Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway (WW&F) Discussion

Cosmo,

I checked Boothbay Railway Village's website. They actually have two pieces of original WW&F equipment.

Boxcar #312 and an unnumbered Handcar.

Boothbay Railway Village Roster:
http://www.railwayvillage.org/boothbayrailwayb.html

The WW&F handcar at Boothbay was actually dug out of the mud in Wiscasset many years ago and rebuilt by Lawrence Browne. There are also two handcars at the WW&F Ry Museum, both are reproductions built in the Sheepscot shops by volunteers.

As far as surviving rolling stock:
The Albion Historical Society has parts of a WW&F Flanger that they are slowly reconstructing.
Other than the boxcar and handcar in the loving care of Boothbay Railway Village, all other known surviving pieces of WW&F/W&Q rolling stock are owned by or leased to the WW&F Railway Museum.

Also, slight corrections:
I believe the rail laid at the October 2010 work weekend was 50lb - most of which was salvaged from a siding on the Claremont - Concord railroad.

The WW&F did not run a "halloween" event this year. Instead, in conjunction with Lincoln county's birthday celebration, a "Fall Family Festival" was held in September - and was a great success.

Some recent pictures:
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=343756&nseq=4
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=343245&nseq=1
http://railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=341193&nseq=3

Crossing Humason Trestle earlier this year...
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=344748

steveh wrote:Crossing Humason Trestle earlier this year...

Nice pic; definite postcard/calendar material there.

Is that the trestle the National Guard engineer unit built/rebuilt as a training project? Looking at the local news reports, I didn't realize it was that "big."

Yes, that was the trestle built by the USMC. It doesn't seem so large from the train when you ride over it, but it is a fairly substantial structure. The water underneath can also range from barely active, to several feet deep and raging rapids.

elecuyer wrote:Yes, that was the trestle built by the USMC.

Okay, thanks.
I was half-thinking it was Marines that did that, rather than ARNG. (:oops:) Anyway, a good project for them, and a good job by them.

It doesn't seem so large from the train when you ride over it, but it is a fairly substantial structure. The water underneath can also range from barely active, to several feet deep and raging rapids.

I think the newspaper might have had a photo at track level, which didn't really show how much was involved in that. Maybe the water was running too high for the reporter to climb down and get a better pic.

Folks,

The WW&F held its annual Victorian Christmas event this past weekend, under beautiful, clear skies. The fantastic weather resulted in a banner turnout, with over 900 people coming out to ride the 2-footers during the course of the day. Just about every piece of rolling stock with seats was pressed into service in order to handle the lines of patrons waiting on the Sheepscot platform. That included the open excursion car, making for a rather brisk ride. Even the hourly schedule was abandoned and the crew turned the trains as fast as they could.

Here are a few images from the day:

#10 moving through the 3-way switch in the early morning sun: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=349261

Pulling W&Q Coach 3 out of the barn: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=349258

Trainmen bring the excursion train to the platform at Sheepscot: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=349254

The "short" train flying south at Sutter's crossing" http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=349253

The "heavy" train running north past a frozen pond: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=349252

An Iron Horse and one of the flesh and blood kind: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=349225

Smoking it up at the Sheepscot Tankhouse: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=349220

If you've never been to the WW&F, you owe it to yourself to get up there, and there's no better time than the annual Victorian Christmas event.

/Kevin

outstanding shots!

Thanks for sharing Kevin. Those shots don't show just how cold it was though. But what a great day. And everybody went away happy. I can't count how many times I heard "Thank You" as people stepped off the train.

Mike

Congratulations to WW&F on such a successful event.

I for one would like to hear more detail about the decision to run trains back to back. Who made the decision and what was going on when it happenned? Was there a Victorian 'mob' as it were piling up at the train station? Were the masses getting jittery? Or, knowing WW&F did the railroad 'directors' figure the problem out ahead of time and make a timely decision to 'save Christmas' as it were? The whole thing sounds very worthy to be part of a Dickens novel.

I've been reading the Edaville thread and can't help but noticing that you are now creating for others on the original rails what was once done in MA. Here's hoping your effort outlasts the original W&Q, WW&F and E.R.R. many times over.

One other note along the lines of the E.R.R. (Edaville Railroad). Was their old rail suitable for the WW&F?

Gokeefe, the only set schedule was the trains would run between 11a and 5p. The first train actually left a few minutes early because it was already full.

As for the rail, it had been looked at previously. It was decided not to take it, I forget why. Possibly size or wear.

Mike

Mike,

Thanks a bunch. It may not have been clear from my original post (apologies) but I was really asking the question for the sake of a fun/humorous story along the lines of a "Mabel! We've gut tah add moh cahs to thah train." type moment. In a way it really says a lot about WW&F and the organization's professionalism that this decision could be made on the spot and without any apparent fuss.

Best Wishes for the Holidays!