Maine Mall 2011 layout update

  Here is a brief summary of what we are planning on for 2011.  The blue lines represent a double main line at stage level which pass under 3 raised platforms creating tunnel areas.  The Circus display and the Lionel display are built on raised platforms 1 foot high on either side of Santa Claus and will be interactive.  The green line represents an elevated line on 1 foot high trestle towers made up of all 8 foot curves.  It goes over bridges and through tunnels.  The red line is the Thomas line which is built on 2 foot high trestle towers and has two large land areas for decorating.  The Thomas line is mostly 5 foot curves.  Ralph has built 4 bridges for the elevated lines, 2 covered bridges and 2 railroad bridges.  Tiny has two metal bridges (not shown) for the main line which will be at stage level.  We are also planning on lots of buildings, lights, accessories, sound and automation.  The whole stage area has expanded and we will have 425 ft of track.  It will be awesome!  Plus the Mall provides advertizing, security, closed circuit TV, Santa Claus and a generous donation.  But,  The biggest contribution any member can make will be to participate and donate some of their personal time to be there and help support the event.  Please enjoy it.

Nice Demo Layout

Carl told me to look up RR Concepts on the internet. I did and I liked what I saw. This is a great site to look at if you want to see examples of just about every operating feature you might have in a garden railroad. It is moderate size and it is nicely organized and packed full of good ideas.  The short video clips are part of a demo for automated train control modules that they sell.  Their whole layout is interesting.  We are planning to test the Stationmaster module and if it performs as advertized we will use it as part of the Maine Mall train show this year.  To watch, please click here:

Conway Senic is looking good.

  I happened to stop by George Small Train Repair today in Cumberland.  He told me that he worked on Conway Scenic over 60 hours last week and described all the repairs that have been made.  Hurricane Irene washed out some spots by the Saco quite a bit but they feel everything will be ready for this weekend which is Rail Fan weekend.  That is good because we are looking forward to the 24th when we go on our trip to Crawford Notch.  They have worked hard and done a great job. 

Central New England Railways

 Here is a web site that features the history of  New Haven, Connecticut and New York rail systems.
 Please click here:

Laser Light Show

 Last night I saw a Laser Light Show for the first time.  There was a concert with several groups (National Guard Military Band and Boy Singers of Maine) It was in Freeport, The Flag Ladies were there and it was a very patriotic tribute to America.  For others like me who never saw this before I decided to post a few clips.  They are not very good nor do justice to the show.  We were way back from the screen, plus  I missed the train clip and other good stuff.  But, I did not go to take pictures except when laser lights started shooting over my head I could not resist!  It was good.   Please click here:

Greene Day, TODAY

09/10 Dick Clark Open to Public Greene, Maine. 23 Barrel Shop Rd.

Dick Clarks Flyer

Click on image to enlarge

September is here and Dick Clark always opens up his layout to visitors as part of the Town of Greene celebration day. Please see above.  This year is Sept 10th.

Congratulations Carl & Pat

Turn to page 27 of the October 2011 issue of Garden Railways magazine and you will recognize Nancy Norris and a very nice write up describing Carl & Pat Churchill's Overlook Garden Railway.  The article has some excellent pictures and focuses on the beautiful colors,  particularly that which she describes as 'Yellow Gold'. 

Pat and Carl go National!

I got my Garden Railways Magazine last week. There was a great Maine scene on page 27. Looked kinda familliar. It was Pat and Carl's Overlook railway as the lead photo for Nancy Norris' Greening your Railway column.

Way to go Pat and Carl...Congratulations!

Standish Garden Club visits MGRS

 Carl and Pat's drive way was full this afternoon as over 2 dozen members of the Standish Garden Club arrived to enjoy the sun shine and beautiful look of "Overlook Garden Railway".   Jim Hinkley was in charge of a very nice looking and sounding Amtrak passenger train that several of the men were talking with us about.   Carl & Pat and Mac were busy hosting and also enjoying talking to the many guests who all had a good time. 

What are you?

 Here is an easy way to remember HOW to find our web site/blog any time, any where. You might be at a strange computer in another State.  As long as you have access to Google and you remember the answer to one question: What are you?    The answer:  MGRS member.  It does not matter how you type it.  Lower case, Upper case,  Mixed, One word, Two words. It makes no difference, Google will take you right to the top of our Blog and Web Site.  Try it!  

What are you?     mgrsmember

RR (Toy) Auction Items

Lots of G scale item to look at.  You do not have to be there to bid.  Sent to us by Denneth 'Tiny' Lee.  Thank you very much.


  Click here for Auction Catalog:

Pictures from Vermont

I know this is a RR site, but take a look at these pics from VT.
http://mansfieldheliflight.com/flood/

Let me call your attention to

The new Text at the Top of the Blog  "MAINE MALL SCHEDULE ".   I know it's early but why not take a look and put your name down to help run trains.  I guarantee it is a rewarding and fun experience!
Thank You.

Good News!

 

  It is official, November 1st is Setup Day!   This is working out great!  We expect to be able to set up all the track in one day.  But, we have the whole week to finish up.  The next week the Mall will decorate with snow, plants, and other items including setting up the big screen TV, Mall Marquee, posters, etc.

We will have the week to test run if we want to come in and play with the trains. On Saturday November 12th Santa Claus arrives at 10:00am and we officially kick of the Maine Garden Railway Society 2011 Train Display.

 Here is some more good news.  The post you see in the above picture is the one that was in our MGRS Control Area last year.  This year it will not be in our way.  We are moving the display over to the exact middle of Center Court.  The column will now be about 10 feet away from our display and we will have our own private entrance.  The other column nearer Santa Claus will also no longer be an inconvenience as we will move 10 feet away from it.  The result will look very good as that will center us between all four columns and directly under the grand skylight!

 Here is a picture taken today which shows two columns, we will be centered between them about 9.5 feet from each end.  Most all of those people are shown walking where are trains will be running.

Starting and Stopping Thomas

Click on drawing to enlarge view
 

I wanted a way to reduce the jolt of suddenly connecting the power transformer to a stopped train engine when using a 153C (Lionel) track connector which is designed to use the weight of a passing train to complete an electrical circuit.

  If you look at the diagram above I will explain what I am planning to try.  Assume two trains (I have Thomas and one of his friends in mind) is traveling clockwise around the loop.  It is going at a normal speed which is powered by the large transformer.  As it enters into the slow down block it is under the control of the small transformer which is set to a lower voltage.  The engine will visibly slow down and then come to a complete stop as it crosses over to the start/stop block which has no power coming into it. We plan to have a Station at that point on the layout so there is a reason to stop the train.  At the same time the companion engine running on the loop will be just about entering the blue section of track and the length of the stop will be the time required to travel the blue section.  That should provide a reasonable time for the stopped engine to be at the station.  This also gives the stopped engine a little built in rest.  When the second engine travels over the 153C controller the electrical contact is made and the power is taken from the slow down block and temporally fed into the start/stop block which will start up the engine at the station.  It will start more gently  and then increase speed after it travels a few feet and crosses over to the control of the large transformer.   I have shown two 153C controllers wired together to extend the time the circuit is powered and to provide a backup.

 After the engine passes by the controllers they will return to their normal condition which will disconnect power to the stop section so that the process will repeat.  By utilizing the slow down block, the two trains will take turns stopping and starting more realistically while providing less stress on the motors.

  By alternating the trains starting and stopping and by rotating the engines (We will have two Thomas's and two "Friends" or a total of 4 engines)  so that the Thomas portion of the display should be able to withstand the 40 day schedule plus 8 half days required to complete the 2011 Main Mall exhibit.  At least that is the plan.  I suppose we can always shut down the large transformer and give them a rest during the two 1 hour breaks that Santa takes or start them up on demand.
  We are also thinking of using an 'interactive' button on the Lionel and Circus loops as a means to 'be there when needed'  but also reduce the stress on those trains.  Glad to hear your thoughts.

Big meeting at Carl's last night

  The Board of Directors and other MGRS members  met at Carl's to finalize plans for the Maine Mall Train Display.   (This followed an earlier meeting after the Vets visit on Monday).  It worked out well because Ralph had a chance to test some "snow' material and it was decided that we will ask the Mall to paint everything (stage and the risers) white. We will come in and lay all the track where we want it and then turn it back over to the Mall to decorate.  

  Norm was there last night and he is moving ahead on plans for the Circus area, Art and Scott discussed ideas for the Lionel area.  If the people in charge of these areas would like them to be interactive with the children, we would like to do that also.

 So you can see we are planning, more color, interest, a throw back to old days when many of us where first introduced to electric trains.  Plus we are adding tunnels, bridges, trestles both high and low levels and a special attraction for kids which will feature the famous Thomas engine.  

Plus us big kids will have an expanded double main line with two large loops with 10 foot curves and an elevated line with 8 foot curves to display our trains on. 

We plan on more buildings, lights and operating accessories.  It will be Awesome! 

Meet Thomas and His Friends!

 

  Member Dick Rubin like the rest of us had a great time at the Maine  Mall display last year.  Dick wrote a very inspiring article which Scott Gould read at this years Spring luncheon.  It was printed in the Iron Horse and titled "Impact".  Among the areas of impact that Dick saw was what Thomas had on the children at the Mall.  He was inspired to act on this and with great  generosity Dick has purchased three complete new train sets by Bachmann of  Thomas (blue), James (red) and Percy (green).  Plus Dick has bought extra cars and even Thomas characters.  He is donating the use of these for the entire display. The kids will love to watch these and we are planning to make a special display on the "'High Trestle" line to stop and start these engines automatically.  For those of you who have never seen the engines before, please take a look at a short video which show pictures of the same train sets on another layout.  Introducing Thomas and His Friends, Click here:

Trestle Towers and Roadbed for the Mall

  Ralph Luby is an exceptional person.  He brought in a small sample of the approximately 1 foot (12.75inch) "Low Trestle" and the 2 foot (25.50inch) "High Trestle" line that he is working on for this years Mall display.  Complete with roadbed with beveled sides!  Wow, this will be very sturdy!  Ralph has made bases which are not attached yet.  (Some are shown sitting on top of the track in the picture above).   Ralph is planning to dip the trestles in stain, perhaps a brown or gray color.  What ever he decides will look good.  It is a lot of work and he has done a great job!  I believe he has made about 30 of each size!  Setup will be in the first part of  November and this year's display will be bigger, better and more exciting then even last year! 

The Tunnels are done.

 I finished painting all of the tunnel portals for the Mall yesterday and they are ready to use.