Re: Monson no. 3 at the WW&FRy pics

FriscoMurph Wrote:
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> A bit off topic, but seeing as there is equipment
> from WW&F, B&SRR, and the Monson running together,
> did all the Maine 2 footers get together and set
> standards back in the day? I know I've seen where
> plenty of British equipment has needed various
> modifications to work with one another, due to
> different coupling types, and heights, so I was
> wondering if this was at all an issue?
>

That's a good question. The ICC set a standard coupler drawbar height for two-foot gauge equipment, but how the SR&RL, WW&F, and B&SR all agreed to use 3/4-size knuckle couplers I don't know. The SR&RL was the only one of the group to convert to Westinghouse air brakes, since B&SR and WW&F as well as Kennebec Central stuck with Eames vacuum brakes. (The Monson and Kennebec Central of course continued using link-and-pin couplers to the very end, and the Monson didn't have any train brakes at all, just hand brakes, which means the Monson engines weren't fitted with automatic couplers or train brakes of any kind until they got to Edaville,.) I'm sure it helped that they were all operating in close proximity to one another, and periodically entertaining notions of linking up with one another (like the failed FS&K project that would have connected the WW&F to the Sandy River to create a narrow gauge trunk line across the state of Maine). Also, the Maine Two-Footers all tended to buy their equipment from the same builders, such as the Portland Company for example, which would have promoted further standardization.

-Philip Marshall