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Railway Museum SHEEPSCOT STATION, PO BOX 242, ALNA, MAINE 04535

January/February 2006

The Victorian Christmas train approaches the crowded platform at Sheepscot Station

Photo by Bob Cavanagh

Victorian Christmas by Sue Longo

Our volunteers again dispensed Christmas joy to over 500

passengers, who enjoyed free steam train and horse-drawn

wagon rides, this time with two wagons! Santa appeared at

Alna Center. (Thanks to Mike Trask.) Back at Sheepscot, the

Longo/Lamontagne girls sang Christmas carols. Adults and

kids alike continued to be amused by the candies, including

elf, reindeer, and snowman poo along with spare red noses for

Rudolph. Not even one bag of the homemade candy coal was

left at day’s end. The “magic oats” purported to attract Santa’s

reindeer on Christmas Eve were also very popular.

Eric Larsen and Cindy Sanger manned the museum store.

Bob Cavanagh (who did most of the decorating), ran hot water

back and forth between Bay | and the freight shed while Josh

Botting and Chrissy creatively heated the liquids. Dave Hart

and Julius Stuck kept the hot chocolate and cider and coffee

pots filled. The refreshment tables ran smoothly thanks to

donations and to the efforts of Dot Weeks and Jane Robertson.

Roger Whitney’s cookies and Vern Shaw’s cut-out train cookies

were in great demand! The Verneys donated a blow up

Christmas scene that added to the holiday atmosphere.

The volunteers enjoyed a pot luck dinner in the machine

shop, organized by Jane Robertson. Nancy Watson’s cake

and Steve Smith’s wife’s goulash ensured that the crew ate

well. The Hernandezes took over food management as energy

began to wane. Other volunteers included John Bradbury,

Gordon Cook, Joe Fox, Bob Gabriel, Steve Hussar, Jason

Lamontagne, Bob Longo, John McNamara, James Patten, Frank

Paul, Josh Recave, Stewart Rhine, John Robertson, Don Sanger,

Vern Shaw, Steve Smith , Brad Whittemore, and Steve Zuppa.

A wonderful bunch of volunteers have we! Many of our

“regulars” were unable to participate and were dearly missed.

Heartfelt thanks go to all who donated foodstuffs, from cookies

and chilies to meatballs and sausage soup, both for this event

and for Halloween. Surprisingly, though the event was free to

the public, passengers donated over $350 to the refreshment

table alone. Our thanks to the good-hearted people who

attended. Come and join us next Christmas, for you can’t beat

the cookies and cider. We hope to make the Christmas trains of

2006 even more memorable! So, until then, “Happy New Year

to all and to all a good night!”

Visit our web page at: http://www.wwfiry.org

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Weeks Mills Rd

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office church on hill

This is an edited version of a drawing by Richard Campbell showing the town of Weeks Mills, Maine, as he

remembers it 70 years ago. Several locations shown are mentioned in the article on the next page.

2-Foot Musing No. 22 Just when I thought that T had put to bed for good the

question of how Monson freight trains were made up, along

comes a letter from Roger Whitney that puts a whole new spin

on it. Roger knows quite a bit about the Monson, as his family

comes from Monson and he has written a nice book about the

railroad. Roger points out that for several years near the end of

service, the run-around track at Monson station was severed

at the Water Street crossing, making it two stub-end sidings.

As aresult, it would require making flying switches to assemble

a train, but Roger does not believe they did. Whatever order

the cars came up out of the quarry was probably the way the

train was made up.

If this were the reason for the random makeup of trains,

and it seems to be the most logical, then, as Roger says, this

leads to the next question. Why did the Monson cut an

operationally valuable passing siding just the width of the

street?

To answer that question requires knowing something of

Harold Morrill, Superintendent of the Monson for 30 years

until he retired in 1938. While he was in charge, Mr. Morrill had

several run-ins with the Interstate Commerce Commission when

they tried to apply Government rules to the Monson’s

operations. He never converted the Monson to automatic

couplers, and he held off installing electric headlights on the

locomotives for many years. These things all cost money, which

was in short supply during most of the railroad’s life, and Mr.

Morrill could be very stubborn when it came to spending

money.

Roger’s theory is that at some time or other the ICC decided

that the Water Street crossing with two tracks required some

sort of crossing protection. Since crossing signals cost money,

Mr. Morrill stymied the ICC again by ripping up the second

track at the crossing. It made switching difficult for the train

crews, but in the 1930s if you were lucky enough to have a job

you didn’t complain too much about it.

Whether or not Roger’s theory is correct, it sure is the

most interesting. Here is the ICC with all of the power of the

Federal Government behind it against a backwater railroad that

not only was short but not even half as wide as a standard

railroad, and they lost two decisions out of three. Chalk one up

for Yankee stubbornness.

While we are on the subject of the Monson Railroad, I

have to say that Monson 3 and 4 are the most unhandsome of

all the locomotives that ran in the State of Maine. They were

basically contractors’ engines with none of the graceful looks

of earlier Hinkley and Portland Company products. Numbers 1

and 2 came from the Hinkley Works and were of the classic

early 2-foot design. By the time 3 and 4 were purchased, Hinkley

was gone, the Portland Company had exited the locomotive

business, and Baldwin’s designs were probably too heavy for

the Monson’s light iron. Possibly there was no choice, but just

maybe Mr. Morrill shopped around and bought the cheapest

engines he could find. I doubt that aesthetics counted for very

much with Mr. Morrill when it came to spending the railroad’s

money.

Since [ have used up most of this Musing discussing the

makeup of Monson freight trains, this will be absolutely the

last word on the subject.

by Ellis Walker

Weeks Mills Seventy Years Ago When he joined the Museum in 2004, Alden (Al) Cook

became the third generation of his family to be associated with

the WW&E. Al’s father Edward was a fireman for a few years,

and his grandfather George was a section foreman in China for

many years. This year, Al added his cousin Richard Campbell

to our membership rolls. Despite having lived most of his 83

years in South Carolina, Mr. Campbell has many memories of

the WW&F, as he was born and raised in Weeks Mills.

The Campbell home was on South Road, also known as

Varney Hill Road, which ran into Windsor via the east side of

the Sheepscot River and was a dirt road well into the 1950s. In

conversations with Al, Richard Campbell spoke of playing as a

child on the east bank of the Sheepscot behind the family

home and hearing the train to Albion coming up from Windsor

and watching its progress upgrade on the west side of the

river until it disappeared out of his line of sight and pulled to a

stop at the station. He was about ten years old when the railroad

quit, so his memories of it in operation were childhood memories.

In the following years, the station and other WW&F buildings

began slowly wasting away in abandonment. Mr. Campbell

was in the station not long after abandonment and found that

it looked like the station agent had simply risen from his chair

and left. It looked like he would be back shortly, as there was

paperwork on the desks and piles of paper in various places.

This was the case for years, as nothing was disturbed except

for some vandalism and scattering of paperwork by area

children. When asked if he knew anyone who worked on the

WWE&E he could offer up only one name, Mr. John Barry, who

worked as a section man based out of Weeks Mills. In addition

to these details provided in a telephone conversation, Richard

Campbell wrote the following letter to Al Cook:

Hello Alden ,

I was very pleased to get your letter and the brochure

telling about the restoration of the old narrow gauge. I can tell

you some things about the railroad. One of the foremen or

supervisors had a 1924 Model T Ford sedan which had been

modified to run on the rails. [remember seeing it in use. It was

housed along with the hand cars in a building on the same side

as the depot but across the road and north of the crossing. I

believe there were four buildings in that group and the Model

T was stored in the northernmost of the group. Orrin Malcolm

used to take mail to and from the post office and the WW&F

depot in a wheel barrow every morning and afternoon. Vaughn

Pierce, who was a friend of mine and still lives in Weeks Mills,

and I used to borrow the hand cars for various reasons - trips

to swimming holes, dances, etc. after the abandonment. We

always left them near the depot, but where we could not easily

have been seen. After a while they were not there anymore. We

figured they must have been scrapped. There were at least five

of them around Weeks Mills all the time. Did Vaughn show you

where the depot used to be?

Regards,

Richard

WW&E Volunteers in 2005 Volunteers are some of the most important assets the

WW&E Museum has. It is thanks to our volunteers that our

track gets laid, our trains get run, and our visitors are greeted.

With the turning of the new year, we like to recognize them.

Volunteer hours, as entered in the volunteer log in the

station, were tallied up for 2005. Last year, we had 157 volunteers

give 12,433.93 hours. The number of volunteer hours is slightly

less than 2004. Since we started recording hours in 1997, we

have accumulated a total of 83,940.65 hours. To put this in

perspective, that’s as if someone were manning the Museum

24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the last 3 years, 10 months, 2

days, 21 hours, and 7 minutes.

Volunteers who signed the hours log in 2005 included:

Donald Awbin IM; Carson and Forrest Beck; Roger Berger;

Jim Bocock; Josh Botting; John Bradbury; Dave, Adam, and

Gregg Buczkowski; Sandy Bugbee; Duncan Burns; Rob

Carignan; Bob Cavanagh; Everett Chapman; Jon Chase; Dave

Coffin; Dennis Collins; Kayla Connors; Al Cook; George Cook;

Gordon Cook; Paul Crabb; Bob Curran; Ted Darling; Dana

Deering; Dan Ditullio; Richard Edling; Mark Edry; Warren and

Linda Erdman; Tom Evans; Dave Faulkner; Allan and Ellen

Fisher; Charles Foss; Mike and Joe Fox; Timothy and Justin

Franz; Bob Gabriel; Ed and Matthew Gilhooley; Collin and

Richard Green; Ross Hall; Vic Hamburger; Bob Hammond; Jon

and Nils Hanna; Cherish and Elegance Hartwick; Kristen

Hauck; Tamara Helguma; Galo, Francis, and Alexander

Hernandez; Steve Hogan; Bill Horton; John Houghton;

Thomas Hughes; Stephen Hussar; Carl Irwin; Fran Jones; Larry

Joy; Ben Kittredge; Don Konen; Wayne Laepple; Kai

Lakasuka; Jason and Sheila-Ann Lamontagne; Eric Larsen;

Dave and Jean Law; Ed, Emily, and Michelle Lecuyer; Mark.

Lengowski; Marcel Levesque; Paul Levesque; Bob, Sue, Cindy,

and Beth Longo; D. C. MacDonald; Duncan and Barbara

Mackiewicz; James Mangle; Richard and Wendell Mauser; John

McNamara; Monroe Mechling; Bob Meckley; Chrissy Mercer;

Eric Missal; Alan and Elliott Moore; Fred Morse; Patrick and

Brian Murphy; Tim Nadeau; Greg Nazarow; Dave Newton;

Cliff Olson; Patty Osmer; James and Laurel Patten; Prank Paul;

Charlie Pidacks; Sam Powers; Gary and Joshua Recave; Susan

Reid; Bill Reidy; Frank Rende; Dale Reynolds; Stewart Rhine;

Russell Riggs; John and Jane Robertson; Robin Roebon; Dave

Rossi; Tom Rush; Bill Sample; Don, Jeanne, and Cindy Sanger;

Dave Schroeder; Jeff Schumaker; Steve Sconfienza; Miranda

Searles; Vernon Shaw; Andy Short; Rick and Brenda Sisson;

Steve Smith; Jonathan and Sue St. Mary; Julius Stuck; Paul

Swann; Richard Symmes; Don Thomas; Harry Wagner ITI; Ellis

Walker; Dick and Bryce Weeks; Leon Weeks; Roger Whitney;

Brad Whittemore; Chet Wilkinson; Peter Wilson; Dwight

Winkley; Leon Wood; Zack Wyllie; Clint and Fran Wyman;

and Steve Zuppa.

by James Patten

Railroad Locations

It’s quite likely that a good portion of our 1000+ members

have not ridden the line lately. So when articles in the newsletter

talk of “Cock-Eye Curve” or “Trask Crossing,” you may not

know where these locations are. This article attempts to describe

the railroad as it is at the end of 2005.

The original railroad was a north-south railroad, which was

quite unusual, as most railroads were oriented east-west. In

this article, facing railroad north is facing toward Albion, with

east on the right, west on the left. Fortunately, the railroad

generally retains this orientation for its entire length, making

directions easy to understand and avoiding the problem, for

example, of heading compass south but railroad north.

We start at Sheepscot Station, the southernmost extent of

the Museum line. This is at milepost (MP) 4.8, or 4.8 miles from

the end of the original line at Wiscasset. In those days, this

location was home to a small station building, a small freight

shed, and a section house (a storage shed for track crew tools),

all on the east side. There was a single-ended siding, or team

track, here on the west side.

Today, the facilities are considerably larger. The track ends

mere feet north of Cross Road. A replica of the original station

stands here, as well as a replica of the Weeks Mills freight

shed; both are on the east side of the line. The four-bay Museum

shop building is on the west side, standing at a slight angle to

the main line. A siding between the shop building and the

mainline will soon become the Sheepscot run-around track. On

the west side of the shops is another track, thus making six

tracks in the yard, plus the mainline. Tracks in the yard converge

at a three-way stub switch, from which a single lead joins the

mainline at a switch approximately 250 feet north of the end of

track. Just north of this mainline switch is the original section

house, serving again as a track tool shed, on the west side of

the line. The new water tower will be located across the track

from the tool shed.

The yard ends about a tenth of a mile north of the end of

track, marked by a nice yard limit sign on the west side of the

track, based ona SR&RL design, built by Gary Recave. About

a hundred feet further on is a private driveway crossing, called

Stockford’s Crossing. This first crossing is actually our newest,

having been installed in the spring of 2005. The “Railroad

Crossing.” sign, as described by Stewart Rhine in a previous

newsletter, is on the northeast side of the crossing, as it is with

all crossings so marked. Riders can see to the east the

meanderings of Stationhouse Brook, the brook that flows under

Cross Road and past Sheepscot Station.

Continuing north, MP 5 is reached at the end of the straight

track, or tangent, out of Sheepscot. The railroad now makes a

westerly curve on what we call Davis Curve. The curve is 12

degrees, the second-sharpest curve that was on the original

line (the sharpest was a 20-degree curve on the Wiscasset

shoreline). Up until this point the Museum line was laid with

33-Ib mine rail. Mid-way through the curve it switches to 56-Ib

rail with some 40-lb rail forming a transition. Davis Crossing,

an inactive crossing, is near the end of the curve. The railroad

through to this point is basically flat, with little grade. However,

just north of Davis Crossing, the line straightens, and then

starts downhill on what we call Davis Grade. The grade isn’t

much, about a half-percent for half of the quarter-mile tangent.

The Museum stores rail on the west side of the track at this

point. Stationhouse Brook, which disappeared on the curve,

briefly reappears near the grade.

The tangent ends about a half mile from Sheepscot, and

then enters what the original railroaders called Cock-Eye Curve.

This climbing S-curve gently curves east then more sharply

curves west. The upgrade begins at Sutter’s Crossing, an active

crossing near some power lines. The heavy grade,

approximately 1.5 percent and currently the heaviest on the

Museum line, lasts only through the first curve, leveling out

into the second curve. The south end of the second curve was

the site of a wreck in the late 1920s when a south-bound train

lost half of its cars.

North of the curve there’s another quarter mile tangent,

with Hall’s Crossing, sporadically active, part way up. Between

the end of the curve and Hall’s Crossing there is a wide area

east of the track that was originally intended for a passing

siding. This area is now home to some timbers from the Humason

Trestle project and panel track for a few four-wheeled work

cars. About halfway up the tangent is what we call Phantom

Crossing, which isn’t a crossing at all but has long ties in case

the land abutters decide they want one. Riders can see Humason

Brook on the east side of the line at this point about a mile from

Sheepscot Station.

At the end of the tangent is a short westerly curve, at the

end of which the railroad passes over Humason Brook on the

line’s only trestle, assembled by US Marine Corps Reservists

in 2001. The trestle is about 40 feet long, and the streambed is

about [5 feet below the track. Having crossed to the west side

of the line, Humason Brook soon disappears forever to its

swampy headwaters.

The line now begins its final ascent to the height of land

north of Alna Center. After a short tangent beyond the trestle,

the line begins a gentle easterly curve and about a 1 percent

climb. Midway through this curve is MP 6. Milepost signs, on

the west side, are generally based on WW&F milepost signs,

and were also designed and built by Gary Recave. These signs

consist of a large “W” over the mile number.

The next feature of interest is Trask Crossing, an active

driveway north of which the grade continues for another

quarter mile, entering the south yard limits and passing the

south switch of the Alna Center runaround before passing the

station building. The grade continues north beyond the station,

past the north switch and ends at the height of land about 600

feet beyond the station. Alna Center station is on the east side,

with the runaround track on the west side. Inactive (but newly

rebuilt) Averill Road is north of the station, going across both

tracks. Alna Center Station, at MP 6.4, was originally a simple

flag stop shelter, where trains would stop only if someone was

waiting for them.

The in-service railroad ends just north of the north switch,

but track continues for another quarter mile. The north yard

limit is at the height of land (not to be confused with the Top of

the Mountain a mile further north). The railroad takes a sharp

dip downhill here, which resembles a ramp (also referred to as

“the ladder” in an earlier newsletter), before leveling out and

ending a scant 2.5 miles from Head Tide.

by James Patten

Long Range Plan

Implementation

The Long Range Plan has now been out for seven months,

having been submitted to the Board and the membership in

May of this year. I hope all of you have had the chance to read

it, and if you haven’t, Iencourage you to do so. So far, we have

received a lot of positive feedback. In this and periodic future

articles I hope to be able to shed light on the Museum’s

acceptance and plans for implementation of this document.

At the June 2005 Board Meeting, the Directors agreed to

review one section at each month’s meeting. With only minor

wording changes, the Directors have since approved Sections

1-5 and 7. Once all changes have been made, the plan will be

reissued reflecting the approval of the Board.

Several portions of the plan have already been addressed.

This spring a clean-up party was held to remove junk and

garbage from the immediate vicinity of the shop buildings in

Sheepscot Yard. Much of it was metal that Leon Weeks took to

a junk dealer who gave us several hundred dollars for it. Fred

Morse took the rest to the Wiscasset Transfer Station. Many

weekends this year a few volunteers led by Sam Powers cut up

the junk rail in the pile west of the yard; this material will be

eventually trucked to a junk dealer. This activity partially

addresses the “Sheepscot Yard Cleanup” paragraph in the

Physical Plant section of the plan. There is still more to do,

both along the west wall of the machine shop and by the section

house at the yard throat.

Under the “Wood Shed, Blacksmith Shed” paragraph in

the same section, the area where all the #10 overhaul junk was

stored last year has been cleaned up and is now home to an

open-air blacksmithy. We plan to cover the forge area with a

simple shelter. While there isn’t a woodshed yet, wood to be

dried is now stored near the flammables shed, and wood being

used in fire-up is now stored between the tracks leading to

Bays 3 and 4.

The plan recommended regular operating meetings for

railroad crews. This summer we started having daily crew

meetings before trains begin running, to familiarize the crew

with running conditions or the operating preferences of

engineer or conductor.

I’m sure that all of you have received the 2005 Annual

Appeal letter. Several items presented in this appeal are a result

of the plan. Money has been allocated for Averill Road work,

for planning for a future septic system and toilets, and for a

temporary solution to keep cars out of the weather. Zack Wyllie

has already met with a sanitation engineer, and has walked the

property with him. The engineer will get back to us with his

septic system recommendations.

Averill Road, in the days of the railroad, connected the

Alna Meeting House and current Route 218 with the west side

of Alna and the current West Alna Road. Several families lived

along it. Since the closure of the railroad, it became an access

road to fields owned by the Albee family, long-time residents

of Alna. Last fall volunteers opened up the road by clearing

out all the trees. This fall, the portion of the road alongside the

field was rebuilt by Hanley Construction. Once this road

becomes available for use by heavy trucks, stone storage can

be moved to Alna Center, and the parking lot at Sheepscot can

be cleaned up to provide easier walking.

As announced in prior newsletters, our membership dues

have been raised as of January 1, 2006 to $30 for annual

membership and $300 for life membership. This is a direct result

of the recommendations made in the Membership section. After

some discussion, it was decided not to add any new

membership categories mentioned in the plan.

In mid summer, a saw mill was donated to us. This saw mill

is currently in pieces at AIna Center. Procurement of a saw mill

or similar line-side equipment was recommended in the

Peripheral Operations section. Should any reader know of

anyone who might be interested in taking charge of setting the

saw mill up and operating it, please let us know.

Over the coming months, the Board will go over the

remainder of the plan and set the priorities for the coming

years. We’ll continue to.need everyone’s support as we head

into the future - ideas, labor, as well as finances.

by James Patten

The Great Saw Mill Caper As told to Stewart Rhine by Tom Albee,

grandson of Mr. Everett Albee

In the early years of the 20th century, Mr. Everett Albee

owned the farm that was adjacent to the WW&F Railway’s

Alna Center station. He had a good relationship with the

railroad, as he often shipped milk on the line.

One day Mr. Albee was contacted by the railroad’s freight

agent regarding a piece of equipment that was being shipped

on the Narrow Gauge. He was told that there was a portable

saw mill rig on a flat car in Wiscasset, and that the shipper

wanted it unloaded at Alna Center. Mr. Albee agreed to unload

the mill, and the agent advised that the car would be in the next

day’s northbound train. Arranging the meet was important, as

the saw mill had to be unloaded from the car on the mainline

because there was no siding for a set-off.

The following morning, Mr. Albee took his horse team down

to the station. He then set up some blocking next to the

tracks. When the train came along, the crew stopped on the

mainline north of the station. Mr. Albee tied his team on and

pulled the rig off of the car. With his work complete, he took his

team back to resume his regular farm work.

A few days passed, and no one showed up to claim the

saw mill. One afternoon there was a knock at Mr. Albee’s front

door. Upon answering, Mr. Albee was surprised to see the

Sheriff on his front steps. The Sheriff asked him if he had

unloaded a saw mill from a flat car. He stated that he had and

told the Sheriff where it was. The Sheriff then told him that the

saw mill was stolen, and that they traced it to Alna Center by

the railroad way bills. The two men went down to the field so

that the Sheriff could examine the saw mill and make a report.

The Sheriff then made arrangements with the WW&F to have

an empty flat car on the next southbound train. He asked Mr.

Albee to return the following day to reload the mill rig. Mr.

Albee did as requested and loaded the mill back onto the car. It

is doubtful that Mr. Albee ever received any pay for his work,

but it is known that he was happy to have helped solve a crime.

.

Zack Wyllie contemplates his next step in constructing the new flatcar.

New Flatcar Construction

Volunteers led by Zack Wyllie have begun construction of

anew flatcar. This will be the first new flatcar on the property

since cars 116 through 125 were ordered from the Portland

Company in 1912. Like those cars, the new car, 126, will be 30

feet long and 6 feet wide, with 4 truss rods underneath and 8

stake pockets on each side.

In the same fashion as flatcar 118, the stake pockets will be

used to secure safety railings in passenger service. In freight

service, stakes and long planks will allow the car to handle

large loads of stone ballast.

It is in this latter application that the car will be most useful.

The current practice of having stone delivered to Sheepscot,

loaded onto flatcar 118, and taken north to the work site has

become problematic for several reasons:

* In the springtime, Cross Road in Sheepscot is often

posted against heavy loads until just a few days before

the work weekend.

¢ Piles of stone and space for loading eliminate most of

the available parking before and during the work

weekend.

* The space requirements and mess of handling stone in

the parking area prevent improvements suggested by

Long Range Plan respondents.

* Most important, the transit time to haul stone from

Sheepscot to the end of track has become substantial,

even with our fastest locomotive, Number 10.

Photo by Bob Cavanagh

These problems have been addressed by purchasing a small

area of land across the tracks at Alna Center for stone storage

and loading. The Museum has received landowner approval

to improve and use the road (Averill Road) that accesses the

newly-acquired property.

¢ The road improvements should allow year-round usage.

Since the road connects to a heavy-duty state highway,

springtime load postings should not affect stone delivery.

« Stone loading will no longer interfere with Sheepscot

parking.

* Minor improvements to the Sheepscot Station area will

be possible without fear of damage by heavy equipment.

¢ Transit time to the work site will be substantially

improved, as the stone pile will be 1.6 miles closer to the

work site. Further, completion of flatcar 126 will allow

one train to be loaded while the other is being unloaded,

thus providing a constant flow of stone to the work crew.

While it was originally planned to use ex-Edaville open car

202 as the basis for a new flatcar, the beams in that car were

rotted. Only the trucks and couplers were salvageable. Two

new 5x8 beams and four new 4 x 8 beams were purchased.

These western fir beams, shown in the photo, cost $942. Funding

for the project is through a grant from the Amherst Railway

Society and through the recent Capital Fund campaign.

Everyone is looking forward to seeing the new flatcar in service,

with the possible exception of the work crews, who will now

have less time to rest between carloads!

Mark your calendars now for the Spring Work Weekend on April 28" through 30°

2005 Capital Fund Exceeds Goal The 2005 Annual Capital Fund has exceeded the goal of $40,000 set by your Board of Directors, and has done so at an earlier date

than ever before: As of December 31°, 325 members and 4 friends have given $43,735.

While this will be the final report on our 2005 Capital Fund Drive, our Treasurer reminds us that undesignated donations that go

to the Museum’s General Fund are essential to ensuring that the Museum continues to operate and grow. This is especially true in

the First Quarter of every year, when there is no regular source of income to pay our recurring bills. Ticket revenues only account for

12% of our annual operating income, the Museum Store contributes another 10%, and dues payments account for another 25%. If it

were not for the additional donations that you, our members and friends, are able to give throughout the year, we would not be able

. to continue the steady progress to which we have become accustomed.

Donors between November 10" and December 31“ included:

Oliver Andrews II

Robert W. Arnold

Tim Blanchard

C. Randall Beach

Adam, David & Gregg Buczkowski

Christopher Coyle

Charles Dick

Hunt Dowse

Peter Eastman

Starr Edgerton

Wes Enman

David Eskelund

Kevin Farrell

Michael Francoeur

Allen Gagnon (Red’s Eats)

David Goff

Tracy Hastings

Roger Hathaway

John Houghton Jr

Sherrill Hunnibell

John Keene

Karl Kleimenhagen

Pete Lammert

Stephania Longo

R.E. Lyon & Son

Maine Garden Railroad Society

John Manley

Mr & Mrs Hugh Marshall

Sally Moore

Ronald Muldowney

Greg Nazarow

Robert Parker

Charles Reynolds

John Robertson

Cliff Russell

Ken Sevard

Scott Sidelinger

Jeffrey Sisson

Gary Sodergren

James Stewart

Edson Tennyson

Mark Tilyou

Verizon MIP Foundation

Irma Wilhelm

Ray Wilson

To join the W.W.&F. Ry. Museum or to send a contribution (tax deductible) please use the form below. eae eee es ee ee

ZIP/POSTAL CODE

Please make all checks payable to “W.W.&F. Railway Museum.”

A receipt will be sent for all contributions received.

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum i Sheepscot Station, PO Box 242, Alna, Maine 04535-0242

Please sign me up as follows: Additional Contributions:

H Life Membership ................. L1$300 #9 Fund

Annual Membership ........... LI $30 #10 Fund

1 Endowment

i Unrestricted

NAME

ADDRESS

i i I i

4 Construction has begun on the Head Tide Water Tank replica. The flat car is sitting on the mainline switch at

the north end of the Sheepscot Yard. The photo on page | was taken from atop the platform in this photo.

Photo by Bob Cavanagh

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