wiscasset, waterville · 2020. 5. 9. · mark baytala bob belyea david birmingham harold blen john...

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ad Re Stas Fi Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum SHEEPSCOT STATION, ALNA, MAINE 04535-0242 November/December 1999 November 20, 1999 - Crew of Volunteers works at Sheepscot station cutting standard-gauge ties to fit two-foot rails. Photo by Larson M. Powell. Fund Drive Heads Into Orbit by Larson M. Powell, President Wow!! When our members decide to support the Museum, they don’t fool around with half-measures!! An example is this year’s annual fund drive, which is now guaranteed to shatter all records, As of December 10", roughly nine weeks after we mailed our letter to you all asking for your help in reaching a goal of $17,500.00, we had received a total of $19,305.00 from 169 members and friends and contributions are still coming in at a strong rate. Thank you one and all for your support and your enthusiasm, which helps to keep all of us on the Board of Directors fired up and ready to plan an even greater year in 2000! The success of this year’s annual appeal will enable us to completely pay off the remaining balance of our purchase price for locomotive No. 10, as well as to make some needed. repairs to that engine. As well, we will be able to move ahead aggressively with our track-laying program, which we expect to set a new record next year when the spring weather returns. The number of visitors to the Museum continues to show a slow but steady increase and all of them are both amazed and fascinated by what our volunteers have accomplished. A significant percentage of these visitors take out memberships in the Museum, as well as purchasing items from the growing selection of merchandise in our little gift shop in the freight shed, and all of this activity helps our revenue stream as well. Three major projects have taken up much of the time of our volunteer crews in recent weeks: (1) Preparing engine #10 for its first Maine boiler inspection, so that we can begin to operate it shortly; (2) Moving a large quantity of used standard-gauge ties from the trestle of the Maine Coast Railroad in Wiscasset harbor to Sheepscot and then cutting Visit our web page at: http:/ Aincoln.midcoast.com/~wwfry

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Page 1: Wiscasset, Waterville · 2020. 5. 9. · Mark Baytala Bob Belyea David Birmingham Harold Blen John E. Bock Jim Bocock Richard V. Bourdon J.C. Brown Gordon S. Buck Robert Buck Forest

ad

Re

Stas

Fi

Wiscasset, Waterville &

Farmington

Railway Museum SHEEPSCOT STATION, ALNA, MAINE 04535-0242

November/December 1999

November 20, 1999 - Crew of Volunteers works at Sheepscot station cutting

standard-gauge ties to fit two-foot rails. Photo by Larson M. Powell.

Fund Drive Heads Into Orbit by Larson M. Powell, President

Wow!! When our members decide to support the

Museum, they don’t fool around with half-measures!!

An example is this year’s annual fund drive, which is

now guaranteed to shatter all records, As of December 10",

roughly nine weeks after we mailed our letter to you all

asking for your help in reaching a goal of $17,500.00, we

had received a total of $19,305.00 from 169 members and

friends and contributions are still coming in at a strong rate.

Thank you one and all for your support and your enthusiasm,

which helps to keep all of us on the Board of Directors fired

up and ready to plan an even greater year in 2000! The success of this year’s annual appeal will enable us

to completely pay off the remaining balance of our purchase

price for locomotive No. 10, as well as to make some needed.

repairs to that engine. As well, we will be able to move

ahead aggressively with our track-laying program, which

we expect to set a new record next year when the spring

weather returns.

The number of visitors to the Museum continues to

show a slow but steady increase and all of them are both

amazed and fascinated by what our volunteers have

accomplished. A significant percentage of these visitors

take out memberships in the Museum, as well as purchasing

items from the growing selection of merchandise in our little

gift shop in the freight shed, and all of this activity helps

our revenue stream as well.

Three major projects have taken up much of the time of

our volunteer crews in recent weeks: (1) Preparing engine

#10 for its first Maine boiler inspection, so that we can begin

to operate it shortly; (2) Moving a large quantity of used

standard-gauge ties from the trestle of the Maine Coast

Railroad in Wiscasset harbor to Sheepscot and then cutting

Visit our web page at: http:/ Aincoln.midcoast.com/~wwfry

Page 2: Wiscasset, Waterville · 2020. 5. 9. · Mark Baytala Bob Belyea David Birmingham Harold Blen John E. Bock Jim Bocock Richard V. Bourdon J.C. Brown Gordon S. Buck Robert Buck Forest

them in half for use on our two-foot gauge operation; and

(3) Starting work on the foundation of our new machine

shop adjacent to Bay #3 of the enginehouse.

On Thursday, November 4", engine #10 received its

boiler inspection, after several days of hard work preparing

it by Jason Lamontagne, Rick Knight, Tom Dickey and

others. As I write this, we are awaiting receipt of the

necessary certificate from the state board that oversees the

inspection and operation of steam boilers and are hopeful

this will arrive in late December. The preparation involved

a hydro test and other work to insure there were no leaks in

the boiler. Since then, work on repairing several bearing

boxes in the running gear has also been carried out.

A new boiler jacket will eventually be necessary, which

will mean removing and replacing the asbestos insulation

currently wrapped around the boiler, but this will not be

undertaken until next spring or summer.

The tie acquisition program has made enormous progress

in the past several weeks. A crew of our volunteers including

Fred Morse, Steve Zuppa, Dana Deering, James Patten, Vern

Shaw, Ken Maguire, Phil Nine, Marcel Levesque, Charley

Young, Rick Sisson, John Robertson, John McNamara, Stewart

Rhine, John Bradbury and Zack Wyllie, among others, has

been hauling used, 10-foot standard-gauge ties from Wiscasset,

where they are being replaced on the trestle that runs across

part of Wiscasset harbor, to Sheepscot. A huge “thank you” to

all these volunteers.

These standard gauge ties are extremely heavy,

incidentally, weighing about 200 pounds each, and have to

be hand-loaded in a pickup truck and then unloaded at the

Museum-—~good exercise to say the least.

Spikes and other hardware are then removed from each

tie and it is cut in half before being hauled to the end of our

main line and put down on our roadbed, that was cleared and

graded last winter and spring. To date, approximately 525 ties

have been cut and laid out on the roadbed, each one two feet

apart for a total of 1,050 feet of track once rail is laid on them.

We have gotten an extremely good price on these used ties,

some of which are oak.

We also have obtained from the same contractor who

is doing the Wiscasset work a number of large stringers

(i.e. timbers) that will be used to rebuild the trestle over

Humason Brook, when this point is reached in late 2000

or early 2001. That trestle will be the last major obstacle

to completing our main line all the way into Aina Center,

where we will rebuild the little station that originally

stood there. We have, incidentally, already received

preliminary offers from two different outfits that are

willing to help rebuild the trestle at little or no cost to us

beyond the timbers themselves.

Finally, ground was cleared and the many loads of

gravel needed for the foundation “pad” have been hauled

in for our new machine shop, that will be built as an

addition to the enginehouse next to Bay #3. This shop

will have a “pit” built into the floor for servicing of

equipment but further work will now have to await the

arrival of spring. Use of the machine shop will also

require installation of another switch in our yard at

Sheepscot and the building of a new lead line into that

part of the enginehouse.

Our Halloween celebration on October 30" for local

children and their parents was a great success, with about 150

ot

Ready for rails - Freshly-cut ties on November 20, 1999 are laid out on roadbed where rails will be laid in the spring. Photo by Larson M. Powell.

Page 3: Wiscasset, Waterville · 2020. 5. 9. · Mark Baytala Bob Belyea David Birmingham Harold Blen John E. Bock Jim Bocock Richard V. Bourdon J.C. Brown Gordon S. Buck Robert Buck Forest

riding the trains and enjoying the free cider, apples and candy

we supplied. James Patten spearheaded the organizing for

this event, which included lighted “Jack ‘O Lanterns” spread

out up our main line and a few spooky characters jumping

out from the underbrush along the way. Thank you

James! Special holiday trains were run on December

11" as well. Having coach 3 available to give our visitors

an enclosed passenger car ride helps us plan these cool

weather events.

We will be having our usual booth at the huge annual

train show held by the Amherst Railway Society at the

Eastern States Exposition building in West Springfield,

Massachusetts, on February 5" and 6". I’m sure those of

you who plan to attend will want to stop by the booth to

say hello to Ellis Walker and his helpers. Last year over

20,000 people attended the show, which is the largest of its

kind in the country.

Incidentally, Bob Jones’ latest book-—-covering the history

of the two-foot gauge Kennebec Central Railroad in Maine—

has just been published and is now available in our gift shop.

This completes his coverage of all five of the Maine two-footers

and we are hoping that when he finishes his current book

project on a portion of the D.& R.G.W. we can convince him

to redo his book on the W.W. & EF, “Two Feet to Tidewater.”

Originally published in 1987 and long out-of-print, that book

now sells in used bookstores for $175.00 per copy and

up....when you can find it!!

And so we wrap up another year at Sheepscot Station.

Thanks to all of you for the support and encouragement

you have given to those of us on the board and also special

thanks tc everyone who has come to the Museum to drive

a spike or tote rail or shovel ballast or just to say hello.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a healthy and happy

New Year, and we will ali be looking forward to the

excitement of seeing our own steam locomotive on the

tracks again in a few short weeks.

Local “Chapters” of W.W.& F.

to be Discontinued At arecent meeting of the Board of Directors of the

W.W.& F., it was decided to discontinue the practice of

allowing state or local “chapters” of the Museum.

Although we very much welcome the help these chapters

have given us, the Board made its decision based on

several factors:

(1). We have been advised that Federal and state tax

returns may have to be filed in any state where the

Museum permits a chapter to operate that uses its name.

This is not something we want to risk because of the

time and cost involved.

(2). We do not wish to have the Museum’s name used

on any newsletters, brochures or other literature that we

do not produce ourselves nor do we want to have our

membership list used for mailings that are not sent out

by the Board. This prohibition, of course, also applies

to any use of the Museum’s name on an internet website

or to any merchandise offered for sale.

(3). The possibility that any number of individual

groups could organize as local “chapters” using our name

all around the country, without any control as to what

was said or written on our behalf, is not feasible or

acceptable and thus, in fairness, it was decided to end all

chapters now.

These changes will bring our practices in line with

those followed by all other museums in the country and

should avoid any unauthorized uses of the W.W. & F.

Museum’s name in the future. We very much appreciate

our membership’s understanding and support in this

matter.

L.M.P.

Open car No. 7 was rebuilt to a combination passenger/Railway Post Office car.

See Ellis Walker’s story on next page - Ellis Walker Collection.

Page 4: Wiscasset, Waterville · 2020. 5. 9. · Mark Baytala Bob Belyea David Birmingham Harold Blen John E. Bock Jim Bocock Richard V. Bourdon J.C. Brown Gordon S. Buck Robert Buck Forest

Donors to 1999 Annual

Fund Drive We want to express our deepest thanks to all of the

following individuals who have contributed to date to our

1999 annual fund drive. Your generosity is tremendously

appreciated and will help our operations in the new year to

make a significant leap forward. (Note: This list is only

through December 10"—if your name is not included, it

will be shown in a future issue of the newsletter.

Jim Amato A.J. Anderson David D. Ashenden Jim Auman Charles L. Ballard George B. Bartlett Mark Baytala Bob Belyea David Birmingham Harold Blen

John E. Bock

Jim Bocock

Richard V. Bourdon

J.C. Brown Gordon S. Buck Robert Buck

Forest G. Bunker William H. Butler

Sumner T. Carlson Donald F. Carr Richard L. Carroll Wilfred C. Chesebrough Rich Chiodo

Steve Conard W. George Cook Allan B. Cox David M. Cummins Charles A. Davis John G. Dickerson, Jr. Jack DiSarro Merrill Donahue Downeast Railroad Club Harry Downey Richard W. Drury Robert H. Edgar Marvin S. Edgerton Richard E. Edling Bob Eggleston Warren Eldridge George H. Emmons David Eskelund

Thomas K. Evans

Pat Fahey Les Fossel

Allen W. Gagnon Joan Gregoire Stan Griffith Karl P Gustafson Victor Hamburger John D. Hansen

George H. Hart

Tracey K. Hastings M/M Douglass R. Hayes, Jr. J. Hebda Thomas Lee Hinkle

F, Berkeley Hobart Robert F. Howard

Thomas H. Hughes Guy F, (Bill) Hunter, Jr. Charles Jacobsen George N. Johnson, Jr. Robert C. Jones John G. Dickerson, Jr. Paul F. Kehoe

Timothy A. Kelly Nelson F. Kennedy Stephen D. King Howard W. Kirkpatrick Ben Kittredge Wayne W. Langbehn Cliff Leighton Charles C. Libby Bayard Livingston Susan K. Longo Joseph M. Lupsha RE, Lyons

D.C. MacDonald Duncan Mackiewicz

Donald E. Martin

Chris McChesney James P. McGill Robert J. McGuire William M. McLin John E. McNamara

Walter G. Miete Ted Miles

Fred S. Morse James Morse Norman H. Morse

C.H. Morse, Jr. Weldon & Naomi Nelson Dave Nilsen

Douglas V. O’ Dell Walter Orloff Constance Pace Greg Pahl Francis H. Parker

James Patten

Phyllis H. Patten Mason Phelps Charles Pidacks Thatcher B. Pinkham

Jeffrey M. Plate Bruce Potter George Pouder Gregory Pulis Douglas Pyatt

William L. Quance Lee Rainey P.K. Reeves C. Stewart Rhine Gerald O, Richards Cliff Richardson Roger C. Roberts

John R. Robertson Bill & Sue Sample Wesley C. Sanborn Wally Schmunk Morton R. Schoenberg Jeffery C. Schumaker Patrick A. Scollin Robert B. Shaw Clifton L. Shuttle Ken & Mary Sidelinger

Scott N. Sidelinger Richard K. Sisson Charles Smith Lewis Smith Ralph Smith John L. Spelce Royal H. Spencer, Jr. R. Steeves Eric O. Stevens Russell G. St. John Stanley P. & Marion Strout Julius J. Stuck TH

Ralph E. & Virginia Sweeney James E, Taggart

Christopher D. Tibbetts Donald Tibbetts

Richard & Jeane Tilley Henry S. Tinkham

John & Sandra Toohey Mike Torreson

Richard & Caroline Tower Thomas M. Travis

Donald H. Turner

Everett E. Turner

Martin K. Van Horn

Robert L. Viden, Sr. Harry J. Wagner Robert B. Waldner

Ellis E. Walker

EV. Walsh

Kevin Walsh

Ron Wartinbee

Tom Werb

Grant D. Whipple Rupert B. White Irma J. Wilhelm

Lawrence D. Williams

M. Dwight Winkley Richard L,. Witteborg Just L. Wold Allan E. Wooilett H.C, Yaeger

Charles F. Young ELR. Zapf Steve Zuppa

Donors to the Locomotive

No. 10 Fund We want to thank also the following additional donors

to our No. 10 locomotive fund:

Charles M. Abraham

Charles A. Davis

Dana G. Deering

W.W. & EF. Musing No. 52 by Ellis Walker

No matter how I look at it the best I can say about

W.W.& F. passenger/RPO combine No. 7- later No. 2- is

that it was homely.

As most of you know, it was rebuilt from an open

streetcar-type of car. To begin with, the roofline was unique.

The monitor roof had gone out of style on steam railroads

soon after the Civil War. The bonnet, as the cover over the

end platforms was called in street railway lingo, was

rounded on the ends.

This looked all right on a streetcar with rounded

platforms, but when the car was rebuilt, the platforms were

replaced by conventional squared-off, steam-railroad type.

Not only that, but the end posts which supported the bonnets

Page 5: Wiscasset, Waterville · 2020. 5. 9. · Mark Baytala Bob Belyea David Birmingham Harold Blen John E. Bock Jim Bocock Richard V. Bourdon J.C. Brown Gordon S. Buck Robert Buck Forest

were removed and the bonnets were held up on each end

by a couple of metal straps attached to the monitor roof.

Aesthetically it left much to be desired.

As it was originally built, the roof was wider than the

floor. As can be seen from the photo of the open car on

page 3, the bottoms of the posts and the seat ends curve in.

Most all open streetcars were built this way so that the roof

overhung the side steps.

When the car was rebuilt the floor was widened out to

the width of the roof and the sides were made flat. This

created the excessive overhang and gave the car an ungainly

look. Then there were the diagonal braces on the end

walls which cut right across the end windows. All in all

I would nominate No. 2 as the ugliest looking car on the

railroad. What do you think?

Another item to consider is why the open car was

converted in the first place. The management may have

been soured on open cars because of the bad accident

when a man was killed while trying to change seats by

walking along the runningboard. He was hit by a bridge

truss and knocked to the ground.

Also the economics of a car which at best could only

be used three months of the year were not very good. I

think, however, that the main reason for the conversion

was that the W.W.& F. had a shortage of passenger

equipment.

When the smoker/baggage combine burned in 1904,

it left them with 3 coaches, a smoker/RPO/baggage

combine, and a baggage/RPO/express combine. The loss

of the combine happened right at the time of peak

passenger traffic.

There were two round trips between Winslow and

Wiscasset plus two round rips between Weeks Mills and

Albion and local service between Winslow and Weeks Mills.

The service required two and possibly 3 sets of equipment.

Another combination car would have been a welcome

addition to the fleet.

Why was the combination made passenger/RPO when

they already had two cars with RPO compartments? I

suspect that about this time, the Post Office Department started

complaining about the limited space in the existing RPO

compartments. Both cars had passageways along the side

of the RPO spaces to allow access to both ends of the car

without going through the mail compartment. As a result,

the poor clerk worked in a space barely 4 feet wide and

about 8 feet long. The new combine had a mail space 6

feet wide by 15 feet long which made it almost as large as

a small standard gauge mail compartment.

A few years later when trolley competition caused

passenger business to nosedive there was plenty of capacity

for the remaining passenger trains except when Captain

MacMillen sailed out of Wiscasset on his trips to the Arctic.

Then just about everything with wheels under it was pressed

into service on the excursion trains.

It’s getting to be Amherst Railroad Society Show time

again. The show will be held at the Eastern States

Exposition Grounds in West Springfield on February 5

and 6, 2000. I will be manning the W.W.& F. Museum table and as in previous years would appreciate any help

from those of you who may be planning to attend.

Combination passenger/railway post office car No. 2 was rebuilt from open

car No.7 - Ellis Walker Collection.

Page 6: Wiscasset, Waterville · 2020. 5. 9. · Mark Baytala Bob Belyea David Birmingham Harold Blen John E. Bock Jim Bocock Richard V. Bourdon J.C. Brown Gordon S. Buck Robert Buck Forest

Looking Back at the W.W.& F. by Henry Percival

100 Years Ago

By the end of 1899, the Wiscasset & Quebec Railroad

Company, predecessor of the W.W.& F. RR, was totally

buried in debt, litigation and in short, bankrupt, but as is

typical of utilities, still running. Many of the contractors

had foreclosed on their mechanic’s liens, and sold their

claims for a pittance to private parties, who allowed the

W&Q to continue the use of the property. Former and

current officers had sued for back pay and return of funds

advanced for construction.

The mid-day train had been discontinued October 1,

1899, much to the dismay of the railroad’s customers, who

lost their mid-day mail service as a consequence. This left

one six days a week round trip: from Albion to Wiscasset

in the morning and return in the afternoon.

The Waterville Trust Company foreclosed the

bondholders’ mortgage on July 19, 1899, and unless a buyer

appeared who would pay enough to pay off the bondholders,

liens, and some left over for the shareholders, the

shareholders would find their $100.00 shares worthless.

Leonard Atwood had been working for some time

to build from Waterville to Farmington and the Waterville

& Wiscasset Railroad Company had been chartered to

connect Waterville to the W&Q RR. This combination

would have formed a continuous two foot railroad system

from the reaches of the Sandy River, Phillips & Rangeley

and associated railroads to the seaport of Wiscasset. For all

the wishful planning, everything was still in limbo at the

end of 1899, and the W&Q RR was floundering along as

best it could.

75 Years Ago

By the end of 1924 the Wiscasset, Waterville &

Farmington Railway was running a mid-day train three

days a week, as well as the regular six days a week

“morning down/afternoon up” train between Albion and

Wiscasset. Income was slipping, but 1924 still showed

the railroad with a slim margin of profit.

During the preceding 25 years the railroad had been

the Wiscasset & Quebec Railroad Company, the Wiscasset

& Quebec Railroad, and the Wiscasset, Waterville and

Farmington Railroad before arriving at its identity as the

Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway.

Wé&Q RR Company shareholders had lost their total

investment. W&Q RR Company bondholders eventually

received a return of 6 cents on the $1.00 of their investment,

with no interest payments.

The railroad had almost reached Waterville, but had

not managed to cross the Kennebec River from Winslow,

to which it had built from Weeks Mills, 28 miles wp the

line from Wiscasset. The Winslow line was only in service

about 10 years. Still, the Sheepscot Valley still had railroad

service.

Sheepscot Section Crew Report by James Patten

Volunteers have been very busy the past two months

cutting up ties from the Wiscasset trestle, which is being rebuilt

by the State of Maine contractor, Chesterfield Associates.

Chesterfield is selling us all the ties we want (minus what the

State is entitled to) from the trestle, as well as some bridge

timbers for Humason Brook trestle.

These ties have been showing up on our door step on a

weekly basis, so every week volunteers grab a chain saw and

a spike puller to deal with the ties. Most Saturdays the duty of

cutting up and de-spiking the ties takes a whole day, so for

awhile the track crew hasn’t been doing much track. Zack

Wyllie, Fred Morse, Marcel Levesque, and many others have

worked on this hard, dirty job week after week.

We’ ve also received some bridge timbers from the trestle,

and these have been stacked at the Davis Supply Depot further

up the line. These timbers are massive: 16 by 12 inches and

over 20 feet long. There are some smaller timbers to that we

hope we can use as bents (the vertical support of the trestle)

and caps (the platform created by a horizontal piece over the

bents). Many of these timbers are bolted together, so some

lucky souls will be busy over the next year removing the bolts.

While cutting these ties up was necessary, because of it

we haven't been able to do some important preparation work

for next year. While we would like to set a firm date for next

year’s big track laying day, at this time it isn’t possible. It is

likely it will be in May. Future articles will set a date.

Less than Carload Ramblings by Jason Lamontagne

Hello again everyone. It is time again to say a few words

to thank all those who help make the Wiscasset, Waterville

and Farmington Railway what it is. First some thoughts for

the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad.

I was recently watching some excellent video footage of

our 1999 Annual Picnic shot for us by director and volunteer

Roger Whitney. Watching video clips of a very attractive

consist (in my opinion, anyway), including Monson Engine

3, flat 118, coach 3 and caboose 320, through numerous run-

bys at Davis Crossing, I realized that this classic Maine 2-foot

train would only be half as complete without the generosity of

the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad.

To entrust us for two consecutive years with a historic and

irreplaceable steam locomotive, at no cost, shows great faith

and we truly do appreciate their efforts for us. Adding to that,

allowing the last remaining piece of passenger equipment (a

magnificent one at that) from the W.W.& F. to return home

after so many years allows us to get even closer to our ultimate

goals,

We all realized on Sunday, August 16, that it was probably

the last time Monson #3 could be seen fired up on the

W.W.& F. for quite some time, if ever again. All involved will

tell you that the two years that we were graced by that engine’s

presence was a wonderful time and we can’t forget it. Thank

you Maine Narrow Gauge and we look forward to continuing

our good relationship into the future.

Page 7: Wiscasset, Waterville · 2020. 5. 9. · Mark Baytala Bob Belyea David Birmingham Harold Blen John E. Bock Jim Bocock Richard V. Bourdon J.C. Brown Gordon S. Buck Robert Buck Forest

Thanks to Dave Campbell, Dot Googins and all of the Maine

Narrow Gauge directors for supporting us and pushing to make

good things happen. And thank you to Erv Bickford, and his

driver, Harold Jewell, for providing expert, reliable and free

transportation for moving all of our trains around the country side.

Once again we owe our operation in part to Steve Knoblock

and Bob Longo, for coming through with another too-many hours

long trip from New York State with a load of coal to satisfy Engine

3’s appetite. They both apparently enjoyed their weekend greatly,

and are looking forward to returning soon, with coal for Number

10. I’ve heard that Steve recently got out of heart surgery. We

certainly wish a quick recovery for him and look forward to seeing

both him and Bob again soon.

Even with Bob and Steve’s contribution, Engine 3 was a bit

greedier than expected. That can’t really be blamed on the engine,

considering we ran 4 hours into the first Friday evening for night

trains. When we got in a pinch for coal, I gave acall down theroad

to Bob Ryan at Boothbay Railway. He was more than happy to

allow us to go down to Boothbay and retrieve enough coal to get

us through the remainder of the picnic. Itis nice to know we have

so many good neighbors.

As you have now read, the W.W.& F is receiving a substantial

amount of ties and rail from the trestle renewal project in Wiscasset

on the Maine Coast Railroad. Part of the deal for receiving the rail

free of charge was that our ctew was responsible for removing it,

in service as guard rail, from the trestle, and in a single weekend.

Not looking forward to the 2 mile walk from the nearest road

to the trestle, and then having to haul that rail back over the same

distance, we asked for some transportation assistance. This

assistance came in a variety of ways.

First, thanks to Steve Healy for providing his motor car for

crew transport. Also, thanks to Dan Moscato at the Maine Coast

Railroad for providing and running their Locomotive 958, to haul

some of the long strings of rail in from the trestle, and also allowing

us the use of Maine Coast’s high-rail boom truck. These are

examples of details that allow us to get things done when they

need to be done.

Appreciation must go out to Rick Knight and Mike Invernezzi

for donating several bundles of railroad ties to us. These ties were

formerly highway guardrail posts in Massachusetts, but were made

from the same stock as railroad ties. They are in excellent shape

and we appreciate them. Thanks also to Tom Dickey for hauling

most of those ties up to us on his numerous trips to Maine.

On to more recent news now, namely Engine 10. I’ve been

working steadily on obtaining a State of Maine Boiler Certificate

for #10’s boiler, as well as working on some mechanical details in

the running gear which need addressing. The engine is old and

well used, but she is a true survivor thanks to the efforts of the

Edaville Railroad of old.

The boiler inspection was held on November 4. I found this

out less than a week in advance, and consequently had to gather

several needed components to be able to perform the hydrostatic

test. Again, MNGRR, Rick Knight and Tom Dickey came through

for us. MNG allowed us the use of their hydrostatic test pump,

(alleged to be the original B&SR pump), and Rick allowed us the

use of his official test gauge. Tom took a day from work and

brought these parts from Massachusetts to me.

We worked late into the evening before getting everything

ready, before Tom rushed back home that night to be at work the

nextmoring. Incase you are wondering, the hydro-test and intemal

inspection of Number 10’s boiler went well, and we are currently

awaiting word from the state, presumably with a bill for a boiler

certificate.

For Number 10’s mechanical work, I needed a milling

machine. Lacking time to set our own mill up, and lacking tools to

perform the job completely, I asked the University of Maine

machine shop instructor, Tim Marquis, for the use of his shop. He

very generously agreed, and I was able to do most of the job right here in Orono.

With that, I was faced with a week long Thanksgiving Break,

and the school’s shop being closed. So, I strolled down to Boothbay Railway, where they kindly allowed me the use of their new (to them) mill. Brian Fanslau was up from New Jersey, and both he and Chuck Vaughn from B. Ry. provided quite a lot of assistance in the project. Brian related some experience he had when dealing with similar mechanical problems in B. Ry’s Henschel Number 13, which I couldn’t have done without.

Thank you all for your attention and I hope to write again soon. Oh, and don’task where I got that title. Ireally have no idea.

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Page 8: Wiscasset, Waterville · 2020. 5. 9. · Mark Baytala Bob Belyea David Birmingham Harold Blen John E. Bock Jim Bocock Richard V. Bourdon J.C. Brown Gordon S. Buck Robert Buck Forest

August 13, 1999 - Stewart Rhine carefully reletters ex-Edaville No. 5 with its new logo of “W.W.& F. Ry.”

He has already renumbered it No. 10, while ex-Monson No. 3 steams quietly behind it. Photo by Larson Powell.

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington

Railway Museum

Sheepscot Station

Alna, ME 04535-0242