Robin and I arrived at the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum and went inside to get our passes for our visit. Now we will look around the museum's grounds.
Edaville Railroad coach 25 built by the railroad.
Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes combine 15 built by Billmeyer & Small in 1891. This car was numbered 15 while in service on the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad. After the line's abandonment, the body was left on the bed of a former siding at South Strong. It was salvaged in somewhat decrepit condition for the Edaville Railroad in 1947 and eventually was rebuilt as Coach 4. The side doors of the baggage compartment were removed, the sides opened up with windows, and side bench seats were added. The coach section retained twelve walkover seats. After coming to Maine Narrow Gauge, the car was restored, given its number back of 15, and is now active on our trains.
Maine Narrow Gauge Museum 23 ton switcher 1 built by General Electric in 1949. This was one of three industrial narrow gauge diesels designed for the very narrow clearances at the Whitin Machine Shop, a manufacturer of knitting and woolen mill machinery. Only 50 inches wide when built (now 84 inches with walkways), these diesels were used to haul dump, flat and gondola freight cars. They were phased out while still quite new and sold to a Worcester, Massachusetts scrap dealer. Two of these units were later sold to the Edaville Railroad. Edaville rebuilt these locomotives, numbered them 1 and 2 and used them to complement their steam-powered collection. Following Edaville's closure, 1 came to the museum in 1993 where it has been our primary workhouse since.
Edaville Railroad coach 22 built by the railroad.
Power for the passenger train.
Edaville Railroad coach 24 built by the railroad.
Maine Narrow Gauge open car 105 built by the Edaville Railroad in the 1960's using parts from flat and box car bodies from the Bridgton and Harrison Railroad.
Maine Narrow Gauge combine 12 built by the Edaville Railroad in 1958 and modelled on a Billmeyer & Small car built in the 1880s for the Phillips and Rangeley Railroad.
Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes caboose 553 built by the railroad in 1904 from hardware salvaged from the Phillips & Rangeley Railroad coach 3, which was destroyed by fire at Green's Farm earlier that year. Longer than any other Sandy River caboose, it was used as a waycar-caboose and spent most of its time on the Phillips & Rangeley branches of the railroad. Almost ten feet longer than 551 and six feet longer than 557, this Sandy River caboose is one-of-a-kind.
Following the merger that created the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad, 12 became 553. After it was retired from rail service, it was used as a bunkhouse in Phillips. The Edaville Railroad purchased it in 1977 and returned it to rail service for the first time in many decades. This is one of the cabooses that moved from Edaville to Portland in September 1993. It has been fully restored by the artisans of Maine Narrow Gauge and is in active service.
Bridgton and Saco River Railroad Snow Plow 2 built by the railroad in 1900.
Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes caboose 557 built by Maine Central Railroad in 1913. It was purchased by a private individual following the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes' closure, who kept it in great condition. It was purchased in 1945 by the Edaville Railroad and was in regular use on passenger trains there. Steel platform modules were added to the caboose's ends and equipment such as the stove was removed to provide additional seating space. This caboose is now currently on display next to our right-of-way, near our station in Portland.
Edaville Railroad coach 23 built by the railroad.
Maine Narrow Gauge coach 54 or 55 built by the Edaville Railroad in the 1950's.
Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes coach 19 built by Billmeyer and Small in 1890 as Phillips and Rangely Railroad 2. Currently in storage awaiting restoration.
Bridgton and Saco River Railroad box car 52 built by the Portland Company and the railroad.
Edaville Railroad coach 25 built by the railroad.
A narrow gauge box car awaiting restoration.
Bridgton and Saco River Railroad box car 51 built by the Portland Company.
Hall wrecking crane.
Museum scene.
Maine Narrow Gauge 9 ton switcher 11 built by Fate Root Heath Company in Plymouth, Ohio in 1975. It came from the Pine Creek Railroad in New Jersey.
Maine Narrow Gauge flat car rebuilt in 2005.
Maine Narrow Gauge open car 102 built by Edaville Railroad in the 1960's.
Bridgton and Saco River box car 62 built by the Portland Company as Bridgton and Harrison 62. I found a volunteer who had the keys to the shed in which the steam engines are kept and he opened it for Robin and I.
The headlight of Bridgton and Saco River 2-4-4T 7 built by Baldwin in 1913.
Bridgton and Saco River 2-4-4T 7, built by Baldwin in 1913. undergoing restoration. This was one of the last engines to operate on the Bridgton and Harrison Railroad, the successor to the Bridgton and Saco River. Following nearly 50 years of service at the Edaville Railroad in Carver, Massachusetts, it returned to its home state of Maine.
Monson Railroad 0-4-4T 4 built by Vulcan Iron Works in 1918. This was the last locomotive built for the Monson Railroad, a two foot narrow gauge railroad in northern Maine built in 1883 to service slate mining operations near Monson, Maine which was abandoned in 1943. It was taken out of service in spring 2015.
Bridgton & Saco River 2-4-4T 8 built by Baldwin in 1924. It was the last and largest locomotive built for the Bridgton & Saco River Railroad. Like 7, she was purchased by the Edaville Railroad following her retirement from the Bridgton & Harrison Railroad (successor to the Bridgton & Saco River). She operated at Edaville in Carver for nearly 50 years before returning home to Maine and steaming on Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad & Museum rails.
Maine Narrow Gauge 4 ton switcher 14, nee Edaville Railroad 14 built by Plymouth in 1976.
Maine Narrow Gauge BCL-TC 10 ton switcher, nee U.S. Metals, built by Brookville in 1977.
Bridgton and Saco Railroad box car 60 built by the Portland Company and the railroad.
Bridgton and Saco Railroad box car 70 built by the Portland Company and the railroad.
Maine Narrow Gauge 7 ton DL switcher 6 built by Plymouth as 1912.
Maine Narrow Gauge switcher 10, details unknown.
Bridgton and Saco Railroad box car 50 built by the Portland Company and the railroad, awaiting restoration.
Edaville Railroad box car number unknown.
Edaville Railroad box car number unknown.
Maine Narrow Gauge open air car 106.
Maine Narrow Gauge flat car.
Maine Narrow Gauge flat car.
An unknown diesel in their collection. We then went inside the office and shops of this museum.
Bridgton and Saco River coach 16 "Mount Pleasant" built by Billmeyer & Small in 1882.
Information about coach 16.
Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes combine 14 built by Jackson and Sharp in 1903 as Franklin and Megantic 3
Information about combine 14.
Tools of the trade.
Bridgton and Harrison Railway painting.
Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes parlor car 9 "Rangeley" built by Jackson and Sharp in 1901. This was the sole two-foot "parlor" car ever built in the United States and was used only in the summer by the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad. Passengers of means paid an extra fee to ride in this luxury coach on the railroad's full route from Farmington to the Rangeley Lakes House, a posh hotel with its own station. The car featured plush swivel seats, a smoking section, a surprisingly roomy restroom and other unusual amenities.
Interior of this parlour car.
Information about "Rangeley".
Bridgton & Saco River caboose 32 built by Laconia Car Company, Laconia in 1882. It was re-numbered 101 in 1892. The cupola was destroyed and never replaced after allegedly hitting a low-hanging guy wire in 1898. It became Bridgton & Saco River caboose 101 in 1930 and was sometimes used as a baggage car. It was the only caboose ever owned by the Bridgton & Saco River/Bridgton & Harrison Railroad and was moved to the Edaville Railroad in 1946. After being acquired by Maine Narrow Gauge in 1993, it was restored to its original appearance.
Children's play area.
Part of the gift shop.
Portland Company history.
Steam engine explanation on how they work and a model of one.
Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Inspection Car 2 built by the railroad in 1925 with parts from two earlier Model T Ford track cars. It was primarily used as an inspection car by Superintendent Orin Vose and commonly known as the "Vose inspection car". The car is on display in the museum and is occasionally used for special events.
Information about the inspection car.
The working area of the shop.
Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Rail Bus 4 built by the railroad in 1925. They began building rail cars to use in place of steam powered trains as passenger service on the line declined. This is the last remaining rail bus in existence and was built with an REO truck frame and motor. In 1936, after the railroad had closed, the bus was purchased by Edgar Mead and leased to the Bridgton and Harrison Railroad for $1 a year. There it was renumbered 3.
Information about the railbus.
Maine's Narrow Gauge Railroads display board.
A map of Maine's two-foot narrow gauge railroads.
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