I'm a sucker for the weather beaten and disused. Even better if it looks like something that Tim Burton would doodle out of a steampunk nightmare. Here is an item that you're going to have to see soon if you'd like to see it in its current state, because its days are numbered. The last passenger steam train out of Bangor: MEC #470. A steam engine that serviced customers between Bangor and Boston from 1924-1954. What makes this machine remarkable within the context of the general state of the way things now are in Maine is that it was used exclusively for passenger rail service. No potatoes and no pulpwood. Also remarkable is the fact hat this was the last passenger train to depart from Bangor. 470 was given to the city of Waterville as a gift in 1962, by Maine Central Railroad which was celebrating its 100th anniversary. In 1970 it was moved to its current location where it now sits behind a fence in a park in Waterville.
Go see it now, in its charming rusted and weathered state before it goes away. Fortunately, this is going 'away' is more akin to being whisked away for a makeover. The New England Steam Corporation plans to get this 127 ton behemoth up and running again. Here's their Indiegogo pitch! They've come a long way since being set back by the city of Waterville due to asbestos concerns.
While it'll certainly be great to see this thing actually move under its own power, a little bit of melancholy comes with its potential removal. As a kid, I used to climb all over this thing. If there was a place to stand and something to hold on to I was there. This stopped when I got into the coal car and my sneakers couldn't provide adequate traction to get out, so naturally through child logic I concluded that my parents were just going to leave me there. This is why I didn't visit this machine between 1995 and 2015, I suppose.
Since it was first placed in its park in late 1970 it has been more or less deteriorating, and due to safety concerns it should be recognized that the fence currently in place around the site is for the benefit of the machine's new owners, and for the benefit of the proudly tetanus-free. It's new owners, The New England Steam Corporation, have some pretty graphic photos of the carnage wrought by Maine weather on their Facebook page.
I visited "old 470" on an overcast day in May. I didn't get many good shots because my choices were either shooting blind or trying to shoot through a fence. Here's the full res collection, and here are some of the nicer shots for your casual perusal.
These are only a few of the photos I took. The rest of the collection is here, and in full resolution.
Resources:
