Volunteers from the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. and Museum and contractors with Maine Locomotive and Machine Works in Alna re-attached Bridgton & Saco River 2-4-4T No. 7’s boiler to its chassis.
The locomotive’s recently rebuilt boiler was reattached Tuesday morning with the help of two large cranes. Steam operations manager Jay Monty tells Trains News Wire that workers will now turn their attention to reassembling the locomotive. Among the major components that need to be put back on the locomotive is the cab, the tender tank, air pumps, a new ash pan, and the boiler jacket.
It is unclear when the locomotive will be fired up for the first time, although Monty says the crew is making progress every day. Crews made an initial hydrostatic test on the boiler in mid-August.
B&SR No. 7 was built by Baldwin in 1913 and operated in Maine until the 1940s when it was purchased by cranberry mogul Ellis Atwood who opened the Edaville Railroad in Massachusetts. The locomotive ran at Edaville until the 1990s when it and dozens of other locomotives and cars came home to Maine to form the core of the museum on the Portland waterfront. No. 7 last ran in the early 2000s.
