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Railway Museum SHEEPSCOT STATION, PO BOX 242, ALNA, MAINE 04535

March/April 2008

Museum Wins H. Albert Webb Award Edited from a Mass Bay RRE press release

On February 5th the Massachusetts Bay Railroad

Enthusiasts, Inc. (“Mass Bay RRE”) announced that the

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, Inc.

was the 2008 winner of the H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad

Preservation Award. The $10,000 grant associated with the

award will pay for expanding the Museum’s car storage

and repair building at “Sheepscot Station,” its Alna, Maine

headquarters four miles north of Wiscasset.

“A larger car-shop will keep more of our historic two-foot-

gauge engines and cars out of Maine’s harsh weather,” said

Alfred-E. (Zack) Wyllie of Warren, Maine, president. of the

WW&F Museum. Mass Bay RRE member Leigh A. Webb of

Franklin, New Hampshire, sponsor of the award honoring his

late father, said, “Weather in New England is particularly brutal

on irreplaceable railroad stock. It is entirely appropriate that

this year’s award will go to help the WW&F Museum protect

its most precious assets.”

Constructing an enclosed building to house the WW&F

Museum’s railroad equipment was among the first goals of

Harry C. Percival Jr., the Museum’s late founder, when he

formed the preservation group in 1989 as the Sheepscot Valley

Railroaders. The Museum’s existing shop, opened in 1993,

matches the design of a long-vanished Wiscasset, Waterville

& Farmington Railway structure from the late 19th century.

Since 1993, the WW&F Museum has rebuilt 2.2 miles of

two-foot-gauge track north from Sheepscot on the original

right-of-way of the WW&EF Railway, which opened its original

line in 1894 and shut down in 1933. Twice a year, during

its well-attended, all-volunteer “track work weekends,” the

Museum extends the rebuilt main line north. The Museum’s

goal is to reach Maine Highway 218, about 3.4 miles north of

Sheepscot Station, by 2013.

In 2008, Museum leaders expect to use its volunteer work

force both to expand the car-shop and to continue the track

construction north toward Highway 218.

The car-shop extension, like the 1993 building, will be

all wood, with post-and-beam construction. “We could have

built a sheet-metal building to serve the same purpose,” Mr.

Wyllie said. “But that wouldn’t be consistent with the goal

of our museum — to give visitors an idea of what the WW&F

Railway and its surroundings looked like about 1910.” Mass

Bay RRE will present the 2008 Award to the Museum during

its Annual Meeting at the historic Alna Meetinghouse (built

1789), called for 2 PM May 3, 2008. The Museum plans to

start work on the car-shop extension in May and complete

construction by the fall of 2009.

Leigh Webb created the H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad

Preservation Award in 2000 to recognize his father’s love

for New England railroading. The award aids nonprofit, tax-

exempt organizations that preserve historically significant

railroad equipment, structures or information from New

England railroads.

The Beverly Historical Society in Beverly, MA, used the

2007 award grant to preserve digitally 5000 historic New

England railroad images from its Walker Transportation

Collection. The 2006 award went to the Seashore Trolley

Museum at Kennebunkport, ME for restoring Atlantic Shore

Line electric locomotive 100. The Railroad Museum of New

England, in Thomaston, CT, will use the 2005 award to install

a rebuilt diesel engine in its ex-Boston & Maine Railroad

General Motors GP9 locomotive 1732. The 2004 award went

to the Piedmont Carolinas Chapter NRHS of Charlotte, NC to

restore the interior of the six-double-bedroom-lounge Pullman

Pine Tree State, the last sleeping car built for the New Haven

Railroad. The 2003 award to the Friends of Bedford Depot

Park, Bedford, MA, paid for rebuilding a quarter-mile of

two-foot-gauge track on the original grade of the Billerica &

Bedford, the first U.S. two-foot common-carrier railroad. Mr.

Webb made the 2001 award to the Lackawanna & Wyoming

Valley Chapter NRHS, of Scranton, PA, to assist in restoring

B&M Class P-4a 4-6-2 3713 (Lima, 1934), an express

passenger-train steam locomotive owned by the Steamtown

National Historic Site.

In 2001, Mr. Webb asked Mass Bay RRE to help him select

award recipients and administer award grants. In late 2007,

Mass Bay RRE’s H. Albert Webb Memorial Award Committee

considered numerous applications from qualified tax-exempt

organizations before making recommendations to Mr. Webb,

who chose the WW&F’s car-shop project as the 2008 winner.

The committee includes Karl R. McKinney of Lexington, MA,

President of Mass Bay RRE, William Crawford of Nahant,

MA, and Donald C. Foley, Jr. of Burlington, MA, both former

presidents of Mass Bay RRE.

“Tt was a difficult choice,” Mr. Crawford, the committee

chairman, said. “Each project we reviewed had significant

merit.”

Visit our web page at: http://www.wwfry.org

2-Foot Musing No. 35

A couple of Musings ago I discussed the location of

Newell’s flag stop on the WW&F. Bill Reidy had scaled it out

on a computerized map and found the location to be a half mile

north of the Dirigo Road / Tobey Road intersection where it was

supposed to have been. I didn’t have much to offer other than the

information that Newell’s had been known earlier as Newell’s

Corner, reinforcing the fact that it was at the intersection of

the two roads.

Since then I have received copies of the US Geodetic Survey

map of the area from members Fred Clark and Hank Dillenbeck.

T also consulted Volume III of Narrow Gauge in the Sheepscot

Valley by Gary Kohler and Chris McChesney. It indicated that

the station was at mile 31, which agrees with the timetables

that I have. A small map showed that at one time there was a stub siding and a waiting shelter there.

I also found Newell’s in, of all things, a 1920s highway

guidebook published by ALA, a New England area automobile

club that merged into AAA twenty or more years ago. The

section of interest is reproduced here. Note that the stop is located adjacent to the intersection of two roads.

Both timetable 24 of 1903 and timetable 82 of 1929 show

the following mileages: 2.8 miles between Weeks’ Mills and

Newell’s, and 1.9 miles between Newell’s and Palermo for a

total distance of 4.7 miles from Weeks’ Mills to Palermo. By

scaling off the map, I arrived at 1.8 miles from Weeks’ Mills

to Newell’s and 2.2 miles from Newell’s to Palermo for a total

of 4.0 from Weeks’ Mills to Palermo. These distances were as

the crow flies. If the crow had to follow the railroad it would

probably have been longer, so a total distance of 4.7 miles

appears about right.

What doesn’t appear right are the distances between

Newell’s and either Weeks’ Mills or Palermo. By eyeballing

the map it is obvious that Newell’s is closer to Weeks’ Mills

than it is to Palermo, but if it were located at mile 31 it would

be 0.9 miles closer to Palermo than to Weeks’ Mills. Using a

little interpolation I came up with mile 30.3 as a more correct

location of Newell’s.

It is possible that the highway map is wrong. After all, It

was not intended to be a guide to the location of narrow gauge

railroad stations, but the fact that Bill Reidy, using modern

methods, found mile 31 to be up in the boondocks leads me to

believe that he and the ALA book are correct.

Just to muddy the waters some more, the WW&EF listing in

various Maine Registers shows Newell’s at mile 29! This would

place it only 0.8 miles from Weeks’ Mills, but I am not going to

pursue that any further. It occurs to me that I, and others, have

spent way too much time trying to pinpoint a very insignificant

spot on the map. Unless someone comes forward with new

information I will consider the subject as closed.

In closing, I must compliment James Patten and the

others on the Long Range Planning Committee for the very

comprehensive plan of the future layout of the Museum that

appeared in the last Newsletter. When it is completed we will

have a first class facility that we all can be very proud of.

Ellis Walker

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Map from 1920s ALA Highway Guidebook +

Curator's Report

On February 3rd, I was pleased to present a slide show

with question and answer session as the opening presentation

in this year’s Lincoln County Historical Association Winter

Lecture Series. This year’s lectures explored various aspects

of transportation in Lincoln County, and according to Jay

Robbins, president of the association, the meetings were

sponsored by Les Fossel and Restoration Resources of Alna.

Jay gave me nearly two hours to show over 100 slides of work

and operations at Sheepscot Station, along with mid-1990s

views of the WW&F right of way up through to Albion.

Included were slides from the Harry E. Percival, Jr. collection

that showed volunteers working at the Ramsdell property in

West Thompson, CT, salvaging flatcar 118 and at Sheepscot

raising the heavy timber framing for Bay 1.

With 32 folks in attendance, there was much interest and

many questions from the audience. A few WW&F Museum

members were among the group, including Libby Harmon of

Whitefield who has generously loaned a collection of Wiscasset

& Quebec “dunning letters” for high-quality laser copying

onto heavy acid-free paper. This project is now completed, and

results are available for viewing in the archives room along

with a photo given by Libby of a WW&F track crew shown

at the Whitefield section house.

Libby’s collection reflects efforts by the W&Q to get

subscribers to pay up so the railroad might continue to build.

She found the letters, meeting notices, letterheads, return

mail envelopes and statements in a house she purchased in

Whitefield. We are always grateful to have examples of these

rare original documents and always eager to put on our slide

shows as well.

Bruce Wilson

Railroad Receives Large Lathe

A 48-inch swing lathe has been given to our railroad. We

owe a huge debt of gratitude to our new friends at the Kellam Company, of Biscoe NC, Joe Manuele and Greg Pogo.

The New Haven lathe, shown below, will comfortably work

our largest locomotive drive wheels, and will make other wheel

maintenance much easier. For many years, we had been hoping

to find a largé lathe that was reasonably short. This lathe fits

the bill perfectly at 16 feet long. The lathe’s vintage is about

1900, fitting in perfectly with our other efforts. Despite its

age, the machine is very ruggedly built and shows extremely

little wear.

The Kellam Company is a third-, going on fourth-,

generation machine shop that had its roots as Biscoe Foundry

& Machine 100 years ago next year. Bob Longo and I had the

opportunity to visit them in December. Both Joe and Greg

were extremely hospitable, showing us not only our new lathe

in action, but also their impressive and busy CNC machine

job shop.

Along with the lathe, the Kellam Company also gave us a

6-foot radial arm drill. Also an impressive machine, it was a

bit larger than our available space. This machine now resides

in the machine shop of one of our neighbors, where it will be

well appreciated and kept available for our occasional use.

Ken Boudin, owner of Machinery Services in Wiscasset,

very generously received the truck shipment of the two

machines at his shop. Using a high capacity forklift, he almost

effortlessly unloaded the machines, a task that would have

taken us hours. Ken has already delivered the radial arm drill

to its final destination, and delivered the lathe to Bay 1.

Thanks to Wayne Laepple for spotting an internet post

offering the lathe, and to John Betchel of the North Carolina

Transportation Museum for passing along the offer after his

organization turned it down.

Text by Jason Lamontagne, photo by Steve Hussar

Harry Percival and Model T Railcars

Harry Percival enjoyed operating narrow gauge railcars.

Those who rode with Harry in the SR&RL Model T during

our annual picnics remember his spirited mainline running.

That’s how he acquired the nickname “High-gear Harry.” He

was very knowledgeable about the mechanical properties of

the cars and liked to talk about them. He knew some of the

history of the Sandy River and WW&F Model Ts from talking

to various people through the years. The following information

is from a conversation I had with Harry.

Railroads liked the Model T because it was easily adapted

to rail use. This was because Ford used a unique planetary

transmission. Forward and reverse could have equal speed

and, unlike standard automobiles, there were no brakes on the

wheels. Braking was done with the transmission, so a railcar

could be built without brake rigging on the flanged wheels

except for hand brakes. The Phillips shop crew built a special

rear axle for reversing the direction of travel. The Wiscasset

car had a built-in turntable so that the car could be operated

facing forward. This kept the car from overheating when

running backwards like the SR&RL cars, as forward running

kept sufficient air flowing through the radiator.

The WW&F’s Model T was of lighter construction than

the SR&RL cars. Manley Glidden used part of the original

frame to allow for the built-in turntable. The car was kept

in the shop at Wiscasset, and was used for track inspections

until the threat of snow put it away for the winter. If the car

was used in Wiscasset during cold weather, the oil and water

were drained from the engine block. The oil was kept in a pan

that was put on a stove about half an hour before the car was

to go out. The hot oil was then poured into the block and the

car was started. As it ran, warm water was poured into the

radiator, filling the cooling system. Ifthe car stayed at Albion

overnight, the water was drained from the block and radiator.

The next day a bucket of water was put on the station’s stove.

The boiling water was then poured into the radiator so the car

could be started.

At some point in the late 1920s, the car derailed and the

old open touring body was damaged. An enclosed two-door

body from a rare center-door car was installed in its place. (See

photo at the top of page 107 in Volume IV of Narrow Gauge

in the Sheepscot Valley.) Henry Ford had a few center-door

Model Ts built to market automobiles to people who were used

to the body style used on a carriage. There was no heater in

the railcar, but the enclosed car could be used later into the

cold weather season. The crew sometimes had trouble with ice

forming on the inside of the windows, so they put a lit lantern

on the floor under the windshield. The heat warmed the glass

enough to keep it clear. It’s not known what happened to the

WWE&P’s original Model T railcar. Whatever was left probably

got scrapped with everything in the upper yard. The good news

is that Leon Weeks has built a beautiful Model T railcar for the

Museum, and it should be on the rails in the next two years.

Manley and Harry would both be proud.

Stewart Rhine

Joe Fox and Tom Wriggins drill holes in the new rear frame for locomotive Number 9. It was the broken

rear frame that suspended Number 9’s career on the WW&F back in 1933.

Tom Brown and Jason Lamontagne make some measurements on locomotive Number 10 before

making a few running gear adjustments in preparation for Number 10’s upcoming season.

Both photos by John McNamara

WW&E Railway Museum Operating Budget for 2008

Note: Since this is an operating budget, not a capital budget, funds received from the 2007-2008 Annual Capital Fund drive are

not included, nor are the associated capital.expenditures such as grading, gravel, stone, rail, and ties for new construction.

INCOME

General Donations $17,700

From General Fund 5,000

Dues 19,100

Ticket Sales 15,400

From Museum Store : 12,000

This is the portion of gross sales not retained for restocking and new Maine 2-foot books when published.

All Other Income ; 4,200

*.TOTAL - $73,400

EXPENSES

Building Maintenance $ 1,800

This includes necessary repairs and painting.

Insurance 10,330

We anticipate a 5% increase over 2007 policies plus the addition of the Percival House

Leases 5,082

Locomotive 9 and boxcar 309 are leased from their owner, Dale King, heir of the Ramsdell estate. Some of the property upon

which we operate is leased from the Wiscasset & Quebec Railway. Coach 3 and excursion car. 103 are leased from the Maine

Narrow gauge.Railroad & Museum.

Mortgages 12,696

In 2004, the Museum purchased a parcel near Sheepscot Station from Ken Boudin, and there is an $89,000 mortgage on the Percival house.

Publications and Communications 11,000

This includes producing and mailing six newsletters, annual meeting notices, and annual fund-raising solicitations to over 1100

members and friends, plus dues notices and contribution acknowledgements.

Publicity 8,000

This includes advertisements in newspapers, Trains magazine, and Damariscotta/Boothbay Business Bureau publications. It

also includes brochure and flyer production and distribution, plus internet expenses.

Rail Equipment Maintenance 5,300

This includes brake work on coach 8 and car 103, window repairs to coach 8, and further restoration of car 103.

Tools and Machinery 1,300 This item is for the purchase of various tools needed for the track gang and the machine shop.

Track Construction & Maintenance 300 This is for stone and rental machinery for maintenance work on existing trackage.

Utilities 12,900

We anticipate a 20% increase in the cost of fuel oil, welding gas, septic service, telephone, and electricity. Maintaining the

Percival house above freezing is also included.

Special Events 1,500 This item covers food for the April and October work weekends, plus tent costs for the Annual Picnic.

Miscellaneous 2,400 Miscellaneous items include State of Maine report filings, snow removal, building permits, association memberships, and train show fees.

TOTAL $73,108

Annual Meeting Set for May 3, 2008

The 18th annual meeting of the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum will be held at 2 P.M. on Saturday, May

3, 2008 at the Alna Meeting House, which is on Route 218 two miles north of Cross Road and Sheepscot Station. The Nominating

Committee has prepared the following slate of director candidates for the three openings for election to three-year terms from

2008 to 2011:

Gordon Davis is a retired electronics engineer who now lives full

time in Alna, where he and his family have owned land for over 130

years. Part of that land is now leased to the Museum for a portion of

our right-of-way. He recently served on the Alna Board of Selectmen

and has been a member of our Board since 1996.

Zack Wyllie operates A.E. Wyllie Plumbing in Warren, Maine. He

has been superintendent for the past ten years and president for the

past six years. He has worked on restoring the flatcar and boxcar,

constructing the caboose, extending the station platform, constructing

the machine shop and water tower, and clearing the roadbed. He has

been a member of our Board since 1994.

Steve Zuppa operates his own building and remodeling business in

Georgetown, Mass. In addition to his role as vice president for the

past six years, he serves as section foreman, tracklayer, brakeman,

fireman, engineer, water tower carpenter, and in his words, “in any

capacity where I can be of use.” He has been a member of our Board

since 2002.

While the present election provides only three candidates (plus write-ins) for the three director positions, the Museum’s bylaws

provide for the number of candidates to exceed the number of positions. If any members would like to be considered as candidates

for the May 2009 election of directors, they should write to the Board of Directors Nominating Committee, WW&F Railway

Museum, Sheepscot Station, Alna, ME 04535-0242.

WW&E Railway Museum Spring 2008 Calendar

April 19 - 21: Railroad Artifacts Show at Albion’s Besse Building

April 26 - 28: Spring Work Weekend at Sheepscot Station

May 3: Annual Meeting at Alna Meetinghouse 2 PM

Remembering Moody - No. 5

Volume 1, Number 3 of Moody’s Bogger is announced

with a front cover illustration of engine Number 7 surrounded

by a Christmas wreath and puffing a smoke plume containing

the heading “EDA RAILROAD BOGGER.” Could it be that finally, in December of 1945, Ellis D. Atwood had selected a

name for his (as Moody calls it) “narrow gauge railway on Ellis

D. Atwood’s cranberry bogs in South Carver, Massachusetts”?

Moody continues with, “Unless someone decides on a name

for it pretty soon, the road’s going to be in social disgrace. She

simply can’t be christened without a name!” But no name had

been chosen. Within the midst of this issue’s many articles is

a line that states, “Note: too late for this issue, we find that

Mr. Atwood fancies the name Cranberry Central, so next time

maybe that’s what it’II be!”

Perhaps Moody’s usual good humor was stretching thin,

and a bit of dour frustration surfacing at management’s inability

to pick a name for the railroad? If so, the balance of Volume

1, Number 3, hides those feelings behind Holiday Greetings

from Ocean Spray, Troop 12 B.S.A. South Carver, and the

Carver Fire Department, along with Eatmore Cranberries and

a personal greeting from Ellis and Elthea Atwood on the back

cover. On the pages within are reports ranging from “the last of

the railroad cars from Maine rolled in Monday, December 10,

when coach #18 arrived, covered with mud and slush from her

200-mile journey over roads recently subjected to the acme of

nature’s handiwork --- snow,” to publicity given by Cranberries

magazine, published by Clarence Hall in Wareham, and even

a mention that, “The Bogger is being published more or less

haphazardly without rhyme or reason, so to speak, but a lot

of people are asking to be put on the mailing list. We don’t

feel like establishing a subscription price of $5 a year yet, but

wouldn’t be too offended if, when you write for your copy,

you’d enclose a 3-cent stamp to cover mailing costs, and maybe

we could get our cigarettes out of it too.”

On the fourth page of the Bogger’s text is a sentence that

whets my curiosity. Moody is in the middle of explaining

to his readers about “speculation, locally as well as in the

newspapers, regarding the status of this nameless little

railroad’’. He discusses Atwood being a railfan and “that he’ll

enjoy this midget railroad like a kitty enjoys his box behind

the stove”. There are words written justifying the work the

trains will do, saving truck trips around the plantation and

“maintenance on miles of private road”. What catches me,

however, is the mention of “several attractive way-stations”

at which the train stops. If the Newsletter editor and readers

will indulge me, in my next article I would like to discuss the Eda-Railroad “way-stations” and show a photo of “Ball

Park” station.

To continue a request made by our former curator, F. James

Bergmann, within his two part series Two Foot Memories

(WW&F Railway Museum Newsletters Jan/Feb 1996 and

May/June 1996) about the Eda-Railroad Bogger, does any

reader have copies of these magazines they might share

with us? Our archives are missing the final issue (March,

1947, Volume 3, Number 18), and for others we have only

photocopies of the originals. Please contact me at the WW&F

Railway Museum, Sheepscot Station, PO Box 242, Alna ME

04535-0242, if you would like to help.

Bruce Wilson

To join the W.W.&F. Ry. Museum or to send a contribution (tax deductible) please use the form below. PF 2 eee ee ee ee ee ee eee ee ee ee eee ee ee

Il Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum i Sheepscot Station, PO Box 242, Alna, Maine 04535-0242

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f Life Membership... O1$300 #9 Fund g Annual Membership.............1..$30 #10 Fund i

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Snow doesn’t keep Brad Whittemore from working on Number 52’s new wiring. The device in

the foreground is an electric heater that warms the engine block for easier starting in cold weather. Within the hour, Number 52 will be out plowing the line in preparation for the “Spring Steam-up”

later in the month. Photo by John McNamara

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