MGRS Train Display at Cross Arena in Portland on Saturday, March 12 - please volunteer

MGRS will have a small train display at the "STRIVERocks Dance Day " event on Saturday March 12 from 10am-6pm at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

STRIVE is a South Portland non-profit that services 11-25 year-olds with developmental disabilities. "Dance Day" is a cabin fever event with bounce houses, inflatables, face painting, kids bands, costumed Super Heroes, the New England Patriots' Cheerleaders, and much more. It is a great family event and STRIVE's largest fund-raiser.


The MGRS  train display will have two back-and forth trains to entertain the visitors, and members to provide fun for all ages.

Volunteers are welcome. Setup starts at 7 am, and the event runs from 10am to 6pm. If you can cover a two hour shift from 10am to noon, noon to 2pm,  2 to 4 pm, or 4 to 6 pm, please contact Carl or Terry.

For more information about STRIVE and the STRIVERocks 2016 Dance Marathon please visit

https://www.pslstrive.org/striverocks

The Cross Insurance Arena is located at 1 Civic Center Drive, Portland, ME 04101. For GPS please use  45 Spring St, Portland, ME 04101.

Directions and parking information can be found at http://www.crossarenaportland.com/directions

World's Longest Backyard Railroad Trestle

Thanks to Dennis!




worlds-longest-backyard-railroad-trestle

Trains For Sale

Allan Speight from Canada is selling his G scale cars, engines and track. Some prices are listed. He will accept $100 for any 3 cars (except the Mandarin Orange car). Most have metal wheels and Aristo couplers. The items crossed off are already sold. Contact Carl or me if interested. Once we get a large enough order, we can go to Bangor to meet Allan. 
Train Number     Description Color Price
R 19204C New Haven 40'  Box Car  #35496 Red
R 19065       Bangor & Aroostook 40' Box Car  #4576 Red
R 16522 State of Maine 40' Refrigerator  #4036     Red, White & Blue
R 16522       Alaska Railroad  40' Refrigerator     Dark  Blue
R16511 State of Maine - New York  New Haven Hartford 40' Refrigerator #45068
R 15102       UTLX  10,000 gal Single Dome Tank car #85304 Black
R 19217C Boston & Maine 40' Box Car  # 76032 Blue
R19225C        Maine Central  40' Box Car  # 24016 Green
R19218C  CP Rail  40' Box Car  #23009 Red
R 19212 B Chicago & North Western  # 85420 Green
R 17504 A Great Northern  #65332 Generator Flat Car Box Car Red
REA 46007 Timkin Car 40' Box Yellow
REA 41004 Central Vermont Gondola with Junk Box Car Red
ART 41002 Gondola  -----  C. P. Rail Red
ART 41809B 2 Bay Coal Hopper - Boston & Maine , coal load # 7038 Black
ART 418098 2 Bay Coal Hopper - Boston & Maine , coal load 7150 Black
ART 418098 2 Bay Coal Hopper - Boston & Maine , coal load 7167     Black
ART 41210 2 Bay Coal Hopper - Farmers CO-OP Pink
ART 41425 2 Bay Coal Hopper - CNR Orange
                2 Bay Coal Hopper - Aristo  Craft Trains Railroad Club             Grey
R 12023 Canadian Pacific Wood Side Caboose  #435075
R 12073 Canadian National  Bay window Caboose #76590
ART 42115 Canadian Pacific    Steel Long Caboose Red
ART 42150 Canadian National    Steel Long Caboose  #79104       Orange
DOME CARS
ART 413403 Single Dome Tank Car Canada & Dominion Sugar Company Ltd. Montreal, Que White
ART 41332 Single Dome Car Union Carbide Ucon Flurocarbons   White & Green  
ART 413404 Single Dome Car   B / A Oil Black
ART 41607 Triple Dome Car    ESSO Blue
ARI 413203 Single Dome   ONTARIO  NORTHLAND 1991 Green
ARI 413402 Single Dome   CNR  990718 Orange
ARI 402005-2 Canadian Pacific Railway 2 Axle  985 Grey
ART 41315 Single Dome   Canadian Pacific   41315 Maroon & Grey
ART 41337 General Molasses Company   99929 Black
BOX CARS  ARISTO CRAFT
CART  47090 Box Car     British Columbian Railway   Green
ART  464000A Toronto  Hamilton & Buffalo   3645 Yellow
ART  464000A Toronto  Hamilton & Buffalo   3755 Yellow
CART 555800A C P Rail Yellow
CART 600100-2 C N   487544   Box Car Red
CART 46095 A C P Rail  58905 Green
CART 600100  C N 428442   Box Car Red
ART   464150A Grand Trunk Western   516630   Box Car Red
ART   41657A  C N R   Maple   Leaf      480779   Box Car Red
ART   46033         Ontario  Northland   91015 Dark Blue
REEFER  CARS
CART   46800A     C P  Rail Mandarin Orange Express #35893 Black White Orange $80.00
ART      46277 Canadian National   212053 Grey
ART      46216 Canadian National   46216 Silver
ART       46028 Canadian Pacific        252250 Box Car Red
TRACK CLEANING CAR
ART     42210     Rio Grande-2 axle  Bobber Caboose Track Cleaning Car Orange & Silver  
ENGINES
R22118           Canadian Pacific GP-9        #8527
R22226   Bangor @ Aroostook  GP-38-2  # 98 New in box
R22224     CN       GP-38-2   #9402 New in box

 an Aristo craft  Little critter  Diesel Engine  

 a Denton Truck powered with DCC.

 Aristo craft  buildings, barn, house, covered bridge, watch tower, fright depot, train station,

Bobby’s   Garage  made by Pola  Plastic construction    $200.

3 ft. long Wooden Truss Bridge -  WARNING this item should not go outdoors as it is wood and glued so would not stand the weather.   Price  $100.00

Plastic steel girder Bridge :  $175.00     4ft long 

Straight Track    18 pieces  5  Feet  Long for a total of  90 Feet   $300.00   Track always indoors

                                 5  pieces  4 1/2 Feet Long  Total  22 1/2 Feet

                                 4  pieces   3 Feet      total 12 Feet

                                 5  pieces    2 1/2 Feet   total   12 1/2 Feet

                               12 pieces     2   Feet    total   24  Feet

                                 6 pieces     18 inches long  total 9 Feet

                                 6  pieces     16 inches long  total 8 Feet

Curved Track     12  pieces  6 1/2 Foot radius  Full Box for a full circle   

                               32  pieces  5 Foot radius

Switches  $25.00  a piece – Aristocraft  -  small radius  10 left hand 

                                                small radius  14  right hand

                                                one left and one right-powered, new in the box

Australian Hobby Pox Report

To all at MGRS,

I spent some time  hospital recently and while I was there

my good wife Marj bought the most recent copy of the

Australian Rails In The Garden magazine to look at, always

very interesting, but on the last page were some For Sale

ads, Locos of course. One of these was for an Accucraft

Decauville 0 4 0 loco Unused, Still In The Box, asking

price was very reasonable, soooo using my little Flintstones

Vintage mobile phone I contacted the seller and arranged to get

the loco, we sent the payment for the loco the day after I got

out of hospital, So I have say that I am also a victim of the Dreaded

Hobby Pox. Does It Ever Stop ? ? ?

Best Wishes from Gary Newton Ballarat Victoria Australia

Sue Norton sends this picture as winter (literally) slips away in Eliot.  It won't be long before we're back railroading in our gardens.

Hobby Pox Model Railway Disease

With thanks to Gary Newton from Australia

Formidable Railroad Snow Plows

And they don't even slow down. Courtesy of Dennis Farrell


Trains Plowing Snowy Tracks

MGRS Blog Updates

The left sidebar of the blog has been updated:

Events
2015 Patch and new Trains in a Mall Video
Iron Horse Current and Past Editions
Roll of Honor for 2015

Iron Horse Newsletter - Editor Wanted

Dennis Farrell and Scott Gould are stepping out of their shared role of editing and producing the Club’s Iron Horse Newsletter. So we are looking for a new editor to get news about MGRS and G-Scale to all our members . Any interested members or spouses should contact either Dennis at 839-4887 or Scott at 799-9799 to discuss it. Dennis and Scott are willing to give guidance and support.

The Iron Horse is published four times a year and sent to members via U.S. Mail. The editor finds topics for each newsletter, and helps members prepare their own articles. Information about club activities and other topics of interest is also included. Each issue is made up of eight pages. This includes articles, pictures, and space for the return address and label. The editor prepares the final version of each issue. Issues are  printed and assembled by a copy store. The MGRS Secretary provides a set of mailing labels. The editor puts the mailing labels on the copies and sends them out.

The issues beginning in 2009 can be seen at https://sites.google.com/a/jacksonconnextion.com/www/the-iron-horse

MGRS Spring Meeting on Sunday, March 20th at Noon

All MGRS members and spouses are invited to attend our Annual Spring Meeting on Sunday, March 20th at noon.

It will be held in the Meeting Room of the Old Country Buffet at the Maine Mall. This is the same location as last year.

Mall Train Display Volunteers Meeting on Sunday, January 24th at 1pm

Mall volunteers are invited to discuss the pros and cons of this years layout. We want to ensure we discuss any issues while they are still fresh.

The meeting is scheduled for Sunday, January 24th, at 1 pm. It will be held in the meeting room of the Old Country Buffet at the Maine Mall. 

Please confirm your attendance with Terry Norton via email at BL2GSCALE@GMAIL.COM or by phone to  (207) 748-3009.

Jackson Family Visit to the Mall Train Display

After Christmas the Jackson family visited the Holiday Train Display. John Jackson Jr. and his wife Barbara came from Michigan. Philip Jackson and his sister Kim Alling live here in Maine, Kim brought her three children, Alex, John and Jamie, who are John and Gigi's grandchildren.  

They saw the drawbridge that John built and noticed their Dad's military badge at the center. It came from his service in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Other visitors were surprised when we opened the drawbridge to enter or leave the control area. Some of the kids got to raise it to see to see the trains stop, and to feel how easy it was with the balancing counterweights on the cables. The two counterweights are bottles of BBs that hang in tubes below the bridge. Wire rope runs from the counterweights through pulleys in the towers to the moving part of the bridge. Micro-switches under the bridge will stop a train that is near the bridge when it opens.

There were a bunch of questions about the bridge. One of the interesting ones was from a boy who asked if the trains knew which way to go from the duct tape arrows on the drawbridge platform......

(Well, not really, but they do tell the operators which way to point the locomotives when changing trains.)

Denver Rio Grande and Western Passenger Train on the drawbridge

Open Wide......

Rio Grande Freight and PRR Passenger Trains on the drawbridge

New York Central A-B locomotives and ten car Coal Train crossing the  drawbridge

PRR A-A Locomotives and Passenger Train leaving the drawbridge

Holiday Train Display Buildings

Ernie's Really Used Cars

A shave, a haircut and a few games of pool

And he has a gas station on Route 1 in Bath

People and gifts thanks to Paul Corbett

Where are the ATVs?

Police car at the cafe...just a coincidence

Hunk's Garage and Junkyard

Just a cabin by the tracks

Herbal Healer Academy

Feed and Grain Store

Tourist cabins and lodge

Ernie's Diner

And Hunk's Junkyard Dog

Holiday Train Display from 12/20

Here are some pictures from December 20th

PRR Passenger at North Conway Station

Just a hand on the Circus Button

Handcar and Snowplow on the Bridge

Rio Grande passing the Paradise Diner

Terry Norton's Layout Pictures

Terry brought these pictures when he was working at the Mall. They were a great way to show people what can be done outdoors, and got a lot of interest.

Hunk's Service Station and Golf Course

Granite Crossing

Cash Corner Moxie

Downtown Less Ballroom

Farm and Layout

Farm Looking North

Start one....

Mall Move Out Completed on Saturday, January 2

A crew of 15 members came in on Saturday to disassemble track and pack rolling stock. Most buildings and the Circus were taken out the previous day. With a few folks starting at 8, the move out was completed at noon.

MGRS had another excellent holiday season at the Mall. Here are some numbers to think about

Dates: November 13 through January 1

48 days of fun for all ages

86 shifts

40 members worked at the Mall

1,005 hours of member time

11 Trains running

Freight Passing North Conway

New York Central Coal Train, Amtrak and Circus Trains

PRR A-A Diesel Passenger Train

And a couple of videos

NYC Coal Train and Dual Engine Amtrak

Thomas Percy and PRR Passenger Train

Happy New Year to All!

An Update on Just in Time for Christmas

A sharp-eyed friend of mine was looking at a printed copy of the slides today. He notice that two of the slides show the same place in different seasons. J

Move Out Changed to SATURDAY, JAN 2ND AT 9AM

The Move out at the Mall has been changed to Saturday, January 2nd at 9 am

The final day of operations will be Friday, January 1, from 10 am to 3 pm

Mall Move Out at 9am on Sunday, January 3rd and a thank you - MOVE OUT CHANGED TO SATURDAY, JAN 2ND AT 9AM

Please come to the Mall on Sunday at 9 am to help with the move out.

The display will be running on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

A visitor left a card with this note:

"In my book you're all heroes. Can't thank you enough for your trains, time, energy. The kids love you."

Whitney

Trains in a Mall - 2015 video

Here is the 2015 video of the Holiday Train Display, thanks again to Jim Alberty of the Apple Store.

Trains in a Mall 2015 on Youtube