MNG RR Museum - Moving to Gray Maine

[Joe Fox]

and this will happen sometime within the next 5 years, or at least that was the last that I had heard, which was 4 weeks ago, and changes frequentely

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

A friend of mine was recently in Gray looking over the supposed new location for MNG.  He says the old Portland - Lewiston Interurban right of way passes through a swampy area near a strip mall where the museum is said to be going.  It's not a major mall according to him. There's the usual pizza joint and some small stores.  Is this seriously where MNG is planning on building a museum?  Can someone who KNOWS the facts come forward and give us the real picture of what this location has to offer?

[Dan Shelley]

The property in Portland is much more desirable, beautiful water front. This I'm sure that will be missed. I hope things work out in Gray. I would like to see that lot of old beat up rolling stock shine for day.

[Terry Harper]

Richard,

Unless I am mistaken this is the site. Looks like there is almost 1 mile of dead straight running from the end of the line, past the strip mall and scrap yard and over the swampy meadow south to Long Hill Road. What is the latest on the move?

[Matthew Gustafson]

If he is correct, will that straight line will be the ROW for the new location of the museum?

[Mike Fox]

He is correct. That is the ROW that MNGRR is looking at.

[Matthew Gustafson]

Does the ROW Extended any farther than the what the photo shows or is that red line showing the new location ROW from end to end?

[Terry Harper]

Matt, that is pretty much all of it. I ended the red line just north of the crossing of Long Hill road. South of the crossing the ROW is interupted by development.

Strip Mall


Junk Yard


Meadows

[Ira Schreiber]

Maine Narrow Gauge Museum to move, secures deed to new home
Published: April 7, 2014

The museum will soon move to the community of Gray, about 18 miles from its present location in Portland. A new 9,500-square-foot facility is planned.
Photo by Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum
PORTLAND, Maine – After a nearly four-year long search, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum is moving to Gray, about 18 miles from its current home in Portland. The relocation will take a major step forward this week when Central Maine Power will present the deed for the future railroad right-of-way to the museum at a ceremony on Friday morning.

“This is the key to progress for the project to move forward,” says Executive Director Donnell Carroll. “The right-of-way along the former rail-bed of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban provides the necessary path for us to proceed.”

The museum is dedicated to preserving Maine's two-foot gauge railroad history was established in 1993 and has been looking for a new home since 2010. That year, the museum put out a call to interested communities that wanted to host the museum made up of the former Edaville Railroad collection. The move took on more urgency last year, when the museum's current home on Portland's waterfront, the 10-acre Portland Co. Marine Complex, was sold to developers. At one time, the Portland Co. built steam locomotives, including for Maine's narrow gauge railroads.

While the museum received proposals from Portland, Bridgton, and Monson, the latter two having a direct connection to the museum's historic collection, Gray won out in the end because of the available space for a proposed 9,500-square-foot museum that is currently being designed.

On April 11, representatives from Gray, the museum and Central Maine Power will be on hand for the ceremonial passing of the deed, set to take place at 11:30 a.m. at Gray Plaza on Portland Road, site of the future facility. The public is invited to the event.

Maine Narrow Gauge currently operates seasonal excursions on the Portland waterfront and the museum attracts more than 32,000 visitors annually. For more information, visit www.mainenarrowgauge.org.

[James Patten]

I hope MNG is prepared to live on much fewer than 32,000 visitors when they move to Gray. 

A couple of years ago when they talked about the move the price tag was 2 or 3 million.  It's now up to $6 million.  They must be including track in that figure, maybe done with contractors.

[Philip Marshall]

Will 9,500 sq feet be large enough to bring the whole collection under cover? I'm curious what they have in mind.

[John Kokas]

If that 9,500 sf includes shop and servicing facilities, I doubt highly that all of the collection could be kept under cover.  It will be interesting to see what the design looks like.

[Philip Marshall]

Though I'm not as familiar with the area as some other people here, I'm not willing to write off the potential of this new site just yet, as I see an interesting precedent for it. The odd suburban location on a state highway with a strip mall and junkyard nearby actually sounds a lot like the situation of the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, CO, which I'm sure we would all agree is a successful museum. The suburbs of Denver are a far cry from Durango or Chama (which offer both scenery and authenticity), but easy highway access and the general excellence of the collection are enough to make it work. If the MNGM can raise the money this will require (and if the building they're planning is really big enough for the needs of the collection), then I'm willing to be optimistic.

If you've never been to the CO RR Museum, then have a look at this Google Maps aerial. The museum property is so compact that it looks like a model railroad layout!
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Colorado+Railroad+Museum/@39.7719516,-105.1934765,269m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x876b856ad616b0d1:0x83523605fa442fc8

[Ira Schreiber]

Although a fairly recent photo, the entire CRM yard in the forground has changed. We have been relocating displays and changing the track layout. The dual gauge started over thiry years ago but never finished is now completed as of a few weeks ago.

Ira Schreiber
Member track crew
Colorado Railroad Museum.

[Mark Spremulli]

I wish them the best of luck, hopefully the ride might be more scenic