Maine Veterans Home

Veterans Home is coming to Carl's on Monday at 1100 (weather depending). Volunteers are welcome/needed.

Volunteers Needed for Maine Maine Mall Christmas Display Loading and Setup

Please volunteer to help with the loading and setup of the 2014 Maine Mall Christmas Display.

Friday, October 31, 9 am, packing and loading at Carl's

Saturday, November 1,  8 am, Maine Mall, Door 7, unloading and setup

Sunday, November 2, 8 am, Maine Mall, setup continues

Monday, November 3, 8am, Maine Mall setup continues and ends today

Articles Welcome for Blog and Editing is Available

Articles for the blog are always welcome. If you have a rough draft that needs some editing, please send it along. I will be glad to edit it as John did in the past and send it back to you for review before posting.

Regards,
Sam
mgrsadmin@gmail.com

Eastern Maine Model Railroad Club Annual Show on November 22nd - date of Nov 24 was incorrect

The Eastern Maine Model Railroad will be holding its annual show from on Saturday, Nov 22.. The show will take place from 10 am to 3 pm at Jeff''s Catering in the East West Industrial Park, Brewer.

Here is the show flyer with information for attendees and dealers

EMMRC Nov 24th Show Flyer

If you have questions please email Geoff Anthony, Show Chair,  dahak@roadrunner.com or call 207-374-2786.

Mall Schedule is back on the Sign Up button

Hi,

The Mall Schedule is back on the Sign Up button thanks to some help from Stephen Hind of steegle.com. There are two versions for now.

1. Calendar - shows November and you click to get December. It has more shift detail
2. Spreadsheet - all on one page but less detail. The shift marker is //.

Please let me know which one you prefer with comments on the Post or email to mgrsadmin@google.com. Next week I will just have the preferred version on the blog.

Regards,
Sam

Railroading at Cumberland Fair

Some MGRS members do a little moonlighting at Cumberland Fair. This  year the Maine 3-Railers
club was back with an O-Scale display. And the 470 Railroad Club opened their Section House, Hand Car, and coal-shoveling operation.

Here are a few photos from the 3-Railers display. The kids love to watch the trains and to run Thomas the Tank Engine with his remote control.

Thomas at Cumberland Fair

The Main Line at Cumberland Fair

A Farm Along the Rails at Cumberland Fair


The 470 Railroad Club has three attraction around their "Yarmouth Junction" Section House at the Fair.

Yarmouth Junction Section House

The section house has railroad information, historical items, track safety materials, and a model train running around on a shelf near the ceiling. Member are there to explain railroading and answer questions.

The main attraction for kids is the Railroad Handcar. In the picture it is  the yellow car on the track in front of the Section House. Its on about forty feet of track. The car is moved by pumping on the pair of bars on each side of the car. They turn the large gear that drives the wheel. With three kids on each bar it can move quickly down the track. The member riding with them uses the brake pedal to stop the car at each end of the rack. The kids like this, and come back year after year. The Handcar is brought down from the North Conway Scenic Railroad for the Fair each year, loaned by George Small.

The coal-shoveling operation is a new attraction this year. To the left of the Section House is a model of a steam engine with a boiler, wheels, engineer's cab and coal tender.  In the cab there is a firebox with a red light inside the door. And there is coal in the tender. Once you explain about shoveling coal into the firebox to make the train move, the kids are ready and start shoveling. Then the coal is put back in to the tender for the next shoveler. We saw enthusiastic workers starting at about age 4, and those leaving the Handcar ride would go directly to shoveling coal.

Maine Mall Schedule Version 5 October 8 2014

Hi,

Here is another update with changes on November 19 and 25. Tomorrow I will be working with Google Support to get the schedule back on the Sign Up button.

Maine Mall Schedule Version 5 October 8 2014

Regards,

Sam

Maine Mall Staffing Schedule Version 4 October 6, 2014

Here is the October 6 update. Mike Curry and Ronnay Rubin have been added.

Maine Mall Staffing Scheduel Version 4 October 6 2014

Regards,
Sam

Maine Mall Staffing Schedule Version 3 October 4 2014

Here is the schedule the way you are used to seeing it

Maine Mall Staffing Schedule Version 3 October 4 2014

Regards,
Sam

Article about MGRS in Switch Tower Newsletter by NMRA Seacoast Division

The October 2014 issue includes an article about MGRS and our Christmas train display at the Maine Mall. In addition there are articles on several other clubs.

Switch Tower Newsletter October 2014

Regards,
Sam

Maine Mall Staffing Schedule Version 2 as of October 1 2014

Here is the Maine Mall Staffing Schedule with requests through September 30, 2014.

Maine Mall Staffing Schedule Version 2 Oct 1 2014


Available time is shown as Open in bold text.

All requests appear on the schedule. This includes duplicate requests for the same date and time.
Thanks to Bill & Robin Goodrich for helping me with this.

Mike Tarbox needs someone to work with him because he needs to eat between 11 and noon.

Please continue to use the Sign Up button on the blog to request time. And continue to send questions, comments, and suggestions to mgrsadmin@gmail.com

And I extend my thanks  to Virginia Jackson and her daughter Kim Ailing  for helping me get started with the Blog and figure our where your time requests go after you send them in.

Regards,

Sam

Here is the initial schedule for running trains at the Mall.

Main Mall Schedule Version 1 27-Sep-14

 It combines
1. Time requests entered from 7/20/14 to 9/20/
2. Mall setup dates from the July-August 2014 Iron Horse

Please note that
1. Available time is shown as Open. Right now Sunday and Tuesday are completely.
2. Rich Tarbox needs someone to work with him as he has to eat between 11am and noon.
3. Bill & Robin Goodrich requested time on 12/5 already assigned to Norm & Andy
4. Dennis & Agnes Farrell requested time from 12/5 already assigned to Art & John M>

Please continue to used the Sign Up Button on the blog to request time. I will update the schedule on the blog as as soon as I can figure it out.

Questions, comments and suggestions are welcome at mgrsadmin@gmail.com or 865-4467.

Regards,
Sam

July-August Newsletter is now online.

Vol 3 No 4 Newsletter - July-August 2014

The times, they are a changing

Sam Carr, a new member who was at the meeting in July, has stepped up and volunteered to maintain the blog. He is going to try to retrieve the info that people inputted for Mall dates. He may need us to resend the dates. Keep an eye on the site in case he requests us to send our Mall dates.
Thank you Sam for undertaking this task. A lot of us look at the blog daily. 

Group coming

Group coming Tuesday 9/23 to Carl's. Call him to go and volunteer

Board of Directors

At todays Board meeting, we affirmed that those who have not paid their 2014 dues will no longer receive the IRONHORSE. The IRONHORSE editor will include a notice in the next issue stating that it will be your last issue if you have not paid your 2014 dues.
If you are unsure if you are up to date, contact me (the Secretary) at BL2GSCALE@GMAIL.COM and I can verify your status.
Remember: we voted at the annual meeting in July to raise the dues to $15 and that dues are due in January.

Ivan's Legacy

Ivan's buildings are installed as far north as Paul Smith's layout in Lincoln, ME and as far south as my layout in Eliot, ME

Ivan Smith's track

A few of us are going to Buckfield on Friday to disassemble Ivan's track. We will be bringing the track back to Carl's house for viewing and sale. If you want some brass track, let us know. If you wish to purchase the buildings or rolling stock, let me know and I will bring them to Carl's also.

BLOG maintenance

FROM THE PRESIDENT: With John Jackson's passing, the blog will be slow to be maintained.   If someone is interested in maintaining the blog contact Carl or Terry.

Ivan's other stuff

split jaw rail clamps, both over the joiner and normal. $0.50 ea. They become available after the track gets disassembled.