Friday, August 13
Saturday, August 14
Sunday, August 15
The WW&F's Annual Picnic was held August 14 and 15, 1999. Both days were cloudy with occasional rain; as a result there were fewer local visitors than last year. Monson RR #3 was again on hand for the festivities, performing her duties as grand matron of Maine's two-footer railroads. Additionally SR&RL railcar #2 gave rides in between steam trains. The Alna Fire Department was on hand to feed the multitudes.
The weekend began Friday afternoon, with Monson #3 being steamed up and providing rides for the early arrivals and the Fire Department volunteers. Thanks to some kerosene marker lamps provided by the occasion by member Stewart Rhine, several trips were operated during the evening and past sunset. Several attempts were made at night-time photography and filming of the train coming up the grade north of the Davis Crossing.
Saturday dawned rainy, but the rain cleared by train time.
Trains ran all day without a hitch, with occasional photo run-bys at
the Davis Crossing. Trains were never filled to capacity, but many
trains were over half-full. On Sunday it rained until approximately
noon, then cleared up gradually. As a result, few people visited
Sunday. Approximately 400 tickets were sold over the two days.
Scenes from the 1999 Annual Picnic
Friday, August 13 |
| As Monson #3 was fired up, volunteer Stewart Rhine was relettering the new WW&F #10 (ex-Edaville #5) for its new railroad. |
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| Monson #3 sits quietly steaming at the station while the crew prepares to leave. The red lights in the distance are the marker lamps on the caboose. Photo courtesy of John McNamara. |
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| Gathering dusk enshrouds the station. Photo courtesy of John McNamara. |
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Saturday, August 14 |
| Roger Whitney and Dana Deering tighten down the grease cups on the driving rods as Engine 3 is steamed up Saturday morning. |
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| Despite the gloomy weather, there were plenty of people on hand at times. Shelter from the weather was provided by the big tent. The Alna Fire Department served meals from a shelter between the shop and the tent. |
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| Train 3 backs down the hill from the Davis Crossing, preparing for a photo run by. The consist today is Flatcar 118, Coach 3, and Caboose 320. |
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Sunday, August 15 |
| Train #2 on its journey back to Sheepscot Station. |
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| Engine 3, having made its stop at the north end of track, prepares to start up again in a billowing cloud of steam from the cylinders. |
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If you thought you saw a coach in the train's consist, you were right. The Museum had just concluded a lease agreement with Maine Narrow Gauge for the use of Wiscasset & Quebec Coach #3. Coach 3 returned to home rails for the first time in 90 years on August 10, just days before the picnic. Please see the Rolling Stock page for information on Coach 3.
The next weekend, unfortunately, was very much like the first
in that rain continually threatened. Approx. 300 tickets were sold. On
Sunday, an old-fashioned mixed freight was assembled, with the boxcar
and flatcar and coach, and with the caboose off. Several attempts were
made of filming a "mail delivery" at the Davis Crossing. At the end of
day, the caboose was put back on for a four car train and that consist
was run for the final run.
Scenes from the second weekend of steam
Saturday, August 21 |
| Engine #3 simmers at the station, while the engine crew looks over the running gear. |
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Sunday, August 22 |
| Train #3 as a mixed consist (and also with every piece of rolling stock on the railroad). |
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Monson #3 was built in 1913 by the Vulcan Iron Works, of Wilkes-Barre, PA, for the Monson Railroad. The engine ran until that railroad closed, in 1945, and was sold to a scrapper. She was bought later in the '40's by the late Ellis D. Atwood, owner of the newly fledged Edaville Railroad, in South Carver, MA. Engine 3, and her sisters #4 (also from the Monson), #7, and #8 (from the Bridgton and Harrison RR), operated for the Edaville Railroad, until 1991 when that operation shut down.
The MNGRR opened in 1993, buying the #3 and much of the Edaville equipment from the Atwood estate. Since then, #3 has run on many special events, including MNGRR's Festival of Lights at Christmas time, and was trucked up to Monson to help celebrate that town's 175th anniversary on 180 feet of track newly laid by WW&F and local volunteers.
WW&F Locomotive #10 was given a test fire-up on Saturday, December 18, 1999. While it was done to check for any mechanical problems there might be with the engine, it marked a milestone as being the first time a fire had been lit in a WW&F locomotive since the thirties.
Engine #10 started life as a Louisiana sugar cane plantation engine, built by Vulcan in 1904 as a 30" gauge engine. The Edaville Railroad bought it in the late '50s, and regauged it to 24". It was given the number 5 and sent to work in the Pleasure Island theme park outside of Boston, MA, until the early 1970s. It was then put in storage until 1998, when it was steamed up again by a group affiliated with the former Edaville. The WW&F bought the locomotive in July, 1999, and gave it the number 10.
Since arriving at the Museum it has been gone over by our master mechanic, who has made note of all the problems he has encountered. The steam-up was to check for other problems that might be encountered while under steam. A boiler inspection was done in November, and the Museum was given the boiler certificate on the 18th.
The fire was lit at around 10 AM, and the engine was moving by its own power before noon. It moved without trouble around the yard tracks (except for some cylinder oiling trouble which was quickly corrected), and then moved out onto the main and down the track, with no cars. The trip was uneventful, and the locomotive was eventually spotted with Caboose 320, to see how it handled with a load. The engine also handled well under load, and in time Coach #3 was added.
Thanks must go out to Tom Dickey, an ex-Edaville fireman who also worked on the locomotive when it was brought out of storage in 1998, and who drove up special from Massachusetts for the occasion; and to David Campbell, a Maine Narrow Gauge engineer who lended his expertise to the event.
| The fire has just been lit in #10's firebox. Smoke starts to billow out of the stack. It's just about 10 AM. |
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| We've got pressure to spare, so we give the whistle a try. The locomotive came with an old Boston & Maine whistle. The whistle makes it sound like an engine many times its size. |
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| Steam billows from the cylinders and from the stack as #10 prepares to move under its own power, the first time on the WW&F. Maine Narrow Gauge engineer David Campbell looks on to make sure everything works OK. It's about quarter of 12. |
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| Number 10 has just been moved a ways on the Bay 1 lead track. The engine crew, on left, is discussing the movement while other volunteers look on. |
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| #10 has made it to the main line, and surges forward in steam billowing from its cylinders and stack. |
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| At the end of the line, the winter noon sun throws funny shadows on the engine. This was after the first trip north. |
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| #10 waits patiently at the end of the line while the crew looks things over. |
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| Later in the day, the locomotive has picked up the caboose and has a "meet" with the diesel engine at the station. Perhaps the steam-driven Wiscasset-bound special has met the diesel-driven Albion-bound Train 11? |
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