Double Headed Steam

Here is neat video from Eric.   His trains are getting longer and his controls are getting trickery.  Very nice.  Click here to take a look.

Crawfords station...

Last summer during the hottest days, we went hiking in the White Mountains. Our hike started out at the AMC lodge next to the Crawfords Station on the old Portland and Ogdensburg Railway. This charming little station is at the high point at the top of Crawford Notch. This may be the highest point of rail in New England...I do not know for sure, but it is up there.

I think the fall rail trip will stop at this station.

Tunnel to Nowhere

Wardwell Neighbors from Saco visits MGRS

Click to view larger image

Three car loads of very pleasant ladies bearing gifts of sandwiches and homemade cookies and watermelon arrived at Carl's today greeted by an equally grateful band of MGRS members ready to run trains and enjoy the beautiful day.   It was perfect too,  could not have been better. A great heron even dropped by.  Pat's flowers looked fantastic.   I also met one of our newer younger members from Buxton.  I think his name is Ben.  (I apologize for not being better at remembering names).  But he is a very nice young man that took right to Walter's and Scott's  instruction and did a great job at handling the controls. Everyone had a good time and really did enjoy the day,  thanks to all involved.  If you would like to see a few more pictures from today, please click here: 

Yikes !!

I have ridden crowed subway trains in Boston at rush hour and really have been packed in.  But I, have never experienced anything like this.  Imagine what it is like being inside one of these!  Take a look, click here:

Photo of the Month

Owosso MI, King Rd 10/2009  Last day of HTP charter.  RailPictures.com 

Great Railroad Stations

I came across a good article describing the Crawford Notch Station and train trip that we are planning to take on Sept 24 this Fall.   To read please click here:

To make the trip map at left larger click on the image.

Long Train Fans in G scale

This one is dedicated to the "Long Train Fans"  To see the video please click here:

All-Aboard!

Here is a short video from Amtrak on their first 40 years.  Click here to view: 


Video-2 ~ Here is how it's really done!   Has to be the most enthusiastic All-Aboard!!

Tunnel Portals ~ What is a good way to make them?

I think I am like most of you guys, I 'could' make a tunnel portal but I am not sure it would be MGRS display quality.  But I still like to think about how they can be made.  We will need at least 7 with 5 of them being double and 2 single portals.  If they were all single portals then we will need a total of twelve.   All I am sure of right now is that the portals will be at least 12 inches high and we want the height  of the opening to be at least 10.5 inches. If you think that is to small let me know.   I know styrofoam comes in 12 inch by 4 feet long pieces that are 1 in thick.   It can easily be cut to shape and spray painted with "Krylon Short Cuts" which is made to paint styrofoam.  The advantage is that they can be produced quickly.  I am not sure if they would look good enough, they might.   I think portals look better if they are thick maybe we can double up around the opening.   

  Another way is to cut portals from plywood and again they can be painted grey and then sprayed with a "fleck" paint that makes them look like stone.  I made a wooden castle that I thought turned out good being painted that way.

  I know Carl and some of our other members could make portals out of wood.  That is a lot more work and I do not know if anyone has the time to do that.  If you have any ideas or know of techniques that would result in good looking tunnels please leave a comment.  It is one of the many things we need to model and one of the things that is fun to work on. 

  

Remember the North Conway Scenic Railroad Train Trip

  The cost is $96 per couple ($48 per adult) for the round trip 5 1/2 hour ride which crosses over the famous Frankenstein Trestle and through Crawford Notch.  If you signed up at the annual meeting or you just decided to go on the trip,  please send Carl a check payable to MGRS.  The address is MGRS 82 Carll Rd. Buxton, ME. 04093.
 Please click here to view The Notch Train ~ Conway Scenic Railroad website.

The way Life Ought to be

17 refreshing seconds, Click here!

I hope everyone is able to keep cool.  This must be close to a record temperature for Maine, I have not checked, I just know how hot it feels.  Let's hope we do not loose our power grid,  that would be a real disaster.  It is a good day to stay inside and watch an old movie or you can think about November and December when we will be able to enjoy a nice climate controlled large expansive railroad display to have fun operating and lots of interested people and children to talk trains with!   That will be nice! . . . .  Ahhhhhh. 

Little Kids may not READ but I bet they get the picture

 ~ Here are some of the benefits from making one of the Christmas tree circles 'interactive'  with the children that come to visit us at the Maine Mall this year.  

• The kids will Remember that they went to the Mall and made the train go by pressing the button.
• The trains get a Rest when they are not being used.
• We get to Remind the public of MGRS once again.  
• And yes, we still get to Run the train from our control area if we need to.  

All we need is a little extra wire and a button.

Paul's Layout

 Thanks guys!  Today Ralph and Dick stopped by to visit and we had a good time together.   They also had a chance to stop by and visit Paul's layout.   That was a lot of fun and by coincidence today was the day exactly 3 years ago that I first visited Paul to see his layout.   So just for the fun of it, I looked up the original blog posting.  I admit my video camera was pretty bad back then but the still pictures look good.
Take a look at what it looked like.  Please click here and select Slideshow

Billy and Robin's Train garden

  Bill and Robin Goodrich are very active MGRS members from Middleboro MA.  I first met them when they came up for the Maine Mall show were Bill filmed the official Society video which was posted on our web site.  Bill does a good job with his video camera and I thought I would re-post his video from May 29 where we got to see their layout.  I think the "video tour" is a nice way to share our layouts with other members.  I think I have one from Paul Corbett that I would like to re-post also.   I will try to get some good videos from next months open houses so that we can all see them.  If you are interested in making a video or taking pictures of  your own or a member's layout near you I will be happy to post it on our web site for all of us to enjoy.
For today, let's re-visit Bill and Robins Train Garden. 

Please click here to view:

John's layout in No. Yarmouth

  I recently worked on my layout to cut back the growth and get things running a little better.  My railroad never has everything working perfectly but that is the fun of it.  I started 6 years ago with my indoor layout which features a small village and train yard at one end and a wildlife area with waterfall and trestle at the other end.  Tracks went up to a window but for many years they stopped and went no further.  After I joined MGRS I built a little water garden outdoors with some track going around it and a very small elevated loop passing in front of the "waterfall".  Then about two years ago I built a large raised garden and track patio outdoors connecting through the window to my indoor layout.   Today, I was running trains in all three areas and I took some short video clips. 

The first clip shows the Circus trains travelling around the water garden with the little circus sound car on the elevated section.

Next is the Canadian Pacific RS3 diesel running  the 'dogbone" route around the outdoor section.

The last section of clips show the "train controlling train" ability of the layout as a MEC freight and a B&M freight take turns automatically stopping and starting each other as they traverse the indoor-outdoor loop.

To watch slideshow, please click here:

Amtrak pictures

Denneth Lee sent me some pictures that were taken at Guilford yard in So. Portland that show the damage to the engine and lead car which were involved in the recent accident.   The engineer did a great job in getting everyone safely off the train and away from the fire.   Take a look, please click here:

Maine Veterans visit MGRS, Tuesday July 12th.

Spoke with Carl on Wednesday, He said they had a great time, there were some that did not even want to leave when it was time to go.  There was a good turn out from MGRS and the Veterans!  Excellent.  Thank you to the guys that made it over to Carl's.

They will arrive about 11am and they have lunch visit for a while and leave about 2 or 2:30pm.
Your invited to stop by and visit.

Update on Amtrak accident

Amtrak train and truck crash in Maine

By Washington Post Editors  Posted at 12:39 PM ET, 07/11/2011

An Amtrak train has collided with a dump truck in Maine, and both caught fire, according to an Associated Press report.
A statement from Amtrak reported that the truck driver has died, but there were no reports of “any serious or life-threatening injuries to the estimated 109 passengers.” The crash occurred in North Berwick about 11 a.m. Monday.
The train was part of Amtrak’s Downeaster service, which connects Portland, Maine, to Boston. North Berwick is about 40 miles south of Portland.
Amtrak warned that passengers on the Downeaster line could expect delays throughout the day.

Auction Results

Well Done MGRS!   Congratulations to all who participated in the annual auction.  Carl called this morning and said that we had raised  $788.25 dollars  at the auction! Again thank you to the members who helped Barry & Buckie, and to those who donated and to those who bid.  It was a lot of fun and it is our only major fund raising activity of the year.  We can add in an additional $79 from the 50-50 raffle for a total of over $867 dollars!     

Annual Meeting at Carl's

It was a great day!!  The weather was perfect and there were many friends and members of MGRS who made the trip to Carl and Pat's  open house in Buxton today. Some traveled long distances like Bill Goodrich and his wife, Paul Smith, Barry & Buckie, Ivan & Gerry, Tiny, The Medel's from NH.  In fact all over the State of Maine.  Plus several NHGRS friends that came to visit.  The Club is growing bigger and better all the time.  Thanks to the great auction items also.  That was a big success!  Lots of folks signed up for the train trip and the return to the Mall.  Walter sold about $160 in raffle tickets.  The luncheon dishes and the desserts were terrific. Again thanks to Carl & Pat and all the people that helped them,  you did a great job and it was truly appreciated. Congratulations to Andy Hendrickson and Ralph Luby who joined the BOD and Dick Cosgrove as the new VP.  The patches were very well received and everyone thought they looked very good.  Thanks to Dick who drove up from CT and was such a good bidder.  Thanks to Norm and the  Circus Division for their display and to Ernie who would make a great ring master!  It was all good and it fit together well.  There is a lot to look forward to!
 Click on Images to view larger size

Forcast for Saturday is Sunny!

I just checked, Tomorrow's forecast is for sunshine!   That is great! It is also the "Extravaganza",  The Annual Meeting for MGRS, and the 'Open House' for Carl and Pat Churchill's Overlook Garden Railway.    Plus there is a fantastic lunch, the fund raising auction, 50-50 raffle,  door prizes,  plus trains to watch and outdoor trails to see and G gauge items on display and for sale. Come and enjoy, help out and sign up for up coming events!  Join MGRS in celebrating another exciting year.  10am at 82 Carll Rd in Buxton. ME. See map.  

Nice job Eric

I truly did enjoy Eric's part-2 of his article in Garden Railways Magazine.  It was good reading.  I felt I was right there with him as he described his covered bridge building project.  I like the way he builds his models the same way a real building is made and I was impressed with his taking time to make and apply 2,400 shingles.  Plus, it sounded like he enjoyed doing it.   

Good Timing

I got there at exactly the right time!  I stopped by Carl's yesterday to drop off a couple of auction items.  Andy Hendrickson was there to drop off the patches.  Wow thanks Andy, They really do look great!

They are nice and big (5 inches) and the colors on the engine (GP 38-2 which is the first engine the Club bought and was painted in the Club colors by Scott Gould, ran well every day at the Mall.) The patch looks terrific plus the patch will look good on anything but especially great on our MGRS vests. You can get yours on Saturday or maybe if you go over Thursday or Friday and help Carl you can get it early.

Click to enlarge image

The MGRS View

  This is the view we will see from our control area as we operate the train display at the Maine Mall this year.  There are similarities to last year but we are planning a lot of improvements.  We will eliminate the problem with the snow blanket tangling up the trains.  The layout will be expanded 4 feet in width and 4 feet in depth.  Both of the main lines will now take 10 ft curves.  Last year the inner loop used 8 ft curves.  By using new risers which the Mall will build for us we can extend the elevated line and the Christmas tree lines so that they are within easy reach.  This will create tunnels for the main lines to travel through.  Access will be easy if we need to get inside.   We hope to make the elevated line sturdier this year and it will be upgraded from 4 foot curves to the use of much more impressive 8 ft curves.   This year we are also adding a third level which will be used for shorter trains like Thomas and it will use 5 ft curves.  We plan is to build in some automatic stopping and starting of trains which the MGRS operator can easily turn on or off as they wish.  

   We hope to create some interaction with the children by providing them a way to stop and start the Christmas line by holding in a button to make the train go.  This will help entertain the kids as well as rest our small engines from hours of continuous running.  I got the idea last year when many people remembered a train display long ago in Portland where you ran the train by pressing your hand on the window glass.  I hope we help create many similar memories years from now as today's children remember our own display and how they made the train go!    We also have lot of room for many new buildings.  I showed some which I remembered from last year like the sawmill and the 'castle in the clouds' which will look great up on the new high mountain.   Our dioramas can change over the course of the display.  I even heard a rumor that the Circus was planning to come to town at our display!  Other scenes may change as the season unfolds.  We want to remain flexible and have fun.  

  We are anticipating our own wheel chair accessible  entrance into our larger MGRS area which will allow us to invite young or old, able or handicapped in for a close up view as special situations arise.  This will be at the discretion of the MGRS operator in charge at the time.  Last year we were not able to accommodate them, but I remember a 92 year old man in a wheel chair that requested a closer look and there were other missed opportunities to invite special needs children in for a close up look.  We will also have better storage, improved lighting and be more professional  looking as we proudly display our banner and help educate and entertain the public.  Please look for the sign up sheet at the Annual Meeting and plan on taking part in this years display.   

Circus Sounds

I love the little sound car I got on ebay.  I really is neat!  I found some circus pictures and decorated the car.  This morning I was just sitting in an old rocking chair downstairs watching the little car going around the trestle announcing something good is on its way!  Watch Slideshow, click here:

Have a Safe, Happy Holiday Weekend from MGRS

Gorham House Visit

A record turnout of 29 seniors from the Gorham House came to visit the Overlook Garden Railway this afternoon. Pat and Carl have spent countless hours preparing the garden railroad and the trail system for this season's visitors, and the place looks spectacular. The visitors from Gorham House had great stories to tell about growing up in Maine, including several whose fathers had worked on Maine's railroad system.

Pat and Carl were assisted by MGRS members Walter Fossett, Jr., Mac McLaughlin, Paul Corbett, and Scott Gould. Watch the blog for upcoming dates when you can also volunteer. You'll be glad you did.