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Northlandz, Flemington's (NJ) 'wonder of the world'


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#1 Sloan

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Posted 31 May 2005 - 12:21 PM

If you are railfanning on the east coast, I recommend a trip to Northlandz in Flemington, NJ (near Black River & Western Railroad). Northlandz is a model railroad extavaganza.

http://www.northlandz.com/

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#2 KevinKorell

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Posted 31 May 2005 - 05:07 PM

Although not really into model trains, I did visit Northlandz years ago after they opened. The walk through the attraction is literally one mile long as you snake your way through not only model railroad displays, but also dolls. Yes, dolls. There is also a room with some sort of piano entertainment to my recollection. They did not have it at the time, but they were supposed to have begun some sort of prototype train ride starting from Northlandz' grounds. I don't think this was associated with BR&W. BR&W's tourist operation begins at Flemington and goes south to Ringoes, while their track runs by the back of Northlandz (north of town) but only sees infrequent freights as it hooks up to Conrail Shared Assetts.


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#3 Sloan

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Posted 22 October 2014 - 09:44 AM

Bruce Williams Zaccagnino of Flemington spends almost every day surrounded by 100 trains, 500,000 trees and 1,200 structures that he built with his bare hands. And all of it is contained within one 52,000-square-foot building.

How is this possible? Most of those trains, trees and structures are only a few inches tall.


http://www.dailyreco...ersey/17452105/

#4 KevinKorell

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Posted 22 October 2014 - 10:26 AM

I was there many years ago, and this "wonder" continues to exist. They are not exaggerating -- it's really a one mile walk through the entire attraction. Now I doubt that most if not all on this board would be interested in the doll collection, but it's a part of the same museum so one could just walk past that section without stopping. But the majority is trains.


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#5 CNJRoss

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Posted 12 January 2020 - 10:53 PM

Late post

Courier News, Bridgewater, NJ 10/8/19
 

Northlandz, Flemington's 'wonder of the world,' reopens after renovations by new owner

 

 

After 10 months and a quarter of a million dollars of renovations, the doors to Northlandz, the world’s largest model train museum located in Flemington, reopened on September 26 with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

 

Some of the unveiled renovations include restoration of about 75 non-working trains; restoration of damaged scenes; and new landscaping, flooring, interior and exterior paint, LED lighting and exterior sign. There is also a new gift shop, private event space and play area for kids.

 

New owner Tariq Sohail purchased Northlandz last November from builder and founder Bruce Williams Zaccagnino, who has since retired from building and curating the 100-train, 1200-miniature structure museum. The venue also includes a doll collection with more than 200 historic dolls, an 1890s' replica steam train and a 2,000-pipe organ.

 

SNIP

 

Some future projects include an expanded play area with climbing walls, bounce area, arcade and increased interactivity in the exhibit space. A studio is also planned for kids to take model railroad classes.

 

More here.



#6 CNJRoss

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Posted 12 January 2020 - 11:07 PM

Good News Network, 1/11/20
 

Businessman Needing a Warehouse Stumbles Upon World’s Largest Train Set—And Refuses to Simply Tear it Down

 

 

Of all the things you could think to do in New Jersey, seeing the world’s largest functioning model train set meandering around its own museum probably doesn’t immediately come to mind. But, it’s thanks to a man who isn’t even an enthusiast that this glorious creation was saved from ruin.

 

Bruce Williams Zaccagnino, a resident of Flemington, New Jersey, spent 18 years creating the technological marvel in a building now called Northlandz—but the winding tracks and breathtaking miniature scenery through which the toy train rambled eventually fell into disrepair as the price of maintaining it inside its large building became too high for a man who was essentially just an extraordinarily passionate hobbyist.

 

SNIP

 

Businessman Tariq Sohail is the new owner of Northlandz after he purchased it from of Zaccagnino last November when he was looking for additional warehouse space.

 

Sohail runs a distribution business and was told by the former owner that he could “demolish what was inside”.

 

“When we saw it, we said, ‘No way we could demolish this’,” Sohail told My Central Jersey.  “What this guy built is amazing.”

 

More here.






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