Garden State Central Model Railroad Club, Inc.

Model Railroad Events At The New Jersey Shore

Year ’round Visits

The Garden State Central model railroad musum is open all year long, with the large HO scale layout operating on select dates.

A Home For model railroading at the jersey shore

The Garden State Central Model Railroad Club, Inc. is one of the 21 museums that comprise the InfoAge Science & History Museums at Historic Camp Evans in Wall, NJ.

The organization has been in continuous operation since 1963. The museum room is open during regular InfoAge hours. The large HO scale railroad operates for special events including the Holiday Train Display & Christmas Spectacular, the All Scales Model Train Sale & Show, and on occasional museum days.

You can learn more about the history of the organization on our About page. We are online at www.gardenstatecentral.com and on Facebook.

Railroad Museum

The railroad museum room features model railroad displays (including push-button layouts for guests to operate; artifacts from the steel and anthracite coal industries which feature prominently on our HO scale layout, multimedia presentations and other exhibits. It is open during regular InfoAge Science & History Museums hours.

Bethlehem Steel memorabilia helps tell the story of how coal and steel built America.
Bethlehem Steel memorabilia helps tell the story of how coal and steel built America.
N, HO and O scale push-button railroads allow guests to the run the trains.
N, HO and O scale push-button railroads allow guests to the run the trains.
Miners' and railroaders' caps are part of the exhibit that stresses the human side of railroads and industry.
Miners’ and railroaders’ caps are part of the exhibit that stresses the human side of railroads and industry.

OUR HO Scale layout

The Garden State Central Model Railroad Club, Inc. is building a large HO Scale layout depicting scenes between Jersey City, NJ and Wilkes-Barre, PA circa 1954. There is a heavy emphasis on the steel and anthracite coal industries. It is a “prototype” layout, meaning buildings and scenes are built – often from scratch – to represent what existed in real life.


The route begins in Jersey City at the Jersey Central railroad’s waterfront Communipaw terminus with a McMyler coal dumping machine, docks, passenger terminal, and car float. From there trains proceed west past Easton, PA featuring the famous Lehigh Valley Station; a bustling South Bethlehem steel mill stretching over 40 feet; the famous town of Mauch Chunk (Jim Thorpe); the Blue Coal Huber Colliery at Ashley; and Wilkes-Barre with the Breaker #5, Vulcan Locomotive Works, Planter’s Peanuts, the Stegmaier Brewery, CNJ station, LV station, the Hollenbach breaker #2, and the Scott Street roundhouse of the Delaware & Hudson. 

The layout is under construction and operates during special events.

Trains roll west of Easton, PA.
Trains roll west of Easton, PA.
The model of the South Bethlehem plant of Bethlehem Steel stretches over 40 feet in length.
The model of the South Bethlehem plant of Bethlehem Steel stretches over 40 feet in length.
Tug boats and large ocean-going ships mingle with trains in Jersey City.
Tug boats and large ocean-going ships mingle with trains in Jersey City.
The Jersey City waterfront features prominently on the layout, with areas to load entire frieght cars on barges headed for the piers of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
The Jersey City waterfront features prominently on the layout, with areas to load entire frieght cars on barges headed for the piers of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
Trains roll past the Lehigh Valley railroad headquarters, past the LV interlocking tower and under the Hill-to-Hill bridge in Bethlehem, PA.
Trains roll past the Lehigh Valley railroad headquarters, past the LV interlocking tower and under the Hill-to-Hill bridge in Bethlehem, PA.
Many of the buildings are scratchbuilt to reflect specific structures, like this in-progress model of the Central Railroad of New Jersey depot in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Many of the buildings are scratchbuilt to reflect specific structures, like this in-progress model of the Central Railroad of New Jersey depot in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
The giant South Wilkes-Barre#5 anthracite coal colliery stands almost 2 feet tall and was built with information gathered from vintage photographs.
The giant South Wilkes-Barre#5 anthracite coal colliery stands almost 2 feet tall and was built with information gathered from vintage photographs.