by ThinkNarrow
The Wiscasset station on the WW&F was very close to the Wiscasset station on the MEC. If you look at the first picture in the "History" section of the WW&F website http://www.wwfry.org,the MEC crossing is only a few feet behind the train, and you'll see a building at the far right that is part of the MEC station complex. If you can find a copy of Narrow Gauge in the Sheepscot Valley, Vol 1, there are a lot of details of the Wiscasset station area. I expect that the first section of the long trestlework/causeway was built to provide a conveniently walkable station-to-station transfer for the passengers.
The second section of the trestlework/causeway, between the station and the wharves, was indeed for freight service. The Wiscasset & Quebec was one of several railroads built (or attempted) between the Maine coast and Quebec to capture grain and other traffic from Canada at a time when the St. Lawrence River froze in the winter. Also, we tend to forget how important shipping was a hundred or more years ago. Wiscasset has a well-sheltered harbor and was for many years an important port (although not as important as the W&Q/WW&F might have liked). For some interesting ships, Google "Luther Little" and "Hesper", the ships that the WW&F's last owner bought with the idea of transporting lumber by railroad and ship to Boston.
-John
The second section of the trestlework/causeway, between the station and the wharves, was indeed for freight service. The Wiscasset & Quebec was one of several railroads built (or attempted) between the Maine coast and Quebec to capture grain and other traffic from Canada at a time when the St. Lawrence River froze in the winter. Also, we tend to forget how important shipping was a hundred or more years ago. Wiscasset has a well-sheltered harbor and was for many years an important port (although not as important as the W&Q/WW&F might have liked). For some interesting ships, Google "Luther Little" and "Hesper", the ships that the WW&F's last owner bought with the idea of transporting lumber by railroad and ship to Boston.
-John