page_title: Cherry Valley O-scale
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Cherry Valley O-scale / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Control panel display of the original layout at Cherry Valley Model Railroad Club, Merchantville NJ.
context_page_description: Cherry Valley O Scale is a not-for-profit club dedicated to the promotion of 2-rail O-scale model railroading, located in Merchantville, New Jersey, United States, in the basement/undercroft of the Grace Episcopal Church.
context_section_description: The club was started in March 1962, by members of the former Philadelphia Model Railroad Club, which had been located in the B&O passenger station on Chestnut St. in Philadelphia, after the B&O station was demolished. (Some members of the PMRC also went on to start the East Penn Traction Club several years later.) When first started, the space was an 80' x 35' unfinished crawl space directly under the original 1890s chapel. Finishing the space took weeks, with the removal of 4' of dirt before 20 cubic yards of concrete was used for the new floor.
  The first layout in the space was started in July 1962, with the framing and scenery built before the track was laid, and the first spike driven on August 30, 1962. This layout was 27 by 55 feet in size, and was of a double-track folded dogbone design, built with traditional square tabletop framing, plaster scenery, and relay control. Eventually it grew to have over 4000 linear feet of track, in both standard and 3-foot gauges, with some dual gauge mixed in. It existed through to January 1999, when it was torn down due to growing problems with accessibility and electrical characteristics. Many of the original structures and switches have been saved, for eventual inclusion on the new layout. Most notable of these is a 1940s train station model which had previously been salvaged from the layout at the PMRC location on Chestnut Street.
  2012 was officially recognized as the club's 50th anniversary, by proclamation of the Merchantville Town Council, at their October public session.
caption: Control panel from the old layout.
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