0 Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington

Maine once had a number of 2' gauge railroads, and several groups have preserved some of this equipment.  Although to our eyes they may not appear much larger than park trains, these were projected as fully functional railroads carrying both passengers and freight over long distances.  We visited the Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington Railway Museum, which has installed about 2 1/2 miles of track on the right of way of its namesake railroad, and operates some of the original equipment.

 

The museum wasn't running when we were there, but we got a great and very complete tour from one of the members, Jason Lamontagne. 

Here's some of the equipment used for revenue service, at least when steam isn't operating.  The two cars seen here were built by the museum, but stored inside is an original Jackson and Sharpe coach, nicely restored.

Jason told me some history of the line, which was quite interesting.  Wiscasset is a small port town with a sheltered harbor on the coast of Maine.  Local businessmen originally projected a railroad from Wiscasset all the way to Quebec.  Because Quebec is usually ice-bound for much of the winter, and Wiscasset isn't, the "riches of Quebec" would be transported down to their hometown for loading onto ships and sent to all parts of the world.  But money was slow in coming in (where have we heard that before?) and in order to start construction, they decided a 2' gauge railroad was the most economical choice.  It got up to Waterville, but that's about it.  This undersized line lasted until 1933.  But I would certainly agree that this was a fascinating niche of the railroading industry.

So the museum is trying to recreate what they can of the WW&F, on the original right of way with as much original equipment as has survived.  That includes two locomotives.

This is WW&F #10, an 0-4-4 Forney built by Vulcan in 1904, which has been restored and operates regularly over the line.






Also in the shop is #9, another 0-4-4 Forney built by Portland in 1891.  It's undergoing a complete restoration.  It has a new boiler and a mostly-rebuilt frame, among other things.  Jason and I discussed several of the issues they've had to face in getting this engine back into service.

The original boiler and frame are stored outside.

Let's look down the track a little ways.  Top speed on this 2' gauge track would be about 35 MPH, I believe. 

I just love three-way stub switches.  Why can't we have one at IRM?

 

Ordinary water tanks are too ugly, I suppose, for this scenic area.  So here's what they had instead.  This is a very impressive reconstruction.

Now that my daughter and her husband are living near Boston, I hope to have occasion to visit here again when steam is running.  This is a very interesting operation.