The March 2023 monthly meeting of the North Florida Division of the Atlantic Coast S Gaugers was held at Fred Gorbell’s house. The theme of the evening was the New Haven railroad because Fred’s most recent layout features the Department 56 New England Village and other complementary buildings and scenery, providing the perfect landscape in which to operate A.C. Gilbert’s favorite railroad rolling stock! As you enter the layout room, a post-card perfect New England water front scene immediately confronts you, with the layout stretching out behind it. Other focal points of the layout include a New England Dairy farm and a model of the TCA Toy Train Museum which Fred and his friend Stewart Gardner customized by adding additional platforms and details. The track is Lionel Fast Track laid on Homasote powered by a Lionel ZW transformer.

Thanks to Steve Baxendale for bringing his extensive collection of New Haven memorabilia and books for the 12 members in attendance to read through. It was fun to see railroad historians refer to actual, prototype passenger cars as “American Flyer” style cars, meaning the Bradley passenger cars that Gilbert modeled because they were so prolific on the New Haven mainline that ran right by the American Flyer factory. Also thanks to other members for bringing and sharing their rolling stock. We had a 1958 passenger set with the printed passenger car name plates, a 1958 freight set, and string of mail and express cars to replicate the famous “Night Owl” train from Boston to D.C., and several EP-5’s all running. Newest member Carl Scire drove over 2 hours to the meeting and operated his latest acquisition, an original Missouri Pacific Alco PA set. It must have been on lease to the New Haven, pulling that string of Lionel and Gilbert New Haven fast freight cars!!

As usual, there were plenty of refreshments and home-made baked goods, including “ham and cheese on rye” sandwiches from Fred and Angie, right off of the New Haven dining car menu.