Full Steam Ahead

By Michael J. DeCicco

The highlight of the Edaville Family Theme Park’s winter season in Carver will be its Christmas Festival of Lights from November 10 to December 31. But the family park and railroad is active for more months of year than that.

The Magic of Christmas in July event ran successfully on Friday and Saturday evenings this past summer, and the park has been open ever since, hosting train rides throughout the fall. Hannah Harriman and Brian Fanslau have operated the park since 2022. Harriman boasts that Edaville currently features 15 vintage amusement rides, two steam engines, and railroad equipment from several Maine two-foot-gauge railroads, and they are all available to visitors from now through December.

Edaville used one of these steam engines this summer, Harriman added. The 1913 engine, known as Number Three, was brought back to Edaville in partnership with its owners Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland.

Ellis D. Atwood of South Carver started what became Edaville out of an early interest in both trains and Christmas displays. The seasonal village displays in his yard in the 1930s attracted traffic jams of visitors, Harriman said. The railroad he later installed to access his 1800-acre of bogs in Carver (using railroad equipment from a Maine company that had gone out of business in 1941) attracted friends and other visitors who wanted to ride his trains. He soon found that the historic train rides through the beautiful cranberry country were very popular and began offering them on a regular schedule then for a five cent charge.

Around 1948, he combined his village and his railroad rides and used his initials, E.D.A., to name the attraction Edaville.

But what’s new at Edaville this year? Harriman boasts that local business will now fill the Christmas Marketplace more than ever. The new vendors will include a classic toy store, a Main Street Bakery, a candy store (Cape Cod Candy Co.), a kilt store with other European gifts, an alpaca products store, a general store with classic Christmas decorations, and an organic goods store. There will also be new Christmas craft vendors onsite and a new food vendor, Sarcastic Swine Barbecue, that will feature deliciously prepared pork, chicken, and beef briskets. There will even be a new outdoor performance space for local musicians and dance groups. For train enthusiasts, VIP tickets will be available for the North Pole Limited train run that will give riders the chance to travel directly to the North Pole, where Santa and his elves will board to hand out gifts. There’s also the new VIP Santa Express, a train ride before the park opens during which riders will enjoy a choice of milk or juice and a delicious cookie while Santa and Mrs. Claus visit each child to greet them with a Christmas gift. These train rides have a very limited capacity so that Santa can spend more time with each child. They will run Thursdays through Sundays. Visit edaville.com to book your tickets early before they sell out!

The aforementioned Festival of Lights will feature steam train rides, 10,000+ Christmas lights, food, local businesses and crafters, Santa, and vintage amusement rides. It will run Thursdays through Sundays, from November 9 through December 31 (excluding Thanksgiving and Christmas Day).

Harriman added that Edaville Park’s main goal is simply “to preserve a classic New England tradition for generations to come and provide a place for families to make memories with us and have fun for all ages.”

The new management team, the Edaville website elaborates, “intends to advance the Edaville customer experience while upholding its deep history and traditions for future generations. We plan to use steam locomotives on our trains as much as possible, giving a rare experience as the only currently operating steam locomotives in Massachusetts.”

For more information on any of the above, and to book your reservations, go to at edaville.com. The Edaville Family Theme Park is located at 5 Pine Street in Carver.

Michael J. DeCicco has worked as a writer for over 30 years. He is also the author of two award-winning young adult novels, Kaurlin’s Disciples and The Kid Mobster. He lives with his wife Cynthia in New Bedford.