Edaville Discussion

Otto Vondrak wrote:

steamer69 wrote:I'm over the bickering between the staunch Edaville supporters and the staunch Maine supporters....
How about ways to galvanize the community to save an icon of American history and a Veterans dream....I would much rather read about that than who from the Edaville fans "hates" MNG and visa verse.....Just sayin....cause when the rails are torn up, the rest of the equipment is sold or scrapped, and the houses are built....there's no putting them back.

Well said. The time for bickering is over. Either band together to try to save what you want, or walk away.

-otto-

Otto, I could not agree with you more.
The best parts of EDAville have moved North. I hope the park can be saved as an attraction, I really do, but that's no reason to put down MNGR. If I had the $$, I'd save it myself. Likewise, if I could, I'd buy the pieces and either donate them, or build my own park RR someplace, but again, no $ flow.
The way it breaks down is: MNGR: no ROOM for more stuff, (and the Hudswell's boiler isn't certified to operate by or in the State Of Maine anyway.) WW&F: could maybe use the one remaining authentic coach, but that's about it. No room for much else, and the trucks left there are no good for WW&F. SRR Park/Philips? MAYBE they could use the H. C., if they could get it past the State Boiler Certification, but they're not exactly rolling in cash, and they also suffer from lack of space.
BOOTHBAY? Could maybe take a car or two, or maybe even the H. C loco because they can do whatever was needed to make it pass the State Cert. But all these places have limited space and the existing historic collection has been shuffled and dealt out to other sites by MNGR as much as they can for now.
I agree that if worst came to worst, the remaining cars with any historic value should be saved and sent back to Maine IF they came from there. That is not saying I wish to see EDAville sold off at auction by any means. I hope for the best, but If miracles cost $10M these days, I'm not holding my breath.
Oh, and honestly, YES, I WOULD like to see the remaining diesel(s?) saved too, but where would they go? All the above mentioned sites (except possibly Boothbay) already have at least one diesel.

Does anyone think that IRM may be interested in getting a little narrow????

I sure hope someone wants to get narrow...anyone heard anything new?

Edaville Sale Brochure

http://www.trains-trams-trolleys.com/Ed ... ochure.pdf

Mike

Slightly O/T, but has anyone heard more about the visiting steam engine for this year's Festival of Lights? Where's it from? Boothbay maybe?

It is one of Booth Bays' engines. I'm not sure which one it is, but it is from Booth Bay....

Its Boothbays #13

The Off--loading album on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?ai ... 2252819836

CVRA7 wrote:I saw the grave a number of years back. IIRC it's in a cemetary along state route 58, fairly easy to find. The graveyard is within earshot but not sight of the former railroad grade. I remember the whistle signal being given as the train passed closest to the final resting place of one of the most important figures in New England 2-foot gauge railroad history.
Ellis Atwood did what few of his generation ever did - he spent some serious money saving dozens of cars, locomotives, and other 2 footer items from what would have been certain death by scrapping during World War II. I call him the Patron Saint of 2 foot railway preservation.

Atwood bought the Maine equipment for one reason- business. He thought it would make his harvesting more efficient. He laid the track on the berms around his cranberry bogs and used the trains to haul the berries out. It was only when railfans learned where the narrow guage stuff went and started showing up on his property that he realized he could make money as a tourist attraction and Edaville was born.

Was Atwood a rail aficionado before his cranberry railroad ?

According to this site, he was:

http://members.cox.net/oldedaville/index.html

Thanks Mr. Blaisdell. Great article. You don't get as good a biography the further we get from Atwood's time. He was quite a guy.

CannaScrews wrote:Does anyone think that IRM may be interested in getting a little narrow????

I would be surprised, since I don't think they have any other narrow gauge in their collection.

None of us have any control on when our time is up, but the manner of EDA's death seems almost inappropriate. Getting banged by a furnace clean-out cover isn't on my top ten ways that I hope to go. I'll bet you that EDA would have preferred to go holding on to the Johnson (no jokes !) of his beloved Number 7.

Thank you to the person who posted the link to the Edaville brochure.

Unfortunately the property on the west side of the Atwood reservoir belongs to AD Makepeace and there is no easement for a railroad right of way. I would guess that the sale was made at about the same time that the track on the west side was torn up. That would also explain why they went to the trouble of removing all of the ties as well as the iron.

Unless a deal can be struck with Makepeace the option of looping around the reservoir is off the table.

I would have thought that the owner of Edaville would have had the foresight to leave that option on the table. Some of their track is on Makepeace property via an easement. It would have been wise to have an easement around the entire reservoir in case there was a need in the future to re-lay the track for a longer run.

I think that the short loop is a good idea as an option but the long ride around the reservoir and steam make the place more attractive. The short loop would be useful for some runs during the day for those who have kids and who may want a shorter ride.

10 million is a lot of money. The fact that the price does not include the ability to go around the reservoir by some route in my opinion is a deal breaker at that price.

A causeway towards the west side of the reservoir would allow the developer to keep their waterfront property and at the same time allow for a larger loop. I doubt the reservoir is very deep. Culverts could be used to allow water from one side to the other.

The fact that the Edaville owner did not have the foresight to maintain a right of way that goes around the Atwood Reservoir is most unfortunate for any new owner.

As regards to railroad oriented foresight, I have to say that my reaction to watching Edaville throughout the years has been a sad one in that all of a sudden, it seemed very obvious that this was an "amusement park" rather than a "rail buff's amusement park". I believe that that was it's downfall as it lost it's identity. It seemed to me that the trains were considered a general nuisance, with the exeption that the truncated loop was still a ticket draw. Even that was a "train ride", and not the ex- Maine narrow guage steam experience that many of us remember down there and loved. It seemed like the "Thomas" replica was more at home than Number "7". We had a great time on the ferris wheel and carousal and looking at the cranberry display. We would have rather been on original narrow gauge coach's pulled by No. 7, and looking at the railroad museum and annual railroad collectible show. Still a good time, but you could clearly tell that the new management wasn't "railroad oriented". I'm hoping that it might come back (?) This year, we're now 50 years beyond steam. It's no longer just an "old model" of train to many. Now, it's a curious relic from the past that will draw non-rail buffs and buffs. Most Americans now have never seen an operating steam locomotive. I really think that if it were in the right hands, with the nostalgia that many folks feel about the place along with this new perspective that I speak about, that Edaville would have a real shot at thriving. If I had the money, I'd buy it. I'm hoping that somebody with a few more bucks than I feels the same way.