Neville Lewis G Scale Sale Table at Topsham Show on November 4th

Neville Lewis will have a table at the Fall Model Railroad Show this coming Saturday from 10am-3pm. He will have engines, accessories and track for sale. The show is at the Mt Ararat High School Gym, 73 Eagles Way, Topsham, ME 04086.

8th Annual Holiday Train Display will run from Nov 17 through Dec 24

Our train display at the Maine Mall will run from November 17 through December 24. We are back beside Santa in the old Bon Ton space. The layout is 16’ wide by 60’ long with nine trains. This year we have a mountain with a train around it halfway up and the ski lift running up to the top. 

Please sign up to help at the Mall to provide fun for children of all ages. We have 17 shifts open in November and 33 in December. You can click the SignUp button on the blog or contact Sam Carr at secarr1@comcast.net or 207-865-4467. You can also use the Sign Up button to view the current schedule.

The shifts are as follows:

·   November 17 to December 14: Monday through Saturday 10am-3pm or 3-8pm. Sunday 10am to 6pm single shift

·   December 15 to 23 from 9am-3pm or 3pm-9pm

·   December 24 from 9am-1pm or 1pm-5pm

Thanks to those who already signed up including Mike Tarbox, Preston Chadwick, John Middleton, Art Handman, Norm Waycott, Andy Hendrickson, Bill & Robin Goodrich, Ben Braithwaite, Dennis Farrell and Sam Carr.

Setup Day Two at the Maine Mall

Today we finished the track on the 30" platforms. Dennis & Ben finished the two main loops while Terry and Courtney worked on running the wiring. The outer main line has run a train!!

Ben and Sam ran the trolley tracks on the Mountain Platform. It was adjusted to run around the Mountain to the base of the Ski Lift. This will leave an area open for buildings and avoid having the trolley running under the ski lift cable.

Terry testing wiring while Ben finishes the Trolley Line

The Holiday Train Display will have nine operating lines

• Thomas Loop (button #1)
• Percy Figure 8 (button #2)
• Freight Outer Line
• Amtrak  Inner Line
• Trolley Reversing Line
• Mountain Tunnel Loop (button #3)
• Trolley Loop on "water feature"
• Reversing freight line on "water feature"
• Circus Train (button #4)
• 
  

             The Ski Lift will have button #5

Setup will resume on Thursday to test the tracks, wire the mountain track, and put the mountain in its final position. Buildings and decoration will start on the Thomas/Percy and Town Platforms. The Mall will be doing final touch up on the weekend, so buildings on the Mountain Platform will wait until next week as will the water feature track and buildings.

Here is the current plan showing the Percy Figure 8 (thanks to Art Shean)  and the changes in the trolley around the Mountain (thanks to Terry).

Percy changed from Oval to Figure 8

Trolley Around the Mountain

MGRS at Mt. Ararat Show in Topsham on November 4th

MGRS will have a layout display at the Model Railroad Show sponsored by the Great Falls Model Railroad Club on November 4th. We will be using Art Shean's portable layout that you may have seen at the Annual Meeting in July.

The show takes place from 10am-3pm at the Mount Ararat High School Gym, 73 Eagles Way, Topsham, ME 04086.

We need help setting up starting at 4pm on Friday, 11/3, and during show on Saturday. If you can help, please contact Sam at secarr1@comcast.net.

The fall and spring Mt. Ararat events are the largest, regular model train show in Maine. Its worth your time to help MGRS, recruit new members,  and have a chance to talk to other model railroaders.

Setup Day One at the Maine Mall

Today was our first day of setup at the Mall. The trailer was unloaded on Friday, and our equipment is in secure storage near the layout. The Mall Staff had already placed the tables and covered them with white cloth that looks like snow.

The crew today included Andy Hendrickson, Ben Braithwaite, Terry Norton, Dennis Farrell, Art Shean, and Sam Carr.

This picture looks across the train platform. The mountain built by the Mall is in the center. You can see the Jackson Drawbridge towers on the right and two other bridges on the left. By this time the crew had adjusted the tables to fit the bridges with help from Paul Pettengill of the Mall.

Looking from the back across the Town, Mountain and Circus Areas

Here you can see Terry and Ben working on the mountain before we put it up on the table. They are fitting the top of the Ski Lift into place and making sure we can still take off the cover. The mountain has a ski slope down the front and a train going around it about half way up. Both will be operated with push buttons.

Setting the Ski Lift on the Mountain

This 3rd picture shows the setup of the Jackson Drawbridge and the picket fence along the back. This fence will go around the part of the layout with the 30" platform. The 12" Thomas & Percy area will have the short, white fence as in past years.

Jackson Drawbridge and Picket Fence

By late afternoon the four bridges and most of the track were in place. Andy & Dennis worked on the Main Lines and Circus. Art Shean laid the track for Thomas & Percy. Terry & Ben set the bridges, tested the Mountain train line, and started the wiring.

On Tuesday Terry and Courtney Goodwin will be working on the wiring while the rest of the crew works on the last of the main line track. Then the Mountain will be put into its final position so the trolley line can be run around it.

Later this week we expect to start on roads and buildings.

Mall Setup starts October 16 and Layout Opens November 17

The trailer has been unloaded at the Mall. Setup will begin on Monday, October 16 at 10am. The plan is to lay track and wire up from Monday through Wednesday, and then start placing buildings and decorations. The tables are in place and covered with a white "snow" cloth.  MGRS will open along with Santa on Thursday, November 17, and the layout will run through December 24th

Please come in during the week and donate some time and energy to making this one of our biggest layouts. Enter through the sliding glass doors on the mall side of BONTON's near where we were last year.

Volunteer to run trains during the hours below

From 11/17 through 12/14
Monday through Saturday Noon to 8pm with shifts 10am-3pm and 3-8pm
Sunday 10am to 6pm  single shift

From December 15 to 23
9am to 9pm with shifts 9am-3pm and 3pm-9om

December 24
9am to 5pm with shifts 9am-1pm and 1pm-5pm

Mall Setup to Start During the Week of October 16-20

Setup of the 2017 Holiday Train Display may start during the week of October 16-20. The display will be with Santa in the space previously occupied by the Bon Ton store. This area will note open to Mall visitors until Santa beings his work in November.

Details to follow after a Board of Directors meeting during the week of October 9-13.

Holiday Train Display Update

Here is the updated plan for the Mall. The layout is now 16 feed wide. Thomas is now 1' high and has expanded to 12' deep. Santa may start as early as November 4th. Our schedule is not yet set.

Phillips Model Railroad and Hobby Show on September 30th

Here are some pictures of the G-Scale layout at the show in Phillips this past weekend. Art Shean and Jim Jenkins did a nice job with this. Several MGRS members showed up to see what was happening. Art believes we will be invited back next year