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.