01/05/2002
Last visit for another season.
I finally had a chance to get a photo of #21 with the new bell. The sun was out and the locomotive was gleaming all over - all the brass was polished and the boiler jacket looked almost like a waxed car in the show room.
Excursion #112 was in the shop for modification. The crew is lowering the roof by about a foot to lower its center of gravity. You can see that some parts of the steel frame have already been removed. Because the frame is enclosed by wood sheathing, this process takes some time. This modification should help with some of the tracking problems they experienced lately. Other excursion cars are slated for the same treatment.
It looked like a lot of new ballast went into the curve at Cranberry Lake Park. After the problems there in the past the train rolled through the dip very smoothly.
Many changes will take place while Edaville is "resting" after a very busy Christmas season, I will try to record them as I see them happen. Check back here and don't forget to check the official site. We are also planning the next issue of the "Edaville Whistle" for about April, which will have more information about improvements to the railroad and the park in general.
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12/27/2001
"Anne Elizabeth" running great.
#21 was running very smooth on my visit today. Since the last time I saw her she has received a new bell. It is larger than the old one and looks better proportioned to the rest of the locomotive.
Combine #11 was in service and cut in right behind the Locomotive. I rode in it and it runs nice and smooth compared to the excursion cars. Other people commented favorably about the heated seats and the noise from the generator in the baggage compartment was unnoticeable.
11/23/2001
Combine #11 is almost ready.
Combine #11 is still in the shop but just about ready to go into service. The crew had to take some shortcuts to get the car ready in time, I hope they are only temporary. The fold-over seats have been replaced with window benches and the clerestory windows are covered with plywood.
Two trains were running tonight, both pulled by diesels. But #21 was waiting on the shop track under steam and diesel #3 was switched out for the 5:30 train. It was good to hear the steam whistle again as the train pulled out of the station. (And they didn't have the Christmas tree lights on along the locomotive's running board!!!!)
10/27/2001
Combine #11 is making progress.
As I visited the shop crew today they were working on replacing the rotted wooden beams on an old truck with channel iron to make them last longer. It looked like they utilized the original hardware from the truck in conjunction with the new steel "beams".
Repairs to the woodwork of the combine's roof seemed to be complete. All the clerestory windows have to be reinstalled and it still needs to get fiberglassed. The rounded corner posts on one of the baggage doors have been replaced. The inside is totally stripped out, including the paneling. Much work needs to be done to have the car ready for the Christmas Festival of Lights where it will be at the head of one of the trains with a generator in the baggage compartment.
A couple of outside contractors were busy outlining all three active Edaville locomotives with strings of lights. Personally I have some mixed emotions about it, but maybe it will look nice in the dark . . .
10/08/2001
"Anne Elizabeth" shows what she can do.
Saturday, the first day of this year's Cranberry Festival, was the first day the "Anne Elizabeth" performed again for the public after her summer in the shop. During the day she had some problems with hot boxes and went back into the shop for adjustments on Sunday. Thanks to the dedicated shop crew working overtime she was back on the rails today.
When I arrived at about 10:30 the "Anne Elizabeth" was sitting on the turntable lead starting to build steam. Diesel #2 and #3 took out the first two trains, but for the 1:00 train #3 was switched out and #21 took over. It was beautiful to see her leave with a train in a cloud of white steam!
09/24/2001
"Anne Elizabeth" is back on her feet.
As already mentioned in the discussion forum, the "Anne Elizabeth" has been set down on the rails again. Some of the rods are already installed to connect the drivers, but more parts are still spread on the floor. The smoke box has received a fresh coat of flat black paint and on Saturday the steam dome, head light, and part of the glossy boiler jacket were still masked off with newspaper. They also had to remove the cab floor to work under it, this needs to be reinstalled again.
While the locomotive is off the blocks, the tender is now sitting on them. During the last Christmas season it was noticeably leaning to one side. Both trucks needed repairs. The rear truck was complete and ready to be pushed under the tender, the front one was taken apart and the crew was in the process of replacing the springs and performing other necessary repairs and lubrication.
08/25/2001
Locomotive #250 is in place
After arriving in parts, #250 has been put back together and is sitting in its new location heading the string of cabooses.
08/24/2001
Locomotive #250 has arrived from Concord, NH.
Yesterday afternoon 3 flatbed trailers brought the long awaited ex-Wolfboro RR locomotive #250 to Edaville. The tender was the first to arrive, the frame with the wheels arrived about an hour later. Unfortunately I didn't have time to stay for the actual unloading, I just saw the large crane being moved into position. At that time the last truck with the cab and boiler had not yet arrived. The locomotive is dropped in front of the string of cabooses across the tracks from the Santa Fe diesel. This will give visitors a good way to see the size difference between standard gauge equipment and the Edaville Two Footer as the train passes between the two locos.
The shop crew has the first two drivers installed into the frame of the "Anne Elizabeth" and are lining up the bearing blocks for the third one.
The toastrack cars were sitting outside receiving their final touches of paint. It looked like they are just about ready for service and will make an interesting addition to the rolling stock for special occasions.
08/06/2001
The "Toast Rack" cars are changing
The 2 toast rack cars that were part of the deal when the "Anne Elizabeth" was purchased are in the shop for another rebuilding job. For the Christmas Festival of Lights last winter some benches had been removed and the cars were used as generator cars to light and heat the train. Now the benches are reinstalled but the roofs have been removed. It looks like the cars might see some train service in the future.
It was refreshing to walk into the shop and see someone work on the "Anne Elizabeth". Some of the rod guides for the suspension springs are back in place and it looked like the crew was also working to install the machined bearing blocks. The tender was also moved into the shop to check the trucks and try to figure out why it was always leaning to one side.
Coach #21 looks great again. It is painted and was outside with the carpenter doing some work around a window sill.
07/15/2001
Slow but sure progress on "Anne Elizabeth"
I was able to take a closer look at the "Anne Elizabeth" today and saw some of the changes that were taking place. Not only does the crew need to replace pins and bushings in the linkages, they even had to convert metric holes in the frame where parts needed to be mounted to hold fractional size bolts. The holes had to be welded and then drilled out and reamed to the correct size. The ways on the blocks that slide inside the frame to allow the axles vertical movement were flared on both ends instead of having parallel sides. Again, they are welded first to build up material and then machined at a milling machine.
Coach #21 is starting to look better again. Both end platforms are now steel and the rotted frame and siding has been replaced. The older coaches that were not part of the move to Maine in 1993 need a lot of restoration, but at least the work is slowly getting done now.
07/09/2001
The fire truck is running again
Today I took a nice ride on Edaville's new fire truck. It was freshly painted in fire-engine-red and has a nice siren and bell to delight the visitors. We were taken all the way out to Peacedale through the bogs and the breeze on the open truck was quite refreshing on a hot and muggy day.
The shop crew continues work on coach #21, a carpenter was just replacing some of the rounded corner pieces. The track gang ran out of "new" ties and spent the day salvaging ties from the pile of track sections behind the car shop. They just burn off the spike heads with a torch to remove the plates that hold the old sections of rail in place. Edaville bought them from the Boston tunnel project a few years back to use the ties to replace the rotted ones along the line.
07/03/2001
My aching back!
All you readers out there spending money for a membership at the local health club: you are wasting your money! I got my work out for free yesterday. Savery Moore and I volunteered to "do track" for a day at Edaville to help out Steve Boothroyd, who is in charge of track maintenance. Both of us agreed that it was an enjoyable day, although it was tough. It gave us a lot of respect for the men who do this every day to keep the track safe. We worked in the curve at the Atwood Whistle Post and a little farther down the Straightaway. The photo shows yours truely swinging the spiking maul with Savery supporting the tie by forcing it up with the spike puller. Ben Phinney is looking on while Steve took the picture. This was early in the day and I sent a few spikes flying when the maul didn't hit them squarely. Savery got a little concerned and held a shovel in front of his face. Later in the day my aim was getting better, although my arms were getting tired.
By the end of the day we had replaced 32 ties with 26 of them spiked down!
Back at the shop the crew is currently restoring coach #21. Much of the letter board has already been replaced and both end platforms were pretty much rotted away. The frames on one end have been replaced by steel, the other end was still wide open.
06/16/2001
An example of Yankee Ingenuity
You may have read the messages about the work train in the Edaville discussion forum. It was sitting idle outside the car shop today and is a masterpiece of Yankee ingenuity. The shop crew took a couple hoppers from bog sanders and mounted them on tipper truck frames. A chute was added at each end to direct gravel to the outsides of the track. To be able to use the front end loader to fill the hoppers they added a couple of deflectors to the tops of the cars. Instant ballast train! They haul the loaded train out to the work site, activate the dump mechanism, and as the train slowly moves along ballast is dumped between and outside the rails. Now if somebody could just come up with a simple way to dig out the old dirt between the ties before re-ballasting . . .
Anybody interested in critters will enjoy an old Bailey that showed up near the car shop. It appears that this machine was part of the deal when CranRail purchased the Atwood estate. These critters were built in the 1920s and 30s by Hugh R. Bailey right here in South Carver. He again put a tipper frame to good use by adding a drive chain to one of the axles, put a Ford engine on the frame for power and added a seat. Note the gas tank under the seat! These little machines were sold to the local growers as tractors to work the bogs. I don't know what the future holds for this little tractor.
Work is also moving ahead on #21. Many parts with bad bushings have been repaired and were hanging up to dry after a coat of primer had been applied. There is still much more work to be done, but it is progress.
05/26/2001
Great opening day!
I rode the first train of the season and enjoyed every bit of it! The cars were all freshly painted, the weather was perfect, and I met some nice people on the ride. The train left the station along the old main line near the coal bin but stopped before we got there. We didn't know why at the time, but after the trip the engineer told me the reason. Shortly after we left the station he picked up a radio transmission, "We are off the track!" That was enough for him to stop the train because he thought a car had derailed. Turns out that the message came from the track gang indicating that they had finished their work and had cleared the track.
The train stopped again at Peacedale for the conductor to raise the flag. The village must be a popular place to live; two new buildings are being built.
The track gang was packing up their equipment near Eastman Flume as we passed by. Edaville has hired DeAngelis railroad construction to help with the track alignment while their own employees are busy replacing ties. This spot near the Flume has been a soft spot for a long time and looks good with the new ballast. Planned trackwork on the new mainline is the reason that the train left along the old line, too.
The shop crew was busy with flat car #202. One of the trucks was removed for some major work while the rest of the car was being sanded in preparation for a paint job. These trucks are in rough shape after years of "deferred maintenance".
Although much is getting done by the crew, there are just not enough hands available to spend time on the "Anne Elizabeth" too. She is still sitting on blocks with all the linkages spread out on the shop floor.
05/20/2001
Edaville is ready for another season
Looks like Edaville will have some clean looking cars this season. All the excursion cars have received a new coat of paint. Coach #26 was getting a new paint job while the truck was removed from one end for maintenance. The carpentry work on the caboose looked complete and it has also been repainted. So far the lettering was not yet applied, but there is another week until trains will run again.
The "Anne Elizabeth" is still sitting on blocks and it didn't look like much had changed. She is supposed to be ready for the Cranberry Harvest, but I am still hoping it will be sooner.
05/01/2001
Edaville buys Atwood property!
After lengthy negotiations with the Atwood estate the Edaville railroad finally owns the land again that the track passes through. For roughly 50 years the operators of the railroad had to lease the right-of-way, which sometimes created difficulties. Last Wednesday, April 25, 2001, the railroad closed the deal with the Atwood estate. This was another great step to make sure the railroad is here to stay. Ownership of the property will make long range planning possible without having to worry if the lease would be renewed.
04/12/2001
"Invisible" changes
Well, the railroad is slowly coming back to life as more and more people return to work. The office staff was busy with orders and paperwork when I visited today; the shop crew was sawing and grinding. Since my last visit it seemed like not much had changed on the Anne Elizabeth, but upon closer inspection I saw some new pins and bushings in parts of the suspension system. Whenever possible they try to fill the worn sections of the original pins with weld and then turn them down to fit, but some are so far gone that they have to be turned from new stock.
Caboose #554 had part of the outside sheathing removed and there was evidence of a splice in the frame to strengthen the body. The crew also cut a hole in the floor to reach some inaccessible bolts that needed to be tightened.
Although there were not many obvious changes, the shop crew has performed much maintenance work and modifications on the rolling stock over the past month.
03/19/2001
Getting ready for another season
Today was a very interesting visit at Edaville, because I had a chance to watch the crew work on the running gear of the "Anne Elizabeth". She was sitting in the car shop on wooden blocks with her drivers, rods, and all linkages removed. It seems that almost every connecting pin in the moving links for the brake and valve gear was badly worn. All the parts were spread out over the floor and they were still driving pins out of the links. Although the job is dirty it seemed that everybody involved felt good about what they were doing. They already could see a clean, smooth running locomotive later this season.
While I was there they also brought in excursion car #113 and jacked up one end. The truck was rolled out for inspection and I was told that this one was built in the shops "from scratch". It was patterned after some of the original Maine trucks, but made entirely from steel with roller bearings. Since they can no longer order 2' gauge trucks they have to construct their own.
Most of the new excursion cars also had their road numbers painted on by now. Some changes had taken place from the numbers that I had been told last year. The two ex Colorado cars are still #128 and #129. Last year I was told that the new Edaville shop cars were going to be #111, #112, and #113, now they are numbered #112, #113, and #114. The small excursion car that was built by the CBC shop as #101 is now #130.
Although some other work is currently more important, Edaville is planning to continue building more cars this year as time permits.
Diesel #11 and #12 and the small red coach have been sold to Ron Trottier, the owner of a small tourist line near Rome, NY. The equipment is currently sitting next to the ramp siding waiting to be picked up.
Edaville is still actively looking for suitable steam locomotives for the railroad! If you have any leads please contact them.
02/03/2001
Edaville is very quiet
It was a totally new experience for me to visit Edaville while it was closed for the season. I had hoped to find somebody to talk to about future plans for the coming year, but everything was locked up tight. Over night a thin dusting of snow had fallen and the only visible footprints were from me and my wife.
The last train was still sitting at the station platform without its locomotive. The only visible change since my January visit was a string of four of the five new excursion cars sitting next to the coal bin. The last time I saw them was in the car shop where two of them had their trucks removed to replace the springs.
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