Roster of Surviving Maine 2' Locomotives

[Scot Lawrence]

For Monson #3 and #4, im not sure its accurate to say "instead they were shipped to New York state for storage"..
They were found at a Rochester NY scrap yard..I dont think there was any "storage" intended. 

If Ellis D. Atwood  hadnt learned they were there and resuced them, im quite certain they would have been scrapped..
Otherwise the history is correct..I just question the use of the word "storage"..

has anyone ever heard how they ended up in Rochester?
who bought them, moved them to western NY, and why?

thanks,
Scot

[Ted Miles]

Ed and all,
               The Boothbay Railroad Village shop is rebuilding the SD Warren #1 back to a steam locomotive putting the boiler back together and whatever else it needs to run again. It will be great to see them running a Maine locomotive rather than those German industrial locomotives.

Although the SD Warren plant was not a common carrier railroad it was a Maine Two- Footer as far as I see it!

Ted Miles
WW&F Member

[Ed Lecuyer]

My understanding is that the restoration of SD Warren #2 to operation by Boothbay Railway Village has been suspended. I'd love to have updated information on the matter.

[Philip Marshall]

Their website suggests (not surprisingly) that it's a funding issue. They're >$100,000 short, and are accepting donations to continue the project.  See http://railwayvillage.org/explore/maine-railroad-history/baldwin-locomotive-restoration/

Also, it's S.D. Warren number 2, not number 1. Number 1 remains on display with WW&F boxcar 312, SR&RL boxcars 137 and 142, and SR&RL combine 11.

[Ted Miles]

Folks,
         The reason that they were in Rochester is that the scrap company was Rochester Iron and Metals. I assume that they bought the rest of the Monson Railroad when it quit operating in 1941 (?)

 In 1946 L.W. Moody did not recall where he heard that the two locomotives still existed; but we can be glad that a little bird told him and Mr Atwood had his check book handy!

Ted Miles

[Philip Marshall]

Whether the Monson engines' sojourn in upstate New York counts as "storage" or not is a matter of semantics, but I would tend to agree with Ed's use of the term. Yes, the engines were on the premises of Rochester Iron & Metal, which was a scrap dealer, but the very fact that they weren't cut up on the spot in Monson Junction but were instead loaded on flatcars (there are a couple of great photos of this in Two Feet to the Quarries ) and shipped several hundred miles west to Rochester suggests that Rochester Iron & Metal thought they had resale value beyond just scrap -- which was correct. The engines were stored there for the duration of the War (which is pretty amazing if you think about it) and then for a couple more years, until they finally found a buyer -- Ellis Atwood.

I'm reminded of a poignant little news item on the closure of the Monson RR that appeared in the January 1944 issue of Railroad Magazine. The author (I don't remember the name, but it wasn't Moody) laments that "the Monson has followed the Bridgton and Sandy River lines into oblivion", that "no more is there a common carrier of this gauge in the country," and that "it seems unlikely that the little Vulcan tank job will escape the scrapper's torch", or something to that effect. He does note at the end, however, that a certain Massachusetts man by the name of Atwood has purchased some of the equipment of the Bridgton & Harrison, "but the War has interfered with his plans".

[John Browning]

I recently had a very interesting few days in late July visiting the Maine 2ft gauge sites as well as Edaville. I had long wished to have the opportunity to visit from Australia and I was not disappointed.
I particularly would like to congratulate the WW&F for the wonderful work being done. This places your operation in the top few I have visited worldwide.

To return to the topic of this thread, I make the following observations:

1. Another "honorary" addition to the 2ft gauge ranks would be the Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 #21 from Edaville (shop number 1664). This was built in the UK in 1936 to haul sugar cane in Fiji. I was very keen to see it but was told at Edaville that it is currently in Maine for refurbishment. I did not see it in Maine and would be very interested to learn where this work is being done.

2. There is now an additional Henschel locomotive at Boothbay Railway Village. This is shop number 23768, previously at Leyh Steam Museum, Ellicott City, MD.

3. I would like to have better information on the 2ft gauge critters on the lines I visited. I will make a list of what I saw below but would welcome further information to fill in the gaps of years built, shop numbers and origins
Maine NG Museum, Portland
•   #1 GE Class B-B-46/46-4GHM844D 23 tons (30491, 8-1949) ex Whitin Machine Works
•   Brookville Model BCL 10 tons (L-6303, 1977) ex US Metals Refining
•   #11 Plymouth Model DDT 10 tons (7086, 1975) ex US Metals Refining
•   #10 Plymouth Model DDT 10 tons (6727, 1970) ex US Metals Refining
•   #14 Plymouth unidentified - is it Model CL-2 1515, 1923 ex Edaville? 
•   #6 Plymouth Model DDT 10 tons unidentified - is it 6738, 1970 ex US Metals Refining?

Boothbay Railway Village
•   FRED Brookville unidentified - is it 2006, 1935 ex Maine Peat Moss Co?
•   #3 Plymouth unidentified
•   Brookville unidentified - is it L-6506 1979 ex US Metals Refining?

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington RR, Sheepscot
•   #52 Plymouth Model DDT-6 (6290, 1962) ex Carpenter Steel
•   Brookville Model BSA 1.5 tons (3233, 1947) ex J B Atkins, Harwick, Mass

Sandy River & Rangely Lakes RR, Sanders
•   #11 Brookville Model BCA-12P 12 tons (L-6601, 1980) ex US Metals Refining
•   #12 Brookville Model DDT-6 12 tons (L-6702, 1981) ex US Metals Refining
•   #14 Plymouth built 1947? unidentified.

Edaville, South Carver
•   #2 GE Class B-B-46/46-4GHM844D 23 tons (30491, 8-1949) ex Whitin Machine Works
•   GE Class B-B-46/46-2HM844 23 tons (30580, 5-1950) ex Whitin Machine Works
•   #3   Whitcomb unidentified - is it 40736, 1952 ex Carpenter Steel?
•   #5   Whitcomb ex Canada unidentified

4. I have now discovered that there may also be (or once have been) 2ft gauge critters in Maine at Albion and at Biddeford Station. Any further information would be welcome.

Thanks

John Browning
Brisbane, Australia

[Jeff Schumaker]

John,

I can provide some general information about some of the critters. There is a Plymouth at Albion. I do not have any details about it. Also, there was a Plymouth at Biddeford Station that was a sister unit to WW&F 52. Plymouth 3 at Boothbay was used the building of a dam by Central Maine Power. Perhaps some of the local members at the museum can go into more detail regarding these critters.

Jeff S.

[James Patten]

You actually passed very close by to Edaville's Hudswell Clarke #21 when you were visiting the WW&F.  There's a quonset hut alongside our line with some railroad equipment outside.  The owner of the property works at Boothbay Railway Village and does some other work on the side.  Edaville 21 is in his quonset hut. 

[Wayne Laepple]

The Plymouth at Biddeford Station is gone, having been sold through a broker a year or two back.

[Mark Hendrickson]

The Maine Peat Moss Co. locomotive at Boothbay.  What's the story on that?  Where was it located?

[Philip Marshall]

One small correction I would offer is that the SR&RL is located in Phillips, not Sanders. Yes, they refer to their terminus as "Sanders", but that's the just the building (the original SR&RL Sanders station), not the location. The actual Sanders is several miles farther up the line, between Reeds and Perham Junction on the P&R.

[Ed Lecuyer]

Although not a Maine 2-foot steam locomotive, another engine that you all may wish to include in a data base, would be the former Edaville no. 6. This is a small Henschel that was (in the early 1960's) rostered on the Edaville steam locomotive list. I believe that the engine is currently at Beaver Brook Museum in New Hampshire.

Update: This locomotive is now at the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley Railroad in South Columbia, NY.