Phillips Model Railroad and Hobby Show on September 30th

Here are some pictures of the G-Scale layout at the show in Phillips this past weekend. Art Shean and Jim Jenkins did a nice job with this. Several MGRS members showed up to see what was happening. Art believes we will be invited back next year

MGRS Trains in Phillips Sept 30 and Topsham Nov 4

We will have G Scale Trains running at the Model Railroad & Hobby Show in Phillips this coming Saturday, September 30th from 9am to 3pm. Phillips is the home of the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes narrow gauge railroad.

Art Shean will have his portable layout up and running at the show. Jim Jenkins will be helping him.You may have seen the layout at the Summer Outing in Buxton. The Event and SS&RL ride information is at http://www.srrl-rr.org/operating-schedule/
Location is the Phillips Area Community Center at 21 Depot Street, Phillips, Maine.

The layout will also be at the Great Falls Model Railroad Show on Saturday, November 4th at the Mt. Ararat High School Gym, 73 Eagles Way, in Topsham from 10am-3pm. If you can help set it up on Friday, 11/3 at 4pm or at the show on Saturday, please contact Sam.

Here is the plan for Phillips Show.

Christmas at the Mall with Santa

This year Santa, MGRS, and other holiday activities like Wrap for a Reason will share space where the Bon Ton store was located. Details to follow! It will be good to be back together with Santa!!!!

Here is the overall plan for the space. The layout  is about double the size of last year because it is 24' wide instead of 12'.  It may be ten trains and about 900 feet of track.

Layout Visit with Terry and Sue Norton in Eliot

On Saturday September 16th MGRS visited Terry & Sue Norton's garden railway in Eliot, Maine. They have a backyard layout with several tracks and several new features. This visit brought out quite a crowd.

Around the table: Carl & Pat Churchill, Rachel & Paul  Corbett, and Mac McLaughlin

Standing: Doug Johnson,  Tom Norton (brother)

In the Background: David Blue, Grace Miller, Terry Norton

On the Bench: Kerry Norton(Terry's sister-in-law), Sue Norton, Dennis Farrell

Standing: Doug Johnson, Tom Norton (Terry's brother)

One of the this summer's new features is the Village Campground, built in an old rock quarry. It is fully booked through mid-October.

Vacation Campground with freight rolling by

Recently Added Playground

And there are some interesting plants

Miniature Boxwood Trees

Catonia Aster with small red fruit like apples

John Middleton and Doug Johnson planning a new bridge

Courtney Goodwin has been helping Sue and Terry with their plants and with animal scenes. Here are the horses behind the barn

Horses behind the barn

A Small Rodeo

Local  movie producer Ian has been shooting video here  for the

pilot of a new Godzilla video. For now the miniature Godzilla

robot is resting on top of a building while a train rolls by.

His scenery crew has been preparing another area for the next skirmish with Godzilla.

There is also an excavation for drainage to be used in future scenes.

Watch for Maine Layouts in Garden Railway Magazine

On Friday September 9th Nancy Norris from Garden Railway Magazine came to visit Terry & Sue's Norton's garden railway in Eliot. They had it ready, including carefully trimmed trees thanks to local arborist Courtney Goodwin.

Very realistic trimmed leaves

She toured the layout in detail, photographing trains, plants, buildings and scenery. Nancy and Terry also discussed his plans for a new water feature and a granite mountain that will be in the middle of the Vacation Campground.

Where to put the Mountain?

Nancy, Sue and Terry on the Visitors Bench

After visiting Terry and Sue, Nancy was heading north to see Scott Gould's layout in Cape Elizabeth and then to visit Eric Schade in Phippsburg. So watch for Maine layouts appearing the future issues of Garden Railway Magazine!!!

Westbrook Festival of Trees and "Maine Train Lines" Update

MGRS will provide the "Maine Train Lines" layout at the Westbrook Festival of Trees again this year. Paul Corbett has done this for many years, and will again provide the Garden Railway equipment, accessories and decoration.

This year some elves will run the trains. They include Doug Johnson, Art Shean, Dennis & Agnes Farrell, Paul Schnell, David Blue, Grace Miller, and Sam Carr.

The Festival runs from December 2-9. It kicks off on Saturday for "Breakfast with Santa". During the weekday mornings all the kindergarten classes in Westbrook come to see the trees, watch the trains, and have a snack with story time. It is also open for some Festival events and to the Public during specific hours.

The trees are donated by local businesses and decorated by charitable groups. Proceeds from dontations and contributions go to local charities.  If you would like to help  with the trains please contact Sam at 865-4467

Robin and Bill's Train Garden

Here is a very nice "armchair" layout tour of Robin and Bill's Train Garden in Middleborough, Mass. It has trains for grandchildren, good scenery, and a pool beside the layout to jump into on those hot days!!

Robin and Bill's Train Garden

Terry & Sue Norton’s Layout Visit Coming Up on Sept. 16 - DATE CORRECTED

Our visit to Eliot is still scheduled for Saturday, September 16 from 1-4pm. During the visit we will also be working on the Club’s track stored in the trailer. This will include fixing clips as needed and cleaning up. This is part of using Split Jaws for all connections at the Mall and our other events. If you can help during your visit, please let Sam or Terry know.

Jim Jenkins G Scale and On30 For Sale

Jim Jenkins’s G and On30 for Sale

You can contact Jim at 207-657-9218 if you are interested in the items he has for sale.

G Scale Items

·       Bachman Passenger Train with 4-4-0 black steam locomotive #9670 with sound, tender and four dark red wood side passenger cars (two #15, two #21) including one observation car, all steel wheels, $300

·       Two Aristocraft aluminum rib side passenger cars with lights, New York Central “Edwin O. Morgan” and “Seneca Falls” $100 each

·       Two battery powered locomotives with one remote control, black 2-4-2 “Harbor Station’ 99-6001-4 saddle tank with red trim, $200

·       Lionel 5103 ATSF 4-4-4 black steam locomotive and tender with box, $150

·       Three European passenger cars tan/red “HSB” 978-407, $50 each

·       Three European passenger cars, dark green “DR” 978-407, $60 each

·       U.S. Army

o   Flat car G4944 green with two motorized WWII Sherman Tanks, $50

o   Flat Car G4947 green with two motorized WWII Half Tracks, $50

o   USAX 12113 green tank car, $40

·       Denver, Rio Grande & Western

o   Bachmann black cattle car 342, $40

o   Black flat car 53098 with three yellow generators, $75

o   Red caboose 0505 with lights wood side, steel wheels, $50

·       Colorado and Southern

o   Three dark red 7062 Bachmann cattle cars, $40 each

o   Flat car 86402 with three reels of green cable, $50

·       Bachmann boxcar Linville River #4 dark red, $40

·       Half-size Tank Cars

o   ATSF 54446 blue/yellow $40

o   Santo Chemical Co black $30

·       Bachman Hershey Chocolate Trolley brown/white runs but some parts missing, $25

On30 Items for Sale

·       Bachmann Spectrum green/black 0-4-0 Davenport switcher with side rods and DCC, new in box $100

·       Rolling stock $35 each

o   PRR old style caboose

o   PRR #125 flat car

o   Silver tank strapped on flat car

o   Colorado & Southern #1215 wooden boxcar

o   Colorado & Southern cattle car

o   Wonderland Express passenger car with interior seats

Scott & Kris Gould's Layout Visit Re-Scheduled from September 9th to June 2018

The layout visit on September 9th to Scott and Kris Gould's layout in Cape Elizabeth has been re-scheduled to Saturday, June 2nd, 2018.

Scott is adding a new line of track and replacing existing roadbeds with concrete. This work is explained in another post about Remodeling Layouts.

Aberdaron Station

Layout Visit to Doug Johnson in Gorham

On Saturday August 26th MGRS members attended a Layout Visit at Doug Johnson's home in Gorham. It was a great day to watch trains run in the garden.

Doug's Back Yard

Ben Braithwaite, John Middleton, Jen Jenkins and David Blue

Doug has two layouts in his back yard. The smaller one  has a  work train, two Eggliner loops, and lots of plants.

Small Layout Video

There is also a hunting scene on this layout.

The hunter and the Bear beside the cabin.

Mowing a Small Lawn

The larger layout has running trains and is still under construction. It has a long outer loop, a figure 8, and a water feature with a mountain, stream and pool.

Mountain, Stream and Water Feature

Scott and Doug picking a site for the G Scale Beer Garden

Freight train running behind the lumber mill and village

Railtruck running the Figure 8 Video

Freight Over the Water Feature Video

Doug's next step is to add a cog railway starting at the left front of the layout and going up the side to the top of the mountain. This requires cog strips to be mounted in the middle of the track and use of an LGB Rack Rail engine with a drive gear to climb the cogs

Cog Railway will run up the left side to the top of mountain

Large spider found on Doug's layout

Thanks to Doug and his family for hosting this layout visit. His son Daniel, Daniel's wife Ann, and Doug's granddaughter Rebecca were there and have their own garden railway at home. Thanks to Paul Corbett, David Blue, Jim Jenkins, John Middleton, Ben Braithwaite and Sam Carr for visiting.

Garden Railway Remodeling

Two of our members are remodeling their garden railway layouts this year.

Scott Gould  is re-casting his Aberdaron Railway track bed in concrete. He likes it a lot because it guarantees a level bed (barring frost heaves) that is weed-free and easily maintained.  Scott attaches the track and ballast to the concrete with silicone, which allows him to sweep or wash the track without needing to re-ballast.

Roadbed Foundation

Roadbed with foundation poured

Carl Churchill is getting ready to run part of the Overlook Garden Railway on wooden posts. He got started by removing the track loops nearest the house and re-grading both the track and pond areas.

Track Storage

Re-graded Layout Area

Action Adventure Movie Pilot Filmed in Eliot

Recently a local movie producer name Ian came to Terry and Sue Norton's garden railway in Eliot. He is re-creating the series of Godzilla monster movies which began in 1954.

The garden railway provided the backdrop for Godzilla pilot film as part of promoting the new series. The photos shown here were taken by a by a GoPro camera attached to a drone. The video will be enhanced with a sound track of TV reporters in a helicopter along with video effects of flames from Godzilla and gunfire from the soldiers

Look for the trailer and opening date for the new movie series starting in mid-2019.

North Berwick Mill Field Festival 2017

The Mill Field Festival was held on Saturday, August 19th, and MGRS was back with its second layout.

Setup on Friday, August 18

We set up on Friday. Thanks to Mike McDonald and his crew, our platform and tent top were ready to go when we arrived. So we were able to get everything ready even though there was pouring rain on and off all day. Here is what we had to start with

Layout Platform and Tent Cover with the Olde Woolen Mill in the background

Terry Norton and his friend Courtney Goodwin set up the power cables, transformers, and track connections. Jim Jenkins and Sam Carr set up two main loops on the front section of the platform

Two loops around the Village

Art Shean and Mike McDonald set up the Thomas, Percy and trolley reversing lines on the back section of the platform. Mike was willing to help and learned how to set up track. We started setup around 10am, and by 2pm all the tracks had been tested.

Thomas, Percy and Trolley Lines

There were three lines on the back section of the platform the for the kids. Thomas ran on the outer loop, and Percy had a Figure 8. In between there was a trolley line that ran from a passenger platform to a trolley barn and back.

Festival on Saturday, August 19

By Saturday morning the rain had stopped but it was still cloudy. The sky cleared off later in the morning and we had a bright, sunny, afternoon.

Terry, Art and Sam set out trains and got things running with help from two brothers that Terry and Sue know. They helped place vehicles and buildings to set the scene. 

Zach

Camden

The Festival has two parades, one for vehicles and another after that for Children. Once they finished the crowd started to gather on the Field. There was a Children's Play Area with a number of inflated "bouncy houses and a climbing wall. In addition there was an area with craft booths. Food was provided by the Boy Scouts, the American Legion, and the Fire Department. Aroma Joe's had a coffee trailer across the street in front of the new store they are building. The "Rolling Railroad" was also providing train rides as they did last year.

Rolling Railroad

Dennis Farrell and new friend Jacob the Engineer

Trains passing the North Berwick Station

Freight Yard with trains running left and right

Operating Engineers Terry, Sue, Ben, Dennis & Bill

Norman Waycott and Jim Muthig fixing a derailment

Bill and Robin Goodrich came up to visit all the way from Middleboro, Mass (close to EDAville Railroad and Thomasland!). Carl & Pat Churchill also dropped by from Buxton.

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Logging Train on the outer main line

Thomas, Percy, & the Trolley

The "show" portion of the Festival ended at 4pm, with food still available and an and open air showing of "The Secret Lives of Pets coming up at dusk.

Thomas Percy and the Trolley

We started teardown at 4pm and finished just before 5:30, thanks to an excellent crew. The helpers included to Jim Muthig, Norman Waycott, Sue Hoffman, Dennis Farrell, Ben Braithwaite, Sam Carr, Art Shean, Sue Norton, Terry Norton and Kyle Richard of North Berwick Parks & Recreation.

Thanks to Art Shean for providing the Thomas area buildings and figure 8 track. Thanks to Terry & Sue Norton for providing the buildings and decoration for the Town & Country area.

And we have been invited back for 2018!

Thanks to Sue Norton for providing some of these photos.