The museum researched the layout for months to determine how the layout could be kept as intact as possible and relocated to Kennebunkport, and what type of facility would be needed to house such an artifact.Ī custom-building design was developed by Museum volunteer and architect Herb Fremin. Like the other groups approached, the museum did not have the space to display such a large model. Hansjoerg Wyss, a friend of the Beals and a rail enthusiast and philanthropist, approached Seashore Trolley Museum in 2020 to ask if they might consider providing a home for the layout. Because of the layout’s impressive size, no one could accept the donation without taking the model apart and making the layout much smaller. Upon Buz’s passing in 2013, Helen continued to curate the layout while looking for another model club or nonprofit to resume ownership. Best-selling author Stephen King even provided the designs of his Victorian home in Bangor to the Beals, and they replicated it expertly. From Quoddy Lighthouse to the mountains of Maine, to the paper mills and Dragon Cement, street blocks representing the communities the Maine Central Model Railroad operated through and several roundhouses, tunnels, rivers and the ocean, the layout has it all. For decades, the couple opened their home to guests from all over the world to view one of Maine’s largest layouts in HO-scale. The beautifully crafted model railroad layout that will be exhibited in the Model Railroad Building was built by Helen and Harold “Buz” Beal. The public can watch the site prep and building construction through the museum’s live feed camera, available for free at The museum is also constructing another building, a new carhouse for nine trolleys in its collection and a second camera available at that website is capturing this construction project in the distance, with an estimated completion date of February 2023. The building will be heated and cooled by geothermal energy. The building will include an open space for the layout, office space for volunteers and staff, a combined workshop/conference room a retail location so the museum can bring in additional revenue through model sales and a mezzanine viewing gallery that has potential for community programming and other activities with elevator access. The foundation originally committed $2M+ in 2021 but due to the rise of material costs, the foundation has increased their donation to $3.2M. The model railroad depicts the Maine Central Railroad in the 1940s-60s and is being relocated from Jonesport, Maine thanks to a very generous donation from the Wyss Medical Foundation. Seashore Trolley Museum recently broke ground on what now will be a $3.2M construction project to exhibit one of Maine’s largest HO-scale railroad layouts. These were the first accurate replica trolleys built in the United States.Seashore Trolley Museum’s Model Railroad Building Construction Underway Brill Company and operated by the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Company, successor to the Bay State Street Railway Company. The Park acquired one closed and two open trolleys which are replicas of trolleys built by the J. Lowell National Park Historic Open Trolley 1601As part of the development of Lowell National Historical Park, trolley service was re-established in 1984 in Lowell’s downtown to transport park visitors in the city. The Streetcars of Lowell National Historical Park Special thanks go to the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority for lending a set of trucks and motors compatible with the track in Lowell, thus enabling its operation in the city. It has come to Lowell on long-term loan from Seashore Trolley Museum as an appropriate national symbol to complement the “On Track” exhibit. The Seashore Trolley Museum acquired the car in the early 1980’s and its members sponsored its complete rebuilding and restoration at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine, bringing the car back into operation. A preservation group in Alabama saved number 966 but their plans were not successful and the car fell into disrepair. 966, currently in Lowell as part of the “On Track” exhibit, is one of the famed cars that rolled through the French Quarter and inspired Tennessee Williams’ play “A Streetcar Named Desire.” The car, built by Perley-Thomas of High Point, North Carolina in 1924, ran throughout the Crescent City until 1964.
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