16 February 2012

Carver's Edaville Railroad is Back on Track Following Strong Holiday Sales

2 foot narrow gauge Edaville Railroad number 7 gets oiled - 1978 Photographer unknown.
 

Carver Massachusetts USA - Sometimes, banking on nostalgia can be a winning business strategy after all. Just witness the surprising return of the Edaville railroad, an amusement park in Carver that seemed destined for a date with a bulldozer a year ago.
 
At that time, owner Jon Delli Priscoli was actively looking for a buyer to keep Edaville USA going, while also holding out a residential subdivision as a backup plan. When no buyer emerged for the park, Delli Priscoli dropped the plan to subdivide the place and instead decided to pump more than $100,000 into repairs to improve the park for the 2011 fall season.
 
A fresh coat of paint here, some new rides there. Yes, the old extended train route that was cut short several years ago isn't coming back. But Delli Priscoli tried to make the best of the situation, with the goal of building the park back up for a more stable, long-term future.
 
The results seem to be paying off for the Marlboro-based developer and freight railroad owner. Doug Pizzi, a spokesman for Delli Priscoli, tells me that the park had one of its best holiday seasons in 2011. The park took in about 125,000 admissions in November and December, Pizzi says, about 12 percent more than the same time in 2010 (although it's worth noting that the park opened earlier in the year in 2010 than in 2011).
 
Of course, the relatively mild weather probably played an important role in attendance.
 
But maybe, just maybe, the search for simpler pleasures for our next generation to enjoy played a role. Edaville, as kitschy as it may seem, is still the kind of place that can create memories for young kids, and those kinds of places seem like they're becoming harder to find these days.
 
Jon Chesto.
 

 

20 February 2012

The Martinsburg Roundhouse and Shops

The Martinsburg Roundhouse is the only iron framed roundhouse still standing in the world today - Date/Photographer unknown.
 

Martinsburg West Virginia USA - This fully enclosed 1866 roundhouse is supported by a sophisticated cast iron frame, designed in the mid-1850's by an immigrant engineer named Albert Fink. These frame components were cast in Baltimore, shipped and assembled in Martinsburg, somewhat like an erector set. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) used at least 5 cast-iron roundhouses of this design. This is the last one remaining.
 
Evidence suggests that the present roundhouse occupied the location of the 1854 Gothic roundhouse burned in the Civil War. The 50 foot diameter pit below the turntable may actually include the original 40-foot diameter pit walls. The building would allow mechanics to bring the engine inside and onto the turntable, turn it, and back it into a bay. The shape of the building and the original venting cupola allowed locomotive smoke and steam to rise and escape above.
 
The Frog and Switch Shop (to the South) was originally called the Car Shop and was used to manufacture railroad freight cars used mostly to transport coal. It was built in 1867 using massive wood and iron trusses of substantial dimensions. At the end of the 19th century this function was moved to Brunswick, Maryland. Martinsburg began manufacturing frog and switch points which are specialized parts of the switches which guide the wheels of rolling stock from one track to another. Points are the long tapered rail sections and the frog is used to guide the wheels of the train through the center of part of the switch. It is called a frog because the earlier forms resembled the outline of a real frog.
 
Located in the rear of the Frog and Switch Shop is an area that was used for general blacksmith work. It was originally used for a variety of tasks, from making axles to sharpening tools.