New Vacation Campground in Southern Maine

Terry & Sue  Norton's latest development is a Garden Railway Campground for mobile trailers on their layout in Eliot. It all started with a trip to California and visit to Upland Trains where they found some very nice camping trailers. The web site is http://www.uplandtrains.com

Campground Overview

Trailer Sites in old Quarry near the railroad line

BAR Locomotive rolls by the Clubhouse

Clubhouse and Picnic Area

On the way to the Boat Ramp and Marina

Terry also set up some new businesses to service the
Campground Trade. They were purchased from the
builder who was from Massachusetts.

Woodman's of Essex

This is an excellent model of a well-known seafood place
in Essex, MA. You can see them on the web at http://www.woodmans.com/restaurants/

In addition to dining Terry also brought in a large stable so
the tourists can experience horseback riding from the Old
West right there in Eliot, Maine.

Warner Stables

The real building is also in Essex, MA. The roof on

the left side of barn lifts off, revealing horses in stables

and other details.

Essex Station

The station also has a roof that lifts of to show the ticket
counter and waiting room.

And for those who want a comfortable room instead of
a trailer, they can check in at the Bates Motel
Office.

Bates Motel Office

Norman Bates and Mom Norma wait for guests to arrive

Campground Manager "Pancake"

The Campground is full through Columbus Day because

visitors have been telling their friends about it. The

location is quiet and offers hookups for power, hot &

cold water, and cable TV along with wireless internet.

The Clubhouse offers laundry and vending machines 

along with tourist information.

Layout Visit to the A&J Railroad in Gray

Today we visited the A & J Railroad at the home of Jim and Ann Jenkins in Gray. Jim has been building it since they moved here from Bath about three years ago.

Logo in the front yard

There is a village at the front of the layout. It is served by a trolley line.  The coal car storage yard is behind the village, and the coal mine is at the left.

Layout View from the Front

Here is a picture showing the coal mine tower and loading facility.

Behind them is the wood-covered "tunnel" where Jim stores his rolling stock. Standing behind it are Terry Norton, David Blue, and Sue Norton. A young man named Ben is standing on the right at the transformer control panel. He is David's grandson. Ben got a chance to run the engines, learn how to reverse them, and try out a back and forth line with a Rail Diesel Car (RDC).

Coal Mine Loading Facility and Tower

Coal Storage yard

Jim had some buildings available, so folks went to check them out. These went home with Grace Miller.

Terry & Sue Norton, Grace Miller, Jim Jenkins

We had some rain during the visit.  The garage was a good place to hang out and stay dry. And that is one of Jim's airplanes above Paul's head.

Rachael & Paul Corbett, Grace Miller

Rail Diesel Car and Steam Locomotive with Mixed Train

Freight coming out of the tunnel

Jim Jenkins, Doug Johnson, Terry Norton, & Ben Braithwaite

Here are some videos of trains running on Jim's layout.

Steam Around the Lumber Yard

Climbing Through the Village

Coal Train

RDC and Coal Train

Thanks to Jim Jenkins for hosting this layout visit. And thanks to the members who attended: Paul & Rachel Corbett, Doug Johnson, Terry & Sue Norton, David Blue, Grace Miller, Ben Braithwaite, and Sam Carr

MGRS Train Display Sept 30th at SR&RL RR in Phillips

Art Shean is taking his mobile layout to the model rail and hobby show in Phillips, Maine on September 30^th. It runs from 9am-3pm and is jointly sponsored by the Phillips Area Community Center and the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad. He will be running G-Scale SR&RL trains. Narrow gauge trains will be running all day, with a special run for vendors after show take down.

Art invites members to help with and visit this event. He can be reached at (207)-373-1608 or via email at agshean@comcast.net. 

Inn at the Village to visit Buxton at 11am on Friday July 28

A group from the Inn at the Village will be visiting the Overlook Garden Railway in Buxton this coming Friday, July 28th, at 11AM.

We need 2 or 3 volunteers to help with this group. Please call Carl at 712-7218 if you can help.

MGRS Annual Outing in Buxton

On Saturday July 15th the club held its Outing, Annual Meeting and Picnic at the Overlook Garden Railway in Buxton. The weather started off cloudy, but cleared off later with only one brief shower.

It all starts at Check-In, where you can pay your dues, get a ballot for the Annual Meeting, a Door Prize Ticket, and Raffles Tickets for the Railroad Quilt and 50/50 Raffle. And everyone received a set of directions to this summer's Layout Visits.

Terry Norton and Scott Gould with the Railroad Quilt

And the new trailer was open to visitors

Terry (with coffee), Ernie, Walter and Hunk

Then folks moved on to coffee and visiting with friends

Jerry & Judy Booth, Doug Johnson & Carl with Hunk and Terry at the tables

There was a combined train and circus display courtesy of Art Shean and Norman Waycott.

Frank Howard, Mary Garland ,  Art & Dahlia Handman, and Philip Lentz

Frank Howard running his Volkswagen Bus

Norman setting up the Sideshow

Lunch was hamburgers, hot dogs, and potluck dishes brought by the members. David Blue was our grill Master  He did spend a summer cooking for a railroad crew. Thanks to Carl & Pat Churchill for installing a new grill during the week before the Outing.

Scott Gould, Grace Miller, Ernie Bay, David Blue, Mike & Julie Curry

David Blue, Ernie Bay, Bill Goodrich, Scott Gould, and Joe Connolly

After lunch (and a little dessert), we moved on the to Annual Meeting. The election results were

President: Carl Churchill

Vice President: Art Handman

Treasurer: Dennis Farrell

Secretary: Terry Norton

Board Members: Ben Braithwaite, Hunk Erskine, Frank Howard, Mac McLaughlin and Norman Waycott.

The club offered thanks to Carl & Pat Churchill for holding the outing again at their home. And to Frank Howard for calling all the members to invite them to the Outing.

Then we moved on to the long-awaited auction. Mary Garland cheerfully issued numbers to each bidder.

Mary Garland, Frank Howard, Mike Curry, Paul Corbett & Jeff Jacobs

The auctioneers were from the slightly famous firm of Braithwaite, Howard and Norton.

Ben calling the bids with Frank & Terry holding the quilt

A relaxed auction crowd

Terry and Ben working the crowd

During the auction Ben discovered that the bidding team of  Walter Fossett and Scott Gould would bid a dollar on almost anything. So he started calling them "Dollar Store". They bid on and won a number of items. Scott also won one of the raffles, and gave the G-scale car he won to be auctioned.

Scott and Walter were using the electric Cushman cart. So here they are at the end of the auction, leaving with all their winnings.
Gigi Jackson donated a pair of railroad suspenders to the auction. They were won by Hunk Erskine, who always wears suspenders.

"Dollar Store" after the auction

At the end of the auction Frank Howard was presented with a special "Frank's" T-Shirt. It is from the Moxie Festival, and 

will help us remember his name. The shirt is from the new Frank's Restaurant in Lisbon Falls. It just opened at old Moxie Store location at the intersection of Routes 196 and 9 in the center of Lisbon Falls.

Scott Gould, Frank Howard

The outing wrapped up around 4 pm. Thanks to the many members who stayed to put away furniture and clean up.

Run Your Trains at the Outing on Saturday

You can run your trains at the Outing on Saturday. There will be an 8' wide x 16' long layout table with two loops to run on..

Greenberg Show Dates in Massachusetts

Future dates for the Greenberg's Great Train and Toy Show in Massachusetts are

Wilmington      Nov 18-19, 2017

Hanover           Jan 6-7, 2018

Wilmington     Mar 17-18, 2018

For details please visit Greenberg 2017-2017 Train and Toy Show Schedule

Model Trains at the Moxie Festival

On July 8 we had a chance to run G, O and Z Scale trains at the Moxie Festival in Lisbon Falls.

The main layout was on an 8’wide x 12’ long modular table built by Art Shean. It uses folding sawhorses, 2 x 4’s and plywood sections that lock together. It goes up and down in about 15 minutes. This table held the G and O scale trains.

Modular Table

The other layout was Z Scale by Ron Czaja of the Great Falls Model Railroad Club. He brought an operating “layout in a case”, and displayed a variety of engines, rolling stock, and accessories. Also included were a scale comparison of HO, N, and Z locomotives along with a Maine Rail Group map of railroad routes. Many of the visitors asked about the tiny trains and even tinier accessories.

G Scale from the Maine Garden Railway Society included a freight train loop and a trolley on a reversing line.

Engines: Boston and Maine A-B units with caboose and Santa Fe A-B units from Jim Jenkins along with SRR&RL and another steam locomotive from Art Shean.

Trolley Cars: Bachmann open trolley from Art Shean and LGB from Sam Carr

Rolling Stock with a Beverage Theme:

      Moxie Boxcar (Terry Norton) and Moxie Trailer on a Flat Car (Jim Jenkins)

·       Poland Springs, Coca-Cola, and RC Cola (Sam Carr) and Pepsi-Cola (Terry Norton)

O-Scale from the Maine 3Railers

Engines:

·       Sodor and Diesel from Thomas the Tank Engine

·       Lionel Coca-Cola locomotive – old enough so that there is a “forward/reverse” switch on the engine

·       Lionel “Lionchief Plus” Mikado & Challenger steam engines

·       Polar Express “Lionchief” steam engines.

All except the Coca-Cola locomotive have wireless remote controls for the kids to use. Jeff Jacobs brought the “Lionchief Plus” engines which were just delivered to the club. The “Lionchief Plus” system has a remote control that allows you to operate up to three engines.

Rolling Stock with a Beverage or New England Theme

·       Moxie, Fanta, Tab and Sprite boxcars along with a Coca-Cola caboose.

·       Maine Central, Bangor & Aroostook, Maine Blueberries, and Providence & Worcester boxcars along with a Maine Potatoes gondola.

      Special thanks to Doug Pollock for supporting the patriotic theme with the American Flag and Wreaths Across America display.

Moxie Festival Visitors

The train layout was located inside the MTM Recreation Center on School Street. Vendors were in the field behind the Center, including the Roving Railroad

Roving Railroad - not at the Moxie Festival.....

Visitors began arriving before the official 9 am opening. It was quieter during the Moxie Festival Parade, which runs from about 10 am to Noon.

Just before noon visitors began to pour in.  It was a lot like a weekend day at Cumberland Fair or the Maine Mall. And the Festival has a shuttle bus that brings people from parking at the High School to the downtown area and then to the MTM Center. We knew when each bus arrived!!

The kids had fun running the remote-controlled trains and watching the trolley to go into and come out of the barn. Many of the visitors live in the local area, and wanted the flyers for Great Falls events and Cumberland Fair. Things began to quiet down after 3 pm. At 3:30 a member of the Moxie Festival Committee drew the raffle winners for the Maine 3Railers O-scale  Moxie Boxcar and the Charles Ro G-Scale Moxie Trailer on a Flatcar

The Festival had a concert behind the Center on Saturday evening, and wraps up with a Car Show at the High School on Sunday.

Publicity

We had great support from the Moxie Festival folks both before and during the event.

Here is the entry from their web site.

The train display was also included the tabloid flyer for visitors. It was an advertising supplement in the Lewiston Sun-Journal on Thursday, July 6^th.

MGRS Trailer Update - Ready for Prime Time at the Outing on July 15th!

The trailer will be appearing at the Annual Outing in Buxton on July 15th. In addition to the large decals on the outside, the interior has new shelving that holds our Garden Railway equipment. Terry planned this project, and Sam helped him set it up. Terry is getting more bungie cords to secure the equipment. At the Outing  we will pick up the additional totes still at Carl's. Then some of the boxes can go into them for easier handling.

Next Stop Mill Field Festival in North Berwick on August 19th!!!

Shelf Test Fit Before Unloaind

Shelves Installed and Attached to the Walls

Trailer Reloaded

MGRS Operating Display at the Mill Field Festival in North Berwick on August 19

In addition to layout visits during the summer, MGRS is returning again to the Mill Field Festival in North Berwick on Saturday, August 19th. This is another chance for members to get together and have fun with other members and Festival visitors!!

The 16' x 32' outdoor layout will have a town and country railroad along with Thomas, Percy, and a trolley line. Many other fun activities and lots of food. Mill Field is located at the intersection of Main St and Market St. For GPS please use the Fire Department, 14 Market St., North Berwick, ME 03906. Here is a link to the flyer

 Mill Field Festival Flyer

Here are pictures from last year's event

Four Layouts to Visit This Summer

Members and families are invited to visit four layouts this summer. This is a chance to talk to other members, run some trains and learn more about “motion in the garden”. Visits will run from 1-4 pm.

     August 5, Jim & Ann Jenkins, 11 Adler Drive, Gray, ME 04039.  Please bring trains to run, and a chair if you want to.

A & J Railroad

August 26, Doug Johnson, 8 Lawn Ave, Gorham, ME 04038, 207-839-2046. Doug is building a second layout with a pond, waterfall, and cog railway.

Doug Johnson's New Layout

    September 9, Scott & Kris Gould, 25 Hunts Point Road, Cape Elizabeth, ME 04107, 207-799-9799

Aberdarion Station

·      September 16, Terry & Sue Norton, 1957 State Road, Eliot, ME  03093, 207-748-3009. Terry and Sue are adding buildings and Moxie rolling stock.

Moxie at Cash Corner

You are invited to the MGRS 16th Annual Open House and Business Meeting on Saturday, July 15th

MGRS members and families are invited to our largest get together of the year on July 15 from 10am to 4pm at Carl & Pat Churchill’s at 82 Carll Road in Buxton. Come to visit your friends and meet new ones

The club will provide hot dogs, hamburgers, drinks, ice, plates and utensils Please bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to share. Dennis Farrell will be our grill master.

The fun begins at 10am when you get your tickets for the door prize, 50/50 raffle and the 2^nd Railroad Quilt Auction (thanks to Sue Hoffman!). Lunch will be at Noon with the Annual Meeting at 1pm. The quilt drawing and charity auction will follow at 2pm.

Please bring items for the auction. And if you can, please volunteer to help with setup on Friday July 14 at 9am by contacting Sam Carr at 865-4467. The setup committee includes Frank Howard, Mary Garland, David Blue, Grace Miller, Sue Hoffman, Sam Carr, and Ben Braithwaite

MGRS Mobile Advertising

Here is a picture of Terry's truck. He is having fun advertising for MGRS with magnetic signs on his truck. Folks have talked to him about it and mentioned the Holiday Train Display.

For Sale - American Flyer 4730A Nickel Plate Switcher Train Set

This complete set includes the engine, cars, track, transformer and a number of original boxes. Run only at Christmas for about 10 years. List and description available. Price $350. Cash. Call 929-6335 evenings

Thanks for MGRS Participation in STRIVE Rocks

MGRS participated in Strive Rocks this past March and made a donation to the program. Strive serves tweens, teens and young adults with intellectual & emotional disabilities. For more information or to donate please visit https://www.pslstrive.org/

The STRIVE program of PSL Services is designed to address the many issues faced by tweens, teens, and young adults (ages 11-24) with developmental disabilities. Areas that we focus on include: improving fundamental academic skills, developing leadership potential, improving economic opportunities through continuing education, enhancing or upgrading work skills, integrating literary and social skills into occupational/vocational opportunities, fostering career opportunities through education and training, and promoting peer support for parents and siblings of this young population.

We received two notes of thanks.

Dear Maine Garden Railroad Society,
Thanks for your time and model building talents at STRIVE Rocks 2017!. Thanks to your help we raised over 86K during the weekend, enough to fund our next 12 months of programming for young adults with disabilities.
-STRIVE-

Dear Maine Garden Railway Society,
STRIVE would like to thank you for your donation of $500 toward ours programs. We have earmarked it as a STRIVE Rocks 2018 sponsorship and will be sure to include the MGRS logo on all event materials. In the meantime, rest assured that the dollars are being used for a great casue - on field trips, class materials to help students learn or succeed at wor, and morE1

Thank you,
STRIVE Rocks & STRIVE
Eben, Nick, Ryan, Pete, Stefanie, Chadd, Michaila, Betsy M.

Military Model Train Video from Togus

This video was taken at the Togus VA Medical Center in May 2017. Click on the link to see the video.


Military Model Train

The Challenger locomotive is pulling WWII vehicles including a canvas-topped Truck, Sherman Tanks, a Half-Track, Jeeps, and a variety of military rolling stock

G-Scale Trains at the Moxie Festival on July 8 in Lisbon Falls

There will be G-Scale trains at the Moxie Festival in Lisbon Falls on July 8.  The indoor space is 10' x 20' so the layout will be about 8' x 14' to allow space to walk around on 3 sides.  It will also be simple because the setup time is 6:30 to 8 am with operation from 8 am to 4 pm. Information about the Moxie Festival on July 7-8-9 can be found at http://moxiefestival.com/  The Moxie Congress will visit and hold their annual business meeting at  Seashore Trolley Musuem on Sunday, July 9. For details please visit https://trolleymuseum.org/event/moxie-day-seashore-trolley-museum/

The idea is to run rolling stock related to Moxie and other beverages. The likely trains are

G-Scale RC Cola Train with Moxie "Trailer on a Flat Car", Coca-Cola and Poland Springs water cars.

G-Scale Trolley on back and forth line

O-Scale Coca-Cola Train with Coke engine/caboose, Tab, Fanta, Sprite and Moxie cars

Here is the trial layout. Anyone interested in joining the fun can contact Sam at 865-4467.

Winterization Project on the Bagley Mountain Railroad -** Nursery Info added on 6/6/17**

Paul Smith sent in this information about protecting the live trees on his layout. His notes and photos speak for themselves.

The plants came from Iseli Nursery, http://www.iselinursery.com/  A local nursery special ordered the plant from them

Last year (fall of 2015) I put a burlap “shield” on the northwest side of my Jeans Dilly trees to protect them from the prevailing winter winds. That didn’t seem to help as I had those brown limbs on the trees the following spring. This photo was taken October 2015.

October 2015 Barrier

Last winter, I came home from Florida in the spring and inspected my plantings in the railway to see how they did. It was a low snow year, so there wasn’t much shelter from the winter weather. My south facing hillside which my tunnel runs through is covered with Jeans Dilly tress with a couple Pixie Dust interspersed. I found that I had some browning of the Jeans Dilly trees, but the Pixie Dust trees did fine. I didn’t know if it was the lack of snow that contributed to the dead limbs or sun exposure as the sun reflected off the low volume of snow and then hit the trees. So, last fall I set up a burlap “screen” on the south side of that hill to shield the trees from direct exposure to the sun. Of course we also had a much larger amount of snow this past winter. However, upon my arrival back home a couple weeks ago, I found all of those trees in good shape. Here is a photo of the shield that I made using a metal frame with burlap attached to it using clothespins.

 

Winter 2016 Barrier