2019 Holiday Train Display Schedule and Staffing

The MGRS schedule now matches Santa’s hours. Here is a recap

From 11/15 to 12/13 (closed on 11/28)

Noon-8pm Monday-Saturday with shifts from 12pm-4pm and 4pm-8pm

Noon-6pm  on Sunday with one shift

From 12/14 to 12/21

From 9am-9pm Monday-Saturday with shifts from 9am-3pm and 3pm-9pm

12/22 Sunday from 10am-7pm with one shift

12/23 Monday from 9am-9pm with shifts from 9am-3pm and 3pm-9pm

12/24 Tuesday Xmas Eve 9am-5pm with one shift

You can sign up to run trains at the Mall by

• Clicking on the SIGNUP button on the Blog and filling out the form
• Signing up on the paper schedule at the layout
• Calling Sam at 865-4467

You can see the schedule by clicking on the SIGNUP button on the blog.

2019 Holiday Train Display Tables, Painting, Track and Wiring

The Mall already had the tables in place when setup started this week. Dave Blue and Tice Leonard unloaded the entire contents of the club trailer and placed it on shelves in the storage area.

Step 1: Terry Norton and Ben Braithwaite gave the table tops a coat of white paint.

Step 2: Ben Braithwaite, Dennis Farrell, Brennan Long, Scott Gould, and  Tice Leonard installed the track.Tice Leonard built the two tables for the controllers.

Step 3:  On Saturday, 10/26 a crew came in to help Terry get the wiring installed. The crew included Terry Norton, Ben Braithwaite, Tice Leonard, David Blue, and Peter Richards along with Hunter & Scott Weeks.

This picture shows the U-shaped layout with the circus loop at the front and the lower Thomas platform on the right. At the back you can see the loops formed by the inner and outer main lines. The Mountain is out of sight on the left.

Here is the mountain with the retail area in the background.

This view is from the back of room looking toward the door. When the covering panels are removed, entry will be through a 12' roll up door where you see the exit sign. The glass wall to the right will be uncovered so vistors can look in, and there will be a back-and-forth trolley running inside the window.

This is the coloring wall to the right of the layout and the door into the storage area

This is our storage area. There is a second area behind this for the retail stock. And it even has a rest room.........

This is the view out the door to where Santa will be located.

2019 Holiday Train Display Plans

2019 will mark our tenth annual Holiday Train Display at the Maine Mall. It will run from November 16 through December 24th with the exception of Thanksgiving Day.

This year Santa will be back in the lobby outside the JCPenney store.  The Holiday Train Display will be in a store space entered from the lobby

We will share the space with the retailer who was at the entrance to Winter Wonderland last year.

The layout is a U-shape with areas for Thomas & Percy, the Circus, Town and Mountain. There will be seven trains running

Westbrook Festival of Trees and Maine Train Lines from December 7-14, 2019

The annual Westbrook Festival of Trees will take place from December 7-14 at the Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church, 810 Main Street, Westbrook, Maine.

Details about viewing the decorated trees and visiting the Maine Train Lines model train exhibit can be found at the Festival Web Site.

The Maine Train Lines display was started by MGRS member Paul Corbett and continues each year with the support of MGRS members.

Visitors include Westbrook residents, children from the Westbrook elementary schools, civic groups, along with folks from local nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Everyone is welcome

Model Railroad Attraction with 90 G Scale Trains

EnterTRAINment Junction is the world's largest indoor model railroad display located in West Chester Township, Ohio. This 25,000 square foot display consists of over 90 G-scale trains encompassing the early era of American railroading, the middle era, and the modern era. Click on the link below to see it

Train Journeys at Entertainment Junction