Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum SHEEPSCOT STATION, PO BOX 242, ALNA, ME 04535-0242

May / June 2009

Wayne Laepple and Steve Hussar operate the new “Big Joe” tamper during the Spring Work Weekend. Photo by Bob Cavanagh “Big Joe” joins the Spring Work Weekend Crew

Dana Deering

Thanks to everyone’s hard work and dedication, along and the WW&F volunteers, from the regulars to those who with some help from the weather gods, we had another can only come once or twice a year, are second to none. very successful work weekend! There was work going on They all give 100% and do it with panache. I enjoy the great everywhere, and much was accomplished along with the camaraderie and the humor. It’s nice to share a dream with ballasting, surfacing, and lining of the track that was put down such a fine group and to see it materialize — and I love moving in the Fall. We didn’t get all of it in service but I hadn’t expected that red flag northward! Thanks to everyone who showed up that we would, and we got more done than I had hoped. to lend a hand, and to the kitchen crew for keeping us fed! Of all of the new volunteers who showed up, I think We’re in the talking stages for the Fall Work Weekend, so everyone was especially glad to have our newest volunteer, we may include finishing the ballasting, surfacing, and lining “Big Joe Tampiere,” on hand. Big Joe was able to tamp using as part of it, or we may pick away at it throughout the summer. four air hammers at once, and although he started off a bit Watch the forum (http://forum.wwfry.org) for updates. “shaky,” he soon got the hang of it, and then nothing could For details on the design and development of “Big stop him except when he ran a little low on “juice”. Joe,” along with the reason for his name, please see Jason Plans are only as good as the people who carry them out, Lamontagne’s article on page 4.

Visit our web page at: http://www.wwfry.org  2-Foot Musing No. 42 Adding a Presence on Route 1

In this Musing I am going to talk a little bit about the For several years, the Museum has had State of Maine vacuum system. Every Maine 2-footer used vacuum official business directional signs on Route 1 in Newcastle, except the Monson which used hand brakes during northeast of Wiscasset. These signs direct visitors through its entire life. The Sandy River eventually converted to air Sheepscot Village to Sheepscot Station. This route is convenient brakes, but the Bridgton & Harrison, the Kennebec Central, for southbound visitors, but not so convenient for northbound and the WW&F all stuck with the . So, for this visitors. We have always wanted some sort of signage or reason, I think it is important for serious (and not so serious) publicity on Route 1 southeast of Wiscasset to capture the students of the 2-footers to have a general knowledge of how attention of northbound visitors. To date, this has not been this important piece of equipment functioned. It will take two possible due to Town of Wiscasset signage restrictions. Musings to cover the subject properly. This Musing will be A new development, called Maine Heritage Village, has a discussion of the pros and cons of vacuum brakes. In the now been constructed a few miles southwest of Wiscasset, next Musing, I will attempt to explain how the vacuum brake opposite the Wiscasset Motor Lodge. While the developers system works. will be charging local merchants and handicraft artisans a The conventional uses air pressure, usually 70 modest fee to display their wares, they have graciously offered pounds per square inch (psi) on freight trains, to activate the to provide free space for nonprofit organizations if those brakes on each car. It is not my intent to explain how the air organizations will provide their own small structures. brake works other than to say it requires an air compressor Both the WW&F Museum and the Boothbay Railway and storage tanks on each and a complicated valve Village have accepted this kind offer and have constructed assembly and an auxiliary air tank on each car. All of this small buildings containing displays and brochures. Steve equipment costs money, and at some point in time, after the Zuppa constructed our building and tells the story of its creation Westinghouse air brake had been accepted as standard, a man in the article below, “Next Stop: Prebles.” Thanks, Steve! by the name of Eames developed a way to take advantage of atmospheric pressure to activate the train brake. The vacuum brake system was manufactured by the Eames Vacuum Brake Company in Watertown, New York. The Eames Company later become the New York Air Brake Company, and Next Stop: Prebles is still very much in business as the only American competitor to Westinghouse. This project started with a question on the WWF Forum The big advantage of the vacuum system was its much (http://forum.wwfry.org). “What can we do to have a presence lower cost to purchase and to maintain. It had practically at Maine Heritage Village?” I think it was Mike Fox who first no moving parts, and did away with the valve assembly and suggested Preble’s as being suitable. auxiliary air tank on each car as well as the compressor and I scaled out the only known photo with a drafting rule to get storage tanks on the locomotive. Offsetting the cost factor, the dimensions. Ed Gilhooley offered to talk to the folks at N. however, were a couple of drawbacks. Atmospheric pressure C. Hunt Lumber in Jefferson about donating the framing and of 14.7 psi does not provide anywhere near the force that is sheathing materials, so I gave him a stock list. After looking available in conventional air brakes. Although the full 70 psi for windows of the right size without success, I ordered two is not available to apply the brakes directly, it is still way more from Poole Brothers, which we bought. We also purchased than the vacuum brake can supply. the shingles there. The trim pine and the flooring came from The other more important drawback was that it was not the material left over from the water tower project. I built the fail-safe. If the train line ruptured, all braking power was lost, building with some assistance from Fred Morse, Bill Horton, whereas a break in the train line of an automatic air system puts and whoever else was around on the Spring Work Weekend. the brakes on each car into the emergency position, stopping At an early stage in the project, Bill Reidy offered to do the the train. A form of automatic vacuum brake was developed signage, so we exchanged emails with ideas and drafts until in England, but it never caught on in this country. we came up with what we have. Bill then produced them and Despite its disadvantages, the vacuum brake’s cheap cost had them printed and laminated. Richard and Leon Weeks did made it attractive to non-interchange operations with light the moving with Richard’s trailer and Leon’s rigging. trains. Many narrow gauge roads outside of Maine used While the Museum paid for the shingles and windows, vacuum brakes, including the Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn in everything else was donated or on hand. A donation bucket steam days. The other major application was on steam-hauled soliciting funds for the shingles was placed at the Percival elevated trains with lightweight, wooden, rapid transit cars. house over the Work Weekend and raised over $200. Our total Even the mighty New Haven used a few Forneys equipped out of pocket expense was around $250. I put in about forty with vacuum brakes on the Harlem River Branch that operated hours on the building. Maine Heritage Village staff will open into the 129th Street elevated station. and close it; we just need to keep it supplied with brochures. In the next Musing I will reveal the secrets of vacuum brake Steve Zuppa operation and you all will become experts. Ellis Walker

 Prebles flag stop, 2.4 miles north of Whitefield, in the early 1900s. Arthur King is person in the photo, and we believe that he has just left the milk cans on the platform.. Photo from the Clinton Thurlow collection courtesy of Michael Burns

Steve Hussar’s son reprises the role of Arthur King in the original Prebles photograph for the benefit of his father’s camera. The reproduction version of Prebles flag stop, located at the Maine Heritage Village, is a foot or so taller than the original, as people today are substantially taller than they were 100 years ago. Photo by Steve Hussar

 Leon Weeks, Mike Fox, Jonathan St. Mary, Vern Shaw, Dwight WW&F Railway Sports Winkley and others. Also, to Dick Edling, John Nau, and Bob New Tamping Machine Haines, whose monumental last minute effort got Big Joe decked minutes before the weekend’s rented air compressor While many of us at the railway have always tried to was loaded on the Thursday prior to work weekend. maintain historical accuracy in everything we do, there have Thanks to everyone’s efforts, Big Joe was put into been occasions when we must break from history with modern immediate service on Friday morning of work weekend. After methods out of sheer practicality. When Harry Percival began a day’s use, several areas of improvement were identified, rebuilding the railroad nearly 20 years ago, he wisely chose and corrected prior to Saturday’s work. Big Joe went on to stone ballast, breaking from the original railroad’s tradition of tamp some 800 feet of main line track that weekend. We look using gravel of varying qualities. For many years we did try forward to continuing to use Big Joe both in a high production to handle our stone ballast with traditional methods, manually environment as well as “spot jobs,” helping us maintain the tamping by pounding heavy iron tamping irons into the stone railroad more efficiently. With Big Joe fearlessly doing our ballast around each tie. tamping bidding, what will we do with all of our spare time? Tamping, for those not familiar, is the act of driving Yeah, right… and packing ballast under the ties. The quality of ballast is Jason Lamontagne important because it provides firm support and allows water to drain away from the ties. Hand-tamping stone ballast is extremely labor intensive, and as the railroad got longer, it became apparent that some sort of mechanical assistance would be required. It also occurred to us that the original railroad never had the burden of hand-tamping stone ballast; Albion Extra hand tamping gravel is substantially easier. Thus we were freed Many of you will recall that the WW&F Track Crew from the guilt of automation! (Northern Division) suffered some setbacks over the last two Initial attempts included very heavy and unwieldy electric Albion Days, when upon arriving at Albion it was discovered tampers; problems with the generator and difficulty in that large portions of previously laid track had been removed handling led us to a more conventional approach — hand-held in an ill-fated attempt to replace ties and change the grade. pneumatic tampers. These devices are essentially jack hammers Understandably, the crews were disheartened to have to redo with a special driving head designed for tamping stone ballast. previous work. To move forward, members Mike Fox and These have proven quite successful, though after a solid work Dave Buczkowski planned an additional Albion Day for the weekend of handling, still quite exhausting. April Track Weekend. It was felt that there would be sufficient At this point we decided that a mechanical tamper was in volunteers at Sheepscot to enable a small crew to travel to order. Such a machine mounts several tamping devices, and the northern terminus of the railroad for a day. It would also mechanically reproduces the motions required to handle the give those “from away” a chance to see the two-story Albion tampers. After several members’ efforts to locate an existing station building. tamper for modification proved unsuccessful, we undertook to On April 18th, Mike Fox prepared the right-of-way with a construct our own. The basic idea was to mount four tampers in tractor provided by Carl Buitta. He also made sure that there such a way as to allow them to be raised and lowered, moved were sufficient ties, spikes, and bolts, and matched rails to joint crosswise to the track to tamp different spots on one tie, and bars that were of differing sizes. April 25th dawned sunny and for each pair of tampers to be “squeezed” when under the tie. warm. Michael Ross, Error! Reference source not found., The details of these motions can be better seen in the front page Vincent LeRow, and Dave Buczkowski met at Sheepscot and photograph. Further, our tamper is only to tamp track; leveling drove up to Albion. They were met at the station by Mike and truing the track is done by hand methods, using track jacks Fox and Ed Gilhooley. Local residents Carl Buitta and Phil and lining bars, just as the original railroad did. Our goal was Dow were on hand as usual to lend encouragement and feed to automate only what needed automation. the crew. The crew quickly laid out ties on the markings that The primary concern was to obtain up and down motion, Mike had made. to lower the tampers down around the ties, and then raise Despite the fact that the temperature rose to over 80 degrees, them clear to move the tamper. This was achieved by use of a 90 feet of track was set out and spiked by mid afternoon. “stacker,” which is essentially a small, hand-pushed fork lift Additional spiking assistance was provided by newcomer used for moving pallets in warehouses. Looking for bargains Jody West, who dropped by hoping to work on the Plymouth on eBay, we located a used stacker (brand name “Big Joe”) locomotive. Meanwhile Ed and Phil were busy nailing tongue prime for a second life maintaining two-foot gauge railroad and groove boards for the second floor ceiling. track. Big Joe was slightly modified and welded to a newly Come November, the Albion Day crew will have 90 feet to built frame capable of hauling a large air compressor. complete at the northern end of track and the siding. Once the The remainder of the work involved making mounts for the siding is completed, a shelter will be constructed over it so that air tampers, creating a cross sliding arrangement and mounting work can commence on the locomotive out of the weather. this equipment on Big Joe. A great effort was put forth in the Dave Buczkowski month prior to our Spring Work Weekend getting Big Joe (the whole machine) ready for service. A hearty thanks goes out to

 Volunteers spiking track in front of the Albion station. Photo by Dave Buczkowski

Volunteers line track immediately south of the Albion station. The bucket in the lower right of this picture is in the same location as it is shown (beside the truck) in the picture above. Photo by Dave Buczkowski

 Westfield Plantation Number 4 (WW&F Number 10) Photo courtesy of Harold K. Vollrath Curator’s Corner The picture above is from a collection of photographs were elected. The master mechanic, Jason Lamontagne, gave recently donated by Harold K. Vollrath of Kansas City. It shows a report on the restoration of Locomotive 9, and the treasurer, the locomotive we know as WW&F Number 10 when she James Patten, gave a report on the Museum’s finances. James was at work as Westfield Plantation Number 4 (also known as reminded everyone that it would be a great help if everyone “High Pockets” long before she was purchased and re-gauged would attempt to pay their dues on time. If our membership by the Edaville Railroad. secretary does not need to send out multiple dues notices, this Compare this image to C.W. Witbeck’s photograph on will cut down our expenses. page 241 of Down Among the Sugar Cane - the story of Louisiana sugar plantations and their railroads by W.E. Butler. The Museum Archive is fortunate to have a copy of this most interesting book thanks to Allan C. Fisher’s generous The W&Q Downeaster? donation. Editor’s Note: Some months ago, Thomas R. Engel of We are grateful to Mr. Vollrath for his kind consideration Belmont, Massachusetts, sent the Museum a letter containing in making this donation. Special thanks to Keith Taylor for the following story: his role in arranging the donation, and to Marcel Levesque for assistance in preparation of this article. I have a friend (a fellow Scottish dancer) who is a Bruce Wilson transportation consultant. Back in 1993 he was working for his bus clients on their problems with the Train to Maine, what [sic] became the Downeaster. The backers of the Train Annual Meeting to Maine had been looking for an appropriate legal vehicle The 19th Annual Meeting of the WW&F Railway Museum to operate those trains. When I told him of the Wiscasset & was held on May 2nd at the Alna Meeting House. President Quebec charter, a special act of the Maine legislature, April Zack Wylie reported on the events that have taken place since 15, 1854, and amended, his ears perked up immediately: a the previous Annual Meeting. These included the receipt possible vehicle for the Train to Maine? of a grant from the Amherst Railway Society, successful Eventually the Northern New England Rail Passenger construction of the shop building extension, the receipt of a Authority was created for that purpose instead of an existing vintage Ford flatbed truck, the installation of brakes on flat entity. Who knows though; the Wiscasset & Quebec may have car 126 and coach 8, the hosting of a major photographic come close to receiving a proposal for the use of the W&Q charter, successful Annual Picnic, Halloween, and Victorian charter for the Downeaster service. For a few weeks, the two Christmas events, achievement of the 2008 Annual Capital of us continued [to] remark about trains coming into North Fund goal, construction progress on a new WW&F railcar, and Station in Boston with Wiscasset & Quebec on their engines clearing land in the Head Tide area. The three candidates for and letterboards, but alas, it didn’t happen. The above story election, Gordon Cook, Jason Lamontagne, and James Patten may be passed on – it is true!

 WW&F Railway Museum Summer 2009 Calendar June 19 - 20: Two-footer Weekend at Boothbay Railway Village (BRV). July 13 - 17: Work Week. Usually crews equipped with string trimmers clear the grass on the line. August 8 & 9: Annual Picnic. Food and fun for everyone. Picnic lunch from 11-2. Two-footer Weekend June 19th (6 PM - 9 PM) and 20th (9:30 AM - 4 PM) The show will be held in the Town Hall at Boothbay Railway Village (BRV). Show admission on Friday evening is totally free, and on Saturday show admission is free with normal admission to the BRV. There will be an On30 and an Sn2 modular layout in the Town Hall, and there is a permanent HO layout under construction in its own building. In conjunction with the show, Boothbay Railway Village will hold a special shop tour on Saturday morning at 10:30, and the WW&F Railway Museum will hold a special shop tour on Saturday afternoon at 4:00PM. For further information and any updates, see http://www.me2ftrailfan.org. Volunteer Work Week July 13th through 17th Maintaining the oft-praised clean appearance of our right-of-way requires annual attention, and the longer the railroad gets, the more attention is required. We have string trimmers and a blade trimmer, but please bring your own if you would feel more comfortable using a familiar machine. Please bring your own protective clothing, gloves, sturdy shoes, and headgear. We have many other jobs in addition to the right-of-way work. For those who desire, there’s room to pitch a tent. There’s also a variety of motel accommodations available nearby, but please plan ahead, as mid-July is the height of the tourist season. Unlike the spring and fall work weekends, the Museum will not be providing food. Those who wish can cook their own meals in the kitchen. Alternatively, there are a number of local sandwich shops, luncheonettes, and restaurants available in the area. We hope to see you here that week! Annual Picnic August 8th and 9th The Annual Picnic is everyone’s opportunity to view the progress and projects they have read about in the newsletter and to meet some of the people that make those things happen. Many people make sure that they come for the Annual Picnic, so it’s always an opportunity to meet friends that you haven’t seen since last summer. There are usually some interesting antique engines and automobiles on display. In addition to regularly scheduled runs, railroad operations often feature special trains, typically freight trains or mixed trains, for visitors to enjoy. A picnic lunch will be available each day from 11 to 2. To join the W.W.&F. Ry. Museum or to send a contribution (tax deductible) please use the form below. Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum Sheepscot Station, PO Box 242, Alna, Maine 04535-0242 Please sign me up as follows: Additional Contributions: Life Membership......  $300 #9 Fund______Annual Membership...... ...$30 #10 Fund______Rail Fund______Endowment______Unrestricted______

NAME______ADDRESS______ZIP/POSTAL CODE______Please make all checks payable to “W.W.&F. Railway Museum.” A receipt will be sent for all contributions received.

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

The shop building extension was built with mid-wall windows and board-and-batten siding similar to the original WW&F shop building in Wiscasset. The under-roof windows and T-111 siding on the older portion of the shop building have now been replaced to match the extension, which is the more authentic WW&F building style. Photo by Allan Fisher