A Two-Hobby Trip: Motorcycles And Steamers
May/June 1991
John Moffat, 64 Gourok Ave
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Old #7 on the Edaville RR.
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Dartmouth, Nova Scotia , Canada B2X 2W8
We kissed our wives goodbye on Wednesday, September 26th (we
being John and Ian Moffat, father and son), and with our BMW
motorcycles loaded with camping gear and cameras, set out for
Plymouth Rock,
Massachusetts. The first night, we decided to motel it in Bangor
because of the threat of rain. Next morning, the rain in Maine was
all too plain and we had to envelop ourselves in full rain gear
before starting out. However, after about 150 miles en route we at
last ran into bright sunshine. The rest of the run to the
Pilgrims' landing site was pleasant indeed.
The first part of our holiday was to attend a BMW motorcycle
rally at Plymouth Rock KOA. Just before the campsite, there was a
roadside advertisement pointing the way to the 'Toy Train
Museum'. For anyone interested in small scale trains, it is a
very worthwhile stopping place. Most of the exhibits were in HO and
smaller gauges. Although most were of American manufacture there
were also a large contingent from Europe and smaller numbers from
Asia and other continents. Also on display was an elegant 3'
gauge engine which was steam ready, but is never run anymore.
Friday was given up to motorcycling fun, but Saturday Ian and I
were fortunate enough to visit the Edaville Railroad and museum.
Fortunate in two ways, because this particular weekend there was
also a display of antique machinery with some seventy exhibitors
with everything from Maytag two-cycle washing machine engines, to
large make and break engines with flywheels up to five feet in
diameter.
One of the interesting engines there was a Stirling hot air
engine. This is the first one of its size which I have seen in
operation. The Stirling cycle must be the quietest of all power
producers.
The Edaville Railroad was set up with equipment brought from the
Billerica two foot gauge railway in the early Twenties. Between the
80's of the last century and the 20's of this, there were a
number of two foot gauge railways running in the States some
hauling wood, others including passengers, and one was even being
used in a cranberry operation.
Ellis D. Attwood purchased the last of the available engines and
passenger cars as well as many miles of track. Today the run is a
little better than five miles long and takes you around a lake,
which is itself surrounded by cranberry bogs. In fact the train is
now labelled the 'Cranberry Special,' and while travelling
on it during late September or early October you get a chance to
see the harvesting operation in full swing.
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