Dec 13th at the Mall

    Lots of people were in today.  I though I came in early but Jim and Hunk had everything going when I arrived.   Art help calm a vendor who thought the trains were to noisy and he fixed the problem.  Benjamin arrived and he is a big help as he loves to run trains and do maintenance all at the same time plus he is putting in lots of extra time.  Jim was getting lots of requests from parents of small children to let them touch Thomas and say 'hello' to him. Jim responded and the little kids were loving it! Hunk and I were talking to lots of "bigger kids" our age who just love to talk trains! One was new member Dennis Homa who stopped by with two grandsons and he said "Save me a vest and I will be back Saturday to run trains!"   Tiny came in despite his planned doctors appointment. He will be back tomorrow to help Mike Curry in the Afternoon.   Paul and Walter stopped by. The Budliner and the Amtrak are always a favorite, they were running this morning. Ben was running his new CSX and I put on my "Conway Scenic passenger train" as I call it.  Carl, Mac and Dennis arrived and changed over to the Big B&O Mallet as I was leaving.  Most of the other guys were still there. But I did manage to get lots of pictures on the Slideshow from today,  Please take a look.  It was a great day and sadly it will end to soon.  Let's enjoy it while it's here . .  All-a-board!!

Monday Dec 12th

Things were back on track today as everything was running smooth.  One Station Master was operating and the others trains were under operator control.  Santa's workshop was really smoking!
Jim was looking pretty cool in his Santa/RR hat as he took over from Dick & Meridel.  Ben offered to stay on and keep him company.   Take a quick look at a little bit from today, please click here: 
By the way, I stopped to talk to several different people. (all you have to do is look up and smile and they are ready to smile back and tell you a story).   There seems to be an endless supply of people who enjoy the layout and numerous people taking pictures.  Their appreciation makes the whole display worth the effort.  One man and his little boy come by very often and we love to see them return and the smiles keep coming.  Thank you!

Hey Weekend Bloggers ~ Help Wanted

  Because I do take the weekends off,  you may not see any news on the Blog.  Especially with the Mall Train Show going on we hate to miss any of the action.  So here is the offer.  If you have a PC and a digital camera and are willing to go in and take some pictures I will train you completely on everything you need to know. If you ever thought of being a "Blog reporter" Now is your chance.  I think it is fun to do and I can easily sit down with you at your PC and show you exactly what you need to know.  No prior knowledge required.  If you are interested, please email John at mgrsadmin@gmail.com or leave a comment. Thanks!

Invitation from Eric Schade

Eric donates time to WW&F Museum and they are having their annual Victorian Christmas this Saturday.
Here is the information:   It does sound good, Thanks Eric.
 There is a FREE Christmas train day on Saturday the 17^th.  It is great fun especially with some snow on the ground.  They will have sleigh rides  and snacks as well as hot cider, cocoa and coffee!  Have a look at www.wwfry.org

Birthdays and Trains

Our Grandson is visiting with us today. He brought over his favorite model house that he got at our MGRS Auction to add under the tree.  Tomorrow is his birthday and also my son's birthday!  So we will have a party and we have to have a train ready to go.  See it here:

Friday 12-9

 

   I arrived at the Mall today in time to catch everybody at the 3pm shift change:  Dick, Ralph, Art and Benjamin were their for the AM and Robin and Bill drove up today from Middleboro Mass to run trains tonight and tomorrow morning.  Bill made last years official video and said he would try it again this year, Yahooh!
Thank You "Video Bill"  We were hoping you would!

Here are some pictures and clips from today:  Please click here to view:

 

Very Good News!

   Carl passed along the news from the Maine Mall senior management that reported they had received an excellent review yesterday Dec 8th from General Growth Properties review team which flew in from Chicago to inspect this years Center Court Christmas Display which is as you all know Santa Claus and Maine Garden Railway Society.  Well done and Congratulations to all involved for contributing to such an impressive display and lifting up the spirits of thousands of viewers.   

We have reached 50!

No,  not 50 years old.  Even better than that,  we reached 50 different MGRS members that have offered to donate their time to help out at this years Maine Mall train display.  We really do want to stop and say "Thank you!".   Today Jeff Jacobs who brought in his own Lionel train to run was the man who put us over the top.  Thank you Jeff.  We hope that many more will still follow your example and join in and enjoy the show on a first hand basis.

Tribute to Circus Day

  I guess I always was a Circus fan but early this Spring I bought a Keystone Circus train on sale and that really got me started.  It was fun finding people and animals to join the Circus.  Bidding on E-bay for a couple extra circus cars and then customizing a couple of old cars that I had and finally printing out old circus posters to decorate with. . . .  and Presto! The Circus came to Littleville Falls! 

  I have had this all set up for months, but today being "Circus Day" I took a couple of pictures and a clip of the circus train in action.  Please take a look:   Who doesn't Love the Circus?

Dec 8th Circus Day

  I know that all the members or many of them interested in "Circus trains" will be meeting at the Maine Mall this morning before the train show begins to celebrate what they have named as "Circus Day".  Due to a doctors appointment I may not get any pictures but hopefully I will be able to find out what happened and report on it later.  I do wish all of the guys a great day of celebration and we all thank them for all the help and color and excitement they have brought to this years train show !

Thank you and Happy Circus Day!

From Dec 6, 2011

 The Maine Veterans and Santa both deserve better audio and video then I was able to get. But, I hope you will still enjoy watching them.  We all join together to thank them so much and truly wish them a Merry Christmas! To see  some additional pictures and  video from Dec 6, 2011.  Please click here:
     

Dec 6th Veterans Visit the Mall

 It was good to see over a dozen members of MGRS arrive early today to meet the Maine Veterans from the Scarborough home who came to visit us at the Mall.  They had a good time and they all seemed to enjoy seeing the sites of the Mall, the trains, and meeting Santa as he made the presentation of gifts from MGRS to them.  Carl had checked with Jeanne who said they wanted to have some structures to go with the train set we gave them last year.  Carl  had 3 or possibly 4 nice packages made up for them which Santa Claus handed out after giving a very nice talk.  He does a great job and is very sincere which is why he IS the REAL Santa.   Our own Mall press photographer took a lot of excellent photos, Thank you James very much! Excellent job.
If you would like to see them, please click here.


The remainder of the regular day was scheduled for Tiny, John, Benjamin and Jim in the AM.  Here is a little video of their trains running.  Tiny had a good looking Maine Central freight which featured a very realistic trailer transport from St. Johnsbury, which drew several compliments from the people today.  He also had a novelty car with "Tweety and Sylvester" remember them?  Ben was able to run his  LGB on the middle level.  He really loved the way it smoked and I have to say he really did get it going good!  Here are some train videos from today.  Please take a look ~ Click here:

As I left Carl went over to Santa and thanked him and said what a good job he did today.  Carl, Mac and Santa will all stay to 8Pm tonight and we thank them, They do a great job every day, and so do all the other members who continue to work hard, donating their time and efforts to give a gift to thousands of people every day that are pausing and enjoying our trains run by.

Monday Dec 5th

It's a good thing Meridel was there, someone had to be paying attention to the controls as the boys discussed all that important "stuff".  Thanks to all the crew on today which featured Dick & Meridel, Norm, Walter, Jim Jenkins, Carl & Mac, they just can't stay away.  It's to much fun at the Mall.  Tomorrow marks the halfway point and it seems like we just got started!  A transformer needed to be replaced today and that was taken care of quickly by Carl.  Everything else ran well and Jim brought in a good looking steam engine and passenger cars all decorated up for Christmas.  Take a look, please click here:

Maine Veterans to visit us at the Mall

  Remember Tuesday Dec 6th the Veterans will visit our Train Display and Santa Claus at approximately 9:45am.  We will show them our display and Santa will present gifts from MGRS to them.  They will all crowd around Santa for an official picture and then I bet they will go down and visit the Merry go Round for a ride!   Come join us if you can and help wish them a Merry Christmas!

Sunday 12/5 All is Well

   Today belonged to Mike and Preston and they had no problems running a nice looking big circus train on the middle elevation.  At least once we got out of their way.  But first Carl & Mac and Ben and I all arrived to make sure we handed over a clean layout to the circus guys.   Over the course of the weekend all 3 Station masters were disconnected and we wanted to make sure they were OK.  We got the 2 on the main line working quickly but the Thomas one was confusing. The unit needed to be re-programmed and also re-wired.  As we worked on it Ben was able to recognize the fault and we were able to correct it so that when we left all three units were running the way we want them to.  Carl had a box with him and a surprise for Ben.  It was a nice looking little LGB steam engine that has been refurbished and never used for years in his shop.  Carl (jokingly) made Ben promise "No more plastic wheels" and he presented the train set to Ben.  He was happy,  and I would like to have ended the story right there.  Except he had to try it out of course,  and unfortunately it ran smack dab into the tunnel and snapped off the smoke stack.  Rats!  But it is nothing a little super glue cannot fix and we are very glad to say its all well that ends well!   

To see some pictures and a video that shows everything working good, Click here:

Festival of Trees

 

 The Festival of Trees   is underway in Westbrook (See schedule at top of Blog).  Paul Corbett and Walter Fossett opened the door to the train room at 8:00am this morning and it was immediately the big attraction.  People like the trees but they LOVE the trains!   It is a close up experience where adults and children can really get to see,  sit down an enjoy all the details Paul has put into the display.  He also has an interactive sound control system that the kids love to operate.   Great Job, and you represent MGRS proudly and have done a fantastic job for many many years at this annual event.  Thank You!

To see lots of pictures and clips please click here:

Boys will be Boys

And That is Good!  Jake Brewer and Benjamin Jewett led the way for Ralph and Dick today as they combined to run everything they could find today at the Mall!  Great job boys, it was good to see your enthusiasm and fresh spirit on display.   Take a look at pictures from today, please click here:

Friday Dec 2, 2011

   It was Dick Cosgrove, Dick Rubin  & Ralph Luby's day to run the trains.  Dick Rubin brought in his European Pantograph engine to pull Scott's cars.  He also brought in his Garratt, a beautiful articulated steam engine that gained its reputation on South Africa's mining railway systems with tight turns.  But it was definitely Thomas and all his friends which includes a family of egg liners that took command of the outer loop today. Please take a look:

You-Tube Video Dec 1, 2011 ~ Maine Mall

  This was taken and posted last evening to You Tube by someone who came by and enjoyed the trains.  I  can only see Walter Fossett running the trains and answering some questions.  Nice going!
To see the video click here:

Here is a similar version I took a little earlier in the day:  It shows several MGRS members and guests around the control area.   Click here:

Dec 1, 2011 ~ European Guests, Circus Trains, Tin Plate, Scott's LGB Pantograph, Plus lots of American passenger train action.

 Quite a day at the Mall.  Mike Curry stopped by and he is felling better and wanted back on the schedule.  Thanks Mike we are very glad to here that!  Norm and Andy ran the AM shift and had everything going good for Doug, Carl and Mac to takeover at 3.  That was when Dick and Scott arrived to meet Roger & Nelly Hartmann and two of their friends and model train enthusiasts from Switzerland and Germany.  They loved Scott's tin plate and European style pantograph train.   Norm and Doug all reminisced with Roger as Carl showed the layout to our guests.  We hope they all enjoyed the layout which was looking good as Carls B&O and Amtrak passenger trains alternated stops at Gorham Station.  Here is a little video from the day, please click here: