REMINDER TO MEMBERS

ANNUAL SPRING MEETING
MARCH 21ST AT 1:00 pm
HOMETOWN BUFFET
MAINE MALL IN SOUTH PORTLAND

Garden Railway at the Flower Show - worth the trip! - Updated with pictures, admission and parking information

Yesterday I went to help Rich Young with his garden railway and plant display at the Portland Flower Show. Its definitely worth is visit.

The layout is a single track, dog bone pattern about the size of the Mall layout. Paul Corbett provided buildings and vehicles. The train runs around a full-size patio with furniture, a grill, and an working hot tub. The layout is built at the ground level like the "Thomas" area at the Mall, so the kids love it.

Paul and Rachael Corbett were taking pictures, and Richard introduced me to Dennis Smith, Ivan's son, who also has an exhibit at the Flower Show.

The Flower Show is at the Portland Company at 58 Fore Street in Portland. It is open today and Saturday from 10-7 and from 10-5 on Sunday. Details can be found at www.portlandcompany.com/flower, at "Portland-Flower-Show" on Facebook, or by calling 207-775-4403.

Daily admission is $15 per person

Parking at the Portland Company is $25 per day. You can park at 

garages along Commercial Street and take the free shuttle bus to and from the Flower Show. Garages and businesses with stops have signs on The Commercial St.

Video Links

Amtrak DownEaster southbound over the bridge

Amtrak DownEaster in South Village

Amtrak DownEaster northbound over the bridge

Time Lapse video of Flower Show setup. The high camera shots show the garden railway. You can see it below the "4E" sign.

Press Herald Time Lapse video

The Portland Flower Show opens this evening and runs through Sunday at the Portland Company Complex.

Here is some initial press from the Press Herald.

http://www.pressherald.com/2015/03/04/portland-flower-show-ready-bloom/

Portland Flower Show

Hello,

Once again, I have signed up tp have a display at the Portland Flower Show, which runs from Wednesday March 4th through the 8th.  The PFF will take place at the  Portland Company Complex, located on the waterfront in Portland.

http://portlandcompany.com/flower/

I am wondering if any of you would like to come out and run trains, speak with the general public about garden railroading and just be your normal jovial self!!
You are more than welcome to run your own trains.  I will be using 10' diameter track from USA Trains, so plan accordingly.  Track power will be provided by the Bridgewerks Mag 15 power supplies.  I plan on having at least 2 if not 3 separate tracks.

If you are interested in running trains next weekend, shoot me an email richyoung2@gmail.com or you can call me at 207-807-8727

Thanks and see you trackside!

Rich

Dashing Through The Snow, courtesy of Gigi & Amy Jackson

Spring Meeting

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:
MGRS Spring Meeting MARCH 21, 2015
Hometown Buffet at the Maine Mall
Saturday at 1 O'clock.

Mini Garden Railway from Paul Smith

Here are some photos and a video of Paul Smith's Mini-Garden Railway

Paul said , "Brenda and I are at our winter residence in Ft Myers, FL and we have very limited opportunity to have a garden. Since Brenda is an avid gardener, she got first dibs on the space we are allowed in our park, so we planted a nice little palm tree and some native scrubs in that space. I was longing for some way to have a model railroad and indoor space was also at a premium, so I came up with this idea for a garden railway in a plant pot. The plant pot is 21" in diameter and the train is N scale built with Kato Unitrack with a 8.5" radius. I found several species of succulents at the local Lowes as well as several small asparagus ferns and a spike moss to put on the summit of the "mountain" scene break which is made from two Tennessee fieldstone pieces. Here are some photos of the end result"

Blog inputs

We all have the ability to post to this blog. Please share with the rest of us your pictures and stories.

Maine Mall 12/20/14

Last night I had a terrific time at the mall.  Mike and I ran a double header for part of the time which the people liked and asked questions about. I made another video, be sure to watch it in high definition to see the true quality. The camera hits a few times, but it was just a bump, and no trains were harmed during filming.

Thanks for watching,
Jake

Ivan at the Mall

Finally brought the car to the mall. It ran GREAT (probably because it had Ivan's name on it.

Mall 12/6/14

Hello all, this is a video I made last night while running the trains.

Hope you enjoyed,
Jake

Happy Thanksgiving

The Maine Mall was quiet Thanksgiving Eve because of the early snowstorm.  But that didn't stop some intrepid kids from visiting.  Pictured below are two lads from South Asia and two from Pownal, Maine.  The Mainers are Mason and Parker Hall, whose father worked as an engineer for many years with Gilford and with Amtrak.  Mason and Parker have a Lionel set around their Christmas tree, and they helped get the old Marx train running around our tree.

If you haven't signed up yet to run the trains at the Mall, you should plan to do so.  You will meet lots of appreciative visitors, and you will be able to feel the spirit of John Jackson, who planned so many of our Holiday displays.

An AmtrakTrain did go to Rockland

Yesterday Gordon and Lynne Konrath visited the layout. They told me about the Amtrak train that went to Rockland last week and showed me the pictures on their phone. They have a G-scale layout and took a membership application.

Here is the newspaper story from the Boothbay Register

Did you see Amtrak in Wiscasset

And another story from the Bangor Daily News

Amtrak Train Makes Stop in Rockland

Thomas the Tank Engine Raffle and National Model Railroad Month

The raffle for Thomas the  Tank Engine has started. The forms and entry box are at our layout.

November is National Model Railroad month  NMRA National Model Railroad Month page

We  have some information at the layout that visitors can pick up including

• MGRS Membership Applications and "business" cards with the location of our blog.

• Model Railroad Show List - upcoming local and regional shows  Model Railroad Shows

• 2014 Holiday Train Rides and Events - this includes Paul Corbett's G-Scale layout at thne Westbrook Festival of Trees and the G-Scale layout at the Bootbay Railway Museum during their holiday events.  Holiday Train Rides and Events

• Scenic Railroads, Railroad Clubs and Musems - Everything but Model Ralilroad Clubs, which will be a separate list Scenic Railroads, Railroad Clubs and Museums

• Sample copies of newsletters from MGRS,Maine 3Railers, 470  Railroad Club, Great Falls Model Railroad Club, New England Chapter of the Train Collectors Association Seacoast Division of the NMRA, and Cirus-related items including Circus Modelers, Little Circus Wagon and Little Red Wagon.

Yesterday there was a lady visiting the layout with her son. They were over by the Sawmill.

She saw John's picture and said that he had been very kind to her son.

Mall Videos from Wednesday, 11/17

Some different engines and rolling stock are on the layout now. The original Amtrak has been replaced by Engine 204, which has the darker trim like the DownEaster. And freight is now the New York Central. A second Thomas the Tank Engine is on the trestle. Dennis Farrell mad a Bon-Ton car since we are outside their store, and its running on the high bridge with Engine 14.

Amtrak Engine 204 and New York Central Freight

Thomas on the Trestle

Bon Ton Car on the High Bridge

Circus Panorama One

Circus Panorama Two

Circus Panorama Three

We Really Need Help at the Mall - updated 11/19 AM

We are into the third week of operating our layout at The Maine Mall.  Unfortunately at this late date there are too many empty slots to be filled to host and operate the display.  That fact has caused several of us to have to work many extra shifts to cover the holes in the schedule.  This is grossly unfair to those of us who signed up and have to serve those many extra hours.  It is also indicative of the lack of support for the Society by those who could physically (considering location and health) to come in to host but choose not to.

I urge those members who haven’t as yet signed up who can to IMMEDIATELY go to the Blog site or call Carl at 929-3655 and sign up for one or more times that are available.  You will feel better about it and so will we who won’t have to put in extra hours.

Thank you for your participation and club spirit.

Carl Churchill, President

Art Handman, Vice-President

P.S. Mac and Carl are at the Mall almost every day to check on the layout and fix problems with track and engines. So they may not be on the schedule much, but they are making sure we are up and running. They were changing engines when I stopped by yesterday, and Carl came in on Sunday to provide some backup.

Sam 

Video of the Mall Display from Monday 11/17

Here are some short videos of the Mall Display.

Amtrak

Amtrak around the Circus

Thomas and Percy in the Living Room

Steaming Through the Village

Amtrak and Steam at North Conway Station

Amtrak Around the Circus

Steam Around the Circus

Circus Train and Practice Areas

Circus Parade

Engine 14 on the High Bridge

Trolley on the Trestle

A Walk Around the Layout

26 minute video of Rotary Snow Plow Operations in the western Rockies in March 2011, thanks to  Tiny and Judy Lee

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365218614/

Mall Schedule Change as of Wednesday, November 12

As of Wednesday, November 12 our operating schedule at the Mall will be

Noon to 8pm, Monday thrhough Saturday with shifts from Noon to 4pm and 4pm to 8pm

All the times on the sign up calendar will be changed to match the new shifts.

Pictures from Operations on Thursday, November 7

Amtrak and Trolley

Amtrak leaving North Conway Station

Amtrak at Village Shops

Amtrak passing Gorham Station

Engine 14 at the Fire Tower

Engine 14 at the Log Cabin

Circus Train

Circus Parade One

Circus Parade Two

CMP Crew Fixing a Light Tower

Thomas and Percy