Roger Farnworth Railways

[rogerfarnworth]

RE: Roger Farnworth Railways
The Edaville Railroad, South Carver, Massachusetts, again. …

The featured image for this article is Monson Railroad No. 4 on an Edaville Railroad works train in 1950, © Public Domain. [2: p93]

In January 2026, I was reading an early copy of The Railway Magazine and wrote an article about the Edaville Railroad which can be found above. [1]

In January 2026, I had not really cottoned-on to the significance of the Edaville Railroad as a pioneer in the field of preservation.

We all recognise the Talyllyn Railway as the first railway in the world to be preserved. But the Edaville Railroad predates the date in 1951 when volunteers began running the Talyllyn.

The Edaville Railroad opened in 1947. It was not a ‘preserved’ railway, but it still has a claim to being the first heritage railway. It was a 2ft-gauge railway, built by an enthusiast on a green field site to run historic stock.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2026/06/18/the...tts-again/