Edaville derailment

(from 12/30/04 edition of Enterprise)

Rail car jumps track at Edaville USA

By Elaine Allegrini, Enterprise staff writer
A railroad car carrying some 60 passengers derailed Wednesday while traveling the narrow-gauge rail around the cranberry bogs at Edaville USA.

When the car finally came to a stop, it was off the track and listing at a 30-degree angle, according to a Plymouth man who was on board with his wife, children and friends when the accident happened.

"We were about halfway through the trip when the car started rocking back and forth and the train came to an abrupt stop, almost at a right angle with the car ahead," said Jack Coleman in a call from the train.

Police reported the incident was "very minor" and passengers who were on the train when it "jumped the track" were led to another train to continue their trip. There were no injuries, police added.

Coleman said nobody panicked and all were taking the situation in stride. He spoke over the background voices of children who were on the train ride as it wound through the bogs off Route 58 in South Carver for the display of holiday lights.

However, Coleman said there were a few scary moments when the train apparently malfunctioned.

"It rocked one way, then the other way, very suddenly," he said. "I thought it was going to tip over."

The cars immediately before and after the derailed car appeared to remain on the track, Coleman said.

Passengers were advised to remain in the car, he said.

The derailment occurred about 5:15 p.m., according to Coleman. Carver police said they were notified at 5:27 p.m.

Brenda Johnson and Robert Julian, who took over the operation of the 1,300-acre park earlier this year, did not respond to requests for comments on Wednesday night.

Interesting. I thought Edaville was out of business and that all of the rolloing stock was now in Portland, ME. Did I miss something?

Your Edaville questions answered!

Will Edaville be the way I remember it from the past?
Yes and no. Edaville is back, but it's different than it used to be due to the fact that most of the original equipment from the old Edaville has been relocated to the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum in Portland, Maine. Therefore, it has been necessary for the new owners, Cranrail Corporation, to use the remaining equipment and seek out different locomotives and rolling stock to replace what was moved. This is an on-going task, and more equipment will become available as time goes on. Many of the original buildings from Edaville were over 40 years old, andthe New England weather and disuse had taken their toll.
It was decided to demolish some of the older structures and replace them over time. The aged depot building next to the platform has been remodeled and is now called the Freight House Cafe, in which food is served. The smaller depot building was torn down and replaced with a brand new structure that follows the design elements of the larger stationbuilding. The new depot building houses a gift shop and brand new restrooms. The old cinder-block restroom building has been demolished, along with the Cranberry Junction building near the parking lot, the machine shop near the platform and numerous smaller structures. Some of the more popular elements of the old Edaville have been retained by the new management, such as the Holiday Festival of Lights, which runs between mid-November and New Year's Day, the carousel and other free kiddie rides.

http://www.edaville.org/faqs/general.htm

Any idea if this will effect the Mass Bay excursion? I think it was to be on Sunday.

-Justin

From the 12/31 edition

Edaville owner says ice caused mishap

By Elaine Allegrini, Enterprise staff writer
CARVER — Trains are expected to resume operation tonight after ice caused a passenger car to jump the track Wednesday at Edaville USA.

The narrow-gauge railroad ride through cranberry bogs illuminated with holiday decorations was shut down after the derailment and remained closed Thursday.

No injuries were reported among the 60 passengers in the derailed car, who were transferred to another car and taken back to the station.

Brenda Johnson, one of the owners of the 1,300-acre park, said the melting snow turned to ice at a crossing over a bog road, causing the car to jump the tracks.

"It's like an act of God," Johnson said in a statement Thursday. "Planks cover the bog roads so sometimes the water doesn't drain quickly enough after a heavy snow. In this case, the water turned to ice, which expanded and caused the passenger car to leave the tracks."

Johnson said local and state safety officials were notified of the incident and Carver fire and police responded quickly and helped passengers exit the railroad car. A second train brought people back to the station.

Patrons who were on the train when the mishap occurred were given a refund and tickets to return. People in the park at the time, but not on the train, were given a choice of a refund or tickets for another time, Johnson said.

The exhibit is one of the country's largest outdoor holiday-lights displays with more than 4 million lights and has been in business nearly 60 years. It remains open through Jan. 2.

mc367 wrote:Any idea if this will effect the Mass Bay excursion? I think it was to be on Sunday.

-Justin

I doubt Otto will be on that trip.

DERAILMENT AT EDAVILLE!!!...Oh the Humanity! Give me a break! If this is what passes for news in the local press we're in trouble! Next headline will be because someone got dizzy on the "teacup" ride at the carnival!

I guess they'll have to invest in re-railing equipment in the event of another derailment ocurrence.

And Mr. Highrail, you may want to provide the link to the newspaper article instead of copying and pasting it, which is against forum policy. Thanks so much!!

Thanks for the tip on the no pasting request.

Steve

... and I'll hold my tongue regarding Mass Bay RRE.

It's too bad when operations like Edaville suffer a derailment like this- it can only drive up their liability (not to mention the repairs on equipment) and in turn, their cost of operations... making it very hard to keep the doors open.

-otto-

highrail wrote:Thanks for the tip on the no pasting request.

Steve

Not a problem, I understand

However, as Otto mentioned, the additional thing to worry about derailments at museums is the potential closure because of that obvious safety hazard that derailments create and that can scare passengers and tourists away from specific rail museum attractions where it happens. However, let's just hope that this was just an isolated incident and that no future ocurrences happen especially in Edaville.

There's also the fact that if you've never been on a train before, and you take a ride on the cute little Edaville train and the darn thing derails, you're probably never going to want to ride on a "real" train.

Uhhhh......that's even worse then.

I hope we never have such a situation if any museum train derails and that causes someone to shy away from riding any real train, that would be bad.

I have never quite understood the nostalgia surrounding the Edaville operation. I recall visiting the railroad for the first time as a kid in the early 60's with my Dad. I even recall seeing the Flying Yankee being kept in a quite neglected state. The equipment was certainly historic, but not even from Massachusetts. I should add that a thanks is due the owner for saving the equipment, but that is about it. The location at Edaville, unless I missed something, is not historic, nor original to the narrow gauge, just old. So, why the hype about the "last run" on a portion of the site, when it really holds no significance at all. It is nice that much of the original narrow gauge equip has been moved back to Maine...which is a topic for another time, but on the whole, I cannot seem to get excited about whether or not Edaville even exists in its present form.

Steve

Some Maine two-foot gauge equipment operated at South Carver longer than it operated in Maine originally. Most of the Maine lines ran from about 1880 to 1941 or 44. Some less than that. Edaville ran from 1946 to 1991 and then from the late 90s to the present. So there was plenty of time to get attached to the railroad being at S. Carver. And parts of the Edaville route looked more like Maine than Maine itself... especially the part out in the bogs and reservoir area. Much of that looked like parts of the Bridgton & Harrison... same sandy soil, ponds, pine trees, etc.

That's why the sentiment. The tradition of going down to Edaville at Christmas when all 4 steam trains were chasing each other around the loop was something that hundreds of thousands of families looked forward to each season for decades.

The trains were more at home down there than they are today on the Portland urban waterfront, no matter how noble the move up there may have been. And it is now all lost. The remaining operation at Edaville is no more the thing people remember. That is gone, probably never to be ressurected.

And it is sad, and that's why.