SAVED BY A SALE: The elaborate model train system at a house in Rocky Hill will remain in place thanks to its purchase by Princeton residents Melyssa and James “Murr” Murray. Murr, right, is familiar to fans of the long-running TV show “Impractical Jokers.”
By Anne Levin
Princeton resident James “Murr” Murray is one of the hosts of the TBS television show Impractical Jokers. But the recent purchase by Murray and his wife, Melyssa, of a house in Rocky Hill that is home to a 5,000-square-foot model train layout in its basement, is no joke.
The couple stepped in at the eleventh hour, buying the house the night before its previous owner was putting it on the market. What was likely to have been a hard sell — it is the weekly meeting place of the 60-year-old Pacific Southern Railway Club, whose 40 members use the basement to operate their elaborate system of trains, buildings, bridges, mountains, and rivers, and hold annual fundraisers for the public — has been avoided.
The Murrays, who live 10 minutes away, had been looking at warehouse space for Melyssa’s growing company, No. 95 Candles. They also needed room for their charity, the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation.
“We had read stories about the house in Rocky Hill in The Wall Street Journal, Town Topics, and The Montgomery News,” said Murr, recalling the predicament of the owner, who hoped to sell the house after the passing of her husband, train club CEO Carlton Pate III.
Murr is a train fan who has fond memories of building a model railroad with his father in the basement of the Staten Island house where he grew up. He is clearly awed by the Rocky Hill basement set-up.
“This was one of America’s longest-running model railroad clubs that was running in the basement,” he said. “There are dozens of trains running underneath the tracks that you can’t even see. It represents decades of American history, based on real trains around America. There are fabrication studios, a conductor’s booth. They’re building a new wing. It’s just incredible.”
The fact that the club is a nonprofit, donating all of the proceeds from its annual open houses to the local fire company, also made an impression. The Murrays decided to buy the building.
They have left the basement as is, for the train club to operate, and are using the rest of the house for Melyssa’s business and their Alzheimer’s charity. They are remaining in their Princeton home.
Murr started Impractical Jokers, now in its 12th season, with three lifelong friends. They compete to see who can best embarrass the others in public. Several episodes have been filmed in Princeton.
“I came home one day and the crew had painted my entire front lawn pink,” Murr recalled with a laugh. “We had yet to meet the neighbors. Luckily, they took it well. It all grew out a few months later.”
Melyssa, who is from Philadelphia, is a trained nurse who was set to start a nursing job a week before COVID-19 hit. “We thought it would be over in a week,” Murr said. “So she pivoted, went back to business school, got a master’s degree, and created No. 95 Candles, which took off. She now ships them out around the world, and does a lot of in-person events. As the company grew, it took over larger and larger portions of our home. She needed to expand.”
With the purchase of the Rocky Hill property last month, the house in Princeton feels a lot roomier. The couple met in Manhattan and moved to Princeton “because it was right in the middle, between New York and Philadelphia,” Melyssa said. “We looked at one house and bought it the next day. We love it here.”
Murr recently launched a new website for the train club (pacificsouthern.org), which people can join from anywhere in the world. Every two weeks, they will receive a video that he films in in the basement. All of the operations are nonprofit, he said.
Future plans also include restarting the annual events, which had been put on hold, allowing access to the train layout.
“It’s not only a great cause. In this day and age, the one thing missing is mystery,” Murr said. “Everything about your life is publicly available. But every time you walk downstairs to see the train layout, you’ll see something new. It’s inventive and imaginative.”
The Murrays have joined the club, and were immediately made permanent members. “The club has had some rough times,” Murr said. “But my hope is to secure its future forever. I don’t want them to be in the situation again where their destiny is in others’ hands.”