MGRS at Mill Field Festival on August 18th

MGRS made its 4th annual visit to the Mill Field Festival in North Berwick on August 18. layout was on a 16'x32' plywood floor under a tent top. Thanks to Mike McDonald (our newest club member) and his crew for getting it ready on Thursday.

Setup started on Friday 8/17 with the arrival of the trailer. We laid the green carpet over the plywood and began setting up tracks. There were two main loops along with a 3rd in "North Berwick Center" and the Thomas & Percy Loops in the far end. Tracks were tested and some buildings put out for final placement on Saturday morning. The setup crew included Terry & Sue Norton, Dennis Farrell, Jim Jenkins, Mike McDonald, Ben Braithwaite and Sam Carr.

On Saturday we started with a good breakfast at the North Berwick Fire Department. Then it was time to lay down roads, place buildings, and make up trains.


Mike Tarbox and Brennan Long laying roads

Making Up Trains

 

The Mill Field Festival Parade took place while final setup was being done on the layout.  Peter Richards brought his Parade Trailer with G Scale Trains running as it rolled along

 



Side View of Parade Trailer



Peter Richards and Parade Trailer

 



 

 

Monster Truck in Parade

Camp Meeting Trailer in Parade

 

 

Once the parade was over it time for fun, food and trains. WE had lots of visitors, and the folding chairs beside the layout had a lot

of use. Terry set up two places for visitors to run trains from transformers, and there were buttons to run Thomas and Percy.

 

 

Layout under the Tent

 

 



Terry with a young Engineer



 

Mike and Brennan during a short break in Engineer Training

 

Law Enforcement Engineer

Sparky the Engineer

 

Pirate Engineer

 

Parrot holding Terry

 

More Pirates making Balloon Animals

 

C3PO signing autographs

 

Five Eggliners running

 

Grizzly Flats Tourist Train

 

We had a large crew for both running trains and moving out. They included Brennan Long, Mike Tarbox, Terry Norton, Sue Norton, Dennis Farrell, Jim Jenkins, and Sam Carr along with Louisa Power (Brennan's Mom) and Laura Power (Brennan's Grandmother)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

September Open House - correct date is September 14th

Doug Johnson invites MGRS Members and Families to a G Scale Open House at his home, 8 Lawn Ave, Gorham, ME 04038 on Saturday, September 14th.

 

The hours are 1-4:30pm.

 

Please bring a pie to share in the Pie Contest.

 

And please bring your flatcars for the flatcar distance run

 

Doug's large layout has a mountain, waterfall, town, and lumber mill. He has been working on a feeder track into his garage. He also has a small layout with a dogbone, side track and two tight loops.

 

 

 

Mountain and Waterfall

Town and Eggliners

 

 Water Feature

Small Layout Left Side

Small Layout Right Side

Flying Yankee

Ray Parent is selling his one-of-a-kind Flying Yankee. He has over $3500 invested.
Do we have anyone interested?

Test ofor Email of New Posts to Terry and Sam

Test post

Ben Braithwaite Open House

 

 

 

Ben held his open house on Saturday, July 27 with the help of his family, friends, and the management of the Princeton Pines Apartment Community on Forest Avenue in Portland.

MGRS visitors included Terry & Sue Norton, Dennis & Agnes Farrell, Ben & Sophia Braithwaite along with Ben's grandson Josi, Pat & Carl Churchill, Paul & Rachel Corbett, Peter Richards Mark Christopher and Sam Carr.

Setup started at 8am with a G Scale layout and a special visit from the Richards Family Parade Trailer. The layout had loops running diesel, steam, Eggliners and trolley reversing line. Trains started running around 9:30.

There was food for everyone include cold drinks for a hot day, and muffins for early arrivals. Lunch started around noon with hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken from the grill. Sophia was cooking special dishes during and after lunch. Princeton Pines management  provided cold sandwiches, drinks and dessert for all along with toys and games for the kids.

More residents came out for lunch and stayed during the afternoon.
Terry trained a series of young engineers how to operate the trains while others made a game of putting wood chips into a gondola during stops until we shut down at 4pm.

Trolley and Freight Lines on the Layout

Steam, Eggliners and Thomas/Percy Lashup

 

 



The parade trailer has three tracks with two tunnels and an elevated line. It ran on a small generator but uses battery power during a parade



Elevated Lined with Working Fountain



 

Mainline Passenger Train and Freight Line

Farmhouse by Amish Carpenter

Ben's neighbor Bill Chabot shot an aerial video of the event using his camera drone. Click on the link below to view the video.

Aerial Video of Ben's Open House


Thanks to the Churchills and Nortons for bringing tables, and to Norman Waycott for his tent top for shade on a warm day.

The next MGRS layout and parade trailer appearance will be at the Mill Field Festival in North Berwick on Saturday, August 16th

 

 

 





 

 

More pics from Annual Meeting

Received some more pictures from meeting

G Scale Operating Display in the Moxie Festival 2019 Parade

The 2019 Moxie Festival took place in Lisbon Falls, Maine on July 12, 13, nd 14. The parade on Saturday morning is one of the most popular events.

This year Peter, Diane, and Paul Richards brought their family's G Scale Train Display to the parade. Battery operated locomotives run on several tracks, and there are both a farm and a working fountain.

Here are some pictures from the parade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MGRS 2019 Annual Meeting

The July annual meeting was one of the best. The venue was moved to the shaded area near the treeline and it was cooled by a mild breeze.
Dave Blue cooked hamburgers and hotdogs and the table next to him was covered with salads, beans, desserts and other foods.
The auction moved swiftly and the meeting at the end closed the event.
The entire Board of Directors was re-elected.

Setup for MGRS Annual Outing/Meeting Changed from Friday to Thursday at 9am

Setup for the Annual Outing has been changed to Thursday 7/11 at 9am due to the weather forecast for  Friday.  Any help  would be appreciated.

MGRS Trains at The Mill Field Festival on Saturday, August 17

MGRS will make its 4^th appearance at the Mill Field Festival in North Berwick on Saturday August 17. The 34’ long x 16’ wide layout will be on a platform under a tent top.

Setup starts at 8am on Friday, August 16. On Saturday trains will run from 10am-4pm with buttons to press and chances for kids to be a train engineer. The festival takes place at 14 Market St, North Berwick, ME 03906. Please stop by for all day trains, fun and food. The Richards Family Trailer with its operating G-Scale Display will again be in the morning parade.

 

Open House by Ben Braithwaite in Portland on July 27th from 10am-6pm

Ben Braithwaite is holding an Open House at the Princeton Pines, 1375 Forest Avenue in Portland on Saturday July 27th. MGRS Members, families and Princeton Pines residents are invited. The management of Princeton Pines is helping to sponsor this event.

Garden trains will be running on a small G-Scale layout and on the Richard's Family Parade Trailer. The hours are 10am-6 pm.  Please bring a potluck dish to share. If you can help set up the layout, please come at 8am.





Princeton Pines Outing Poster

 

 




Richards Family Parade Trailer



 

Volunteers Wanted

Gorham House will be at Carl's layout on Tuesday 7/2 at 11:00.
Looking for some volunteers to help.

Reminder for MGRS Annual Outing and Meeting on Saturday, July 13th

MGRS members and families are cordially invited to  attend Annual Outing and Meeting on Saturday, July 13th. We will meet as usual at the Overlook Garden Railway at 82 Carll Road in Buxton. The event will run from 10am until about 4pm when the charity auction ends.

Please stop by to find old and new friends, help run garden trains, have lunch, vote for club officers, and bid on items in our charity auction.

Please bring dishes to share for lunch, and items to donate for the Charity Auction.

Catching Up

Maybe a driving lesson??

Cooking Lunch Outdoors

Trains on Carl's new raised layout

Settling Up After the Charity Auction