Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad staying in Portland ME

SOURCE:  Portland Press Herald - Randy Billings

The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad is changing tracks. Instead of building a new museum and rail line in Gray, the nonprofit railroad company that has operated on the eastern waterfront since 1993 with popular events like the Polar Express is staying in Portland.

The group recently received zoning approvals to build a new storage facility at the eastern terminus of the 2-foot-wide railway, near the East End Treatment Plant, and is seeking approvals to build a new ticketing booth and passenger center near Ocean Gateway.

The nonprofit plans to pay for the $2 million project with a capital campaign.

Executive Director Wesley Heinz said the nonprofit is finalizing site plans, which he said would only need administrative approval because of the project size and status as an accessory use to the rail line. He hopes to break ground on the new buildings this fall.

“It was all there,” Heinz said of the opportunity to stay in Portland. “We just needed to think outside the box.”

The Narrow Gauge Railroad needs to be out of its current location at 58 Fore St. by Sept. 2, he said. It’s being displaced as part of the redevelopment of the former railroad foundry into a new mixed-use neighborhood, Portland Foreside.

The nonprofit originally planned to move its museum to Gray, where it hoped to build a new rail line, but those plans were abandoned this year.

Heinz said a lack of funding played a small role, but the “show-stopper” was the inability to develop the property located next to a strip mall because it was a wetland.

The new plans emerge at a time of growth for the small rail company. Heinz said ridership has more than doubled in the past five years. Last year, over 60,000 people rode the Narrow Gauge, including the popular Polar Express train in the days leading up to Christmas, compared to 23,000 passengers in 2013, he said.

The nonprofit also is hosting more corporate events, in addition to new family events, including ice cream train rides and a Friday family fun night, which includes music, lights, juice and cookies.

“The business model really supported us staying here,” Heinz said in an interview aboard the train as it rattled along the eastern waterfront Monday. “As ridership grew, it became very apparent that we have a home here.”

Stephanie and Bob Holmes of New York took their 22-month-old granddaughter, Heidi, for her first trip on the train and were pleased to hear it would remain in Portland.

“She loved it,” Bob Holmes said. “She was waving to everyone.”

Plans call for a 1,000-square-foot passenger center and ticketing booth within the railroad right of way along Thames Street, near Ocean Gateway. The railroad also would build a 6,600-square-foot storage facility near the East End Treatment Plant. The city’s Zoning Board of Appeals granted a hardship variance for the nonprofit in May and reduced the shoreland zone setbacks from 75 feet to none.

Heinz said the new buildings are being considered an accessory use to the rail line. Portland has a long history of rail, which the current city has grown up around.

Heinz said that the nonprofit will probably have to use a temporary trailer, or simply sell tickets aboard the train, until the new passenger facility, which will have a waiting area and restrooms, is ready.

The new plan does not call for a museum. Instead, Heinz said a Narrow Gauge exhibit is being established at the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum in Alna, which also will run some of the Narrow Gauge’s trains.

Jerry Angier, a trustee who is leading the fundraising effort, said the railroad is determined to get the project built.

“We’ll do it as long as we need to do it until we have the funds to make this a success,” Angier said. “We’ll leave no stone unturned. And anyone who will listen will get the sales pitch.”

WW&F Spring Photographic Excursions 2018

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum

Spring Photographic Excursions

 Saturdays, April 14 & 21 2018

 
All of our original and replica equipment will be used to demonstrate mixed and freight trains commonly operated on the old WW&F.

April 14th runs 6 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., and April 21st runs 6 a.m. into the evening. Both days will include the firing of No. 9 starting at 6 a.m. and day session photo train operating 9 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. 

April 21st will also feature a staged and lit night scene starting at 6 p.m. Several unique photo opportunities will be provided both days. Price is $150 per person April 14th, and $225 April 21st.  

Maximum attendance will be 25 people April 14th and 20 people on April 21st. Reserve your seat online at wwfrytickets.simpletix.com!

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington #9 Hits the Rails!

The following information and photo is from the WW&F Facebook page:

"Engine 9 runs around coach 3 at Alna Center. This is the first time the locomotive has pulled coach 3. This trip is a result of years of work. A steam test was done Friday and adjustments were made a good part of Saturday. #9 moved under her own steam power at 2:45 on Saturday afternoon and ran well so a short test train was run."

December 4, 2015

Narrow Gauge Rail Museum to Remain in Portland ME Until 2017

(SOURCE:  Trains.com)

PORTLAND, Maine – The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad & Museum will stay put on Portland's eastern promenade for at least another year, after its new landlord agreed to a lease. The 2-foot-gauge museum plans to move its operation to Gray to allow the 10-acre waterfront property to be redeveloped.

Donnell Carroll, executive director of the museum, says he is pleased to have reached a lease agreement that maintains operations in Portland until a new facility is built roughly 25 miles away in Gray. Carroll says the agreement extends through 2016 into early 2017, giving the museum time to develop the Gray site.

The museum has much of the rolling stock of the old Edaville Railroad in Massachusetts, most of which came from two of Maine's fabled "two-footers," the Bridgton & Harrison and the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes railroads. It operates on about 1.5 miles of track along the Casco Bay waterfront, offering seasonal tourist rides and the popular Polar Express around the Christmas holiday.

A pending zoning change to allow the developers to build taller buildings for residential use is facing opposition from neighbors concerned about the impact on water views, as well as the historic Portland Co. buildings.

The Portland Co. built locomotives, rail cars, and ships at the site.

Maine Narrow Gauge Museum Has Big Plans

(SOURCE:  Trains.com Newswire)

PORTLAND, Maine – The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum has big plans for its proposed move to Gray, about 25 miles north of Portland. The move, which executive director Donnell Carroll hopes will happen in 2016, is estimated to cost $6 million.

That $6 million price tag includes not only the cost of moving 50 pieces of rolling stock and building up to three miles of track, but also for construction of a 9,500 square foot combination ticket office, waiting room, library, archive, office, and meeting space; a carbarn to shelter up to 15 pieces of rolling stock; a roundhouse; and a restoration shop, according to a flyer about the plans distributed recently in the community.

Carroll tells the Munjoy Hill News that he has been in touch with state and federal legislators, and he says their staffs are looking into potential grants the museum may be eligible for. In addition, he plans a fund-raising campaign for private donations, especially from people who are known for their generosity to the state of Maine.

"I know $6 million is a lot of money, but I know we can do it," Carroll says.

The plan for the Gray site is purely a concept at this time, but a committee of museum members will meet soon to refine its wish list before seeking input from design firms and architects.

The property where the museum now has its yard and display building was sold to a developer last year, prompting the planned move to Gray.

Maine Two-foot Steamer on Track to Restoration

(SOURCE:  Trains.com Newswire)

PORTLAND, Maine. – One of Maine's best known two-foot gauge steam locomotives, Bridgton & Saco River 2-4-4T No. 7, is on track to being under steam within the next year and a half. The engine is currently under restoration at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum in Portland.

The nonprofit group has been working on the locomotive since 2008, but suffered a major setback in 2010 when a fire destroyed the museum's engine house. No. 7 was inside the structure at the time and the cab and tender tank were completely destroyed. According to museum Steam Program Manager Jay Monty, those two pieces have been a major part of the restoration, but volunteers have also been focusing on a complete rebuild of the locomotive's boiler. That part of the project is being completed at the Boothbay Railway Museum and should be completed this summer.

No. 7 was built in 1913 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and ran on the B&SR, and later the Bridgton & Harrison, until 1941 when the railroad was scrapped. At the time, the B&H was the state's last two-foot gauge railroad. Later that year, No. 7 and sister engine No. 8 were purchased by Ellis D. Atwood, a Massachusetts businessman who set up his own two-foot gauge railroad around his cranberry bogs in South Carver, Mass. The Edaville Railroad ran as a tourist attraction until 1992 when the entire collection (which included four original Maine two-foot gauge steam locomotives and dozens of freight and passenger cars) was returned to Maine and set up as a museum on the Portland waterfront. No. 7 remained in Massachusetts for nearly a decade and finally returned to Maine in 2002, where it ran under steam for a year before being sidelined. In 2008, the group began another full restoration of the engine.

The Edaville built the locomotive’s current boiler in 1959 and during this most recent restoration, volunteers repaired the shell and installed a new firebox, dry pipe, flues, and stay bolts. Last week, Monty estimated the boiler would return to Portland in mid-summer. Meanwhile, the new tender tank is about 95 percent complete and ready for the final mounting on the frame.

In the past year, the museum has raised more than $40,000 for the project, however the group still needs another $10,000 to cover the re-assembly of the locomotive. Anyone interested in helping should visit www.mainenarrowgauge.org/winter-fundraising-campaign.

When No. 7 is restored to steam in 12-18 months, it will be the museum's only operating steam locomotive. On March 29, former Monson Railroad No. 4, a 4-4-0T, made its last run before being sidelined due to the expiration of the engine's Federal Railroad Administration certificate. The event included photo runs and a night photo session.

“A Day in the Life” National Train Day at Maine Narrow Gauge PORTLAND ME

“A Day in the Life” – National Train Day Celebration

Maine Narrow Gauge Museum

Portland, Maine

Celebrate your love of trains by joining us for “A Day in the Life” – A National Train Day Celebration.  The museum will be a hub of activity May 11th for a celebration of railroads and train personnel.  Activities include demonstrations on hand and whistle signals, coupling the train, and throwing switches.  As a special treat we are offering rides on the Pump Car.  Visitors can stop in the Engine House to glimpse restoration of Monson Steam Locomotive #4 in action!

The museum will offer activities for children and a view of some new exhibits on display.  Fun for the whole family!

Additionally, Maine Operation Lifesaver will be on hand at the museum to offer activities and videos that raise awareness about railroad safety.