Back home again

I enjoyed yesterday.  It was nice being inside looking out at the nice new snow falling and slowly studying the latest Iron Horse.  Art did an excellent job covering all the aspects of our Nov-Dec season.  

    All my trains are back downstairs and getting ready for the remainder of winter.  This is when I start to spend more time actually running them then any other time of year.  I was also looking through my computer and saw some photos and video that are still current. 

Video of B&M F3's in operation.
   






 
                                                                          

Portsmouth Harbor Web Cam

This is pretty good.  It works day or night .    See the progress on the bridge project.
Check it out: Click here:    Thanks Tiny.
         
 

Happening Today Jan 15, 2013

  From Maine Dept of Transportation -  Memorial Bridge Project Update.  Sent in by Denneth Lee,
Please Click here for more info:

Newsletter on line - Thank you Art

Art Handman has sent out the current Iron Horse and the on line version is now available by clicking here: Nov - Dec 2012 Iron Horse
Also attention is drawn to MGRS Honor Roll for 2012. Thank you and congratulations to our members.

Best wishes to Dick Rubin

I received a message from Scott that he asked me to post for him.  Very happy to do so:

Scott said "Dick was taken seriously ill as a result of the flu and is now hospitalized in Boston.  Dick has been one of the strongest supporters of the Holiday Train Display.  He and Denny Rubin are in our thoughts as we wish for a full recovery."

 Thanks,

Scott

 And from all of us, We hope you will get well and get back home soon.        

 

Waiting for our Return

 

 Our spot is waiting for us for 2013!   Right there, smack dab in the middle of Center Court!   That is awesome news and it is nice to know so early in the year that our past efforts are appreciated by the Mall, the public, and our own members to the point that we are planning to return for our fourth season!   

 For now, we can take a deep breath and enjoy it.  Collect our thoughts and ideas. Open up our imaginations, make suggestions to build upon and improve what we have accomplished so far. 

All ideas are welcomed and encouraged.

How it started

Here is a reprint of the original news article.
Please click here to view:

Amtrack Action

Amtrak activity around Brunswick Maine during end of 2012.
Click here to see video:

Mt Washington

Tiny sent us this link to the Mt Washington Auto Road.  A beautiful sight to enjoy.

Please click here:

Update from Bill & Robin

Hi John
Here are some photos that we took up at North Conway this past weekend.  We went to Steaming in the Snow.
Hope all is well!
Bill and Robin

Symbols, Flags, Flowers and Motto's

Here is a link to every State in the United States of America.  State Quarters, Seals and history.
Great if you want some ideas for that special box car you may be designing.

Interesting site take a look Click here: 

Lost plastic animals and stuff - found!

Sorry, I have your animals, and HO action figures, and candy dispensing moose!  They were in a bag of stuff I just went through of things someone thought were mine which were returned from the Mall.  If they are yours please let me know and I will get them back to you.  John

Maine Garden Railway Society

Look at us! When you draw it out you get a better idea of how MGRS is organized.

Remember we are all volunteers who choose to join by sending in $12 dollars in January (now due) for the upcoming year.  That makes us voting members and members of our household become family members. We operate primarily through the direction of our president Carl Churchill and our Board of Directors who are all elected annually in July of each year.  Many activities are handled directly by members after coordinating with Carl.

Part of the Good olde Days.

This site is a lot of fun.  If you every saw a Burma-Shave you probably remember it.  What a great advertizing idea!  If you want to make a model Burma-Shave for your layout just print out the one you like.
Pleace Click here and enjoy:

Grain Enhancing Tool

Here is an interesting article for advanced Model builders.  Take a look click here:



A tool that is easy to use that adds a lot of detail.

Thanks to the dedicated crew

It had to be a lot of effort - All the buildings, trains, track, tunnels, bridges, signs, wires, transformers, chairlifts and saw mills were picked up and loaded into trucks and cars and transported out of the Mall and brought to Carl's.  All done and completed yesterday.  Thank You!  to all the guys that helped out.  In no particular order - Thank you to Paul, Walter, Scott, Art, Tiny, Norm and Carl !!   The final step in wrapping up another very successful and well done train season at the Maine Mall.

Long outdoor Lionel Layout

Good video, but you need plenty of time to watch it.  I like the last half the best but the beginning is for the true lover of long trains.   Click here to watch

Waterfalls

Waterfall - That is the word of the day, especially at the Mall.  In anticipation of wanting to do something like this I turned to Youtube to see what I could find.  I know the problem with real water on model railroad is that you cannot scale water and it sometimes does not look right.  But it does have a dramatic effect and I have seen some excellent HO models using Lifelike products that represent water very well.  I have the idea that combining  some of the techniques of modeling water  (like the picture above) with the addition of real water added on top of them would result in the perfect powerful looking operating model.   Here is very short video showing something along that idea.  Note there is actually a small amount of real water flowing over a clear framework.  Click here:

As you can see in this video the 'Garden style' waterfall looks good but is heavy and takes a lot of rocks.  We can't build another granite colossal like Fryburg but I am sure there is workable compromise out there to be discovered. 

I remember the Cog

Ahh yes, the smell of the smoke!  I remember taking my oldest grandson on the Cog RR.  It was great! It even was a clear day!  Here is a video that shows the old steam engines that used to climb Mt. Washington.  Click here: 

Here is the new diesel which they have had for a while:  Click here:  
as seen on their new Web Site.

Happy 2013 from Maine Garden Railway Society

May the track ahead be clear and straight
 and your love for trains stay strong and great. Happy New Year!