Day-33 Maine Mall Road Trip

Day-33 at the Mall was a busy day.  Dave and Grace got everything running in the AM.  Dave noticed the Amtrak coach was uncoupling so he reversed the car and that solved the problem.  I guess a tree had fallen over onto the track of the elevated loop and caused another problem.  Gremlins I guess?  Murphy's law was demonstrated when the Gondola ride just happen to stop where the Caboose top could hit it. I thought it was the Friday the 13th curse, but Dave fixed it with the press of a button.





We were having fun but Grace ignored are play and spent her time talking seriously to people.  It was a fun day.

Then in the early PM  Bill and Robin pulled into Center Court with a gigantic load of trains fresh off a road trip from Cape Cod!   They are amazing as they travel the long distance and come up every year to support the Mall Train Show.  Not only that but Bill takes tremendous videos and pictures and has made official videos of our show each year.

They will be handling the layout this evening and be back in again tomorrow morning!  Thank you both very much you are another example of our great members and we love your enthusiasm!

Bachmann Track Anyone?

Does anyone have some Bachmann G-gauge track they'd like to sell?   It isn't sturdy enough for outside use, but I think it would look nice around a Christmas tree.  Scott Gould sgould@maine.rr.com (799-9799).

8th Annual Candy Cane Train

 Here is a fun and worth while event for this weekend.  Join MGRS members Jeff and Maurice who will be serving as Conductors aboard the Candy Cane Train. They are joined by many 3-Railer friends on a 90 minute adventure round trip on the ME. Eastern line from Bath to Wiscasset and back.  You will be entertained by Singers and Storytellers plus a visit from Santa Claus and his Elves.  Enjoy a scenic Holiday train ride that is fun for the whole family.

4 trips on Saturday and 4 trips on Sunday.  This weekend only.  Trains depart at 9am, 11am. 1pm and 3pm.  Ticket price for adult or children is $17.   All proceeds benefit Tri-County Literacy Program.

For more Info  Click here:  or call  207-443-6384

Day-30 Snow arrives

 Phil and John took care of the AM shift.  We were joined by Jeff and Maurice who worked on the Lionel Display.  A friend of theirs stopped by and we had a reunion style meeting right on the spot.  It was great!  Carl and James also stopped by and Mike and Maureen came in through the snow to take over and run the evening shift.  The trains ran very well.  Phil and I had one wheel of the Canadian Pacific diesel that gave us a little trouble but we decided that running nice and slow was the best answer.  That settled we all had a very relaxing day  and of course the viewers were very good and we were all a little sad to think that we only have 2 weeks left.

To see train videos from today Click here:

Happy Days from MGRS

Happy are the days of Fireplaces, Stockings, Trees and a  Train.
  

Slideshow for this years Train Show.

 You can thank Andy for the idea of bringing back the giant Slideshow at the top of the Blog.  He was the one who reminded me.   I know that I do not have pictures of everybody.  If you happen to have some photos that you took which we could use please send them to me and I will add them.  Thanks John  

Welcome to Maurice

MGRS Welcomes our newest member Maurice Guevin.   He has been very helpful this year setting up our Lionel section.  He is well acquainted with O gauge as an officer of the Maine-3-Railer Club.  Here is a photo of him from their web site.  Thank you for joining and we hope you will have a very good time.

I also found a picture of another MGRS member we know very well.  Jeff Jacobs who is the man behind this years MGRS Lionel display.  He has been a very helpful member to the Maine Mall display over the years.  He is pictured on last years "Candy Cane" train.  I recommend it for this year but I do not have the details.  Maybe Jeff will leave a comment.

Here is a recent picture:

 

Day-27 (AM shift)

 Scott Gould and Dick Rubin teamed up to run the trains this Saturday morning.   The crowds were good and many people enjoyed the display.


  

One of Scott's favorite fans is his grandson who he is proudly holding up to see the circus train.  Way to go!






 One of the feature trains running today was a G scale model of the famous Pennsylvanian  GG1 electric locomotive. 

To see a video of it and other trains that ran today Please click here:

Festival of Trees ~ Opening Day

The 2013 Westbrook Festival of Trees started today and will continue for 8 days.  Paul Corbett has held this display for MGRS for the last 10 to 12 years!    He is know as the "Trainman" and beloved by viewers who come back year after year.

  For the last few years he has been joined by his friend and fellow MGRS director Walter Fossett Jr.

 They have a great time with the kids and they are a very big part of the annual Festival.


Please click here for a short video:

Also a slideshow from Opening day.
Please click here:

Westbrook Festival of Trees

Remember MGRS sponsors another model train show in December.   Paul and Walter will be running the show at the Westbrook Festival of Trees 
Clink above for more info

 It starts today Saturday Dec 7, 2013 and runs for one week.  Below is the schedule the trains will be running:

Please click here for a short video:

The door to the train room (above)  can be closed when Paul is not there.

Condolences

Condolences are offered to MGRS member Frank Howard who lost his wife to cancer.   Jane Howard died Friday at approximately 3:20 in the afternoon.  Frank called Carl last night and told him the sad news.  We grieve for Frank and offer him our deepest sympathy at a very difficult time.

Getting ready for Christmas

Click on picture for larger view.    

It was a day of good cheer at the Maine Mall.   Model trains were running very well!  Everyone was happy.  Yesterdays problems had all been fixed and Carl and Mac took care of everything in the morning with Dennis and Agnes handling the afternoon.

News - Sale of the famous 470 Steam engine in Waterville

 To read article, please click here:

Sent to us by Paul Smith.  Thank you!

Day-24 Maine Mall Show

I am reminded of the old circus act where the guy keeps 10 plates spinning.  It is hard to keep all 10 trains running perfectly.  But, that's part of the fun.
Dick and Meridel were in total control with everything running fine until I came in to take some pictures.  Then things changed.  Dick is pictured working on the B&M caboose with a bad truck assembly.   People noticed the sawmill blade was not turning. We think all it needs is a fresh rubber band but right now it is not running.    Then Mike Tarbox came in and noticed the Amtrak was not stopping at the station.  We found the problem and Dick made a repair to tape the magnet back onto the coach.  It was working fine when Mike C came in.   He was early and ready to go!  It was a good day to run trains and every time I go in I am amazed at all the stories people have to tell. Hundreds of people with hundreds of stories, all you need is a little time to listen.  Like the man who has the Lionel milk car and the cattle car with the little vibrating cows that move around the chute.  Right out of the 1950 Catalog that I remember very well!  But when I left I noticed Meridel talking to a grandmother with a really cute little baby she was watching.  No doubt, the Mall has a good story for all of us.

Video below
Short video of the Amtrak Station Stop and the Waterfall from Day-24 Maine Mall train show.

Important Schedule Change ~ Please note: We will pick up the layout the DAY AFTER Christmas.

  This did occurred last year and it is something that the Mall cannot anticipate ahead of time.   Due to scheduling requirements in January 2014 the Mall has requested that we pickup the layout right after Christmas as they need the time to cleanup and prepare the area.   We apologize  to those members who had scheduled time to come in the last week but please notice the schedule has been cleared after Christmas day.  We plan instead to meet at 8:00am on Thursday the day after Christmas to pick up the track and remove our items out of the Center Court area.  We did do that last year in about half a day as the pick up goes much faster than the setup.  We can use storage area behind Old Navy so that should make it easier for us.   More on the detail plan later but for now please note the required change in the schedule dates.
  This has been another successful season as we complete the best model train display that I know of.  We are proud but we are also thankful for the public support and the Maine Mall management for their support.
But, we could not have done it without all of our great members!  Thank you.

Day-23 Maine Mall

 It was Tuesday and Tiny and John ran some of their trains.  Ernie & Hazel were first in and got everything started.  Then the Mall had to shut down operations for a little bit to make some maintenance changes to the large banner and  the waterfall.

Everything resumed and Dan & Haily stopped by.  Peter a friend of Tiny and member of NHGRS stopped in for a nice long visit.

Today I ran my Mass Transit Authority PCC Trolley.  It ran nicely on the automatic reversing line. Tiny ran his impressive MEC passenger train which has been a favorite at the show and his B&M Budliner or RDC  car.


We also ran the old Lionel engine Jeff repaired.  It ran great.  I brought in a couple extra cars I had to add to it.  Art and I both remember having this set as one of our first trains.  It was great to see it running again! Jeff did a great job painting and cleaning the engine and getting it to run.

 James stopped by and helped out so some of the guys could take a lunch break.
Phil came in to run the 2nd shift all by himself but Carl and Norm showed up to keep him company.  I even caught Carl leaving some cookies for Santa.





Here are some video clips from today:  Please click here: 

From Jeff Jacobs "It Runs"

Nice Going Jeff.   He managed to get the old engine to run!  It was donated by a Navy man named Scott who stopped by with his wife and young daughter to see the trains.  He wanted us to have it.  It was pretty beat up, but Jeff did manage to get it running again and cleaned it up so it looks a lot better!

An email from a viewer.

 A women I will only identify as Marybeth sent this email to mgrsadmin@gmail.

To mgrsadmin,

 Just wanted to let you know that I was in the Maine mall today

and I loved the trains! The display was so impressive and I gained

a greater appreciation for the hobby. The gentleman manning the 

trains was so friendly to all the kids and made them smile.  

Thank you for making my
day!

Truly,
Marybeth

{Reply}

Marybeth,

            Thank you for your very kind email and taking the time

to look us up on the Web.   What you said is exactly why we 

have the display.  It is for the smiles and the appreciation that 

we see and hear back from people who stop by.

Thank you very much

From the members of Maine Garden Railway Society.

From Paul & Brenda

Brenda and I celebrated our 27th anniversary yesterday by going on a shopping trip to Belfast/Camden/Rockland. Here is a very fuzzy photo of a G scale train (two steam trains actually, one an oval with a figure 8 in the center) set up in the old church building of the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland.

Paul

Thanks Paul and Happy Anniversary to you & Brenda

MGRS

Item for Sale

Dear Friend - I'm writing to you concerning  a L.G.B. train set we may be interested in selling this Christmas. I'm sending you this info about the train; perhaps someone in your club - or someone else you may know - would be interested in the set. After a good deal of research, I'm asking for $300 for the whole set - and we'd be willing to arrange a meeting to avoid shipping costs.

The Perfect Family Gift! Eight colorful cars including a beautiful 150^th anniversary Christmas Caboose! Complete #20301 “Big Train” (engine plus two cars); Sulzback-Rosenberg gondola #4044; #4045 “mine” car; sightseeing car #3041 (incomplete) and the xmas car, celebrating “1835-1985 Deutsche Reichsbahn” (German RR). BONUS! RO 1870 Mow Car. Plus, extra track, 14 people, six “carry-on” items and four ‘oil’ barrels. G-scale in good condition. (Used only around the tree in a house without little ones.

Jane Carbone

Laconia, NH

603/520-6964