An immeasurable thanks to those cinematographs that went in the middle of nowhere in all weathers in a time where roads and transportations were in their "infancy". Now their tapes are like save for ever. Imagine them with today equipment !!
I remember an earlier version of this film - due to the sudden appearance of the Ffestiniog ! - but much more of it is totally new to me. Thank God for Ellis D Attwood, and for all his latter day disciples for keeping the Maine 2 footers alive. Just love them
Great little history. Thank you for sharing it. Those swervy curvy fate paths strike again - this time, within a cranberry bog. We go in one direction for a thing or a place we have visions of, never knowing our real destination is the complete opposite of what we wanted ... and it is good!
_Narra_ gauge. Like a _marra_ bone. My Grandma worked in the dispatch office of the Union RR in Monessen PA. That's the way she talked, narra gauge, marra none, worsh rag... She called a couch a davenport, and the stew bums lived in the bushes along the tracks, but the wildmen lived in them deepwoods.
Thank you very much for the time and effort to share this. I’m on the South Shore of Massachusetts just up from Carver. That was a lot of info that I didn’t know about.
Crossed over the old SR&RL right-of-way between Strong and Rangeley, ME east of Saddleback Mountain back in 2012 while hiking the Appalachian Trail. It was fun to imagine #24 pounding up the grade towards Rangeley with a short train in tow. A Boxcar and maybe a Combine-Coach with the morning Mail. Sad that so little was saved.
I loved seeing this! The B&SR ran across our property to a turntable at the Saco River where the engine was turned by hand to head back toward Bridgton. I love seeing the footage of it running. I'd sure like to find a copy of the book "Broke And Still Running" that was written about it to have here!
Nothing at all... The turntable was removed and filled in, rails taken up, and "the Cut," which went around the base of the mountain on our land, has grown in. Funny coincidence, though, the woman who owns the property where the turntable stood is a retired Amtrak engineer (and didn't know anything about it when she and her husband bought the property). If you ever decide you're bored with that book, though... I love our local history. It was amazing to visit the two restored passenger cars at the Maine narrow Gauge Museum a few years ago, and a shame that one of the engines was destroyed in a fire there.
Eleda Towle Too bad there's not much left. Good though that so much of the equipment survived! I'll keep you in mind if I find another book, they come up pretty regularly on eBay...
The clip at 0:18 is an interesting sight, they're doing an operation known as a "flying switch" or "coach slipping." The combine coach was unhitched while still in motion, then the locomotive accelerated while the brakeman aboard the coach applied the hand brake, creating a big enough gap between the two that the track could be switched after the locomotive and before the coach. Requires some impressive skill and coordination by the crew to pull off safely, if you're off by even a couple seconds you can get a derailment or collision. An excellent demonstration of the work that went into running these little railroads, not to mention the most Forneys I've ever seen in one place.
Many thanks for that wonderful historic video.And more thanks for that wonderful classical music you inserted.It was also nice to read about the Edaville railroad.I've known about it for 60 years but never saw the origins..
+MASSEY JONES The video is off a compilation DVD set called 'Steam Trains', none of the music or commentary is mine, wish I could take credit for it. I am trying to find a link for people to purchase this video but am having trouble finding it.
@@UnknownIdaho Sunday River Productions (are they still in business?) have / had a video of original enthusiasts footage of the Sandy River, some of which appears in this film too. Sadly, some of the shots seem to be of the wrecking trains pulling the lines up - I always hate such scenes. Thankfully, after Edaville, someone else caught the vision and we can still enjoy these lovely little trains. (And, yes, I bagged a copy of Linwood Moody's 'Maine 2 footers' a while back - inadvertently marked at much less than its real value by the dealer. Gluck muss man haben)
My Irish Grandfather on my father's side, came to America in 1912. He got a job on Maine Central Railroad, and by 1930 he was making $100/wk. as an engineer. Big money in those days for a blue collar man. Ole' Gramps didn't retire untill about 1962, if I remember correctly.
Interesting connection: my Scots-Irish grandfather was born in San Jose, California in 1876, worked as a Southern Pacific station agent till he retired about 1942.
I think I'm hooked on narrow gauge steam more than standard they're even more rare. Besides they look and sound killer. Being the O gauge 3 rail nut that I am having damn near all but ya can't model narrow gauge properly. On30 is best to model a two foot gauge plus they make these kinds of locomotives you can buy. Anyhow great video I learned something new about 2 foot history being down southern Michigan.
How did the cars not tip over. 8:25 2 foot track, 6 foot car. Anyone remember Edaville???? Brandy was required for the open car at the rear of the Christmas train. Amazing hot cocoa and the best cranberry bread you ever had.
Thank you. I found that out some time ago but Mark 1 seems to be out of business. Someone else has done what I would not do- uploaded the entire 2 hours of video to RUclips, see what having scruples has brought me? 😊
So it's more up to one man that a 2' railroad survives in the USA. Were all locomotives that were preserved of the Forney type except for the one 2' Shay I know to exist in the US? Fortunately there are more 2' steam engines built by American companies that survived abroad. Last summer I visited the Brecon Mountain Railway in Wales in the UK, they run a wonderful restored Baldwin 4-6-2 tender engine which was originaly used at a cement factory in South Africa. Its sharp bark was unlike any other 2' locomotive in the UK, and apart from 2 other South African classes (NG15 2-8-2 and NGG16 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garrats) the largest to operate on the 2' in the UK. There are some other Baldwin engines surviving in the UK, these were some small 4-6-0 tanks and one standard gauge S-160 2-8-0, these were brought in during both world wars. Lastly there is a replica of wat was the first Baldwin bought by an UK railway, its a 2-4-2 tank named "Lyn" built by the Boston Lodge Works of the Ffestiniog Railway. They were a truly remarkable breed in a country where locomotives were generaly larger and heavier, but Maine surely had the atmosphere of the Ole England, including the trains.
Interesting - I've long loved the Maine 2 footers. This is fascinating film. Thank you very much. Er, so when did Portmadoc and Blaenau Ffestiniog become part of Maine?
Wow, i wish more of these small railroad lines were preserved. Over here in the states preservation for any old railroad equipment is much lower than in the U.K, especially the lines themselves. Unlike the U.K, we don't have special laws that allow some types of old locomotives to travel on the main lines of big companies, but i wish we did.
Maine Two Footers are actually fairly well preserved, with the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum, Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad and the Wiscassett, Waterville and Farmington Railway coming to mind.
the full length video which this upload is a clip of is "Massachusetts Maine Attraction" and was produced by Mark One Video and narrated by Jim Boyd, who I met at Edaville during the production of the video, and from whom I received a signed copy of the VHS cassette. The video was previously available here on youtube but has since been taken down, and, after several moves across the country, I can no longer find my copy of the VHS. I hope to replace it, someday ..
Yes, I wanted to see if I could obtain the copyright for distribution, but it is still available from the WW&F Railway Society. I found it on a compilation called Steam Trains 20 hours on eBay or Amazon, which also includes part 2.
D&RGW Railfanner Thanks, I've been trying to track down the original videos since I found this compilation with no leads. I figure there may be other great videos in the series...
Was the video set 18 hours of double sided disks? if so I have the same set and all of the videos are Mark I Video (You can buy their video's on eBay; sadly the company hasn't produced too many videos since the late 2000's to my knowledge..)
@@peytonsmith3258 oh right. Bugger. Wait, isn't taking the film, and turning it into seprete parts piracy? I mean, your not showing the whole thing, but in parts. Or are you including that, i need to know cause im a idiot.
I've got a wooden train "B & H RR 1492" boiler/cab and open tender, six wheels and about 18 inches long... was told the wheels were added, this was mounted on a wall/post vertically, and used to store paper orders from a telegrapher/station agent... Seeing B & H on some of the locomotives in this video has me wondering. Any help on this? Thanks, John
This is just a piece of a video I found, I don’t own the copyright so can’t post it all, though I think the whole thing (two 1-hour videos) is elsewhere on RUclips.
During 1st world war, US Army sent 30cm (roughly a foot) in France. They use flat and tank cars. I´ve read in " Narrow gauge & short line gazette" magazine that boxcars were top heavy and prone to derailments. They were used to carry troops. Wounded were evacuated by flats and boxcars. At the end of the war, must equipments stayed there, but some returned to USA.
The two foot equipment was built wide but very low center of gravity and the roadbed was built to standard gauge standards- smooth, easy grades and broad curves, as such they are very stable and there are stories of two foot trains traveling in excess of 50 miles per hour!
I have On2 SR&RL trains are they aren't tippy at all. What they are is very space intensive: they are pretty close to exact scale models and they curve very gradually. My curves don't get too much tighter than 36" radius. The locomotive and cars are about the size of average HO standard-gauge trains, but a little taller and a little wider.
That's exactly why it was taken down, I made a playlist with it when a popup said, it had been taken down due to a "copyright claim by a third party", so to speak..
Robert Mohler I reached out to everyone I could think of to ask permission, no response. Than I see someone else uploaded both entire videos here on RUclips and no one is challenging that either. I think when the original owners licensed it to the 20 hour compilation video I bought, they retired and no longer interested. I still would like to get permission to reproduce these awesome videos of Maine railroads.
Several have survived and are under various stages of renovation. There are a couple that still run at museums in Maine. I’ve ridden on one in Portland. Which is also run as a Christmas train during the holiday season. Here’s a story from a local new station:p about the Waterville and Wiscasset. ruclips.net/video/wmHiYSqXVjc/видео.htmlfeature=shared
An immeasurable thanks to those cinematographs that went in the middle of nowhere in all weathers in a time where roads and transportations were in their "infancy". Now their tapes are like save for ever. Imagine them with today equipment !!
I worked at Edaville for some time.#21was there flagship steam locomotive. My family and I was Edaville's guests for the 75th anniversary. Good times
I've only been east of Colorado once, hope to make a New England narrow gauge tour someday...
Some Welsh narrow gauge footage was snuck in there taken around Porthmadog Wales. Nice to see it too.
I remember an earlier version of this film - due to the sudden appearance of the Ffestiniog ! - but much more of it is totally new to me. Thank God for Ellis D Attwood, and for all his latter day disciples for keeping the Maine 2 footers alive. Just love them
I visited the museum in Portland, ME and it was mind blowing.
Bridgton and Saco River No.7 just completed a successful test fire up on March 31st 2018. First time in 15 years it has been under steam.
Colby Miles So good to hear! Now to just give her several miles of track to stretch her legs!
@@UnknownIdaho in 2020 she will
Boston born 1960 my parents brought me there when I was a kid. Thanks for the memory.
Great little history. Thank you for sharing it.
Those swervy curvy fate paths strike again - this time, within a cranberry bog. We go in one direction for a thing or a place we have visions of, never knowing our real destination is the complete opposite of what we wanted ... and it is good!
_Narra_ gauge. Like a _marra_ bone. My Grandma worked in the dispatch office of the Union RR in Monessen PA. That's the way she talked, narra gauge, marra none, worsh rag... She called a couch a davenport, and the stew bums lived in the bushes along the tracks, but the wildmen lived in them deepwoods.
Thank you for providing us this very interesting and informative video presentation which is very much appreciated.
You’re welcome. This is just a preview, the full video is available from the WW&F Railway Museum at www.wwfry.org
Nice!
Thank you very much for the time and effort to share this. I’m on the South Shore of Massachusetts just up from Carver. That was a lot of info that I didn’t know about.
Crossed over the old SR&RL right-of-way between Strong and Rangeley, ME east of Saddleback Mountain back in 2012 while hiking the Appalachian Trail. It was fun to imagine #24 pounding up the grade towards Rangeley with a short train in tow. A Boxcar and maybe a Combine-Coach with the morning Mail. Sad that so little was saved.
Amazing sound effects! Well done!
Brilliant! Thanks very much. Great to have this footage available.
Ellis D. Atwood is officially a legend!
I loved seeing this! The B&SR ran across our property to a turntable at the Saco River where the engine was turned by hand to head back toward Bridgton. I love seeing the footage of it running. I'd sure like to find a copy of the book "Broke And Still Running" that was written about it to have here!
Eleda Towle That was the first Main Two Foot Railroad book I got! Anything left of the old railroad there?
Nothing at all... The turntable was removed and filled in, rails taken up, and "the Cut," which went around the base of the mountain on our land, has grown in. Funny coincidence, though, the woman who owns the property where the turntable stood is a retired Amtrak engineer (and didn't know anything about it when she and her husband bought the property). If you ever decide you're bored with that book, though... I love our local history. It was amazing to visit the two restored passenger cars at the Maine narrow Gauge Museum a few years ago, and a shame that one of the engines was destroyed in a fire there.
Eleda Towle Too bad there's not much left. Good though that so much of the equipment survived! I'll keep you in mind if I find another book, they come up pretty regularly on eBay...
Thanks... I never even thought to check eBay and had given up on Amazon.
Thanks for the suggestion! I just snagged on from eBay and am very excited to finally get a copy.
The clip at 0:18 is an interesting sight, they're doing an operation known as a "flying switch" or "coach slipping." The combine coach was unhitched while still in motion, then the locomotive accelerated while the brakeman aboard the coach applied the hand brake, creating a big enough gap between the two that the track could be switched after the locomotive and before the coach. Requires some impressive skill and coordination by the crew to pull off safely, if you're off by even a couple seconds you can get a derailment or collision. An excellent demonstration of the work that went into running these little railroads, not to mention the most Forneys I've ever seen in one place.
@ 0:29,, slip coaches!!!!! lovely film. :)
Wonderful footage, thanks for sharing!
If anyone is interested, here is a news story from the NBC affiliate in Portland Maine on one that is being run as a museum piece.
Many thanks for that wonderful historic video.And more thanks for that wonderful classical music you inserted.It was also nice to read about the Edaville railroad.I've known about it for 60 years but never saw the origins..
+MASSEY JONES The video is off a compilation DVD set called 'Steam Trains', none of the music or commentary is mine, wish I could take credit for it. I am trying to find a link for people to purchase this video but am having trouble finding it.
is this it www.amazon.com/Steam-Trains-8-DVD-Collection--/dp/B009W3N4KY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472587570&sr=8-1&keywords=steam+trains
That doesn't look like the one, I'll try and see if I can find it...
@@UnknownIdaho Sunday River Productions (are they still in business?) have / had a video of original enthusiasts footage of the Sandy River, some of which appears in this film too. Sadly, some of the shots seem to be of the wrecking trains pulling the lines up - I always hate such scenes. Thankfully, after Edaville, someone else caught the vision and we can still enjoy these lovely little trains. (And, yes, I bagged a copy of Linwood Moody's 'Maine 2 footers' a while back - inadvertently marked at much less than its real value by the dealer. Gluck muss man haben)
they used to have cranberry ice cream at Edaville RR - boy, was that delicious!
@jay soper. - Alas that has now gone, - (to a different site), - and that cranberry ice cream is no more.
My Irish Grandfather on my father's side, came to America in 1912.
He got a job on Maine Central Railroad, and by 1930 he was making $100/wk. as an engineer.
Big money in those days for a blue collar man.
Ole' Gramps didn't retire untill about 1962, if I remember correctly.
Interesting connection: my Scots-Irish grandfather was born in San Jose, California in 1876, worked as a Southern Pacific station agent till he retired about 1942.
This was a whole new world to run into. I thot 3'6" was the narrowest gauge.A#1
15 inches is minimum gauge
Gotta love this railroad!
Taking narrow gauge railways to whole new level!
Too bad the East Broad Top is in such a shambles. Anybody have 180 million dollars burning a hole in their pocket?
Evidently someone did!
Wonderful, informative and entertaining video! Thank you UI.
Great Video, Thanks for Sharing !
I think I'm hooked on narrow gauge steam more than standard they're even more rare. Besides they look and sound killer. Being the O gauge 3 rail nut that I am having damn near all but ya can't model narrow gauge properly. On30 is best to model a two foot gauge plus they make these kinds of locomotives you can buy. Anyhow great video I learned something new about 2 foot history being down southern Michigan.
How did the cars not tip over. 8:25 2 foot track, 6 foot car. Anyone remember Edaville???? Brandy was required for the open car at the rear of the Christmas train. Amazing hot cocoa and the best cranberry bread you ever had.
The footage was used in Mark 1 videos production on Edaville and the main two-footers in general
Thank you. I found that out some time ago but Mark 1 seems to be out of business.
Someone else has done what I would not do- uploaded the entire 2 hours of video to RUclips, see what having scruples has brought me? 😊
@2:16 Neat footage of the Ffestiniog Railway 🏴 in early preservation days.
Terrific video!
This video is from a dvd set of steam trains. I have the disk. It shows everything. Theyre still operating today.
What is the name of the program?
I been to the w w and f such a cool little place to visit it feels like the strasburg railroad
So it's more up to one man that a 2' railroad survives in the USA.
Were all locomotives that were preserved of the Forney type except for the one 2' Shay I know to exist in the US?
Fortunately there are more 2' steam engines built by American companies that survived abroad.
Last summer I visited the Brecon Mountain Railway in Wales in the UK, they run a wonderful restored Baldwin 4-6-2 tender engine which was originaly used at a cement factory in South Africa.
Its sharp bark was unlike any other 2' locomotive in the UK, and apart from 2 other South African classes (NG15 2-8-2 and NGG16 2-6-2+2-6-2 Garrats) the largest to operate on the 2' in the UK.
There are some other Baldwin engines surviving in the UK, these were some small 4-6-0 tanks and one standard gauge S-160 2-8-0, these were brought in during both world wars.
Lastly there is a replica of wat was the first Baldwin bought by an UK railway, its a 2-4-2 tank named "Lyn" built by the Boston Lodge Works of the Ffestiniog Railway.
They were a truly remarkable breed in a country where locomotives were generaly larger and heavier, but Maine surely had the atmosphere of the Ole England, including the trains.
The WW&F Railway is rebuilding track and running trains.
Little big locomotives. Or big little locomotives. Can’t decide.
I like trains of all sizes.
Interesting - I've long loved the Maine 2 footers. This is fascinating film. Thank you very much. Er, so when did Portmadoc and Blaenau Ffestiniog become part of Maine?
Wow, i wish more of these small railroad lines were preserved. Over here in the states preservation for any old railroad equipment is much lower than in the U.K, especially the lines themselves. Unlike the U.K, we don't have special laws that allow some types of old locomotives to travel on the main lines of big companies, but i wish we did.
Maine Two Footers are actually fairly well preserved, with the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum, Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad and the Wiscassett, Waterville and Farmington Railway coming to mind.
the full length video which this upload is a clip of is "Massachusetts Maine Attraction" and was produced by Mark One Video and narrated by Jim Boyd, who I met at Edaville during the production of the video, and from whom I received a signed copy of the VHS cassette. The video was previously available here on youtube but has since been taken down, and, after several moves across the country, I can no longer find my copy of the VHS. I hope to replace it, someday ..
Yes, I wanted to see if I could obtain the copyright for distribution, but it is still available from the WW&F Railway Society. I found it on a compilation called Steam Trains 20 hours on eBay or Amazon, which also includes part 2.
Tiny but mighty
Excellent training; let's wax nostalgic. Cheers!
Hello from Kennebunk
I have walked and ridden on horseback miles of the old road bed left from the Wiscasset Waterville and Farmington railroad.
What is amazing is most of it is unbothered by development and some trackage is being reconstructed.
Its Mark I Video if anyone was wondering the name of the company that made this film (I own it, I rate a 9.5/10!)
D&RGW Railfanner Thanks, I've been trying to track down the original videos since I found this compilation with no leads. I figure there may be other great videos in the series...
Was the video set 18 hours of double sided disks? if so I have the same set and all of the videos are Mark I Video (You can buy their video's on eBay; sadly the company hasn't produced too many videos since the late 2000's to my knowledge..)
@@peytonsmith3258 cant we copy them? we have the technology to burn old CD's onto stronger newer ones, or put them on the internet in separate parts.
Blue Foxy That would be piracy, and I don't condone internet piracy x3
@@peytonsmith3258 oh right. Bugger. Wait, isn't taking the film, and turning it into seprete parts piracy? I mean, your not showing the whole thing, but in parts. Or are you including that, i need to know cause im a idiot.
4.45 Now that's what I call a cab!
thanks
I GOT TO BLOW THE WHISTLE ON AN EDAVILLE ENGINE!!!!
The REAL Edaville, or that sad joke currently operating?
I could have too but got nervous when the Engineer let me be heald inside the cab.
You can come build track on the WW&F Railway in Alna ME. Fall Work Weekend is 10/11 through 10/14. Come help!
It don't matter what it looks like....if it's steam it pulls stuff so Man doesn't have to....QED
I wish some of those prairies were saved
What prairies? There are none in Maine. Its mostly forested
I've got a wooden train "B & H RR 1492" boiler/cab and open tender, six wheels and about 18 inches long... was told the wheels were added, this was mounted on a wall/post vertically, and used to store paper orders from a telegrapher/station agent...
Seeing B & H on some of the locomotives in this video has me wondering.
Any help on this? Thanks, John
Zebrails I’d really need to see a photo, not sure how to do that on RUclips but my email is my channel name gmail.
Why did the video cut while he was in mid story and still talking
This is just a piece of a video I found, I don’t own the copyright so can’t post it all, though I think the whole thing (two 1-hour videos) is elsewhere on RUclips.
Ive always wanted too see videos of the narrow gauge trains in maine.
See and ride the real thing. In Phillips a portion of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes has been restored and they give rides on summer weekends.
The Garlic Farm yeh I know but the old 2-6-0's the big locos got scrapped leaving the tiny tank engines.
Maine Railfan© Used to ride the Edaville RR at least once a year!
Calvin Donner Cool!
@@Maine_Railfan not all 2-6-0s. Some are surviving abroad, there are some in the U.K.
In O scale a 2 foot gauge would have 1/2” between the rails. How tippy would that be?
During 1st world war, US Army sent 30cm (roughly a foot) in France. They use flat and tank cars. I´ve read in
" Narrow gauge & short line gazette" magazine that boxcars were top heavy and prone to derailments. They were used to carry troops. Wounded were evacuated by flats and boxcars. At the end of the war, must equipments stayed there, but some returned to USA.
The two foot equipment was built wide but very low center of gravity and the roadbed was built to standard gauge standards- smooth, easy grades and broad curves, as such they are very stable and there are stories of two foot trains traveling in excess of 50 miles per hour!
I have On2 SR&RL trains are they aren't tippy at all. What they are is very space intensive: they are pretty close to exact scale models and they curve very gradually. My curves don't get too much tighter than 36" radius. The locomotive and cars are about the size of average HO standard-gauge trains, but a little taller and a little wider.
What is this show called I remember watching it when I was younger
There are 2 one hour videos named: ‘Edaville: Massachusetts' Maine Attraction + Edaville Revisited’ available from the publisher on eBay.
Please post the full documentary
Swati Yadav Do a RUclips search, it is here , if not taken down for copyright violations.
That's exactly why it was taken down, I made a playlist with it when a popup said, it had been taken down due to a "copyright claim by a third party", so to speak..
Swati Yadav Interesting, I have been trying to find the copyright holder for years, I would like to make this series of videos available to all.
Can you upload the official edaville Maine attraction video from mark please
I don’t own the rights but someone else has already uploaded it.
Was the sound added?
I believe this was originally all silent film.
Why go to all the trouble and expen$e of creating locomotives and rolling stock so unusual? Why not use what is already manufactured?
Hey there! Did you get permission to leave this video up?
Robert Mohler I reached out to everyone I could think of to ask permission, no response. Than I see someone else uploaded both entire videos here on RUclips and no one is challenging that either. I think when the original owners licensed it to the 20 hour compilation video I bought, they retired and no longer interested.
I still would like to get permission to reproduce these awesome videos of Maine railroads.
I have a cat who can easily walk along the top rail of a fence. But that's no way to run a railroad!
Hey, as long at it works!
I have a on30 locomotive
Jedi Knight buckley I do too! ruclips.net/video/OY5ekGoBVvE/видео.html
Me too!
Someone aught to build a model!!
Stupid bells...................
Did any locomotive survive or were they scrapped?
Several have survived and are under various stages of renovation. There are a couple that still run at museums in Maine. I’ve ridden on one in Portland. Which is also run as a Christmas train during the holiday season.
Here’s a story from a local new station:p about the Waterville and Wiscasset.
ruclips.net/video/wmHiYSqXVjc/видео.htmlfeature=shared