Greetings to MGRS Members - Doug Johnson invites you to communicate about your G Scale hobby activities

Greetings to the Members of the Maine Garden Railway Society. 

How many of you have trains running and plants growing? 

Let/s talk ,,,communicate with each other. What have you done, what is new, what problems have you solved? or not?

Flat Car with Lumber Loads

I think that my layout is about done. No more expansion.  Sawmill is in, I have a dust house,

The planing mill has been partially enclosed.  The name of the lumber operation is *Twin Falls Lumber, Ltd.  My granddaughter helped with the design of the logo.  I don’t have a pipe to the dust collector yet.

Saw Mill and Dust Shed

The idea of making a tunnel out of hardware cloth to have a tunnel made by flowers seems to be working. The taller plants took a beating from the rains last week, But we will keep trying.    The small garden can get really colorful.

Hardware Cloth Tunnel

Photo of egg liners

I have more equipment than I need and want to sort out some steam engines and have them all with sound. 

 I like the Heisler, but I found that geared engines with drive shafts have become a pain.  So my Heisler, (Bachmann) goes,

For the saw mill I have looked at the USA trains Camelback with sound.  Does anyone have experience with their products? This one has the Maine Central logo.

USA Trains Camelback Maine Central

Remote Control Systems

I am disgusted with the Revolution .  Does anyone have any knowledge of Piko’s new system. It sounds like the old Aristo track power controller.  I am not into DCC.  But I want something I can understand.

I have Hartland’s Doozy and the sound has stopped. Can anyone help me fix it?

I have an Aristo C-16 that I don’t want anymore. It has sound.

I bought a Piko Barn  Big , heavy. Need to get more cows.

 

Piko Barn

And I got a Piko water tank.  Didn’t realize it was so big.  Water comes out of the pipe, but there needs to be something to hold it.  Piko’s extra glue, not in the kits, is the kind that really makes 
the plastic parts weld together.

Piko Water Tank

I need to find someone with a pad printer so that I can have some scale size lobster trap pots made.

There is a pile of rocks in my pond designed after a pile of rock I saw in a pond in Kazakstan a couple of years ago. 

So what is going on with your layout?

Can we help each other.? 

There is nothing wrong with talking or e-mailing.

Let’s find a way to do it.    Doug

Best wishes, from

Douglas R. Johnson

(207) 839-2946
drj1me@yahoo.com

8 Lawn Ave.
Gorham, ME 04038
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man"    Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)

Another Cancellation

Mill Field Festival has cancelled

Strive

STRIVE has postponed the May event until the fall.

More from the 2019 Holiday Train Display

By popular request, more pictures from the Mall.

Santa hanging out with Grace

Strolling the Circus Midway

Ben & Friends

The Great Chimp Escape

Playing Horseshoes in the Barnyard

How did this building get here, Mike?

Container Train Rolls by the Mountain

Bikes at Tice's Food Truck

Cocoa by the outdoor fireplace

Spiderman ready to roll!

No buttons were worn out during the 2019 Display

Where is the other Optimus Prime

Batgirl on the left and Batman & Robin on the right

Amtrak and Circus Parade

New member Gloria Goodwin checking on Thomas

Superman flying low over the Trolley

Who is that off duty welder sitting behind the Circus? 

Even puppies come to visit the trains

LGB Crocodile passing North Conway Station

Local freight passing Gorham Station

Lobster Hobo jumps on the train

Video Links

Rio Grande Lashup


Amtrak with Push Pull Engines

LGB 0-6-6-0 Mallett Steam Engine and Freight Train

Burlington Freight Through the Crossing

Dual Engine Passenger Train with Railway Post Office

Rio Grande Lashup and LGB Mallett Freight

Dinosaur Train and LGB Steam Freight

Norfolk Southern Container Train and European Bonus

Circus Train pulled by Christmas Locomotive

STRIVE ROCKS at the Cross Arena

The date for Strive Rocks has moved to Saturday May 2nd.
We will have the MGRS trailer outside the Cross Arena (in the same place as last year) at 7 AM.
We need to be operating at 10 AM and will take down at 4 PM.
Thanks to Brennan Long and the Weeks brothers last year, the setup was accomplished on time. We can do it!

MGRS Train Set Raffle at the Mall on December 23rd

The club will be raffling off an LGB Starter Set today at the Mall.  Tickets will be handed out starting when the display opens this morning. The winner will be drawn today at 3pm, and people with tickets must be present to win.

Holiday Train Display Move Out Begins at 9am on Thursday, December 26th

At 9am on Thursday, December 26th we will be packing up and moving the Holiday Train Display out of the Mall.  Dave Blue will be bringing the club trailer.  Please help us wrap up out 10th event and take home anything you brought in to help us look good!

And please mark your calendars for our next event, which is running trains for Strive Rocks at the Cross Arena in Portland on Saturday, March 28, 2020.

Garden Railway Layout at L.L. Bean in Freeport

The layout of Freeport in the 1920s is back in the Children's Department on the second floor at 95 Main Street in Freeport through December 31.  Information about the trains and the rest of the Northern Lights Celebration can be found at  the Northern Lights Web Page

This display includes both G scale trains on the lower level and O scale trains on an upper level

There is a nice model of the L.L. Bean Factory Store from the 1920s along with an operating carousel, downtown area, farm and skating rink.

Carousel and Original Factory Store

Skating  Rink

Farm with L.L. Bean O27 Boxcar on Trestle behind it

Sidings and Water Tank

In addition to a model of Freeport Station, there is a poster about how it was moved north and became part of the Boothbay Railway Village.

Freeport Station Model

Poster Part 1

Poster Part 2

And some video of the layout

Trains at Freeport Station

Operating Carousel

1920s Gas Station

Maine Train Lines at Westbrook Festival of Trees 2019

The Festival of Trees took place from December 7-14 and Maine Train Lines ran daily for the visitors of all ages.  The decor this year was the old west of 1880s with a small town in Colorado and an Indian Village. We had over 800 visitors including all the kindergarten classes in Westbrook. Thanks to Peter Richards, Doug Johnson, Dennis & Agnes Farrell, Paul Corbett and Sam Carr for helping with this event.

Main Street In Durango, Colorado

Tepees in the Village

Wells Fargo Bank Robbery with old time photographer

Chief overlooking the Village

Locomotive leaving the Water Tank

Chicken Dance Sound Car rolling through the Old West

MGRS 10th Annual Holiday Train Display

Our 10th Annual Holiday Train Display has now been operating since November 16th and will close next week on December 24th at 5pm.  Here is some of the fun we have been having.

Amtrak rolls by the Mountain

Deven replacing bad curved track

Hopefully Tice is only getting a warning

Photo with permission of the owner

Container Stack Train
Chevrolet Parking for Conway Station

And some videos....

Stack Train and European Freight

Christmas Factory Tour