Outlook for 2012

 

       We had an excellent year in 2011.  The reason is that many different people combined to contribute good ideas and take part in the different events that we offer all year long.  That is what makes us an exceptional organization and we encourage you to help make 2012 an even better year by taking an active role in an area that interests you. A Happy New Year to all as we look forward to another great year.

 ~ Maine Garden Railway Society ~

Thank you from Carl

Carl just called me and asked if I would post a "Thank you"  to all the members who helped bring this years train display to a successful end.  The lights are out and the Mall is closed.  Carl & Mac each pushed one of the big red buttons as the last train came to a stop.  It has been a lot of work by many, many different people all combining to produce an event larger than the sum of its parts.

This is very Refreshing

 A different pace.  Very Nice.   Sent to us by Eric.

Please enjoy: Click here:

MRGS Honor Roll

Please take a look at this years Honor Roll.
Click Here:

A Tribute to the 2011 Train Show

If you click here it will take you to a Slideshow cover page where you can watch all or selected parts of the tribute to Maine Garden Railway Society's 2011 train display at the Maine Mall. 

There are 9 segments that total about 39 minutes.  They show (1) Buildings (2) The Outer Loop, (3) Middle Loop and Circus (4) Thomas, (5) Lionel, (6 - 7) Trains and (8 - 9) People.

                                        To watch it, please click here:

There is a small technical problem that sometimes shows a message that says 'unavailable try again' when going from one segment to another.  If you "refresh" the page a couple of times it will clear up the problem.  Sorry, I will try to fix that if I can.

Dues are Due

Please remember to write that check for $12 per member for 2012 Annual Dues.  Payable to MGRS and mail it to:
  MGRS
  82 Carll Rd
  Buxton, ME.
  04093

Dues for calendar year 2012 are due during the month of January. They are still only $12 dollars and gives you full voting membership in the best Garden Railway Organization we think that you can find. 
 If you joined during the current train show and recently paid, your payment will be rolled forward and applied to the 2012 year.

PS: Please do not delay.  MGRS counts on it members to pay dues during January.  We need to collect monies to strengthen our own position for early season Vendor sales and train shows on items the Club needs.  Also annual recurring and on-going costs for Publishing, Mailing, Insurance, Web Site license and fees, legal and administrative requirements all keep coming.

  We have had a great year and with your support we will have another terrific year to look forward to. Thank You!

12/28/ Wednesday

Pictured above is Paul Schnell,  Philip Sypek and Art Handman.  To the left is Mike Curry, and below is John Jackson with three of his grandsons that visited today.  The guys were busy running trains, talking to people and enjoying the day as the school vacation week allowed both students and teachers time to see the display.  The crowd was big today and enthusiasm as high as ever.  It's to bad we have to take it down, in a year when times are not the best, we all in MGRS helped bring a lot of smiles and good memories back again.   

Letter from the Vets

A Thank You note from the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough to Maine Garden Railway Society.

12/27 Tuesday.

Dear train Diary,  Today was a glad and a sad day.  Santa was gone but there were a lot of people in the Mall and we had a heavy day of conversation.  I honestly had the best three long conversations of the entire show.  Maybe I was just paying attention more, I don't know.  It could be I knew this was my last day on the schedule.  I just seemed to appreciate it more.  I saw Terry's new interactive signal sign that looked and worked great! The two big beautiful passenger trains the MEC 470 and the B&O performed perfectly.  Our Club GP38-2 enjoyed the elevated loop and Thomas's smile was a little wider as he pulled his coaches proudly.  Both interactive displays ran well. The Circus and the Lionel were both very well received and Norm and Art have put a lot of days into maintenance keeping them top notch.  I kept looking at it all and thought  " Yes, it really does look good".  Lots of people helped, 50 over all. Some came in every week, or twice a week or almost every day  or maybe just once, but it all fit together to make a great display enjoyed by everyone that saw it!  I wonder how many people actually did see it?  I wonder if they enjoyed it as much as we did?  I know I loved taking part in it.   

Merry Christmas

The day before Christmas is always special. Santa lingers as long as possible with his youthful visitors, but knows he must take an early sleigh to be ready for the night's activities. On hand to run the trains this December 24th were Carl Churchill, Mac McLaughlin, and Ben Jewitt, who are at the mall so often you expect to see them bringing sleeping bags. Also on hand were Norm Waycott, Art Handman, Dick Rubin and Ralph Luby. Dick brought along an impressive GG1, made by LGB, as well as A custom-built model of the magnificent 1934 Pioneer Zephyr, the streamliner that still holds the speed record for the Chicago-Denver run. Carl ran his B&O passenger express, as well as his crowd-pleasing Amtrak liner.
By now Santa is somewhere between the North Pole and Portage, Indiana. The rest of us are snug at home, remembering Christmas in our separate ways, but sharing our love of trains together.

Guess What Santa Brought? Maine Mall 2011 video by Bill

It is now early Christmas morning and guess what Santa brought us?   Straight from Santa's work shop and Bill & Robin's camera is a Youtube video!  Thanks Bill, nice job!
Please click here to see Bill's video.

from Maine Garden Railway Society

    I am in the process of putting together a Maine Mall Tribute video to recap this years display.  If you click here you can watch a Slideshow of what we have so far.

John. 

Victorian Christmas 2011

Here is a video from Eric on last Saturday's WW&F event.  It looked like a lot of fun.  Thanks for the video.  Click here:

Pictures from Dick & Meridel

 Thanks to  Dick & Meridel for taking such good pictures while they were in running trains.   These are from Monday Dec 19, 2011.  Excellent details, very nice!
(I love that Moxie trailer tractor car)  
 

The No. 1 watched train video on You-Tube.

It's only 50 seconds long.  Click here:

I kind of like this one also:  Click here:

Test from Mall Tues 12-20

I found some new software on my computer called Windows Movie Maker.  I experimented with a few pictures and video clips from yesterday (Dec 20, 2011) at the Mall.

After Christmas ~ Schedule change

Carl just called to let us all know that after Christmas, during the final week of the show, the PM shift will end at 7PM.  

Tuesday 12-20

Art led the way today over to Starbucks for morning coffee and got us off to a good start.  It was a very good day for the many members who stopped by as well as a good crowd of on lookers who enjoyed telling their train stories.  There looked to be lots of shoppers in the Mall today.  Keith Stone stopped by to say hi and wished us all well.  A relative of Jim Magner stopped by to talk and send us Jim's greetings from Florida. Art,  Jeff Jacobs, Paul Corbett, Jim Hinkley, Benjamin, Tiny, and John all teamed up for sections of the AM and we all had a good time running various trains and talking to people. Plus Ben was researching train topics on his very fast laptop.  Carl, Mac and Dennis came in early for the evening shift and were setting up some more big trains as I left.  It was a day of good fun and good time except for the friend I had not seen in several years who said to me "Oh hi!, I didn't recognize you with that silly hat on!" Silly Hat, What possibly could he mean by that?   Please take a look at some other pictures and  short clips from today.  Thanks, Click here:           By the way, You have to watch the little boy below in the videos. 

Holiday Train

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train makes a stop in Buffalo Minnesota to benefit the local food shelf.
Please click here:

Frankie and Janey at the Mall

Here are a few of our photos taken at the Maine Mall.  What fun!  ~~Frankie & Janey




Thank you for sending these in!  We wish more people did.
We love your fun and enthusiasm, and hope you had a great time!