Having just returned from a few days down east, I thought I'd throw in some stuff about the narrow-er gauge in Maine. On Saturday I visited the Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum near Wiscasset. In a word -- WOW! The folks there have laid about 3/4 mile of 40 and 56 pound iron on the grade of the original WW&F (abandoned in 1933). They've built a three track shop, a freight house and a station. They got four locomotives -- a tiny Brookvile gas-mechanical, a small Plymouth diesel, and two 0-4-4T's. #9 is a really unique piece, being the only surviving WW&F engine, built in 1891 by the Portland Locomotive Works just down the road in Portland. Unfortunately, its lap-seam boiler precludes it ever being steamed again. #10 is a newer Vulcan product acquired last fall from Edaville, and it is operated one weekend each month. I can't begin to say enough about how the folks there are striving to re-create a portion of the WW&F. They've also got an original flatcar and boxcar, a caboose reproduced from the original plans, and the absolute jewel, coach #3. Built for a predecessor company the Wiscasset & Quebec, this coach somehow survived and wound up at Edaville. It is on long-term lease from the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad in Portland. Riding up the grade out of Sheepscot station with #10 doing the honors, it may as well be 1900 as 2000. And what a cordial group of folks! They answered every question, invited us to inspect every piece of equipment -- even pulled #10 out of the enginehouse for photos!
By the way, they have another 1,800 feet of roadbed ready for rail and ties, and after seeing what they accomplished over Memorial Day -- 750 feet of new track laid -- it won't be long in coming. I look forward to a return visit.
On Sunday we dropped in at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad operation in Portland. These are the folks who rescued much of the Edaville collection in 1996. They've built about a mile and a quarter of track on the old Canadian Grand Trunk roadbed along the shore of Casco Bay, and the trains will be a great spot to view the Tall Ships next week. I was not impressed, however, with the folks manning the operation. The conductor on the train had nothing to say about who or what the MNGRR is, it goals or aspirations. He had very curt and uninformative answers to my questions, such as "Where are the steam engines?" "In the enginehouse." Much of the equipment is stored outside and deteriorating noticeably. The indoor exhibits are housed in a part of the old Portland Locomotive Works. I don't know if I'll go back there.....
