Downeast Thunder
Member
I'll begin this thread with an introduction regarding background information. I'm a professional engineer-turned-farmer located in Downeast, Maine. More specifically; the town of Milbridge, located in Washington County, Maine. US Rte 1 runs right through the town. Milbridge is on the Maine seacoast and is between the cities of Ellsworth & Machias. We're about an hour drive beyond Bar Harbor and about an hour drive from the Canadian border in the other direction.
My wife and I started a small family farm on our 50 acre (mostly wooded) site with the intention of raising farm fresh food without preservatives and other chemicals for our family. Now friends and acquaintances in our area wish to purchase our roaster chickens, turkeys, chicken & duck eggs, fruit and veggies produce, along with some of the Maine maple syrup we make here on the premises, and Balsam Fir Christmas trees. As such, we named the place Downeast Thunder Farm and we are now planning to make our farm a commercial operation. That takes us to Downeast Thunder Railroad.
Before moving to Maine over 8-1/2 years ago, we lived on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where I resided for over 34 years. Nearby Cape Cod (about 35 miles or so) in South Carver, Massachusetts is Edaville Railroad. Edaville has always been one of my favorite places to visit and back in the day, they ran 24" narrow gauge, live steam locomotives that are now back in Maine (where they originally came from). Edaville Railroad was started by a cranberry farmer, Ellis D. Atwood and the track layout was around the cranberry bogs, intended for farm work. Friends and neighbors would show up at Atwoods farm to get rides on the train, and the rest is History - Edaville Railroad was born.
Now we have a farm, but we want o take advantage of "agritourism" and draw people to a farm as a destination year round with seasonal attractions: You pick apples, blueberries, a pumpkin patch, livestock petting zoo, farm store with snack bar, pick your own Christmas tree, visits to the "sugar shack" during maple sap season, hay rides, farm demonstrations and so forth. Add to that a small railroad around and throughout the farm. The train will be used for logging operations and other farm work, but there will be a line used for customer excursions.
As you can see from my description above regarding Edaville Railroad or (even better) if you been there, you will understand my thoughts about adding a railroad system to the farm and where the model comes from.
I've been debating about the size of the railroad. I was thinking a 15" gauge grand scale railway initially, but then started thinking 18" gauge, then began considering 24" narrow gauge as there were so many narrow gauge railroads used for logging in Maine - I figured I would be able to find the heavier rail nearby, but so far that has not been the case. I'm now reconsidering either 15" or 18" gauge grand scale.
You may find me on other rail forums and sites. I've been receiving some great suggestions and advice from many folks with lots of experience. I'll post more about this venture and include some photos from time to time. I'm always to happy to hear comments and suggestions from folks so don't be shy.
Sorry for such a long post, but there is quite a bit going on here and I haven't even scratched the surface yet - to let you have the entire picture.
My wife and I started a small family farm on our 50 acre (mostly wooded) site with the intention of raising farm fresh food without preservatives and other chemicals for our family. Now friends and acquaintances in our area wish to purchase our roaster chickens, turkeys, chicken & duck eggs, fruit and veggies produce, along with some of the Maine maple syrup we make here on the premises, and Balsam Fir Christmas trees. As such, we named the place Downeast Thunder Farm and we are now planning to make our farm a commercial operation. That takes us to Downeast Thunder Railroad.
Before moving to Maine over 8-1/2 years ago, we lived on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where I resided for over 34 years. Nearby Cape Cod (about 35 miles or so) in South Carver, Massachusetts is Edaville Railroad. Edaville has always been one of my favorite places to visit and back in the day, they ran 24" narrow gauge, live steam locomotives that are now back in Maine (where they originally came from). Edaville Railroad was started by a cranberry farmer, Ellis D. Atwood and the track layout was around the cranberry bogs, intended for farm work. Friends and neighbors would show up at Atwoods farm to get rides on the train, and the rest is History - Edaville Railroad was born.
Now we have a farm, but we want o take advantage of "agritourism" and draw people to a farm as a destination year round with seasonal attractions: You pick apples, blueberries, a pumpkin patch, livestock petting zoo, farm store with snack bar, pick your own Christmas tree, visits to the "sugar shack" during maple sap season, hay rides, farm demonstrations and so forth. Add to that a small railroad around and throughout the farm. The train will be used for logging operations and other farm work, but there will be a line used for customer excursions.
As you can see from my description above regarding Edaville Railroad or (even better) if you been there, you will understand my thoughts about adding a railroad system to the farm and where the model comes from.
I've been debating about the size of the railroad. I was thinking a 15" gauge grand scale railway initially, but then started thinking 18" gauge, then began considering 24" narrow gauge as there were so many narrow gauge railroads used for logging in Maine - I figured I would be able to find the heavier rail nearby, but so far that has not been the case. I'm now reconsidering either 15" or 18" gauge grand scale.
You may find me on other rail forums and sites. I've been receiving some great suggestions and advice from many folks with lots of experience. I'll post more about this venture and include some photos from time to time. I'm always to happy to hear comments and suggestions from folks so don't be shy.
Sorry for such a long post, but there is quite a bit going on here and I haven't even scratched the surface yet - to let you have the entire picture.