Blogs

Top of the Mountain: Cutting crews cleared trees from areas west of the mainline, in order to clear spaces for a planned shingle mill and saw mill. Shop Upgrades: The machine shop has been upgrades throughout the last year, and this continued into the new year.  The Museum took ownership of a Lodge & Shipley lathe, and…

Pavilion: the event pavilion at Alna Center was completed on December 26, which included roofing, reinforcement, and some side boards near the top and on the ends. Public Operations: October saw very popular Pumpkin Trains to Top of Mountain station, where passengers were met with tractor-drawn wagons to take them to SeaLyon Farm for pumpkin picking.   Passengers…

Mountain Extension: Ballast trains continued in July, ending up putting down an initial layer of ballast on the new track.  The ballast keeps the track in place. Re-opening: The Museum officially reopened to the public on August 7, 2020, with an evening trip to Milepost 8, just before the Trout Brook Bridge (made possible by the ballasting). …

One would think that due to all the closures, that there would be no progress this quarter.  One would be wrong.  While it is true that all public train operations and events were canceled, some progress was made on a few fronts. Car Barn Extension: The extension construction picked up again at the end of March,…

Alna Center Pavilion: A portion of the pavilion was erected and roofed during the quarter. Car Barn Extension: The extension generally was dormant due to life events, but work on it resumed in March.  The walls were framed for windows. Grand Reunion Photo Events: Two “Grand Reunion” photo events were held, in January and February, bringing together all…

The Mountain Extension: at the Fall Work Weekend, track laying brought the head of track over the Trout Brook Bridge and within a few hundred feet of Maine Rt 218.  #9 steamed across the bridge on Sunday and Monday.  There was some ballasting that was done in November. Alna Center Pavilion: a pavilion donated from Maine Maritime…

The Narrow Gauge Collaboration with Maine Narrow Gauge Museum kicked into high gear, with many of the pieces of the collection being delivered to the WW&F:  SR&RL coach 19 (in need of restoration and is being temporarily stored here), SR&RL parlor car Rangeley, SR&RL combination 14, B&SR coach 16 Mount Pleasant, B&SR caboose 32, Monson RR locomotive 4…

Rolling Stock: Several pieces of rolling stock received attention: B&SR Flatcar 34 was completed and put into service in time for the Spring Work Weekend.  MNG Flatcar 205 had passenger platforms and needed refurbishing.  As part of the collaboration, the car was delivered and during Spring Work Weekend the platforms were removed, proper end beams and draft gear…

Car Shop: Work began in January to insulate the shop with rockwool insulation.  Much of the insulation had been installed by the end of the quarter.  In the meanwhile overhead crane installation work proceeded, a coal stove was installed, and work was done to further organize the shop. B&SR Flatcar 34: The flatcar (in derelict condition) arrived…

The Mountain Extension: Tree clearing occurred on The Mountain in the winter (the grade north of the end of track), and between ME Rt 218 and Trout Brook.  Grading was done on the area between 218 and Trout Brook, so that bridge prep work could happen.   Assisted by WW&F volunteers, crews from Verney Construction and Chesterfield…

Boxcar 67: The boxcar was brought to a state of near-completion, however the project paused as additional grab-irons were sought, in addition to door tracks and an impervious roof. Car Shop: The car shop got a makeover: concrete floors, fewer support posts (supported by I-beams), and a clean up.  A future coach construction project prompted the work,…

Locomotive 9 in Operation, Locomotive 10 Down for the Count: Locomotive 9 took over operations for Locomotive 10, which in January was discovered to have a defective boiler, dating back to its construction.  These problems had been discovered in all of the other boilers on the Maine two-foot engines.  Rather than chase down problems, it was…