Edaville 75th Anniversary Event Will Bring Carver Back To The Past

This year, Carver’s Edaville Family Theme Park celebrates its 75th anniversary, and a few train fanatics are helping to bring its history back to the park in recognition of this milestone.

Brian Fanslau is the owner and operator of Maine Locomotive & Machine Works, and he and his colleague Hannah Miller worked to get some of Edaville’s classic machines ready so he could take them back to his old home for just a weekend on April 23 and 24.

“When we realized Edaville had been around for 75 years, we decided to celebrate that,” Miller said.

“We thought about doing it a few years ago, that’s about when the whole COVID problem hit, and now that the pandemic is easing, we thought we could bring everyone together. world and do this,” Fanslau said. “Edaville is a very special place for a lot of people.”

However, it’s important to note that this event is all about trains and Edaville history, and the park will not be open to the public that day, and none of the rides will be operating.

“We’ve tried to be very clear that this is a railroad-centric event, focusing on the Edaville of old,” Miller said. “They used to have Rail Fan Days, showing off all the old gear, and that’s what we do.”

Edaville Railroad began in 1947, when cranberry grower Ellis D. Atwood purchased a narrow-gauge (two-foot) railroad from Maine and built a five-mile loop around its bogs for the purpose of transporting cranberries from the bogs to the latticed house. .

However, he also found that in the off season he could use these trains to transport people to the bog ponds and could decorate the loop with Christmas lights and displays in the winter, enticing families to come back several times a year. .

Fanslau grew up in southern New Jersey, but traveled to Maine as a child, and that trip always included a stop in Edaville.

“Like all the other kids in New England, I went to Edaville as a kid and remember the good old days,” he said.

Edaville Family Theme Park via Facebook

Edaville Family Theme Park via Facebook

He said that’s what inspired him to want to get into rebuilding steam boilers and tending to steam engines that are still in use. He also said he has remained close to Edaville, working on their equipment over the years and forging friendships the same way he forges steel in his workshop.

“John (Delli Priscoli, owner of Edaville) came here when he was a kid, Brenda (Johnson, the general manager) came here when she was a kid and worked here almost her entire life,” Fanslau said. “The other interesting aspect is that we have all these connections with people who have supported us, as we take care of their antique equipment, and former employees who also come back here. So this event is like a big reunion.

When Edaville closed for a time in the late 1990s, much of the original railroad purchased by Atwood was moved back to Maine.

“We’re still servicing that equipment in Maine,” Miller said.

Courtesy of Maine Locomotive & Engine Works

Courtesy of Maine Locomotive & Engine Works

“When Edaville went out of business in the ’90s, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum began preserving equipment, like four steam locomotives and 40 to 50 cars,” Fanslau said. “Part of this event that we’re doing is we’re partnering with all these organizations that have this original equipment and bringing it back to Edaville.”

One of them will be Steam Engine No. 3, one of the original steam engines that passengers would have borrowed from Edaville.

Edaville Family Theme Park via Facebook

Edaville Family Theme Park via Facebook

Edaville still has a steam engine, No. 11, which is used on certain occasions. This engine was actually a Maine Locomotive & Machine Works rebuild project.

“The Edaville Steam Engine was now a static display for years that people probably remember climbing on,” Miller said. “Brian rebuilt the boiler and made it a working steam engine once more.”

This project took about a year and a half, Fanslau said.

“Probably about 40-50% of the original engine is still there, the rest is brand new,” he said. “It was a very fun project. John walked up to me, we talked about it, we shook hands and it was one of the funniest things we’ve ever done.

Courtesy of Maine Locomotive & Machine Works

Courtesy of Maine Locomotive & Machine Works

Both steam engines will be used for the anniversary celebration. #3 will run on the old main line, the remaining mile and a half of the original Edaville track. During this time, #11 will operate on the current two-mile park loop. There will also be a “double-header” ride in which the train cars will be pulled by the two steam locomotives.

Tickets start at $75 for the double-header ride and $50 for the one-hour, 45-minute ride on No. 3 on the Old Main Line. Tickets can also be purchased just to take #11 on the current loop for $30 for a two-day pass and $20 for a one-day pass. Children under 18 are $15 and children under three are free with the purchase of an adult ticket.

These prices all include access to the exhibitions and special presentations that will take place throughout the weekend. Tickets are only available on the Maine Locomotive & Machine Works websiteand are not available through Edaville, nor can previously purchased Edaville tickets be used for this event.

Locomotive and Machinery Works in Maine recently announced two of the special guests who will be giving talks at the event.

Joe Falconieri, who has been responsible for signal maintenance at Edaville since 1996, will lecture “on the operation and history of Edaville’s unique and historic signal system”, including having “an interactive display of the signal system on the boarding platform”.

Savery Moore has visited Edaville every year, it has been open since 1956 and has an extensive collection of Edaville memorabilia and photographs, and will lecture on Edaville from the 1940s to the 1970s.

If this 75th anniversary celebration is a success, could it become an annual event, like Rail Fan Days once was?

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” Miller said.

“It’s definitely possible,” echoed Fanslau.

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