Alna is a historic community, with many interesting buildings dating back to the early Maine settlers. When I registered for the convention I received a book of maps, but the directions were not as clear as I could have wished. I found Alna, drove through looking for the side road to the railroad, and eventually came out the other side of town! Frustrated, I retraced my steps, stopping at the Alna Store, a quaint little general store selling everything from sandwiches to groceries to Alna tee shirts.
After a delicious bowl of fish chowder (or chowdah, as they say in Maine), the store owner directed me to drive back the way I came, to a crossroad I had somehow missed. Along the way, I stopped to photograph a rare octagonal Meeting House, one of the historical buildings in the area.
The Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railroad
A mile or so past the Alna Meeting House I found the crossroad, and in a few hundred yards I came to the headquarters of the WW&F. As I parked my car, I heard the sound of a steam whistle from the other side of the engine house. Grabbing my camera, I jogged toward the tracks, passing a wood beam turntable under construction.
After a quick peek in the engine house, I found myself face to face with WW&F #9, a beautifully restored Forney, which had just arrived at the station and gift shop with two historic passenger cars in tow.
I watched as the engineer, looking like a character from another time, backed the 0-4-4T past the coaches to couple on the rear car for the next train. The WW&F doesn't yet have a working turntable or wye, so the engine travels backwards on outgoing trips and runs around the train at the end of track for the return trip.
There were a number of interesting cars in and around the engine house, including this restored Ford inspection car. A ticket allowed visitors to ride either the train or the inspection car.
While waiting for the next train, I explored the small yard and discovered a well maintained three way stub switch near the water tower.
The WW&F has several miles of operating track, giving riders a pleasant round trip, including stops at the Alna Center station and at the end of track, where we had the opportunity to witness a manual turning of the Ford inspection vehicle.
On the return trip, the passenger train stopped at Alna Center for a photo run-by with the inspection car on the siding. The Forney backed up until it disappeared around a curve, then came roaring by at what must have been 35-40 miles an hour. Old timers recalled the days when children would ride the train to school and engineers would barrel along at 50-60 mph!
After our return to Alna, I visited the engine house, where the chief mechanic showed us the frame of Forney #10, which is out of service while a new boiler is fabricated at the Maine Railroad Museum in Portland. A third engine is being built as a replica of #11. A boxcar was also being restored, while conserving as much as possible of the original wood.
The Monson Railroad
On Thursday afternoon, I made another field trip, this time heading some 80 miles north of Augusta to the little town of Monson, home of the Monson Railroad. Unlike the WW&F, little remains of the original railroad, built to carry slate from local quarries to a junction with the Maine Central. The railroad closed in the 1920s. The only structure still standing is the Monson station and freight house, where we gathered for a hike along the old right of way.
The Monson was an industrial railway, relying almost entirely on quarrying the slate which is still plentiful in the area. Even the ballast for the 2 foot gauge track was made of slate.
After a short hike, we came to the foundation of the original engine house.
A few hundred yards further brought us to the site of the quarries that were the life blood of this tiny railroad. The pits were striking, filled with water that filled the pits. Our guide told us that some of the quarries were a hundred feet deep!
The Kennebec Central Railroad
On Friday, I traveled south again, following the same road I took on Wednesday on my visit to the WW&F, but only going as far as the small town of Randolph on the Kennebec River. Here we gathered in a parking lot next to a Chinese restaurant. The Kennebec Central had its station, engine house and yard in this area, but all trace of these structures has disappeared in the 90 years since the KC closed. Even less remains of the Kennebec Central than does of the Monson Railroad. The three story building housing the Chinese restaurant appears next to the tracks in old photos, but there was no trace of the short line that was built to ferry coal from ships in the river to the veterans home at Togus a few miles away. The group worked its way along the river bank, following the former right of way, finally crossing the road to where a path led into the woods, tracing the defunct railroad.
The KC was, like the Monson, a one customer railroad. In this case, it was the U. S. government, which contracted with the railroad to haul coal to fire the boilers at the veterans' home. In the 1920s, the government decided to use less expensive trucks, and that was the end of the KC. Volunteers have preserved the original right of way. After a short walk into the woods, we gathered for a short talk on the history of the Kennebec Central.
Boothbay Railway Village
In addition to my visits to the WW&F, Monson and Kennebec Central, I visited one other operating narrow gauge steam railroad. It was not a historic railroad in the usual sense, but more of a tourist attraction. Nevertheless, it was a railroad, it ran on 2 foot rails, and it did offer historical artifacts, although these were not native to Maine.
Boothbay Harbor is only a few miles from Wiscasset, and home to Boothbay Railway Village. The attraction includes a narrow gauge railroad museum, a restored 19th century Maine village, and a circle of 2 foot track on which a pair of German 0-4-0 industrial locomotives pull an assortment of restored passenger cars. A couple of auto inspection cars on flanged wheels also operate. I spent a few pleasant hours at the village on Saturday, the last day of the convention.
The attraction also features a museum of antique automobiles, some of which were truly rare, and all of which were in immaculate condition.
In part three of this series, I will discuss the clinics and the model contest, Part IV will provide an overview of the spectacular modular layouts -- including live steam -- that operated throughout the convention.
My wife and I visited the WW&F the week after the convention and it's a beautiful property. The gift shop is very well stocked with books about the WW&F and they have a nice store website where you can order if you are unable to visit the railroad.
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