Edaville Locomotive 2 is seen pulling into the station getting ready to load the second train (after the steam pulled the first train) of the day.
Although it was the first day of 2023, it was the last day of the season for Edaville USA. 2022 marked the first season under the new management of Shervin B. Hawley and Brian Fanslau.
Ellis D Atwood first opened Edaville Railroad in 1947 in the cranberry bogs of South Carver, Massachusetts. The original collection included most of the surviving Maine 2-foot gauge locomotives and rolling stock. Although Edaville is one of the oldest heritage railroads operating in the United States, the original park closed in 1991. At that time the collection was relocated to Portland at the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum. In 1999 the park was reopened but in 2005 the nearly 6-mile route was shortened to 2.5 miles.
The railroad owns two operating steam locomotives although one of them, #21 is undergoing repairs at Maine Locomotive & Machine Works in Alna, Maine. Seen here is #11, built by the Boothbay Railway Village in Boothbay Maine. It is a combination of two 1925 Porter locomotives, #10 and #11 that were longtime display pieces on the Edaville property.
Edaville USA is the only railroad with operating steam locomotives in Massachusetts.