Perfect Weather for a Great Annual Meeting

Today marked the annual meeting of the Maine Garden Railway Society, hosted as it has been for several years by Carl and Pat Churchill at their home in Buxton.  The Overlook Railroad looked especially beautiful this year, thanks to tireless work by Pat and Carl.  The trails behind the Overlook were also a treat to travel through, dotted here and there with flower gardens.  Mac McLaughlin and the Churchills also installed a lighting system for the trails this year.

More than 80 members and their friends attended today's festivities.  The potluck lunch was, as usual, the highlight of the day.  Pat's seafood chowder is always memorable, but was especially good this year.  No one makes a better chowder.  As is customary at the annual meeting, officers and directors were elected for the coming year.  Carl Churchill was re-elected President, Art Handman won a narrow victory as Vice President, and Terry Norton and Dennis Farrell were re-elected as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively.  Phil Sypek, Hunk Eskine, Ernie Packard, and Denneth "Tiny" Lee were elected as directors.  Thanks were expressed to Walter Fossett, Jr. and Dick Cosgrove for their service to the Board over the past several years.  The MGRS also expressed its appreciation to John Jackson for his service to the Society.  John is on the mend from a recent illness.

The annual auction raised $586.30 for the MGRS this year.  Another $67.50 was raised in the 50-50 auction (the other $67.50 being won by Scott Gould, who is still surprised that no one asked to see his winning ticket).

All in all, a successful event, thanks to the continuing support of the MGRS membership and the wonderful hospitality of Pat and Carl Churchill.

Speaking of Christmas in July

Here is a picture Scott found of what I believe is our first Lionel display at the Maine Mall.  If plans work out this years tree will look similar and once again represent an "old fashion" Christmas that we hope many will remember.  This year Scott plans to add  a brick fireplace with the warmth of glowing fireplace logs to help complete the scene.  It will be at a more natural room height and be much easier for children to see.  Plus Thomas and Percy will join in on the fun.

My apologizes to Rich Young

I don't know how this happens but sometimes a comment is made and I don't think it is published right away.  It goes into some status call "awaiting moderation" which means I have to approve it.  I have never chosen to do that and I never think to check for that.  Occasionally, I discover that happened and release it right away.  This happened to Rich Young who made the following comment about a month ago.

 

"Open Invitation for individuals interested in Garden Railroads"

1 Comment - Show Original Post

1 – 1 of 1

 Rich said...

If anyone wants to check out my layout in Portland, just give me a heads up.

Right now there are two loops running and 1 point to point.

The Point to Point will eventually hook up to the loops.

Rich

June 17, 2014 at 3:23 PM

Hey, we got a message from Santa Claus !

 Via Valerie & Dave Chnupa . . . . .  "Blessings and Blue Skies to all in Buxton"  I can smell the grill from here!

Thank you Santa, we love you!
(Here is a picture by Scott from the archives. I took this out of the 2010 December Iron Horse) John

The MGRS Annual Meeting is Tommorrow

Saturday July 19th

Excellent Weather Forecast 

~At Carl & Pat Churchill's ~ 
Fun, Friends, Great Food, Auction, Items for sale,
Drawings, Displays,  Annual Meeting & Updates. 

Please be reminded.  Carl said:
 If you want to come, You are Invited!

All aboard !

The latest Newsletter is now available on-line

Thank you Art for another great issue of the Iron Horse.  You can see the current issue by clicking here:
    May-June 2014 Ironhorse
 

Facebook Example

Click on image to view

  I was on the Conway Scenic site enjoying all their nice pictures when I saw a picture that I recognized.  It was Carl's station at the Mall a couple of years ago.  If you read the comments you will see that member Chris Libby answered the question of who built the model.

 It makes me wish someone who knows about Facebook would set up a place on Facebook where people who come to the Mall and see our layout would have a place to post their pictures.  If you are interesting in doing this please let me know.  I can help link the Blog to the Facebook  Account, but I do not want to be responsible to maintain the Facebook  Account.  John

Great Pictures

   Tiny sent me some info on  Conway Scenic Railroad and I was trying to look at pictures of his son and grandson who were visiting Thomas the Tank Engine last weekend.  I did not see them but found some fabulous pictures on Facebook regarding Conway Scenic RR.  Try this link:  Lots of excellent photos:
https://www.facebook.com/ConwayScenicRailroad/photos_stream

Coreopsis blooming

I received some photos from Paul Smith.  He had some nice colorful shots of his railroad and the Coreopsis blooming a brilliant yellow.  Paul said he and his wife had a yard sale and at the same time introduced several people to Garden Railroading.   Way to go,  Thanks for the pictures Paul,  the layout looks terrific!

Doug Johnson is one Cool Dude

OK, Doug sent me this and said it had to go on the Blog.  He said his daughter sent it to him.  So here it is:  Read this very cool!:    

Vytopna Railway Restaurant  Czech & International Cuisine

Vytopna Restaurant at Wenceslas Square offers good food and drinks at good prices. But its unique attraction is a 400m miniature railway. This runs around the whole restaurant, and even onto the tables you sit at.

This is no gimmick, the technology employed is complex. The restaurant's owners are passionate about traditional railways and have developed miniature train networks for years.

  

The railway tracks pass through tunnels, over drawbridges, through sculptured rock formations and woods, alongside ponds, and the trains pull into stations. The trains reach speeds of 20km per hour. Oh, and they deliver all your drinks to your table, sitting in their wagons!

Vytopna is set on the first floor of a large building, with huge windows overlooking Wenceslas Square.

Here is the Web Site;   Thanks Doug!

http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=1395

A Good One

Hi everybody,
   I am taking it easy sitting out in the back yard actually resting.   For me it is a very nice place to be.  I just snapped a few pictures of what I see.  No sound or video, just a few slides.    John

I do have the outside loop running, but I prefer to go inside and at the press of a button start it all up with all the lights and sounds that are ready to go.  Outside, I like the flowers and the water garden the best.  When the mood strikes, I can open the window and hook up the outdoor transformer.  ready to go!

I know a guy who knows a guy.

Ok, I am back and I received an email from John Middleton.  You know his as the Conductor at the Trolley Museum and perhaps the host on Amtrak as well as an excellent MGRS member.  Well he has a friend who has a friend who has some G scale equipment to sell.

Please look over the pictures below. They show some description and prices for item for sale.

If you click on the pictures you can see them larger.  I do not have contact information.  If your interested email mgrsadmin@gmail.com and I will forward them to John.  Or I will post the contact info if I get it.

Seashore Trolley Museum 75th Anniversary

Today marked the 75th anniversary of the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennibunk.   A large crowd turned out for the occasion, including emissaries from the governments of Canada and Quebec.  Two members of the Maine Garden Railway Society played a major role in today's events.  John Middleton has been involved in every aspect of the Museum for many years, not least as a highly-respected conductor.  It was his pleasure and duty this afternoon to drive a newly-refurbished open seating trolley car that once ran in Montreal.  The trolley was restored with the help of many Seashore volunteers, and with the generous planning and support of Dick Rubin.  The crowd greeted this newly rededicated car with warm applause, and our friends from Canada praised the strong and enduring relationship Maine enjoys with its neighbor to the north.  Congratulations to Dick, John, and supporters of the Seashore Trolley Museum for today's exciting and memorable event.

Message from John -

This has been hard to do but I did manage to sign in as as a Guest Visitor from a computer at Maine Med.  This is John, I am trapped here with some nice people that work here.  The food is good!   You dial "room service" and order from their menu.

I am hoping to be released Tuesday.   I was admitted because I was retaining to much fluid and that condition has been remedied as I have lost 16 lbs since I first checked in.  Yikes!  That sounds scary!  So I have to wait for Monday for more tests and  hope to bargain my way back home after that. 

Hope everyones Forth was good.  Tonight real Fireworks at Hadley Field in Portland.  Me and some new buddies will be watching!   Laters, John

2014 Layout Plan

Click once to expand view

Trestle Talk Update

Terry N said...

these are called bents. the completed structure is a trestle. I have a jig to build bents 15" high. I will bring it to the July meeting.
John, you impress me. I want to be like you when I grow up.

June 20, 2014 at 9:45 PM   

John said...

Terry, Thank you, you are funny. I missed your comment and just saw it today. The update is that Ernie just contacted Carl and volunteered to build them! A big Thank you! That will be very much appreciated.

July 1, 2014 at 10:42 AM   

Free Blog Tip ~ How to see pictures better

The above picture of a trestle bent is a good example of most of the picture I post on the Blog.

If you Click once on the picture it will appear larger.  Then when you close the picture  you will go back to the regular view of the Blog.

But,  if you Right Click and chose Open in a new Tab or Window  then you go to look at it, you can usually Magnify it to its original size and get an even closer look at the details. Try it on the image of the Trestle Bent above.

( This is also useful if you ever wanted to print a particular picture on the Blog.   First open it in a separate window.  Then right click on it and select Print.)