Springfield 1/26/13

LEGO setup was great

 Springfield show was well attended on Saturday. Lots of smaller scales but not a lot of G.

SAVE THE GREENVILLE DEPOT display (one of the groups that MGRS supports)

one of the few G-scale displays

Did you know?

This date in history:  Jan 28, 1855 -  First Locomotive runs from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
Where?   Answer highlight here: [ Panama Railway]. 

Amherst Train Show - 1/27/13

Here is a cool looking Sky drive photo Album which Scott Gould created yesterday.  It shows the double helix display created by Ralph and Dick.  Thanks Scott for sharing.
Please enjoy: click here to view

I think we could use some more engines

   I know some people do bring in their own engines to run at the Mall.  And a huge Thank You to the people that do!   It adds variety and a pleasant change. But, most people do not want to leave something in there and I don't blame them. I think the most favorite engine is Carl's AMTRAK.  That ran almost every day.  That is really not fair to either Carl or the AMTRAK.  I hope we can get some other reliable engines that the Club will own so that they can help carry the load and spread the work around.  Plus many people come in to help and they need trains to run.
   The BOD may have already planned to take advantage of some of the train shows coming up and I hope they are able to find a couple more engines.

  Or if we can come up with a plan to carefully use a members engine if they choose to make it available.   I would probably leave an engine if I knew it was only going to be used 2 hrs a day.
But we need a way to easily control that.  That may be worth thinking about.

   Some of the members are really good at Ebay. Maybe they could be on the look out for that "GREAT Deal" and be authorized to buy something and give it to the Club.  No, I mean have the Club reimburse them if it was something the Club needed and could afford.  That sounds like a dangerous idea, to much room for confusion or difference of opinion.  But it might work on a specific item  pre approved ahead of time.   For example:  IF you see a USA F3 Diesel that is B&M in excellent condition for under $150 - Get it!  That might work.

Spring Meeting moved to March 10, 2013

Sounds good to me, we get to meet two weeks earlier!   Same location and same time at 1pm.
I just read an email from Terry Norton with the notice changing the date.  Please update your calendar and I hope this makes it more convenient for you to attend.

Not much progress

It was just one of those days.  No big break through on the waterfall project.  I went on my own little shopping trip which was OK but I like to go and pick up what I want, I don't like searching for substitutes.  My quest for the illusive blue plastic wrap  took me to Wall-Mart, Shaws, Target and the Dollar Store which is about all the stores I even go to.  No luck but I bought a bunch of other stuff like scented garbage bags because they looked 'green',  craft colored paints, some non-slip kitchen blue thing,  cheap plastic table cloths.  I even carried around a box of Arm-and-Hammer  doggie clean up bags because they were blue!  I managed not to buy them, but only after I turned them back in at the cash register.  Good grief.  It was not the day to find the perfect waterfall material. 

Acrylic waterfall

This is still drying but starting to look more like 'water'. As the DAP cures it becomes clearer but it still stays flexible.  The plexiglass is very easy to bend and creates a nice 'tunnel' for Thomas to run under.  

I am using two pieces of plexiglass which will let me tint the waterfall by sandwiching some blue plastic wrap in between them. I want to try layering a couple of irregular cut pieces together and maybe adding a few white paint strokes. 

So tomorrow I hope I can find the colored plastic wrap.   After I get it as good as I can, then the big test - add a little water and see what it looks like! 

Railroad web cams World wide

First you need to know where it is daylight:  Click here to check:

Next take a look at all the sites available world wide: Click here to get started:

Here is one more to keep you busy. I call it Great Train Pictures:
 Click here to view

Guess what?

 

  This is an experiment in progress.  That is a card table covered with wax paper and a tube of DAP applied to it.  It goes on white but turns clear after it cures.  I hope I can turn it into a raging waterfall.
I plan to peel it off and glue it to a piece of thin curved plexiglass.    There are ways to touch it up and add a little color but the main idea is to model a forceful looking waterfall that will come to life when  we run a small amount of real water over it.      This will take a while but it is fun to experiment with.  I don't know if we will ever actually do this but I would like to see if I can come up with a realistic looking design for a waterfall feature for use at the Mall.   

Spring Meeting

MGR Spring Meeting
Date March 10, 2013
Place: Maine Mall
South Portland, ME.

~ Private Room ~
       1 to 3 pm


This is the same location as last year.  The best directions are enter the Mall parking area from the "Best Buy" side and stay right. The resteraut has an outside entrance just around the corner of  Best Buy.    Exit 45 off Maine Turnpike.  Excellent Menu and desserts. $12.95

Update from Scott Gould

 Dick Rubin is out of the hospital, where he had been in intensive care for a week.  I just talked with him and he is sounding great—sound heart and sound mind.  He is at the Northeast Rehabilitation Hospital at the Pease International Tradeport in New Hampshire for the next couple of weeks, while he gets his strength back.  All in all, very good news.  I’d be happy if you pass this along on the blog.

Very Impressive

I don't understand half of what I just watched, not even close to that, But, I LOVE IT.  I love the father teaching his son.  I love the way a young boy learns as an apprentice from an experienced  craftsman.  Imagine the education value gained in 2 weeks!  Wow, congratulations to the Schade family.

Please enjoy the video Building two Locomotives: Click here. 
 From Eric: " Ben spent two weeks working with me in the workshop building a working model steam locomotive.  We worked together to design it and to manufacture the parts needed.  We started with a nicely pre-machined kit of a steam engine for which we fabricated a boiler, frame, drive wheels and a chassis.  The locomotive burns alcohol and will pull several cars on our indoor test track with ease."

Back home again

I enjoyed yesterday.  It was nice being inside looking out at the nice new snow falling and slowly studying the latest Iron Horse.  Art did an excellent job covering all the aspects of our Nov-Dec season.  

    All my trains are back downstairs and getting ready for the remainder of winter.  This is when I start to spend more time actually running them then any other time of year.  I was also looking through my computer and saw some photos and video that are still current. 

Video of B&M F3's in operation.
   






 
                                                                          

Portsmouth Harbor Web Cam

This is pretty good.  It works day or night .    See the progress on the bridge project.
Check it out: Click here:    Thanks Tiny.
         
 

Happening Today Jan 15, 2013

  From Maine Dept of Transportation -  Memorial Bridge Project Update.  Sent in by Denneth Lee,
Please Click here for more info:

Newsletter on line - Thank you Art

Art Handman has sent out the current Iron Horse and the on line version is now available by clicking here: Nov - Dec 2012 Iron Horse
Also attention is drawn to MGRS Honor Roll for 2012. Thank you and congratulations to our members.

Best wishes to Dick Rubin

I received a message from Scott that he asked me to post for him.  Very happy to do so:

Scott said "Dick was taken seriously ill as a result of the flu and is now hospitalized in Boston.  Dick has been one of the strongest supporters of the Holiday Train Display.  He and Denny Rubin are in our thoughts as we wish for a full recovery."

 Thanks,

Scott

 And from all of us, We hope you will get well and get back home soon.        

 

Waiting for our Return

 

 Our spot is waiting for us for 2013!   Right there, smack dab in the middle of Center Court!   That is awesome news and it is nice to know so early in the year that our past efforts are appreciated by the Mall, the public, and our own members to the point that we are planning to return for our fourth season!   

 For now, we can take a deep breath and enjoy it.  Collect our thoughts and ideas. Open up our imaginations, make suggestions to build upon and improve what we have accomplished so far. 

All ideas are welcomed and encouraged.

How it started

Here is a reprint of the original news article.
Please click here to view:

Amtrack Action

Amtrak activity around Brunswick Maine during end of 2012.
Click here to see video:

Mt Washington

Tiny sent us this link to the Mt Washington Auto Road.  A beautiful sight to enjoy.

Please click here:

Update from Bill & Robin

Hi John
Here are some photos that we took up at North Conway this past weekend.  We went to Steaming in the Snow.
Hope all is well!
Bill and Robin

Symbols, Flags, Flowers and Motto's

Here is a link to every State in the United States of America.  State Quarters, Seals and history.
Great if you want some ideas for that special box car you may be designing.

Interesting site take a look Click here: 

Lost plastic animals and stuff - found!

Sorry, I have your animals, and HO action figures, and candy dispensing moose!  They were in a bag of stuff I just went through of things someone thought were mine which were returned from the Mall.  If they are yours please let me know and I will get them back to you.  John

Maine Garden Railway Society

Look at us! When you draw it out you get a better idea of how MGRS is organized.

Remember we are all volunteers who choose to join by sending in $12 dollars in January (now due) for the upcoming year.  That makes us voting members and members of our household become family members. We operate primarily through the direction of our president Carl Churchill and our Board of Directors who are all elected annually in July of each year.  Many activities are handled directly by members after coordinating with Carl.

Part of the Good olde Days.

This site is a lot of fun.  If you every saw a Burma-Shave you probably remember it.  What a great advertizing idea!  If you want to make a model Burma-Shave for your layout just print out the one you like.
Pleace Click here and enjoy:

Grain Enhancing Tool

Here is an interesting article for advanced Model builders.  Take a look click here:



A tool that is easy to use that adds a lot of detail.

Thanks to the dedicated crew

It had to be a lot of effort - All the buildings, trains, track, tunnels, bridges, signs, wires, transformers, chairlifts and saw mills were picked up and loaded into trucks and cars and transported out of the Mall and brought to Carl's.  All done and completed yesterday.  Thank You!  to all the guys that helped out.  In no particular order - Thank you to Paul, Walter, Scott, Art, Tiny, Norm and Carl !!   The final step in wrapping up another very successful and well done train season at the Maine Mall.

Long outdoor Lionel Layout

Good video, but you need plenty of time to watch it.  I like the last half the best but the beginning is for the true lover of long trains.   Click here to watch

Waterfalls

Waterfall - That is the word of the day, especially at the Mall.  In anticipation of wanting to do something like this I turned to Youtube to see what I could find.  I know the problem with real water on model railroad is that you cannot scale water and it sometimes does not look right.  But it does have a dramatic effect and I have seen some excellent HO models using Lifelike products that represent water very well.  I have the idea that combining  some of the techniques of modeling water  (like the picture above) with the addition of real water added on top of them would result in the perfect powerful looking operating model.   Here is very short video showing something along that idea.  Note there is actually a small amount of real water flowing over a clear framework.  Click here:

As you can see in this video the 'Garden style' waterfall looks good but is heavy and takes a lot of rocks.  We can't build another granite colossal like Fryburg but I am sure there is workable compromise out there to be discovered. 

I remember the Cog

Ahh yes, the smell of the smoke!  I remember taking my oldest grandson on the Cog RR.  It was great! It even was a clear day!  Here is a video that shows the old steam engines that used to climb Mt. Washington.  Click here: 

Here is the new diesel which they have had for a while:  Click here:  
as seen on their new Web Site.

Happy 2013 from Maine Garden Railway Society

May the track ahead be clear and straight
 and your love for trains stay strong and great. Happy New Year!