For the next 5 years David W. Eldredge, a nephew of Ellis Atwood, managed the railroad and kept it running. It was Ellis' wife Elthea's decision to keep the railroad at Edaville. She refused offers to sell the equipment even when aproached by a representative from Disneyland, Inc.

Finally, on November 8, 1955, it was purchased by F. Nelson Blount. Mr. Blount was a distant cousin of Mr. Atwood and a lover of steam powered machinery. Because of his talent in business he had become a millionare before he reached the age of 30, and was able to indulge himself in various hobbies. Collecting steam engines was one of them, and Edaville gave him the opportunity to also become his own engineer.

The Flying Yankee
PostCard from my collection

It was during his leadership that the museum expanded and much of the standard gauge equipment was set up for display. From the B&M railroad he received a complete passenger train, including locomotive #1455 and private car #777. The president of the B&M at the time also donated the "Flying Yankee" to Edaville, the oldest streamlined train in existance.

Mr. Blount had a large collection of Kentucky rifles and part of that collection found its way into the museum as well. Also included were clothes and guns that at one time belonged to Wyatt Earp. Many of his over 40 antique fire trucks were also on display at Edaville. One wing in the museum was set up to represent an 1800s street scene, complete with storefronts and display windows full of antique items. Mr. Blount secured this collection from the Hayes company, which had specialized in setting up period display scenes.

In 1958 he brought Dave Barnes to Edaville who was instrumental in securing and installing a collection of signals from different railroads around the country. Besides the historic value of the collection, it is a much needed safety feature when up to 4 trains were running at the peak of the Christmas season. Dave unfortunately passed away in 2006.

Another one of Mr. Blount's endeavors was the establishment of Steamtown, a collection of locomotives once located at Bellows Falls, VT. As a pilot he often used his own plane to commute between Steamtown and his home in Dublin, NH. It was on his flight back home on August 31, 1967, that he attempted an emergency landing in a field only a few miles from his home and his plane struck a tree. Mr. Blount died instantly and Edaville was once again without a leader.