mainegardenrailwaysociety2023

Paul Corbett has been maintaining a small train layout at the Maine Veterans Home in Scarborough. He visits frequently to clean the track and on a regular basis will change the railroad theme from cityscape to western theme to others he has in his inventory. Today Frank Howard and I had a chance to meet up with Paul at the Vets Home to update the rolling stock. I installed a push button similar to the ones at the mall to allow some interaction. Frank set up the small Piko steam engine that the club purchased and it sounded awesome. The staff liked the push button and the Veterans were taking turns pushing the button.  The attached photo is Don, one of the Veterans, who sat with us while we upgraded the layout.

Richard "Dick" Soderberg, a friend of many in MGRS and the well known owner of  Dick's Trains, passed away earlier this month. He was known for attending train shows throughout the Northeast and attending the MGRS Summer Open House and Annual Meeting in Buxton each July. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.

The Amtrak Exhibit Train will be visiting Brunswick Station this Saturday from 1-5pm. The consist includes 2 diesel locomotives. 3 cars of exhibits, and an Amfleet car as a gift shop. There will be a model train display inside the station, vendors outside, and specials in downtown Brunswick stores that day. The location is 16 Station Ave, Brunswick, ME 04011. The train will also appear in Claremont, NH on Saturday, June 18 from 10am to 4pm. The location is at Plains Road and Maple Avenue, Claremont, NH 0374. These visits are sponsored by the Northern New England Passenger Railroad Association, NNEPRA Web Site . The full Amtrak Exhibit Train schedule can be seen at Amtrak Web Site

Dennis and Carl have proposed a club trip on the Mount Washington Cog Railway this coming September. The Cog is a three hour guided round trip to the top of Mount Washington and back with a one-hour stop at the top of Mount Washington. More information can be found at http://thecog.com/ The trip will be a topic at the Annual Outing and Meeting on July 16. If you are interested, please contact Carl or Dennis.

The first edition of the Steel Caboose will be published this week. It follows the Iron Horse, and is sent to all MGRS members. You will receive it by electronic mail or U.S. mail. Topics include MGRS Display at the Great Falls Topsham Show April 30th MGRS at March 12th Strive Rocks Dance Day 2016 Open House and Annual Meeting on Saturday, July 16 East Coast Large Scale Train Show Condolences to Norman Waycott Trailer Committee Formed, to Report at Annual Meeting 2016 Holiday Train Display Update G-Scale Items for Sale and for Free Upcoming Railroad Events in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont   Read the Steel Caboose now

Part of the fun at our Open House and Annual Meeting on July 16 is the Charity Auction.  Please find things about railroads you no longer need or want and bring them to the auction. Our auction is conducted by the famous auctioneers Frank Howard and Terry Norton. They will choose the top three "best in auction" items for the day. The members who bring them will get a free lunch at the Paradise Diner. They can sell just about anything, so please bring them some challenges....

John Middleton's Cape Porpoise Industrial Railroad got attention at the only G-Scale layout at the Great Falls Model Railroad Show in  Topsham this past Saturday.  John,  David Blue, Mike Curry and Jim Jenkins talked with a number of folks during the day. We had both the time-saver layout and a “movie” running of the combined Holiday Train Display videos from 2011-2015. Handouts included the Winter 2016 Iron Horse and the Kalmbach "Beginning Garden Railroading" brochure with an MGRS membership application inside. Thanks to Scott Gould, Terry Norton, and Carl Churchill for their help with the show. The Fall Topsham show is scheduled for November 5th.