Maine Narrow Gauge Museum Discussion

Peekskill is in New York. It's on the Hudson River (East side), just south of West Point and about 45 miles north of New York City. There's not too much information about this railroad, other than it existed. I think at one point Otto had put up some information on it.

The discussion on previous two foot operations was interesting an entertaining.

It would be interesting to see a rundown of 2 footers that are in use today. I suppose that it would make sense to limit it to tourist and museum railroads to start with.

Maine seems to be doing well with WWF, Boothbay, MNR, and SRRL.

Mass is at about 5 to 10 percent of 1 two footer. Not sure if it should be counted or not.

I think that Loon Mountain is 2 foot but it's pretty small. Not sure if it qualifies.

Steamer (not Steamer69) visited two two footers in NY State, not too long ago. One was at a X Mas tree farm and was used to carry customers up to the trees. The other was a private 2 foot layout with almost a mile of track. The Xmas tree farm carrying paying passengers so I suppose it should count.

number7 wrote:The discussion on previous two foot operations was interesting an entertaining.

It would be interesting to see a rundown of 2 footers that are in use today. I suppose that it would make sense to limit it to tourist and museum railroads to start with.

Maine seems to be doing well with WWF, Boothbay, MNR, and SRRL.

Mass is at about 5 to 10 percent of 1 two footer. Not sure if it should be counted or not.

I think that Loon Mountain is 2 foot but it's pretty small. Not sure if it qualifies.

Steamer (not Steamer69) visited two two footers in NY State, not too long ago. One was at a X Mas tree farm and was used to carry customers up to the trees. The other was a private 2 foot layout with almost a mile of track. The Xmas tree farm carrying paying passengers so I suppose it should count.

I would have to say that Loon Mountain would have to count. It's not very long, but it is a fully steam operated line for hauling skiers/guests across the property.

See the "Current 2' " thread. I put up all of the two footers that I know of in New England.

Good list, thank you. I added one to it. A tree farm in NY state. Steamer visited it recently. 2 foot gauge with a steep grade at one point. I believe it has almost a mile of track.

The story goes that George Mansfield or something like that saw the FFestiniog in Wales and decided to try 2 foot in MA based on what he saw in Wales.

The B&B was not a success but soon afterwards there were several successful two footers operating in Maine.

After the two footers went out of business, Atwood bought as much of the equipment as he could find.

It was embargoed because it might have been needed for a 2 foot gauge rr in India I believe it was.

Thus he wasn't able to get started until after WWII.

He setup the railroad to aid in running his cranberry plantation, that was the excuse, no doubt he did it mainly because he was a railfan.

Word of what he was doing was in the press at the time.

People starting visiting and asked for rides.

He tried to discourage it but later gave in.

Does anyone have any additions/corrections to that story?

In the early 90's, most of the equipment was moved up to the present Maine Narrow Gauge RR in Portland.

Can it be said that the B&B was the first two footer in the US or do we have evidence or reason to believe that 2' was in use at the same time as the B&B in the US and Mansfield was unaware of it?

I skimmed through the Edaville chapter of the "Maine Two Footers" book as well as Moody's book on Edaville.

There was no mention of trying to discourage visitors. One of the videos on Edaville narrated by Jim Boyd stated that they had tried various methods to discourage visitors but I think they were mistaken. If you watch the first video then the second, you see where they made several corrections.

Interestingly enough, in the beginning the passengers rode for free but could purchase a souvenir ticket for 5 cents.

Also of interest is that the book had a picture of one of the tickets and on the ticket it stated that Edaville was the only 2 foot gauge RR in the US.

I suspect that it was the only one that they were aware of, and maybe they were the only two foot tourist type RR but I'm sure there had to have been other 2 footers in industrial or military service based on other posts in this thread.

The Maine Two Footers book does confirm that they did not get started on bringing the equipment down from Maine until late 1945.

Videos from my trip on the MNGRR this morning.
Monson No. 4 under surveilance before the 12:00 Train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cri-QGM8 ... e=youtu.be
Monson No. 4 returning with the 10:00 train
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2nGPrCU ... e=youtu.be

Any more news on the possible move to Gray (or any other location)?

Jon

Last I read and have been told Jon is that Gray is the place they plan on going. They only need about 3 Mil to make it happen. This is to cover the move. Sounds expensive? That's what I thought so this is what I'm thinking.

This has got to be the cost for the entire move, to include track and structures. I have not seen anyone to confirm this guess, but it's what I'm thinking.

Mike

Not to hijack, but since Edaville was brought up, and in question. Does anyone know what the h#ll they are building down there for there second steam engine? I really want to like that place, but they are so (for lack of better words) WEIRD...

That question would probably be better off in the Edaville discussion, which can be found here: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 26&t=76627

The Portland Daily Sun had an article on MNGRR last week, discussing their results for the first half of 2012 and the move to Gray.

The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum reported a 30 percent increase in attendance for the 2012 season....

The increased attendance figures reflect a comparison with the same period last year — January to June, Zittel explained in an email to The Daily Sun. "We're actually at a six-year high for that same period which is encouraging news for the rest of the season!" she said.
...
On April 29, Jerry Angier, president of the museum board, reported that the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad & Museum went through a year of "transition."
"During that period members of the Relocation Committee have met with the Gray Town Manager, representatives from the town and the owner of the Gray Plaza," Angier wrote in a report on the museum's website (http://www.mainenarrowgauge.org/news). "After thoughtful and careful consideration, the board voted to move the railroad and museum to Gray. This was not an easy decision for me and my fellow board members. We also voted to commit our organization to some serious heavy lifting of physical assets as well as raising an amount that we estimate to be in excess of $3,000,000."

The Press Herald had an article Saturday on MNGRR's Polar Express:

Allison Tevsh Zittel, executive director of the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum, said about 8,500 people are expected to ride the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad's Polar Express between now and Christmas.

It's a major fundraiser for the nonprofit, which operates May through October and then during the holiday season. Tickets are $25 for coach seats and $40 for first class, and that includes hot chocolate, cookies, a reindeer bell and a visit from Santa Claus.

"The best part is all of our train crews are volunteers," she said. "I can't say enough about the guys who put in all the hours to make it work."

Regarding move to Gray, what track (or former ROW) would they use?

I looked up the "Gray Plaza" mentioned in the press release, and I don't see any marked ROW in the area. There is a linear feature shown a few hundred yards east of the plaza, but is looks pretty short.

There are a pair of marked tracks 3-5 miles to the east of the plaza that join further to the north near Danville, then split again, one heading for Gorham NH and points west and the other towards Lewiston on the way to Waterville. I infer that these are the active Saint Lawrence and Atlantic and PAR rights of way. Is this correct? I would assume that neither of these would be involved in the narrow gauge museum relocation.