Build 11
A new steam locomotive for the restored WW&F!
Why Reconstruct Locomotive No. 7?
The Mission of the WW&F Railway Museum is to restore and reconstruct the operation and equipment of the 1894-1933 railroad as completely as possible. To that end, our organization is reconstructing Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Ry steam locomotive No. 7.
As No. 7 was a Baldwin Locomotive Works product, the museum will be preserving the range of motive power (together with No. 9 representing the Portland Company) preferred by the railway during its common-carrier era.
A $120,000 challenge to get “On the Fast Track”
We have a huge challenge ahead of us in 2025 – which will put us on the fast track to getting the locomotive completed as soon as possible.
Challenge 1: More Volunteers!
We need skilled machinists and fabricators who would like to assist us at our shops in Alna, Maine (or occasional work from home.) If you are interested, please email info@wwfry.org and we will put you in touch with the Build 11 team.
Challenge 2: More Speed!
With increased volunteers aiding and overseeing contract labor and outside vendors, we hope to significantly reduce the time needed to complete the locomotive.
Challenge 3: More Money!
We’ve been challenged to raise $60,000 by an anonymous donor who will MATCH every donation dollar for dollar! So if you give $100 to help us Build 11, it will be matched with an additional $100. Thus, our total goal for 2025 is $120,000 – a big ask for sure – but with the locomotive taking shape, we’re confident that our members, friends, and followers will be up for the challenge.
Video recap of our progress building 11 in 2024.
Through the support of friends and followers (and the success of previous campaigns) we have been able to order a steady flow of critical components, including the cylinder half-saddles, drive wheel centers and a variety of smaller parts. And with the steady efforts of our Build11 volunteers and service vendors, these components have been forged, machined, fitted or whatever else is required to be added to our growing locomotive assembly. This will continue through 2025.
The 2021 campaign goal was $50,000, which was exceeded by 96%, winding up at over $97,700, including a $25,000 matching grant from an anonymous friend. The 2022 campaign goal was $70,000, which was surpassed by 20%, topping out at $84,279, including a $25,000 matching grant from the Candelaria Fund. In the 2023 campaign, thanks to a few smaller “challenge grants”, and (sadly) many memorial gifts in honor of Build 11 teammate and advocate Wayne Laepple, the $50,000 goal was exceeded by 28%, topping out at $64,111! 2024 saw us raise $68,803 – surpassing the goal by 38%.
In 2025, with the $60,000 challenge, we hope to raise a total of $120,000 which will allow us to hire additional contractors to assist our volunteers in fabricating and assembling the locomotive.
2025 Fundraising Goal
On the Fast Track!
We’ve been challenged to raise $60,000 by an anonymous donor who will MATCH every donation dollar for dollar! So if you give $100 to help us Build 11, it will be matched with an additional $100. Thus, our total goal for 2025 is $120,000 – a big ask for sure – but with the locomotive taking shape, we’re confident that our members, friends, and followers will be up for the challenge.
Current Results*
* Total does not reflect pledged amounts that have not yet been received (such as the $60,000 match.)
Thank You!
Latest Build 11 News
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Our latest Build 11 work session was held during our Spring Work Weekend, April 24-27. Our friends at Mountain Machine Works have completed quartering of the driver wheelsets; they achieved 90.000 +/- 0.002 degrees. They bored the crankpin seats and machined the crankpins. The wheelsets and crankpins have been moved to our shop and we…
How Can I Help Build 11?
When this project was in its formative stages (officially starting in 2007, but with roots from decades earlier) we estimated the total cost would be around $250,000. However, expenses have steadily risen, more than doubling the price of everything we need for the locomotive. In addition, due to the limits of shop space, time, and qualified machinists, we have decided to partner with area machine shops for portions of this project. This decision was not taken lightly, but it is necessary to insure the completion of No. 11 within our timeline.
Over the past 20 years, well over 300 individuals have contributed nearly a half-million dollars to this effort. One person has made 200 separate donations, while another has contributed monthly since 2015. Others have been making monthly donations for several years. That is simply amazing!
Here’s an easy way to contribute… set aside $11 each month for No. 11. Or maybe $11 every two weeks ($22/mo.) This provides steady income earmarked for the project. Recurring donations such as theses can be set up via this donation page or by using your bank’s online bill paying service.
Of course, any amount is encouraged and deeply appreciated. We still have a very limited number of replica builder’s plates of WW&F No. 7, available to donors of $1100 or more in a single contribution. And once these remaining plates are gone, no more will be cast. We also have a smaller 3-D printed replica plate for your $110 donations, and various gifts for donations of smaller amounts. We are going into 2025 with a good cushion from our previous efforts, and we continue to seek foundation and corporate donations as well.
Spread the Word!
Another (easy and FREE) way to help Build 11 is to spread the word about the project on social media. The WW&F Facebook page, Instagram page, and Discussion Forum all are updated on the 11th of each month with our progress. Be sure to subscribe, like, and share these posts!
What about No. 10?
Locomotive #10 is being rebuilt alongside #11, in order to save resources and consolidate efforts. The work now underway on locomotive 10’s new boiler will continue (and possibly conclude?) in 2025.
Donate Here for Your Build 11 Merch and Perks!
Proceeds from the sales of all of these items directly benefit Build 11. In most cases, these “thank you gifts” were donated to the museum to be given to contributors.
Why Number it 11?
During the common-carrier era (1894-1933), the WW&F Railway (and its predecessors) owned nine locomotives, numbered sequentially 1-9. Except for #9, which is the star of our museum collection, all of these locomotives were destroyed. Number 10 was the first steam locomotive acquired for use on the modern-day WW&F railway, and the new locomotive will be number 11.
The new locomotive will be given the road number 11 for several reasons:
- To carry on with our museum’s tradition of giving new numbers to reconstructed equipment.
- To carry on the original railway’s tradition of assigning consecutive road numbers to locomotives regardless of locomotives currently or formerly on the roster.
- To recognize the enormous effort that must be made to fulfill this project.
- To recognize that while we are trying to emulate the Baldwin Locomotive Works we are in fact not that company.
Rebuilding Maine History
Just looking like the original isn’t good enough. Part of the museum’s mission is to present, in context, the technology available at the time of the original construction — a philosophy crucial to maintaining the spirit of the original machine. Components are being produced through methods as practical to the original, to maintain the same level of craftsmanship and skill required.
In early 2019, a team of WW&F Railway Museum members with engineering backgrounds began producing drawings in the same manner as Baldwin did, but using modern technology to do so. Hand drawings are reproduced on computers in two dimensions, and, as necessary in three dimensions, so that patterns can be made to produce castings.
The members of the engineering group meet regularly by Zoom (since several are located outside Maine) to discuss progress as well as problems that arise. The team produced several hundred drawings and images. Today, primary components are arriving from foundries and machine shops – all being joined to the main locomotive frame in “bay 2” of our museum’s publicly-accessible machine shop.
A steam locomotive is a direct result of the technology and production methods available at the time of original construction. The final product will be more than an operating facsimile of the original machine, although not necessarily created as easily as possible using modern technology. Instead, the locomotive will, as much as practical, represent the industrial age during which the Baldwin plant operated in 1907.
There are limits to this historical tribute. Several recognized and documented exceptions must be made for practical reasons. Specifically, these exceptions are made to bring the construction cost in line with the capabilities of our organization, to make the finished product more serviceable, and therefore economical to safely maintain and operate. Care is being given to each component concerning its design and production method; decisions are made as consistently as possible with historical integrity while not exceeding our team’s limitations.
A major benefit to this project is the opportunity to document the various methods used to produce the locomotive. This will serve as an educational study of both historical industrial methods and of equivalent modern methods being employed for practical reasons.
Raising Money and Making Progress
At the end of 2019, the WW&F Railway Museum successfully completed its ”21 Campaign” to raise funds for new boilers for No. 10 and No. 11, actually exceeding the goal by about 7 percent. In 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial fund-raising for No. 11’s construction raised nearly $24,000, surpassing the $17,000 goal by 45 percent. As mentioned above, the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 campaigns surpassed their stated goals. Now we’re on to the next campaign challenge, to raise funds to assemble WW&F No. 11 throughout 2025 and beyond.
With the opening of our Mountain Extension in 2022, we confirmed the need for No. 11, a locomotive a bit larger than No. 9, to provide adequate power for our trains on this new trackage, which includes a grade that tops out at 4%. It is expected that construction of No. 11 will take another four years or more, depending on the museum’s ability to raise funds and the availability of volunteer labor.
Volunteers Needed
The WW&F Railway is an entirely volunteer-driven organization with no formal paid staff. Contractors are employed only when necessary to bring specific skills to expedite particular projects. Several members of the engineering team have committed themselves to regular work days at the museum, and the team is committed to at least one multi-day work session each month. There are ample opportunities for others to assist, as well as additional work sessions when a larger group of helpers will be needed. So, if this project interests you, please contact us to get involved. Depending on the task, work can be done at our Alna, Maine, facility, although plenty of work is being done in home shops around the US — notably in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania!
Build 11: We’re Making it Happen… Together!
The Build 11 project is well established – assembly is well on the fast track! With funds in hand, let’s keep moving forward, building a locomotive best suited for the railroad.
Thank you for helping make that happen.