Gorham House Visit 8/24 will be re-scheduled to September

The Gorham House visit scheduled for 8/24 will now be re-scheduled to some time in September.

Piko Factory Open House and New Product Videos

Here is a video of the Piko Factory Open House in Germany held on June 20, 2015. This only happens every other year.

Piko Factory Open House

A second video shows new products from Piko America from the Big Train Show on June 6-7 in Ontario, California.

Piko New Products for 2015

Gorham House Visit Changed from August 17th to August 24th

The Gorham House visit to the Overlook Garden Railway has changed from August 17th to August 24th.

A Great Day on the Bagley Mountain Division

A Great Day on the Bagley Mountain Division

Yesterday, August 15, Paul and Brenda Smith entertained a large turnout of friends and garden railroaders at the Bagley Mountain Division of the Maine Central R.R., located at their lovely home near Lincoln, Maine.  The manicured grounds and flower beds around the Smith home were worth a drive from anywhere in Maine, whether or not you came to see the trains.  Brenda says she loves to garden, and that love is reflected everywhere one looks.  Judging by the bird houses, the grounds at the Smiths are favored just as much by birds.  Then there is the Bagley Mountain Division, a large G-scale layout Paul began five years ago.  Its features include a beautiful pond and waterfall, designed and constructed by Paul and Nancy Norris (famed columnist of Garden Railway Magazine).  The Japanese red maple and dock house have been featured in the magazine.  Long-sweeping curves allow Paul to run long consists of 1:29 trains.  These operate on a clever loop that runs around the pond, past a small town, and up, over, and through a mountain.  The layout features several bridges, each constructed with the same care as the Smiths have lavished on the surrounding grounds.  Paul has also built a beautifully-detailed HO railroad in his basement, featuring Maine Central engines and rolling stock, a town that looks like Lincoln, and a model of the farm where Paul grew up.  A highlight of the day was a potluck lunch, including among several memorable dishes a blueberry pie Brenda made from blueberries she had just picked. 

Thank you Paul and Brenda for a great day enjoyed by all.

Neville Lewis Sale Items updated 1/12/2016

Updated with new items on 8/23/15. They include rolling stock, engines and accessories.

Rolling Stock

LGB Cars at $40 each

Budweiser box car White/ black lettering

Rio Grande caboose Red 4 wheel

Denver & Rio Grande Western Refrigerated box, yellow

Cable car 4 wheel

SOLD-Merchandise Service PRR Box   Rusty red

SOLD- PRR Hopper with coal load red

SOLD-Reading Hopper with coal load

Charles Ro $25 each or all five for $100

Denver&Rio Grande Western cattle car black

Box car black

Box car green

Bangor&Aroostook Box car Red

Boston and Maine Box car rusty red

Engines

Engine and Tender Marked Dutchess  by HLW  $75

Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad Locomotive #18 by LGB,  in good condition, $225.

Pardee & Curtin Lumber Company Shay #11, converted to battery power and can be converted back, $125

SOLD-LGB #2095 Red Diesel electric $125

SOLD-Two LGB #102 Engines and five passenger cars. A neat train for $200.

Accessories

Six electric switches. 3 left and 3 right, $25 each or $125 for all 6.
,
Box of people and box of farm animals, $2 or less in quantity

Misc. small building kits, fences, etc. Other stuff that is cheap and cheerful. Some is free. Come and see!!

Everything is in good condition. Most items have been on an indoor layout. All couplers are hook  and loop. Please contact Neville about items you like or to set up a visit to see them. He can be reached at207-354-8055 (home), 207-650-3510 (cell), or email barometershop@roadrunner.com. Directions and a map can be found athttp://www.barometershop.net/directions.htm

Maine Garden Railway Society Annual Outing Held on Saturday, July 25, 2015

We had a fine time at  our annual outing this past Saturday at the Overlook Garden Railway in Buxton, hosted by Carl and Pat Churchill. It was cloudy in the morning, and the sun came out around mid-afternoon.

On arrival you saw some well-known helpers at the gate
-Mac MacMillan for parking and moving things in
-Terry Norton for check-in, voting, and door prize tickets
-Art Handman selling raffle tickets for the very nice railroad quilt made by Sue Hoffman
-Ernie Packard selling tickets for the 50/50 raffle

Entering the Annual Outing

Then you could move on to coffee,  talk "garden railway" with friends, check out the auction items, and take a look at Norman Waycott's circus display. He has some new 2 'x 2' modules this year, and we may have as many as 14 at this year's Holiday Train Display.

looks a lot like Entering the Circus

.
Lunch started coming out to the coolers, and the call was made to line up. We had the usual excellent meal with lots of choices and  additional courses announced as they arrived. Thanks to Pat Churchill  Sue Norton, Sue Hoffman,  Donna Latino Ellie Garth, Heidi Mills,  Robin Goodrich and others who helped and brought food for this potluck.
 
Then it was Auction Time! The semi-famous comedy auction team of Terry Norton and Frank Howard took us through bidding and laughing about the items and the crowd. They were ably assisted by designated hecklers Donna and Bob Latino. During the auction there were drawings for the Door Prize, Railroad Quilt and 50/50 Raffle. Those tickets were drawn by Deidre Libby. A secondary  market for some items, notably metal signs, developed during the auction. The auctioneers also bid on items they were trying to sell, and some starting bids were less than what the auctioneers were asking. Just another part of the fun! Thanks to  Mary Garland who recorded the bid number of each auction item winner

Terry Selling a Small House

Frank Talking Up the Price on a Grab Bag

Raffle Winners
-Door Prizes John Sharp, Art Handman, John Middleton, Phil Lentz
-Railroad Quilt: Phil Sypek
-50/50 Raffle: Art Handman

Desserts were offered just before and during the auction. The crowd of MGRS members could not fully conquer the endless dessert table. Maybe we should auction the desserts next year!!

A brief Business Meeting was held after the Auction.
1. In this morning's balloting, officers and directors were re-elected with one exception.  Tiny Lee has chosen to leave the board of directors, and Norman Waycott has replaced him.
2. Jeff Jacobs spoke briefly about the Maine Layout Tour coming up on September 19-20. Scott Gould is participating.  More information has been posted on the blog.

After adjourning the business meeting, it was time for the auction winners to line up and pay up for their winnings, and for everyone to say goodbye and head for home. Some cars had trouble fitting the riders back in around all that auction loot....

August 15 Bagley Mountain Open House Updated

Paul has provided more details along with pictures and video.  The updated post can be seen by clicking on

Bagley Mountain Open House Details

Maine Model Railroad Tour on September 19-20, 2015 - Information Poster

Here is the information "poster" for the tours scheduled for September 19-20.

Those wishing to learn more details of the layouts available and to get a free "ticket to ride" on the tour need to "register" when they visit the web site, 

And those who don't have a computer, or experience difficulty with the site, should call Jeff Jacobs (729-2252) or Peter McKenney (776-2033) directly.

Maine Layout Tours Poster

August 15th Open House at the Bagley Mountain Division of MCR in Lincoln, ME

Paul and Brenda Smith invite members to their Open House on Saturday, August 15th. Their garden railway is located at 54 Bagley Mountain Road in Lincoln, ME 04457. They can be reached at (207)-794-6638.

Here is more information from Paul. The Open House will start at 10am

 I'll be providing burgers, hot dogs, and sodas. If anyone would like to bring a side dish or desert, that would be welcome. I'm opening the event to the local public. I usually get a few people that show up that don't stay for food

If we have a rainy day, I'll move it to the 16th. Either way, I'll plan to be here both days to run the train if anyone stops by. Folks can call the day before to check on the local weather if they want (794 6638).

Here are a couple of pictures of the layout and a link to a video

Bagley Mountain Division Video

Remember the 25th for the Annual Meeting, pot luck meal and auction.
Call Carl if you want to volunteer to help with setup on the 23rd or 24th.

Webster's to hold their largest the largest model train, model airplane and collectible toys auction in 35 years on July 19 and 26

This auction is for lifetime collection of model trains from the Robert Kiefer Estate. I There will be thousands of trains, model airplanes and toys to sell.

This auction has some amazing items. Some of them can be seen at

Webster'a Auctions on Jul 19 and 26

The pictures are a mix of O-Scale and Tin Plate with some G-scale mixed in. The listing says that a Catalog will be posted soon for the trains, collectible toys and airplanes.

Webster's Auction Palace is located in Houston, Texas

The site auctionzip.com offers online bidding on this auction at

Auction.Zip Online Bidding for Webster's train, airplane and toy auction

Here is a link to the help on the Auction.Zip web site.

Auction.Zip Web Site Online Bidding Help

The Webster's Auction site does not mention Auction.zip as a way to bid, If you do want to bid online, please contact Webster's Auctions at  http://webstersauction.com/contact-us/  first to confirm bidding via Auction Zip. You can contact Webster's Auction at http://webstersauction.com/contact-us/

Sam

29th Annual Granite State Antique Truck Show on August 23 in Epping, NH

The  Granite State Chapter of the Antique Truck Club of America is holding their 29th Annual Show at the Star Speedway, 176 Exeter Rod, Epping New Hampshire 03042,. Details can be seen at Granite State 29th Annual ATCA Show, or you can contact Don Smith at: 603-664-9761

Or you can visit their web site at ATCA Web Site

Inn at the Village Rescheduled to Friday, July 11

The Inn at the Village will now visit the Overlook Garden Railway on Friday, July 11. This is a change from July 8th.

New Jersy Hi-Railers at Silk City Station

This layout is 185' long by 30' wide. It is featured in the July Train Collectors Quarterly. Pictures can be seen NJ Hi-Railers at Silk City Station Photos

The photos are grouped into slide shows which you can click on to view that group of photos.

This layout is in a 3rd floor room 250' long by 50' wide with unobstructed views. It combines their original layout run at the Dover Train show with others purchased over the years.

Celebrating America's 239th Birthday on Saturday, July 4th 2015

In keeping with a blog tradition, this post is about celebrating 239th America's birthday.

We always have patriotic music. So here, courtesy of Virginia Jackson, is a rare video of Elvis singing "America".

Elvis Singing America

There is also a long set of patriotic songs on Youtube

Patriotic Song Set on Youtube


Maine has a LOT of 4th of July celebrations. You can find them at

4th of July events in Maine

On the same page is a searchable list of the 85 fireworks displays in in Maine
If you erase the City name with the Backspace key and change the  County to ALL, all of them will be displayed at once

Maine Fireworks Displays

July Model Train Shows and Events

6    Gorham House visits the Overlook Garden 
Railway, 82 Carll Road,  Buxton, 11 am start

 8    Inn at the Village  visits the Overlook Garden 
Railway, 82 Carll Road, Buxton, 11 am start 

14-18  Worldwide Circus Summit, Eastern States Exposition, 
1305 Memorial Ave (Route 147), West Springfield, MA 01089. This event involves
 the entire circus    community,  including our circus modellers. For details please                               visit http://worldwidecircusummit2015.com/

17-19  Day Out with Thomas -Celebration Tour 2015 Part 1, Conway Scenic 
Railroad, 38  Norcross Circle, North Conway, NH 03860. Ride with Thomas, 
meet Sir Topham Hatt, welcome Percy, and much more. Please visit 
conwayscenic.com. For tickets visit  www.ticketweb.com/dowt or 
call 866-468-7630

19-25 Lionel Collectors Club of America (LCCA) 45th National Convention, 
Doubletree North Shore Hotel, 45 Ferncroft Rd, Danvers, MA 01923. 
For details please  visit 
http://www.lionelcollectors.org/annual-conventions/

24-26 20th Annual Eliot Antique Tractor and Engine Show, Maine Antique 
Power Association, Raitt Homestead Farm, Eliot, ME for details please visit http://maineantiquepower.org

24-26  Day Out with Thomas -Celebration Tour 2015 Part 2, Conway Scenic
 Railroad, 38  Norcross Circle, North Conway, NH 03860. Ride with Thomas, 
meet Sir Topham Hatt,  welcome Percy, and much more. Please visit 
conwayscenic.com. For tickets visit  www.ticketweb.com/dowt or 

call 866-468-7630

25  10am, MGRS Annual Meeting, Auction & Open House, 
Carl & Pat  Churchill's Overlook Garden Railway,  
82 Carll Rd, Buxton, ME ----------------O--

Monarch House Visit Changed from 6/23 to 6/25

The Monarch House visit to the Overlook Garden Railway has changed from Tuesday 6/23 to Thursday 6/25. Please plan accordingly.

Model Train Shows and Events for the rest of June

14-20        National Railway Historical Society 2015 Convention, Rutland, VT. 

The convention will feature seven days of rare train rides, one-of-a-kind photo opportunities and historic tours, followed by a public rail excursion on Father's Day, June 21. Tickets no longer can be purchased online but will be sold on site at the Holiday Inn in Rutland, starting on June 12. Our Help Desk will be open to sell tickets before and after every event. The Holiday Inn is located at 467 Route 7 South, Rutland, VT 05701. For information please visit http://nrcsd.nrhs.com/2015_Convention,  http://www.nrhs.com, send email to  info@nrhs.com or call (215) 557-6606.

20             Maine Train Day Brunswick 

The Maine 3Railers will at the Brunswick Amtrak Station 16 Station Ave.,Brunswick ME 04011, Hours 10am-1pm . Special fares will be offered that day by the  Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railway, Boothbay Railway Village and Downeast Scenic  Railway. For details contact Maine Operation Lifesaver, http://www.maineol.org/ or https://amtraktraindays.com/events/

20              MaineTrain Day Ellsworth

New England Steam will hold  their "Touch-A-Train" event at the Downeast Scenic Railway in Ellsworth.  Hours 9am to noon.The event will take place  at the Washington Junction Railroad Yard. To get there follow Main street to Washington Junction Road and turn on to Railroad Siding Road near the start of the Downeast Sunrise Trail. "Touch-A-Train" visitors get $2 discount off the train ride ticket.   For details visit  http://www.downeastscenicrail.org/ride/ Maine Operation Lifesaver,   http://www.maineol.org/ or https://amtraktraindays.com/events

20             Maine Train Day Portland

In Portland the Great Falls Model Railroad Club will have their modular display  at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad,  58 Fore Street, Portland, ME 04101.  Hours are10am-1pm. For details contact http://www.mainenarrowgauge.org, or Maine Operation Lifesaver,  http://www.maineol.org

20-28        Train Collectors Association 61st National  Convention, Doubletree Somerset Hotel 200 Atrium Drive, Somerset, NJ  08873. For detailvisit http://www,tcaconvention.org

23          Monarch Nursing Home visits the Overlook Garden Railway, 82 Carll                      Road, Buxton

23-27       "Cruisin to North Conway"

Big Train Operators  Convention/2015 at the White Mountain Hotel & Resort, North Conway, NH. This is a G-scale club, and its earlier name was th LGB Model Railroad Club. For details please     visit http://www.bigtrainoperator.com

Amtrak Train Set for Sale

This set with a locomotive and three cars is for sale for  $1,400. Please contact Rich Young 

at richyoung2@gmail.com.

Amtrak Genesis Diesel Locomotive LGB #20490

with Zimo Truesound decoder and Visaton speaker

Amtrak Amfleet Coach LGB #32220 Phase Iv, 21004

 Amtrak Amfleet Cafe Car LGB #32224, Phase Iv, 20038

USA Trains Amtrak Baggage Car

Layout Space for the 2015 Holiday Train Display

The 2015 space will be closer to the main aisle of the Mall than it was last year. The overall size is 12' wide by 62' long. Near the main aisle there is a 8' section that is 16' wide.