Vets to visit MGRS display on Tuesday Dec 6th

  Carl just got the news, The Veterans from Scarborough Me.  The special group we have grown to know and love will be visiting us on Tuesday morning Dec 6th.   They plan to arrive about 9:30am and will meet with Santa at about 9:45am.  (At least that is the plan).   They visited our display last year and had a wonderful time.  We look forward to their return and watching Santa Claus who is also a member present them with a gift from MGRS.  They all love to get a group picture taken with Santa and he does an excellent job talking to them and he looks forward to their visit and thanking them.   Please try and stop by if you are available and share the enjoyment.

Miniatur Wunderland *** official video 2012 *** largest model railway / railroad of the world

The worlds largest HO scale train layout with "everything" else imaginable is in Hamburg Germany.  They have been working on it for 10 years and the level of animation is amazing.  Link sent in by Denneth Lee:   Click here to view their 2012 video:

Gyro Train

Here is one from Eric who finds some of the strangest stuff.   He calls it Narrow Gauge taken to the extreme.  Thanks!   Click here: 

Tues 11/29

This morning Tiny and John were in charge of Maine Central Day.  At least that is what we called it.  Tiny ran his big beautiful steam engine with custom ME Central passenger cars and I ran my MEC freight train with a bunch of my favorite Maine cars.  Ben was very helpful doing everything and Art and Jim and Carl were also busy doing everything else.  We had it all covered,  testing a new camera, cleaning track, fiddling with magnets and Station master.  Ben disassembled and cleaned a Lionel engine, Art supervised and imparted his knowledge, We all talked to lots of people and encouraged little kids to press the buttons as we all had a good time together! Click here to see some clips from today:

Monday 11-28

   Grace Miller, David Blue and Jim Hinkley were kind enough to come in and run the trains today.  A lady who remembered Grace from last year stopped and asked her if she had brought back her bubble car.  She remembered it from last year!   That is pretty good, it goes to show how much people are paying attention to what we do even if we are not aware of it ourselves.  Later today Art Handman, Benjamin Jewett, Walter Fossett will combine to finish out the day in style.  I did get a  few pictures from earlier in the day, please take a look and click here:

Also Thanks to Lou and Kathy Young and their grandson Noah who all combined to help Carl run trains on Sunday.  They did very well and had a good time.  Speaking of a good time, the Mall management said they are very pleased at all the great feedback they are receiving about this years display.  They are very pleased and so are the merchants who are around us.

On this date

On this date (Novemeber 27th) in 1874, the Hoosac Railroad Tunnel halves meet.  It was a 4.75-mile-long tunnel in Western Massachusetts.  At the time of its completion, it was the second longest tunnel in the world.

For more interesting facts, Google "The Hoosac Railroad Tunnel"

The Hoosac Tunnel, a railroad tunnel beneath the Berkshire Mountains in Western Massachusetts, is said to be one of the most haunted places in New England. .

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Saturday at the Mall.

 Barry, Buckie, Brandon, Lucy & Mike got together to make a winning team. It was a very good day, as Mike and Barry were all ready planning what they can get together and build for next year!  Brandon was in charge of everything that smoked and having no problems handling the controls.  The crowd was a good size and very interested in the trains taking pictures and asking questions.  Mike demonstrated his high tech by taking a picture and posting it to the Blog as he was standing right there at the controls. Very Impressive! I took a few pics of them too, but to see them you need to click here:
  I am not able to get in for the PM shift but Hunk and Benjamin are schedule to take over.  I know they will have a good time too!

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Photos by James

 James Boynton Jr. an MGRS member who many of you do know or will hopefully get to meet soon.  He is doing me a great favor which we will all get to appreciate.  James is taking photos of the MGRS train display and at least once a week I will publish them on the Blog for all of us to enjoy.  So here is the first group of photos:  Please click here:  Thank you James, very much!

Black Friday - Bring it on!

  Barry Sandford likes the tough jobs!  He signed up for the entire day. All 10 Hours!  Plus he is coming back tomorrow morning for another shift.  WOW!  So does Dick Cosgrove and Ralph Luby who volunteered for what is probably the toughest day of the year.  Denneth Lee will be coming in for the 2nd shift later today.   





They don't see it as a problem, they look at it as a greater opportunity to tell people about trains!   I bet that Carl & Mac will be in there too. Dick Cosgrove was laughing when he told me the story about how he thought he was going to be first one to arrive today but he found out you have to get up pretty early to beat Carl into the trains!

     Jim Hinkley and  James  Boynton were also helping today and Art and Andy stopped by while I was there.     There were bands playing, and singers singing, the parking lot was full,  I guess it was a typical "Black Friday" and I hope the stores did well.  I know the people who watched our trains were having a good time.                  

Please click here to see more items:

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Carl and Art, and Mac who was busy wiring up Station Master hold down the fort in the final hours before Thanksgiving. 

Festival of Trees Information

Paul Corbett will be hosting his 11th consecutive year of celebrating trains at Christmas time at the Westbrook annual Festival of Trees and proudly representing Maine Garden Railway Society as he continues to delight crowds of children and adults at this excellent display.

Please click here to view Schedule for 2011:

We congratulate Paul as he just about single handily sets up and operates this 8 day long event which has grown to become a community favorite.

Love this Display

    I took the day off today, just resting at home and I began thinking about what I liked best about this years train display.  I think my favorite thing was the way the snow blanket got painted to look like rocks!  Next was the fact that we did not touch the snow blanket,  the Mall installed it all.  That was great for us!  Now if they walk by and see some hanging down, they will feel free to fix it.  It was good because we could concentrate on building and wiring, then the Mall covered it all up.  They did a fantastic job, cutting and fitting around our track and trestles!  Next I loved Dick Rubin's trees.  They look great on the layout.  I also love Ralph's roadbed! It is perfect on the elevated lines.  The real ballast Carl brought in was a lot of work but it is great on the main line.  Looks good as well as holds sensors and wires in place and makes the layout look permanent not just a quick project.  I love the big "C" Items, "Christmas Tree and Circus". Fantastic job by Scott, Art and Norm. Perfect, I can really relate to the Lionel layout and love to see it! Plus they are close to the people to see and the Interactive buttons by Mike are a  very big hit!  That includes Terry's Crossing Signals.  Kids love to push buttons! Ralph's bridges, trestles, buttresses are super solid and look great.  I also like the raised platforms that allow us to reach the track and I think I like the tunnels as long as nothing get stuck in side.   I really love all Carl's buildings and the lights that have been added. His Church, a replica of the real one in Buxton is one of my favorites. I love the little dioramas all around the layout.  That is what the people look for. (I even like the way the little flag blows in the breeze).  I could go on, there are many more items that you could be named:  bigger layout, wider curves, station stops, more sounds, new lighting, and our own entrance way. Bigger and better trains and engines!   Oh yes, there are two more big items to mention.  The way the kids love Thomas and his friends and all the joy and excitement they bring to the display. And one last item, the best of all.  The support that MGRS members are providing by coming out in droves to help.  It is fantastic to see so many good hearted individuals volunteering to take part in this years display.  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we are very lucky and we do have a lot to be grateful for.

Tiny, John, Ben, Jim, Art, Paul, Dave, Carl, Mac, Scott and I bet there were more

 Members were in and out all day long and for at least 5 hours of extra time today as the Mall display is turning out to be hard to resist!   That is great and we love to see the enthusiasm of many members.  Today we ran lots of combinations of trains and Ben worked diligently to clean up several engines and cars.  One was a Lionel his dad had and he got it running great!  The big screen TV arrived.  Keith installed it and it works very well.  It has two feeds and we can select between them using a regular remote control,  Video-1 is a fixed overhead camera and Video-2 is the on board train cam that transmits a signal back to a receiver which is picking up some added interference but still gives you exciting views of what our trains see as they travel the layout.  There is a large selection of pictures and video to see today:  Please click here:   

11-21 Monday Monday

The TV was delayed until tomorrow, but that did not dampen the enthusiasm for any of the on-lookers or for Hunk & Dave who operated the trains today.  They reported a little problem with one train this morning but David said "it was fun to get everything going".   Nothing serious, I guess during yesterdays maintenance on the circus train we got a little oil on the track.   Oh Yes, they just fixed the fence around the Lionel layout so that now we can walk all the way down to the end of the display.  That's very good!   As I left Paul was coming in to relieve until 6 when Rich Young is coming in for a couple more hours.  This is all extra by the way.  Above and beyond what we are scheduled, so thanks to the guys that are volunteering extra time.  I hope you are enjoying it and I know the people appreciate it!!
Is is great to see all the smiles and delight on peoples faces.
To see more please click here:  

Sunday 11-20-11

 

   
    It was a very happy Sunday at the Mall.  Walter was first in at about 10:30am and soon had the trains running.  Carl and Mac were right after him and Terry who arrived on time was last one there.  The crowd was just right, Our signs were bright and colorful and there were plenty of kids to press the buttons!  Carls big engine (I forgot her designation) was proudly pulling the B&O cars, and she sounded great also.   The Santa shack was smoking and in another area Santa was stuck in a chimney!
Terry brought in lots of goodies like his Lionel Hand Car and a box full of other items.  There were lots of people taking pictures. I know we are all over Facebook! Carl said tomorrow the big screen TV will arrive.  He plans to set up a camera on board an engine and televise the action back to the big screen!  That will be fun to watch and the kids may even see themselves on TV.   Here are some more pictures and video clips to watch:  Click here:

Saturday - Joe & Rich run the Show

 Rich Young and Joe Connolly teamed up to start off the weekend in style.  Rich brought in a beautiful looking blue paint scheme Boston & Maine diesel.  Joe was taking care of James the red engine on the circus loop.  Carl & Mac stopped by to see if anyone needed anything.  Carl pointed out our new MGRS signs at the Mall.  We have one on each of the big columns in Center Court on either side of the display.  (See slideshow)  Also , is a picture of the Santa Workshop diarama Santa Claus presented us with.  Plus look at pictures of anxious viewers to see the Lionel display up close. (I think Carl is going to ask to have the fence extended).  Lastly note the terrific coverage the Mall has given us on their outdoor Marquee.   To view all of this please click here:

Also, Thank you to Jim Jenkens who will be coming in at 3pm to continue on with the show to 8pm.  I am sure Carl & Mac will be with him.  Hope everyone has a super weekend!  Enjoy the show.

"A Really Splendid Engine"

James, as any fan of Thomas the Tank Engine knows, fancies himself as a really splendid engine. He often gets himself in trouble pulling loads he shouldn't pull. He's not as big as Gordon, after all, even though he's a Hughes Class 28 superheated 2-6-0. But this time James has got it right. This afternoon he came to the rescue at the Mall. Thanks to the work of Norm Waycott and Carl Churchill, James is now pulling a handsome circus train. And he's doing it where kids in line for Santa can push a button to see him go.