My good friend (and brother-in-law!) Dwight Cross shot this the other day while driving through Barnet to check out Dr Kendall's place. Anyone know if this "mystery Heisler" is new to the collection, or was this the parts source for the Passumpsic's operable Heisler?

Dear Stephen:
Neither. He has had it for decades and the operable one was fairly complete when he obtained it.
Perhaps the reason you didn't notice it previously was that for a long time it sat (in pieces) at another location on the other side of the river.
The Hiesler in the photo came from Tallulah, LA as I recall. When I saw it there in the '60s it had been bulldozed into a heap at the edge of the mill property. Hats off to Marvin for saving it.
J.David

It's unfortunate that nothing has been done with the Aroostook Valley equipment (includes a few 44-tonners and a unique double ended plow) that Dr. Kendall owns. Those are pretty much all that is left of the modern AVR (I believe the Seashore Museum has some stuff from the electric era). It'd be nice to see it donated to a group to be properly restored and displayed.

-Justin Franz

If we were in England this would be a candidate for operational restoration.





Yes, I'm kidding. . .just a little morning humor.

Scott

Thank you sir -- Hats off indeed!

Stephen

Actually, to be a bit more accurate, it would probably be considered for rebuilding into a member of a class that was not preserved--say, the Southern Bullied "Leader" or one of the gas-turbines..........

Okay, okay, I'm being a wee bit facetious........... <;-D

I appreciate that sentiment Justin, however as someone who's family has been involved with the Kendall's recently, I can tell you that most of the equipment there (including the AVR stuff) would be splinters and razorblads by now.

The Kendall's have an incredible collection of things ripped out of the scrapper's jaws. Some were so far gone when they got them that no one would touch them (like the CV milk car) yet they are still with us to research and maybe someday restore.

It might not be evident to all, but a lot of work has been done to the collection lately, and the Heisler ran its first "public" trips in decades last year and I would suspect it will again this year. They have also done a lot of trackwork.

The family is very "into" what they have and they seem to know the tiniest details of each relic they have saved.

How I wish there was a version of the Kendall clan in northeast PA circa 1955-60!

Rob Davis

Rob - Just how bad IS the CV milk car? Any photos of it perchance?

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

I hope my post didn't imply any disrespect or lack of appreciation towards the work of Kendall in preserving so many pieces. I'm sure the AVR equipment would have been cut up if not for him.

Being from Maine, and someone who missed out on seeing the AVR, I just want to see the best for the equipment. Personally I think one would make a great addition to the Railroad Museum of New England or the such. That and a Bangor and Aroostook GP7 or BL-2, course that's just my northern New England bias.

-Justin Franz