New England Live Steamers

History

From John Kurdzionak, 1 October 2006:

This track was owned by Lester Friend of the Friend Box Company, and it was located along the Porter River in the Danversport section of town, on the Friend Box Company's property.

The track was also located directly behind "Yankee Shop", which was Lester Friend's machine shop. A "side business" of Yankee Shop, was Lester Friend's live steam casting business which later became known as FRIENDS MODELS.

The early Brotherhood of Live Steamers meetings were held annually at Danvers, MA starting about 1937, as they had outgrown the ability of Mr. Charles "Carl" Purinton's home and track in Marblehead, MA, to host them.

The N.E.L.S. track was located at the Danvers site from approximately 1936 to approximately the 1960s, give or take.

The box company still exists, but is not owned by the Friend family. The "Yankee Shop" building still exists, but now houses a liquor store.

But few traces of the N.E.L.S. track out back, exist today. The passage of time, the building of Massachusetts Rte. 128 on the edge of the property, and commercial/residential development, have erased virtually all traces of the huge live steam facility that used to exist there.

John K further writes:

In 1938, Lester Danforth Friend built the New England Live Steamers track on the property behind his box factory in Danvers, Mass. It was a 2-1/2" and 3-1/2" gauge elevated ("highline") loop of track some 600' in length that went out to the bank of the Porter River, a tidal marsh, and then returned. On its return, it crossed a "high trestle" over part of the tidal marsh. This "High trestle" was about 8 feet off the ground.

The late Charlie Purinton , the son of Brotherhood of Live Steamers founder Charles A. "Carl" Purinton (1898-1999), once told me that he and some local live steamers of the era (and several of Lester Friend's employees of the box company) helped to build the NELS Danvers track, and that it was built in less than a month! Charlie was 16 years old at the time.

After its 1938 beginnings, the heyday (or "golden era") of activity at the NELS track was during the 1940s and early 50s. Each year, several running meets would be held during the spring, summer, and fall; the New England Live Steamers "Annual Meet" (which was also quite often the Brotherhood of Live Steamers Annual Meet) would be held for 3 days each September.

One of the popular occasions at the Danvers track was LUNCH. The main entrée for the day’s historic event was Mrs. “Carl” Purinton’s memorable fish chowder which she was well known for. “Carl” said it was officially known as “Marblehead Chowder” .

Then, in the late 1940s, when 1" scale was becoming popular, Lester added a "dual gauge" outer loop to the New England Live Steamers track. It had 3-1/2" and 4-3/4" gauges, and the previosly-popular 2-1/2" gauge size was not included on the new loop.

About 1950, this outer loop was substantially extended across the Porter River to Lester's property on the other side of the river. The track went over a bridge, turned left and made a loop, and then it came back across the river over the same bridge.

The New England Live Steamers track no longer exists. Old timers have told me that by the late 1950s, maintenance on such a long live steam track was becoming a problem, due probably in part to the fact that Lester Friend was "getting older" as well as developing other hobby interests (antique cars, for one; and a "park railroad" he operated at the Topsfield Fair in Topsfield MA, were competing for his attention). And also, the track suffered a fate that happened to so many live steam tracks over the years, including (perhaps) some today: everyone wanted to "run trains" but few people wanted to "repair the tracks". As such, the New England Live Steamers track was becoming a maintenance nightmare that was being used less and less, and was dismantled sometime in the late 1950s.

1944

From "The Model Craftsman", July 1944

Lester Friend Pays Us A Visit

The editors were pleasantly surprised recently when Lester Friend paid us a visit. Lester, as you know, is the president of the New England Live Steamers Association and they have several meetings scheduled for this Summer and Fall, one on Aug. 6th, (one was held June 4th) while the big Brotherhood Meeting will be held on Octover 7th and 8th. At that time "live steam" enthusiasts from all over the East will wend their way to Danvers, Mass.; those who cannot make the trip may send their engines to Danvers, Mass., in care of the Friend Box Company. The engines should be sent prepaid and should be very carefully packed to avoid breakage. If you can't get there yourself, be sure to send a sheet of operating instructions, if the locomotive is to be run by proxy.

After the War, Lester said that the New England Live Steamers expect to add two or three thousand feet to their present trackage, this new section to be railed for 3/4" and 1" scale engines. Far greater activity in Live Steam roads than ever before was predicted by Lester, once hostilities cease. His intimate contact with live steamers all over the country lends weight to his option, and the editor's correspondence with model rails tends to show a similar favorable reception for live steam models.

Lester has promised to give us plans and instructions for building an Atlantic type live steamer, a finished model of which has proven very successful. We hope to publish the first article on the Atlantic engine in an early issue. This will be a simple type of engine, well suited to those making their first start in the live steam field.

Danvers Track

The Danvers Track was located behind Friend's Box Factory, 90 High Street, Danvers, MA. The photo below is a watercolor painting of the layout circa 1950.

Watercolor of Danvers layout, 1950

Jim Leggett wrote]:

The original track was the inner loop. The expansion crossed over the tidal river and doe-si-doed around on the far bank, then crossed back over the same bridge. The bridge approach embankments, concrete abutments and supports are all that is visible of the layout today.

The "William B Prestong" 4-4-0 American at Danvers
The Danvers steaming bay
Carl Purinton's "Granny" 0-4-0 switcher at Danvers.
Closeup of valve gear
The original Laverne Langworthy/Yankee Shop Hudson, from the 1930s, No 1501
No 1501
Carl Purinton and Harry Sait inspecing Carl's "Granny" switcher
GGLS member Larry Duggan at NELS--Danvers,MA. Larry was originator of GGLS club paper, The CALLBOY !!
Carl Purinton and Harry Sait are the two gentlemen at the far right with their backs facing the camera. Lester Friend to left of Carl with back turned.
View across the meadow at Danvers.
Bad Curve at Danvers
Passenger station
Stone burm
Danvers pre-World War II meet. Photo provided by Jim Leggett.