Despite years of flirtation, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum still won’t commit to Gray.
Since the railroad group’s board of trustees voted to relocate the museum in 2011, railroad officials have repeatedly expressed interest in moving to Gray, and potentially constructing a new railroad museum and track on the old Portland-Lewiston Interurban Railway line that parallels the eastern side of Route 100 south of Gray Center.
Gray officials have been trying to lure the railroad to town since the company put out a call for interested partner-communities in October 2010.
Yet even as the group negotiates a potential deed transfer with Central Maine Power – the owner of a large section of the old Interurban, as well as the right of way – railroad officials insist they have not come to a decision on the matter.
“Right now, we’re exploring all the options that we might have, and we really haven’t closed the door on any option,” said Sharon Hickey, the president of the railroad’s board of trustees.
The CMP deed would provide the vast majority of the land needed to construct a new railroad from Gray Plaza through a wetland area known as Gray Meadows. Donnell Carroll, the new executive director of the railroad group, said that lawyers from both sides are in touch about a potential deed transfer.
“Our lawyer is back and forth with the folks from CMP trying to finalize what that language will look like,” Carroll said. “Once that’s finalized, the board … will have to accept the deed.”
CMP communications staff did not respond to phone calls and messages seeking comment.
The railroad group is in a state of flux. In late August, a consortium of developers purchased the 10-acre waterfront property in Portland that has been home to the group’s museum and headquarters for two decades. The railroad group has one year left on a lease with the previous owner, Phineas Sprague Jr. According to Carroll, it’s also unclear if the group will continue to operate the trains now running on the Eastern Promenade in Portland, with less than a decade remaining on the Maine Department of Transportation lease for the right of way.
Carroll, who became executive director in mid-October, estimated that re-locating to Gray could cost the group $3 million to $5 million.
He emphasized that the group had not yet commissioned schematics, blueprints or environmental impact statements for a potential Gray relocation. However, Carroll acknowledged that railroad officials had invested “a lot of time and energy” looking at Gray.
“I think in a lot of people’s minds this is a done deal,” Carroll said. “I think it’s fair to say that the board is pretty supportive of a relocation to Gray. Gray is clearly the site that they have spent time on and have come down on. They sent out an RFP a couple of years ago, the communities responded, Gray seemed to be the most positive response.”
Carroll is referring to the group’s much-publicized 2010 effort to solicit interested bids from Maine communities that would be willing to host the railroad. Portland, Monson, Bridgton and Gray were among the bidders. The ultimate decision lies with the seven-person board of trustees. For now, the president of the board is keeping her lips sealed.
“When we have something to announce we will announce it,” Hickey said. “Right now we have nothing to announce. There’s nothing I can say at this time.”
The former Portland-Lewiston Interurban Railway line that parallels the eastern side of Route 100 south of Gray Center has since been turned into a hiking path and snowmobile/ATV track. Negotiations are under way to secure the old line for a possible move by the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company and Museum.Send questions/comments to the editors.
