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Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum
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History
Founded in 1993 and operating out of the former Portland Company Marine Complex, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum preserves passenger and freight equipment and artifacts from the 2-foot gauge railways that served Maine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its mile-and-a-half line runs along the Casco Bay waterfront, paralleling Portland's Eastern Promenade, with historic steam and diesel locomotives and restored coaches handling passenger service. A 2014 plan to relocate to Gray, Maine, with a new depot and engine house never came to fruition, and the museum chose to stay in Portland. In 2021 several of its steam locomotives went on long-term loan to the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway. In mid-January 2025 the railroad shut down for several months when its tracks were ripped up for Portland Foreside, a $660 million luxury neighborhood development. The nonprofit's largest fundraiser is its annual Polar Express excursion, run from November until Christmas — 23,000 passengers rode it in 2023 — complete with a visit from Santa and chefs serving hot chocolate on board.
The Trains
The two-foot-gauge roster pairs Maine two-footer steam with small industrial diesels: Monson Railroad No. 3, a 1912 Vulcan Iron Works 0-4-4T, and 1913 Baldwin 2-4-4T No. 7 are listed operational, while Vulcan No. 4 of 1918 is disassembled awaiting overhaul and Baldwin No. 8 of 1924 is stored pending restoration. Diesel power includes an operational 1949 General Electric 23-ton switcher and a 1975 Plymouth 10-ton unit, plus two out-of-service Plymouth CL-2 4-ton switchers and a Whitcomb diesel on lease from the Edaville Railroad. Passenger stock ranges from an 1882 Laconia Car Company coach under restoration and 1890 Billmeyer and Small combines to Jackson and Sharp coaches of 1901 and 1903, Edaville-built cars, and 1960s open-air cars; a 1925 Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes railbus is also operational.
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