Ed Mead's B&SR Photos

[Dana Deering]

Does anyone know what happened to Ed Mead's B&SR photo collection?  Was it donated to some organization and if so, which one?   Or is it still in the family? 

[Stephen Lennox]

That would be great to look through.

[Wayne Laepple]

Ed Mead's son E. Thorn Mead, is still around and lives in Marblehead, Mass., I believe. I think he had some interest in the Maine Narrow Gauge, so maybe someone there knows how to contact him. He may still have his father's photos. If not, he surely knows where they are.

[James Patten]

Thorn Mead died in 2008: https://marblehead.wickedlocal.com/article/20080409/NEWS/304099743.  He's survived by his two daughters and a brother.  Edgar Mead's wife Emily died in 2016.

[Philip Marshall]

At least some of Mead's books have been dispersed. Several years ago I purchased (online, sight unseen) an old back issue of the R&LHS Bulletin which included an article on the Billerica & Bedford.  When it came in the mail I was amazed to find "Edgar T. Mead North Street Greenwich, Conn." stamped on the cover.

[Dana Deering]

Thank you all for the info!  I'm trying to track down a particular photo that was part of his collection and was reprinted in "Busted and Still Running" and "Two Feet to the Lakes" hoping to get a copy.  These leads will be helpful.

[Mike Fox]

Dana, I have a collection of photos I have worked to gather, and some may be prints from Edgars collection. Do you have a page number in either book?  I will then look and see if I have it in my collection.

Maine Narrow Gauge had a great Archive room where I gathered some pictures for the reprint of The Twenty Four Inch Gauge Railroad at Bridgton, Maine. I am not sure where the archives are now or if they are even accessible. And the other place to look would be the Bridgton Historical Society. They have a good collection of photos there as well.

[Dana Deering]

Thanks, Mike.  I have made two trips to the Bridgton Historical Society this year and didn't see the particular photo I am looking for but did find a photocopy of another photo that I am now pursuing in addition to the one I am looking for that was in Ed Mead's collection.  I don't remember the page number off the top of my head but the photo shows BSR 6 and BSR 4 double heading a plow train.

[Mike Fox]

I don't remember having a photo like that but will look.

[Dana Deering]

My goal is to get copies of as many photos of BSR 4 as I can find.  I have a few and I'd like to have good quality copies of others I've seen.

[Duncan Mackiewicz]

Dana, as you may recall, I do have a soft spot for the B&SR. I also have a large amount of material on the B&SR.  If there is a picture in a particular book that you would like a copy of, just ask and I will forward a copy if I have it.

[Dana Deering]

Thanks, Duncan.  Right now I am on the trail of a couple of photos.  One shows BSR 4 in front of Perley's Mills Station and I have found out that the photographer was George French.  I tracked his daughter in law (who is still living!) to Parsonsfield and she said that all of his glass plates went to the State Archives so that will be a next stop.  I'd like to get a copy from the glass plate as they make very clear photos. 

[James Patten]

It's my understanding the many of the glass negatives at the State Archives have yet to be categorized.

[Dana Deering]

That's right James.  When I called them they said that they has some of the French collection cataloged but not all of it.  The photo I am looking for was not among those that have been so I need to make a trip up there sometime.

[Mike Fox]

I have this photo Dana.