This one, I assume: http://www.osoyoosrailroad.com/
VIrtual tours and video: http://www.osoyoosrailroad.com/html/video.html
Apparently it even has a working Faller road system.
Andre
I have never been there, but from articles about it after it opened, it was built quickly. It went from bare floor and walls to open to the public in much less than a year. Is it any wonder that the scenery is crude and not up to modeling standards? From the sound of comments on the housekeeping, there probably is not a large staff to maintain it. Too bad, but that could be a result of the economy and what it costs to hire legal, mimimum wage enployees. The bottom line is that it’s a tourist attraction first, not a fine scale model railroad.
One thing that bugs me about the place in reference to maybe getting someone interested in the hobby is you should always put your best foot forward and try to make a good impression. On one had we have Northlandz charging what I feel is a ridiculous amount of money to see a dirty dusty poor excuse for a train layout. But travel 40 min. down the road to The Model Railroad Club of Union NJ and you will see for less then half the money which is only charged during holidays probably one of the finest model railroads you will ever see. With plenty of member eager to answer questions and spend as much time with the kids as necessary answering questions helping them see the trains etc. These guys are real ambassadors of the hobby. I have been there when kids tell their fathers hey dad can we build one of these and members have given them their home phone numbers telling them give me a call if you have any questions or if you run into trouble etc.
So someone walks away from Union seeing what the hobby is really all about form operation to simple running of trains to construction of bench work wiring etc. i have to wonder how many people walk away form Northlandz thinking that place was a rip off and the model railroading guys are a bunch of pasty faced crackpots who live in their basements and only come out after the son goes down.
As mentioned earlier when you charge people good money for an attraction you should at least be a good enough businessman to give them what they paid for.
I decided to look around to find any news on Northlandz and found this entry from a visitor on August 11, 2009: http://blog.nj.com/njv_zohar_laor/2009/08/northlandz_a_new_jersey_treasu.html Jaime
http://blog.nj.com/njv_zohar_laor/2009/08/northlandz_a_new_jersey_treasu.html
Just made your link clickable
Apparently they havent seen too many private well done layouts [:D]
IMO they could have done alittle bit better on the rocks and stuff like that cause it looks horrible.
And it alsomight be a better idea to slow the trains down and make them longer. But that is just my opinion.
Andre, thanks for the link, I had it here somewhere,and my wife called me for lunch just then,and the dog needed to go out,Blah blah blah,[:o)] Seriously,Thanks BILL
Northlandz is not a model railroad. Rather, it is something right out of a Ray Bradbury novel such as “Dark Carnival” or, " Something Wicked This Way Comes". Think Gothem City and the Bat-mobile. Look closely at the dust and trash but particularly at the nightmarish scenes the owner has created or, listen to the large pipe organ that the owner is playing as you walk through a labyrinth of catwalks and you hope you do not slip off of and disappear into the scenery. It’s like being in a fun house. My grandkids loved it. Peter Smith, Memphis