Waiting in the wings. As Monson Locomotive #4 retires (for the near term), the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum is actively working on the next locomotive, which will power its trains on the Portland Waterfront. You are looking at the chassis, cab and tank of Bridgton & Harrison (formerly Bridgton & Saco River) #7. This 1913-vintage, 33-ton, inside-frame Forney was a product of the Baldwin Locomotive Works. She was used in passenger, freight and mixed service on the 21 mile line from Bridgton Junction to Harrison, Maine, together with a larger sister, Baldwin #8. In the 1920s, the line was re-organized and became known as the Bridgton & Harrison Railroad, which operated until 1941, becoming the last of Maine's famous 2-foot railroads. The Bridgton sisters escaped the scrappers later that year, when Ellis D. Atwood, a Massachusetts businessman and rail enthusiast, purchased the pair for use at his cranberry growing operation South Carver. Together with a pair of Monson Railroad engines, the transplated 2-foot railroad equipment eventually became a tourist railroad that operated for the next 45 years! The so-called "Edaville Railroad" became a Massachusetts Institution, delighting generations of young and old. Sadly, poor economic times finally closed the place in 1992. Once again, a white knight rode in to save the little engines. The newly organized Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum purchased most of the Edaville Collection and moved it to Portland, Maine. Although a number of issues kept #7 in Massachusetts for nearly another decade, she finally made it home in 2002 and was restored to operation in 2003. Unfortunately, she ran in Portland for just one season, before being sidelined, as FRA began oversight of the operation. The #7 needed a lot of work in order to be compliant with Part 230 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Since 2004, the museum has been diligently working to bring #7 back to operation. The locomotive's boiler has spent time in both Alna and Boothbay, getting extensive repairs. In addition the chassis, cab and tank have been under repair in Portland. Work on this engine is slowly reaching it's conclusion, and if all goes well, we should see this Baldwin beauty back on the rails sometime in 2015.
For a look at what this locomotive looked like in operation back in 2003 click here.
