Today at Edaville *PIC*

Well, it's not as often you hear about narrow gauge steam here on the East Coast..
Today I trekked up to Edaville today to take my first and last ride over the original line over Mt. Urann. What can I say! Aside from the wind, a picture-perfect sunny day with some scattered snow spots on the ground. The scenery along the line looked like something out of a Thomas Kinkade painting; almost too beautiful to exist, but it did.
The Hudswell was looking gorgeous; shiny and polished, showing off some 'Americanization' that I didn't know about and greatly improving the appearance. A fine new cab and woodwork, a new steam dome, and a painted and numbered steam dome cover. The locomotive had an amazing bark as she trundled down the line, and a beautiful whistle to top it off. The fireman today was obviously very skilled; with usually even less than a slight gray haze of exhaust...even more amazing was there didn't appear to be a left-hand seat as he stood the entire way! The coach we rode in was an original clerestory-roofed car (I don't know much about it), with beautiful woodwork inside. Rough riders appeared to have damanged a few of the seats; it's one heck of a job to keep old coaches like that in regular service.
The entrance to the park is much different from old books; it's a crossing, a sign, and a ticket booth at the front gate. There's some horrendous kiddie rides and carnival-like junk which would sure be nice to see go (the complex is now "Edaville USA", as a small amusement park). However, the railroad is stately as always. Within a matter of seconds, the amusements fade away into the trees, before the tracks run past the cranberry bogs and reservoirs. The old screen house, which I believe is where Mr. Atwood met his tragic accident 55 years ago, now serves as a gift shop and museum, among other things. The museum upstairs focuses on cranberry harvesting. There's three coaches from the Arrow Development amusement park train that ran in Nantasket Beach, Mass. Hard to believe these trains ran on a track gauge wider than Edaville's own equipment!
Coming from where I did and how much steam I saw, it was amazing and sort of sad to see how shocked some people were to see a steam locomotive. I must've seen at least 5 folks, not even little kids, in awe of the Hudswell asking questions. As our train barreled back around the loop past the crossing at the main gate, there were about 15 people entering the park...the stack talk as loud as ever and the whistle blaring. The expressions on these people's faces as this little giant of steam plowed down the line was priceless!
Its sorry to see the line over Mt. Urann fade into history when the season at Edaville ends tomorrow. A railfan group is holding a photographer's special tomorrow morning. I was told that 5 miles will remain as of next year, though I thought I heard less. Regardless, this is a place you don't want to miss.
A great way to start off the New Year, and I'm sorry I waited this long to see the great Edaville. I'd already written an article on Edaville, which will be in the 'ON TRACK' Webzine next week.
-Ed Kelley