Join the discussion on the following article:
Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad to move
The museum owns fou original Maine two-footer steam locomotives, as well as original passenger and freight rolling stock.
Do you mean The museum owns four original Maine two-footer steam locomotives
Too bad they don’t re-locate to Wiscasset. The old Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington 2’-0" ROW must be available. They’d be able to snag a lot more tourists that are heading for Rockland and the adjacent Yuppie enclaves. Maine Eastern serves the area from POR.
This museum railway brought us to Portland as visitors. It should receive lots of support for its economic benefits to the region as well as for its historical value. The volunteers and staff were knowledgeable and friendly and left a very positive impression. We wish them well.
I agree with Mr. Hays. The WWF is an active group already restoring track and Wiscasset on the shore makes a gret connecting point for the summer season. I was raised in Maine and graduated from UMe in 1960 and have been in Maryland since then.
I agree with Mr. Hays. The WWF is an active group already restoring track and Wiscasset on the shore makes a gret connecting point for the summer season. I was raised in Maine and graduated from UMe in 1960 and have been in Maryland since then.
Would it be too heretical an idea to suggest that this might be a good time to focus preservation of the Maine 2-footer heritage artifacts at the one centre, vis the W, W, and F Museum ( and section of track) at Alna. As one who travels 200 miles from Home to volunteer on the Ffestiniog, I would have thought the round trip to Alna would not be too prohibitive to current volunteers supporting the Maine Museum’s activity (but maybe there is a history of dissent of which an outsider can know nothing).
I have visited the Portland museum and was made very welcome by all the docents, and I still proudly wear their monogrammed Sweatshirt. However the environs of the Portland works are not photo/touristgenic, and ultimately you need more than just enthusiasts to fund the costs of running a preserved railway.
That said I wish all involved with 2-foot preservation well. It is a distinctive breed.
Kipp: Maine Narrow Gauge has two ex-Monson and two ex-Bridgeton & Saco steam locomotives. Google 'em.
Stream Locos? Those are submarines, no?
When the MNGRR makes it’s move, it will be highly visible to both a major state highway and interstate 95 with easy access from each.
This would appear to be a foolish move on the part of the museum. The right of way, where it exists, passes by residential property and if the current owner (the local utlity company that owned the interurban when it was abandoned) decides to lease it to the museum you can be sure the local NIMBY faction will hold it up in court for many years. The ROW passes in (not by) the front yards of some houses. This will cause all kinds of heart ache from the residents when they realize that steam engines will be blowing cinders onto their property and into their children’s lungs. Plus Gray is not exactly a tourist draw for anything else except the Maine Wildlife Park.
The Wiscasset idea sounds good but in reality may not be practical. In the 70 years since abandonment, the ROW here has disappeared, in one case right under an occupied dwelling. Good luck in getting through there. Plus the WW & F museum owns all the current right of way that is available and may not want the competition.
A better solution may have been Bridgeton with a narrow gauge history and where there is some ROW available and a year-round tourist base of sorts. Not as many volunteers as in Portland though. For 3 million bucks they might have been able to buy the Portland Company property that they need and expanded there. No need to worry about light rail in Portland. Costs too high, no available funding (the state and city are both broke as are the Feds) and no real need or demand, everyone wants to drive their own cars.
But I wish them luck. They have a nice collection.
First off. I am a volunteer with the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad. 2nd, moving to Grey is really the only option we have if we want to expand and do a better job at restoring and preserving the equipment, locomotives and rolling stock we have. With moving, we would get bigger, better and new buildings with a proper shop for restoring the cars and working on our locomotives which include Baldwin built Bridgeton and Saco River 7 and 8. Also Vulcan Iron Works build Monson 4.
Also with moving to Gray we would be able to do A LOT more special events and do them bigger than we are currently able to do with in Portland city limits. When all is said and done the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad will be bigger and better than what it is currently.
As one who lived near Portland for many years, I appreciated having this history tucked in so close to a bustling coastal city. There was also discussion of extending track around the peninsula along other abandoned rights of way. Guess that is not to be. I hope that the loss of pedestrian access to/from the city will be offset by the easier driving access…