Maine 2 footer may move

Portland's Narrow Gauge Railroad Seeks New Home09/08/2010 Reported By: Tom Porter

One of Portland's best-loved tourist attractions may be moving. The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum has been offering visitors a glimpse into the age of steam for nearly two decades from its home on the city's waterfront. But the organization, which last year ferried 30,000 people up and down the Eastern Promenade in museum-piece rail cars, is finding life on the waterfront too costly and too restrictive.

It's the last call for the dozen or so passengers catching the 3 o'clock special to East End beach and back -- a trip of a little over two-and-a-half miles that takes about half an hour.

It sounds like your typical train, but this narrow gauge rail line (left) at the foot of Munjoy Hill is historically unusual. Most narrow guage railroads in the late 19th and 20th centuries ran on tracks that were more than three feet wide. These train tracks, however, which were peculiar to Maine, were just two feet apart.

"The idea was to save money -- the smaller the gauge, the less land you have to acquire, all the equipment's smaller, it costs less," says Brian Durham, president of the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Industrial Heritage Trust -- to give it its full title -- says that over time, the "two-footers" gained in popularity.

"Eventually there were five two-foot narrow gauge railroads in Maine, and generally they connected smaller inland communities with the standard gauge railroad network -- sort of analogous to how a county highway connects with the interstate system," Durham says.

The last narrow gauge railroad in Maine went out of business in 1943, says Durham (right), unable to remain financially viable in the age of the automobile.

Today, with an annual operating budget of around $500,000, similar concerns over financial viability are prompting the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum to look for a new location.

"The Maine Narrow Gauge, of course, has been in Portland for the last 18 years," says Jeff Monroe, chairman of the museum's relocation committee. "Over the course of time with waterfront develpment, and the fact that the railroad actually leases commercial space from one of the tenants down there, it's become more and more difficult to invest in the continued care of the collection, which of course is a paramount issue for the museum."

The committee recently sent letters to communities across Maine to see if any are interested in hosting the railroad, Seven communities responded, and while their names are protected by a confidentiality agreement, the City of Portland has been confirmed as one of the interested parties.

"Certainly we recognize the value that they bring to the downtown and we would like to work with them to explore options to see what would work for them to stay in Portland," says city spokeswoman Nicole Clegg.

Indeed, according to an economic impact study in 2005, the narrow gauge railroad pumped more than $2.5 million dollars into the local economy. The railroad now plans to issue formal proposals to those seven communities and hopes to get seven responses back before seeing which one works best as a new location.

The key to relocation, says Jeff Monroe, is space. The railroad currently offers 40 rides a week on only a mile-and-a-half of track. And the museum (left), he says, has an unrivaled collection of narrow gauge rolling stock and equipment, including an entire working machine shop that could be reassembled and brought back to life.

The 8,000 square feet of exhibition space the organization currently leases, he says, is simply not enough. "We could fill 100,000 square foot building easy with a beautiful museum, state of the art, just gorgeous experience for visitors and stuff like that, so there's no question that there's quite a bit of material," Monroe says. "And of course, a lot of people have been very generous with us and donated a great deal of material and we don't exhibit but a very, very small portion of it."

In the meantime, the Portland Narrow Gauge continues to serve hundreds of visitors a week, thanks to the commitment of volunteers like Jerry Bagley. "I enjoy trains, I like being around and working with them. I do mechanical work as well as run the locomotives, and work on the train crew. It's a lot of fun, I enjoy it," Bagley says.

Fellow volunteer Sheldon Combs -- a former railroad worker from Santa Fe in Texas -- says there's a trade-off involved in moving the railroad away from Portland's popular waterfront. "My real hope would be that they would stay here where they have a lot more people. We've got a lot of traffic here. We just had a cruise ship come in so we're probably going to get some people off that pretty quick," Combs says.

"I think it's a real loss for the City of Portland," says landlord Phineas Sprague, Jr., who owns the site of the narrow gauge museum and railroad. He's also one of the founders of the organization. "The vision was bright, brilliant, and economically strong for the city, and the whole bunch of them have blown it."

The "vision" he refers to are the original plans, back in 1992, to create a light rail transport system, which for a $2 million price tag, would have operated a five-and-a-half mile circular route around the Portland peninsula.

These plans, says Sprague, came to naught amid concerns over environmental permitting and the desire of city officials to restrict the construction of new railroad lines, which they feared might hamper future development.

"It's one of the more significant railroad collections in the United States and it could have been a huge asset to the City of Portland, and in fact Portland is one of the few places in Maine that has the population density necessary to support a light rail commuting system, and this is just unfortunate that it didn't work out," Sprague says.

Sprague points out that until 2002, the museum and railroad enjoyed 10 rent-free years at its current location, and he now leases the property for what he describes as "favorable rates".

Nevertheless, he doesn't blame the railroad for wanting to relocate: Sprague describes the current one mile stretch of track on which the narrow gauge operates as a "railroad to nowhere."

 

2 towns challenge Portland for Narrow Gauge Railroad

By Randy Billings
E-mail and share Jan 10, 2011 2:20 pm
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• Next stop?: Narrow Gauge Railroad may pull out of Portland

PORTLAND — Three communities have submitted formal proposals to lure the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. and Museum from its home on the Portland waterfront.
The city of Portland has submitted one of the proposals. The others are from Gray and Monson.
The Narrow Gauge Railroad began soliciting proposals last summer. Officials said high rent was making it difficult to invest the money needed to preserve the museum's more than 400-piece collection, which dates to the late 1800s.
The railroad tested the interest of 75 communities to either completely or partially accommodate railroad operations. Of the seven communities that responded with letters of interest, only three submitted formal proposals.
Brian Durham, president of the railroad board of trustees, said a relocation committee will meet over the next couple of months to discuss the proposals. He said he expects the group will issue an analysis and recommendation to the full board in March.
"And then (we'll) have our board make a decision in April," Durham said.
The Narrow Gauge Railroad averages about 25,000 riders a year on its 1.5-mile track in Portland, while another 2,500 people visit the museum.
The group claims the railroad and museum, which has a $500,000 annual operating budget, has generated more than $2.5 million for the greater Portland economy.
But rising increasing real estate values on the Portland waterfront – and the nonprofit group's rent – are eating up too much of the budget.
The three proposals address several factors that will be taken into account with any possible relocation,, Durham said, including infrastructure availability and financial and in-kind support from the municipalities.
Although none of the communities proposed direct financial support, some noted their designation as low-income communities, which make them eligible for grants, as well as in-kind services.
Portland's proposal cites its urban environment as its primary strength, noting the railroad's nearly 18 years of success on the eastern waterfront.
In the proposal, City Manager Joseph Gray said the railroad's location at 58 Fore St., where the group has a month-to-month lease for about 8,000 square feet of museum space and more than 15,000 square feet of yard space for restoration work, is both an asset and a challenge.
"The challenge is the economic reality of real estate values on the waterfront," Gray said, noting the train could eventually serve as an alternative mode of transportation.
Gray said the city may be able to partner with the railroad to "enhance programs, as well as directional signage and street lighting to your attractions."
"Additionally, the city will continue to make its facilities, like Ocean Gateway, available at a reasonable cost," Gray said.
Gray said the city could not provide buildings or funding to the railroad, but he offered staff support for publicity, events, tour guides, landscaping and beautification.
The town of Gray, meanwhile, presented a vision that would ultimately restore the Portland-Lewiston Interurban Railway, a portion of which would have to be updated to the 2-foot gauge railroad required for operation.
Town Manager Deborah Cabana said in her letter that the town could not provide financial support or offer buildings to the railroad, but she said the town could offer support in the form of its staff, contracted professionals and volunteer committees.
Cabana listed a series of initiatives over the last four years where the town partnered with private entities to complete and plan projects, several of which meet the town's desire to maintain historical landmarks.
Cabana noted the town's proximity to the Maine Wildlife Park, Pineland Farms in New Gloucester and the Poland Springs Preservation Network.
"Gray is an easy drive from Portland, Lewiston, and other Southern Maine communities," she said. "Locating the museum here would be a huge asset to Gray's ongoing redevelopment, and would give the museum affordable and geographically accessible space, meeting our complimentary goals going forward."
Cabana said the town worked with landowners to secure grants to upgrade the facade of Clark Block, as well as the town's recent renovation of the Pennell Institute into a new Town Hall, a project funded by a $2.4 million, voter-approved bond.
Cabana said the right of way to about two miles of rail bed, which passes across the scenic Gray Meadow, is owned by Central Maine Power Co., which often sells 50-foot rights of way with "favorable terms."
Cabana listed three privately owned sites a potential places for museum operations: The Gray Plaza Shopping Center, a golf driving range and a trucking company property.
Gray's proposal includes letters of endorsement from the Gray-New Gloucester Development Corp. and the Gray Community Endowment, a nonprofit group that spearheaded the fundraising effort to restore the Libby Hill Trails.
The town of Monson, 20 miles northwest of Dover-Foxcroft and 60 miles southwest of Bangor, in Piscataquis County, said the railroad should move there because of the town's industrial heritage.
The town said the owner of the former Monson Railroad, which has two original freight bays and an office/waiting room area, is interested in making the space available to the narrow gauge.
The town, which has several granite quarries and lakes and is located along the Appalachian Trail, said it has 165 feet of 2-foot gauge track, which could be extended by as much as 650 feet.
Monson, the home of Moosehead Furniture before it closed, also offered the railroad a 624-square foot room in its community center.
Durham said a fourth community expressed interest in adopting the railroad, but was unable to submit a formal proposal by the Dec. 6, 2010, deadline.
"We got another response that was intentionally late," he said. "We might talk later as time goes on."

Randy Billings can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 100 or rbillings@theforecaster.net​