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MGRS VISITS NORTH BERWICK MILL FIELD FESTIVAL

           

          This Saturday, August 20, the Maine Garden Railway Society participated for the first time in the North Berwick Mill Field Festival.  The festival is a colorful annual event that celebrates the town’s heritage as a rail junction for the Boston & Maine R.R. and the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth R.R.  Operations began in 1842, when the PS & P first came to town.  Travelers from Boston would take the B&M to North Berwick and transfer to the PS & P for the remainder of the trip to Portland.  The lines were initially competitors, but the B&M eventually acquired the PS & P.

The MGRS display was designed by Terry Norton and historian Lynn Day to resemble the town of North Berwick as it existed when both the B&M and the PS & P ran through the town.  Terry even lettered a train for the PS & P.  Buildings on the MGRS layout were placed in the same relative locations as in the actual town.  The B&M and PS & P lines also were designed by Lynn and Terry to run side by side, just as they did originally.  In addition to this 16’ x 16’ display, Terry also designed a similarly-sized display for the Society’s ever-popular Thomas trains.  A great number of happy children visited this display.

The MGRS display was in the planning stages for nearly a year, spearheaded by Terry and Carl Churchill, with help and encouragement from Mike Macdonald, who coordinates the annual Mill Field Festival.  A number of MGRS members helped run the trains today, among them Ben Braithwaite, Sue Norton, Hunk Erskine, Carl Churchill, and Brian Saunders.  Special thanks go to Terry and Sue Norton and Carl Churchill for the major investment of time and energy they put into making this a very successful event.