Bridgton Junction showing 2 foot narrow gauge and standard gauge tracks, locomotives and cars.
Mission
The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company & Museum collects, preserves, displays, interprets, and operates historic railroad equipment from Maine’s two-foot-gauge railways for the education and enjoyment of the public.
Motto: Small Trains, Big Story
Vision
Parlor Car Rangeley from the Sandy River Railroad. Built in 1901
We take our visitors back in time to experience, up close and personal, what it was like to ride, run and maintain Maine two foot narrow gauge railroads.
Our History
From the 1870s until the 1940s, some 200 miles of narrow gauge lines served the state’s smaller communities. Today, our Museum visitors relive railroading as it once was and come to understand the railroads’ importance to Maine’s economic development. They have the unique pleasure of riding along the shore of Casco Bay in an antique rail car pulled by historic steam or diesel locomotives. The route follows the 1846 right of way of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, linking Portland with Montreal. During a three-mile round-trip, visitors take in the sights of the waterfront, harbor, and islands, all described – along with the story of Maine’s narrow-gauge railroads – by our conductors and docents.
The museum is housed in a 19th-century assembly building of the Portland Company, a manufacturer of metal products, including locomotives and marine engines, from the 1840s until the 1980s. Visitors climb aboard old RR cars, view ongoing restoration and repair work, and see displays of equipment, models, documents, and photographs from the heyday of the railroads in Maine.
The museum’s archives include railroad schedules and maps, photographs, manuals, conductors’ uniforms, train magazines, books related to railroading, and small artifacts.
Founded in 1992, the Maine Narrow Gauge RR is a nonprofit educational organization relying on the services of 100+ volunteers, who lay and maintain the track; inspect, repair, and operate the trains; and run the museum. In September 1993, the organization’s visionary founders brought the historic locomotives and cars back to Maine from the Edaville Railroad in Massachusetts. The Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad has become an important attraction for the greater Portland area, drawing thousands of tourists and area residents to the Old Port to see and experience this remarkable piece of Maine’s history.
See Small Trains in a Big State for the history of the five narrow gauge railroads that operated in Maine, plus information on visiting the sites of these historic places, some with trains operating. Also see: View from the Train for descriptions of landmarks you will see on the train ride along the Portland waterfront.
