John's cars

John Sharpe's cars are selling fast

Bachmann	81180	Pardee and Curtin Lumber Co. #6 Climax	$ 200.00
Bachmann	96201	Hand Car w/ Trailer	$   50.00
LGB	3150	Deutch Eisenbahn 1985	$   50.00
LGB	4067-K 01	State of Maine boxcar	$   50.00
LGB	30430	Grizzly Flatts Sightseeing Car	$   50.00
LGB	31440	Christmas Sightseeing Car	$   50.00
LGB	41120	Christmas Gondola w/ Trees- '96	$   50.00
LGB	45352	Coca Cola Boxcar w/ Sound	$   50.00
LGB	47400	Christmas Tank Car	$   50.00
	these two cars added:
LGB	34120	Christmas Barrel Car	$   50.00
LGB	45110	Christmas Closed Gondola	$   50.00

see previous post for address and shipping info

Items for sale

As I mentioned at the meeting, John Sharpe has some items for sale. They are in awesome condition and the price is right.

AHL 6150 D&GR Passenger Shorty  $     50.00 Bachmann 81180 Pardee and Curtin Lumber Co. #6 Climax  $   200.00 Bachmann 96201 Hand Car w/ Trailer  $     50.00 LGB 3150 Deutch Eisenbahn 1985  $     50.00 LGB 4021ct Christmas Red Gondola w/ blue gift  $     50.00 LGB 4067-K 01 State of Maine boxcar  $     50.00 LGB 30430 Grizzly Flatts Sightseeing Car  $     50.00 LGB 31420 Christmas Keg Car  $     50.00 LGB 31440 Christmas Sightseeing Car  $     50.00 LGB 36076 Christmas Passenger Car  $     50.00 LGB 36077 Christmas Passenger Car '97  $     50.00 LGB 40217 Christmas Gondola  $     50.00 LGB 4067K STATE OF MAINE Boxcar  $     50.00 LGB 41120 Christmas Gondola w/ Trees- '96  $     50.00 LGB 41600 Sandy River flat cars (2)  $     50.00 LGB 45110 Christmas Closed Gondola  $     50.00 LGB 45352 Coca Cola Boxcar w/ Sound  $     50.00 LGB 47400 Christmas Tank Car  $     50.00 LGB 48670 SR&RL Boxcar  $     50.00
Please send me e-mail if you are interested in buying one of my cars.
My email is jcsharpe442@yahoo.com
I can take PayPal if that is convenient.
I hope you live close enough that we can meet half way to complete a transaction
otherwise there would be a hefty postage charge.

Maine 3Railers Annual Model Railroad Show on Saturday, March 28, 10am-3pm, Augusta Elks Club

Dues Information Update

$15 dollars per year for each voting member. 

That includes Newsletters and updates on all MGRS Events:

Check made payable to MGRS
Please send to the following address:
       MGRS
       33 Elden Rd.
       Buxton, Maine
       04093
     
Dues are due in January of each year.  If you join during the Mall Train Show (Nov - Dec) your dues payment is applied to the following year.

If you do not use checks:  You can pay on line. Click here to use PayPal.   To cover the cost of PayPal processing please make the amount $15.75.  Thank you.

Spring Meeting

The Spring Meeting was held this past Saturday, March 21, at the Maine Mall with a large turnout of MGRS members.  As with all important meetings, most agenda items were duly tabled, but it was nonetheless a pleasure to see so many folks celebrating the vernal equinox together, even though the vernal part is still hidden by the snow.  Here are a couple of pictures of the crowd.  Frank Howard wanted to be certain he was in the room when I took the photos, and he is, although Terry Norton (standing) moved just before I took the picture.  Sorry Frank.  I'll try to get you in a shot at the Annual Meeting in July.

Terrapin Station Garden Railway at the 2015 Portland Flower Show

Terrapin Station was seen by over 9,000 visitors at the 2015 Flower Show in Portland, Maine. It had 21 different species of plants and was part of the floral competition. Richard Young from the Maine Garden Railway Society has been bringing trains to the Flower Show for the last four years. For this event he was offered a larger space at short notice. He chose a typical back yard with a scenic garden railway. There is a central patio with comfortable furniture and a Big Green Egg for grilling & cooking. One corner has a working hot tub on a patio with a small bar. The garden railway wraps around the central patio through a village, farm and hills.  The most frequent train was the Amtrak Genesis with four passenger cars. It looks like the Amtrak Downeaster, well known by sight and whistle to children of all ages in Southern Maine.

The 350’ of track was powered by BridgeWerks Magnum 15-SRM Controller and their UR-15 Remote Control. Motive power is an Amtrak Genesis with Zimo sound card and rolling stock is four Amfleet coaches. The bridge is a 20’ kit from Carl Wedekman.

Construction began with placing paving blocks upright in the track pattern shown above. Then the central and hot tub patios were laid, followed by landscape fabric outside the patio areas. Twelve cubic yards of mulch were used to fill the layout. Next the rail bed was ballasted so track could be laid, connected and powered. Finally, the outside border was done with about a ton of rock. Trees, plants, and flowers go in the day before opening, once the loading doors are closed and heat turned on.

The creation of this display from decision to opening in a single week was made possible by exhibitors who generously provided materials for Terrapin Station. They include hardscape from Blue Rock Stone Center, a hot tub and Big Green Egg ceramic cooker from Mainely Tubs, and trees from O’Donal’s Nursery Garden Center.  Paul Corbett, another member of the Maine Garden Railway Society, provided the buildings and figures that helped bring the layout to life. Thankfully some of his buildings were not buried under all the snow here!   A time lapse video of the setup of the 2015 Portland, Maine Flower Show can be seen at http://www.pressherald.com/media/video/time-lapse-setting-portland-flower-show/ Terrapin Station appears in the top of the overhead camera shots.

Plant List

Tulip

Juniper

Norway Spruce

Dwarf Mountain Pine

Scrub Pine

False Cypress

White Spruce

Juniper

Japanese Spurge

Heather

Succulents

Juniper

White Spruce

Cyclamen

Gerbera

Lobelia

Heuchra

Barren Strawberry

Cypress

Dwarf Alberta Spruce

 This post has been sent to Garden Railway Magazine as a possible "One-Page Project" and to the quarterly Switch Tower Newsletter of the NMRA Seacoast Division.

Annual Meeting and Open House will be on Saturday, July 25

The MGRS,Annual Meeting and Open House will be on Saturday, July 25 at Carl & Pat Churchill's in Buxton.  There will be an auction. Please bring something for the potluck lunch.

Spring Meeting

MARCH 21st

Hometown Buffet

1 o'clock

Big Train Operators Club Convention in North Conway, June 23-27, 2015

The Big Train Operator's Club will hold its annual convention from June 23-27 in North Conway.
For information please visit http://www.bigtrainoperator.com/2015noconway/index.shtml.

The main activity is visits to scenic railroads. The White Mountain Hotel and Resort is the convention headquarters. BTO is a G-scale club offering membrship, a quarterly magazine, and the annual convention. For details please visit http://www.bigtrainoperator.com/btoc/invite.shtml

Riverbend and Southwest Garden Railway in LaBelle, Florida, from Paul & Brenda Smith

                                                                                                             March 13, 2015

I visited the Riverbend RV park near LaBelle, FL a few weeks ago. I had heard that they had a great garden railway. They have an operating session every Saturday morning, so Brenda and I are planning to go over there tomorrow morning. I'll take some photos for you to post on the blog (if you want). In the meantime, the link below will take you to a web page that shows the layout:

Note: The picture on this page starts a neat video of the entire railway with running trains
and clips taken from the front of of trail

http://www.riverbendflorida.com/contact-us/test-side-menu/activities/riverbend-railroad.aspx

                                                                                                                        March 14, 2015

 Here are some photos of our visit to the Riverbend and Southwest Florida RR which Brenda and I visited this morning. We had a great time.

The small club dismantles everything, including the track at the end of March when they leave the RV park for the season. They have a couple of storage buildings in which they store everything. The railbed can become completely submerged in water with heavy summertime rain storms.

Plant Pot Railway Update from Paul Smith

Railway with F-7 Locomotive

Railway with Penny for Scale

Top View

                                                                                                                                       March  5, 2015

I just thought I would send a couple updated photos of the plant pot garden railway and report on how it is operating. The Kato N scale Unitrak system with nickel silver track is working well. However, with the humidity and warm temps down here in SW FLorida, I do get a bit of green mold that forms on the track periodically which affects the conductivity from the track to the wheels of the locomotives. I found that using a paper towel moistened with isopropyl alcohol does a nice job of cleaning the track. I just run it over the length of the track for a couple of laps and then everything works fine. I also occasionally use a bright boy to clean the rails as I do with my indoor railway back in Maine.

The tiny plants that I put in the pot have begun to take off, so I keep them pruned so that they don't interfere with the right of way of the track, and also to keep them within an appropriate scale for the N scale train.

I originally bought a Bachmann NW2 locomotive back in January, but after some continuous running (sometimes several hours at a time), the gears started sounding funny. I took it back to the local train shop (Metro Trains and Hobbies here in Fort Myers) and they are having it serviced by their N scale specialist (I'm not sticking my fat fingers in there!). While I was at the shop, I found a 5 car set (including an F-7A locomotive in Union Pacific colors as well as a matching caboose) by Kato. Kato locomotives, from what I hear and read, are the most reliable and durable of all N scale units. After some traditional Maine haggling, I came home with the set.

So that I can avoid excessive wear and tear on the locomotives in the future, I installed a manual timer (from Lowes) on the low voltage side of the power pack which can run from 1 to 60 minutes depending on how far the knob on the timer is rotated. It is installed in an outdoor receptacle box to keep it dry, and I attached it on the exterior wall near our front door so I can turn the train on for operating/demo by simply walking out onto our front door step. Once I get the Bachmann locomotive back from the shop, I'll be able to rotate the locomotives. I'll also bring one of my Atlas GP-7's back from Maine next fall so I'll then have three to operate.

I'll say one thing: dealing with N scale couplers and wheel sets, which vary in size and style (axles vary in length from some manufacturers to others), really makes one appreciate large scale trains!

A friend just sent me some photos of our home in Maine that he took a couple of days ago. You can see the house and shed under the snow, but the garden railway and its' plants are well insulated by probably 3 feet of the white stuff!

REMINDER TO MEMBERS

ANNUAL SPRING MEETING
MARCH 21ST AT 1:00 pm
HOMETOWN BUFFET
MAINE MALL IN SOUTH PORTLAND

Garden Railway at the Flower Show - worth the trip! - Updated with pictures, admission and parking information

Yesterday I went to help Rich Young with his garden railway and plant display at the Portland Flower Show. Its definitely worth is visit.

The layout is a single track, dog bone pattern about the size of the Mall layout. Paul Corbett provided buildings and vehicles. The train runs around a full-size patio with furniture, a grill, and an working hot tub. The layout is built at the ground level like the "Thomas" area at the Mall, so the kids love it.

Paul and Rachael Corbett were taking pictures, and Richard introduced me to Dennis Smith, Ivan's son, who also has an exhibit at the Flower Show.

The Flower Show is at the Portland Company at 58 Fore Street in Portland. It is open today and Saturday from 10-7 and from 10-5 on Sunday. Details can be found at www.portlandcompany.com/flower, at "Portland-Flower-Show" on Facebook, or by calling 207-775-4403.

Daily admission is $15 per person

Parking at the Portland Company is $25 per day. You can park at 

garages along Commercial Street and take the free shuttle bus to and from the Flower Show. Garages and businesses with stops have signs on The Commercial St.

Video Links

Amtrak DownEaster southbound over the bridge

Amtrak DownEaster in South Village

Amtrak DownEaster northbound over the bridge

Time Lapse video of Flower Show setup. The high camera shots show the garden railway. You can see it below the "4E" sign.

Press Herald Time Lapse video

The Portland Flower Show opens this evening and runs through Sunday at the Portland Company Complex.

Here is some initial press from the Press Herald.

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/03/04/portland-flower-show-ready-bloom/