KINGFIELD –- Each year 30,000 to 40,000 riders visit the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad and Museum on the waterfront in Portland. The question before the Kingfield Selectmen over the past month has been if they are interested in seeing the railroad and museum move to Kingfield.

Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad executive director Susan Davis was present at a special selectmen’s meeting Monday morning to answer any questions the residents or selectmen might have. She explained that 38 communities were sent a Request for Information package; six responses were received from communities of interest.

After the RFI process is complete, a Request for Proposals will be delivered. The museum’s board of trustees will consider a new location based on the value of the location. Value will be evaluated based on whether the location is an original right-of-way, how much a community is willing to invest in the ownership, and the cost of the buildings, land, easements and relocation of the collection and railway. The board will also consider what the everyday operating costs would be after the museum and railroad was moved. Currently the nonprofit pays $66,000 in rent per year in Portland.

Kingfield is of particular interest to this group because of its history of actually housing narrow gauge railway cars. The region was one of five railroad systems in the state, Davis explained.

“The primary responsibility of the railroad is the care and restoration of its historic collection as well as education of the public about Maine’s Narrow Gauge Railroad heritage. The narrow gauge collection is one of the most unique in North America and represents a wide range of diverse

equipment, artifacts, records, pictures, paintings and other historic equipment,” a document developed by the nonprofit states.

Davis explained that they would need a rail yard of approximately 25,000-square-feet where the trains would depart for an undetermined distance. An approximately 5,000-square-foot building would be needed for the museum as well as a 2,500-square-foot restoration shop. Also required is a 1,000-square-foot space for office and archives.

“We will probably choose our location based on appropriateness and costs covered. And those two don’t have equal weight necessarily,” Davis explained.

Davis said the benefit for the community would come in the form of tourism. “Most of the 30-40,000 people who visit each year are families.” Kingfield would be a destination location for those who visited the museum and railroad, she explained.

A disadvantage for Kingfield as the site would come in the form of the nonprofit losing its volunteer base in Portland. She said that the majority of that base would not relocate to Kingfield, and a new group would need to be established.

Selectmen Neal McCurdy said the location would not be on the town land along the Carrabassett River. The railway and buildings would need to be on private land.

Specific routes and locations were discussed conceptually. Depot Street in Kingfield could be an ideal location for the rail yard with a train destination up to Carrabassett Valley which was an original destination of the historic steam trains. However, significant land owners would need to buy in to the value of the relocations and become stakeholders.

Davis suggested talking with Carrabassett Valley as a potential partner in this vision.

McCurdy questioned whether the community would embrace a large financial commitment in bringing the museum and railroad to Kingfield. “We would need the community behind such a project and we would need hard workers to make this happen,” he said.

Working against the town is the timeline which will look for communities to respond to the RFP by late fall.

Grants and private donations were also discussed as possibilities that morning.

Selectman Merv Wilson and administrative assistant Doug Marble said residents could call the town office if they own land along the historic railroad or if they are interested in seeing this relocation come to fruition.

The selectmen are expected to discuss this issue further Aug. 2 at 6 p.m.