all those other things that we have to take down. Because there’s so much more than just the layout.
We have the situation board from Grand Central Terminal that’s 120 feet long and hanging up on our wall. We’re in the process of taking that down. But there is still more railroad mania around the room. Luckily, most of our members are stepping up and really working to make this all happen.
Q: How similar and different will the new layout be compared to the previous incarnation?
A: We have a lot of large buildings. But there are extra-large buildings we can’t take as we don’t have the room. The new layout is probably going to be about 60% of the size of the former layout. So we’ll be selling off some of the extra-large buildings that won’t fit.
However, we’ll still keep buildings for certain sections that we identified on the former layout. Barren Bay is still going to be there because it’s awesome. The craftsmanship and workmanship on those buildings is unbelievable. It also has a lot of New York-style buildings like the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building.
Q: What lessons have been learned so far from this experience that the NJ Hi-Railers wish to pass along to other clubs facing similar dilemmas of relocating?
A: One advice for other clubs is to try to keep the increase in dues as low as possible. We’re going to be purchasing the building, which we didn’t have to pay for before, so the increase is pretty substantial. Luckily, we have a huge layout that’s going to fill the space with enough wood so we don’t have to go out and buy that.
Another piece of advice is networking. I know a lot of clubs that went through moving as well. One in particular, and I call it our sister club, is the Train Masters of Babylon Model Train Club in Long Island, and they had to move three times in 10 years. They gave us advice on how to pack and do inventory on things. It’s a lot of networking to try to find somebody who can help you out because it’s really tough when a club has to move.
