John L. Middleton Riverside Carhouse Dedication at Seashore Trolley Museum

Yesterday (August 29, 2020) the Seashore Trolley Museum dedicated a car barn to John Middleton in a ceremony at the museum.  Forty or fifty people attended, despite the rain, and celebrated John with stories of his enthusiasm, skills, and unflagging energy.  Here is a picture of the ceremony as well as one of John with Dick Rubin, and one of John in the inaugural run of the museum's popular Montreal open trolley.  (Pictures and article by Scott Gould.)

John on the initial run of the Montreal Open Trolley

Stories of John Middleton

                                                       Dick Rubin and John Middleton

John brought his Timesaver Switching Layout to the Mt. Ararat Show in Topsham several times. Here he is explaining it to an interested attendee.

He also participated in the setup and operation of the Holiday Train Display at the Maine Mall. As you would expect, his train consists always included an End of Train Device instead of a Caboose.

John up on the tables during 2018 Setup

John working on track to the right of the Mountain

A&J Railway Photo Tour

 These photos are a tour of of Jim Jenkin's A&J Railway in Gray, Maine.  They were done as a slide show for another member of the family who has not seen the railroad. They start from the street, go up the right hand hand side, and around the back side to the Village in front.

Groton and Charleston Railroad Update

 Here is an update from Terry Norton along with pictures of some of the features on the Groton & Charleston Raiload, which is the layout Terry & Sue have at their home in Eliot, Maine.

July 15, 2020

I spent the majority of time last year creating a water feature for my layout. My original plan was to have a small pond that overflowed into a small stream that went under the trestle into a receiving container with a pump to send the water back to the pond.

Enter Nancy Norris! She said that I needed a source of water noise as that was what most people would like. Soooooo…I created a mountain and a waterfall along with a longer river.

The winter was not kind to the rocks on the river. I have been working on the river banks and installing a waterwheel mill and landscaping the mountain (which forms the back of the campground).

My wife (the train CFO) gave permission to add the terminal area on the other end of the layout from the covered bridges and water feature. So far I have placed the train shed Ernie Packard gave me and run the tracks for three sidings in the shed.

The weeds grow fast in this weather and I am having difficulty keeping up. I keep the mainline pretty clean but the rest is getting overgrown. I have not attempted to get the Thomas/Percy track powered up and running. I replaced the stations at the ends of my back-and-forth trolley and added a planter disguised as a prison on top of one mountain.

                                                   Water Wheel

                                             Campground

                                                    Waterfall

                                           New Terminal Area

Water flowing under Trestle

Overgrown Town

Ernie Packard Donation and Plaque

 Long time MGRS member Ernie Packard passed in February, and his wife Hazel passed away in April. Their children Caroline and Dennis donated their train collection for the club and requested a plaque in his honor.  The plaque was brought to their joint funeral service in Hollis by Ben Braithwaite earlier this spring.

Fryeburg Flower Show 2008

Rachel Corbett at left and Hazel Packard at right  behind the counter

Paul Corbett standing at left with radio

Update on G Scale Auction at theSeptember 20th Annual Meeting

 

During the Annual Meeting we will be auctioning off items from 3 estates. There are buildings, rolling stock and a lot of track. The auction will be held on Sept 20th at 12 noon. The address is 82 Carll Rd, Buxton ME. We did not take any pictures yet. Preview the items starting at 10 AM, All items will have 2 tags: a buy it now and a minimum opening bid for the auction. If you have questions, please contact Terry Norton.

Honoring John Middleton at Seashore Trolley Museum on August 29th at 11:45am

 MGRS members are invited to attend a ceremony honoring the late John Middleton at Seashore Trolley Museum on August 29th at 11:45am .  It will include re-dedicating the Riverside Carbarn as the John, L. Middleton Jr. Riverside Carhouse.

Seashore Trolley Musuem is located at 195 Log Cabin Road, Kennebunkport, ME 04046, and the website is https://trolleymuseum.org/

The Trolley Museum can be reached from the north by taking the Maine Turnpike south to Exit 32 in Biddeford, taking Route 1 South and turning left on Log Cabin Road.

MGRS Annual Meeting at Noon on Sunday September 20th

The MGRS Annual Meeting will be held starting at Noon on Sunday, September 20th at the home of Carl & Pat Churchill, 82 Carll Rd, Buxton, ME 

 Bring your own lunch and drinks

 Annual meeting is to elect the Officers and Board of Directors only

 Auction is for track, structures, rolling stock, automobiles from various sources

--Auction items will be available before the meeting and can be purchased at the sticker price.

--Other clubs may be invited to come and buy things

--Please contact Terry Norton to let him know if you will be attending or not and will come early to           purchase items before the auction starts

Upcoming MGRS Activities

8/3 9AM at O'Donal's Nursery in Gorham to setup a layout they will show to customers.

8/15 8AM at Terry’s house in Eliot to sort track from the Ernie Packard donation

8/22 12 noon Carl's house in Buxton to sort track and set out trains for sale from the Stewart (Unity, ME) collection purchase, Packard collection donation and the Jerry & Judy Booth collection purchase

9/20 12 noon General Meeting at Carl's house in Buxton with auction. Items will be marked with the Auction starting price and a “Buy Now” price for purchase before the auction

For more information about Club Activities please contact Terry Norton

Open House Held at the A&J Railroad on July 28-29

Jim Jenkins held an open house at his A&J Railway in Gray on July 28 and 29.  The A&J has two main lines with sidings and a trolley line with stops in its Upper and Lower Village.

A.J.R.R. Switchback Curves

The main lines rise from beside the pond through switchback curves around the lumber mill and lower village.

                      Lumber Mill and Lower Village

On the east side they pass coal car storage yard.

Coal Car Yard

Then the tracks enter a long, covered tunnel just past the Control Station, which has a two line Bridgewerks transformer for the Main Line and a separate transformer to run the Trolley Line.

Jim at the Control Station

Dual main lines loop back past the Engine Workshop

Engine Workshop with Coaling and Oiling Stations

They continue downhill past the Buffalo Farm, Water Tower, Upper Village Trolley Station, Coal Mine and Coal Loading Operation.

             

                                      Trolley at a Village Stop

                        Passenger Special Heading Downhill

Coal and Oil Trains Crossing Near the Pond

Layout visitors included members Doug Johnson, Terry & Sue Norton, Sam Carr, Scott Gould, Jim Muthig, and Ben Braithwaite.  We also had a visit from three small children with their Mom. They really liked the trains!!

 

MGRS now has a Facebook Page

The MGRS Facebook page can be seen

at https://www.facebook.com/groups/664924060879765

You will need to have or create a Facebook account to view it, and the Sign In Screen for that will appear when you open the page.

Jim Jenkins Garden Railway Open House on July 28-29

Jim Jenkins invites MGRS Members and families to a Garden 

Railway Open House on July 28-29.  Rain dates are July 30-31.  

The hours are 11am-5pm. Please wear a mask, bring trains to run 

and your own drinks.

Address: The A&J Railway is located at 11 Adler Drive, Gray, ME 04039-9720

Directions:  Take the Maine Turnpike north or south to Exit 63 in Gray Follow either Route 26 or 26A (merges into 26) north to the traffic light where the Hannaford Supermarket is on the right.  Then take your third right onto Adler Drive. Jim’s house will be on the left. He can be reached at 207-657-9218. Be ready for big coal car trains!!!