Who Am I? or, Let's Introduce Ourselves

[Stuart Tomlinson]

My name is Stuart Tomlinson and live in the England UK. I have all ways liked steam engines as I like railway road and any steam plant as long as it is steam powered. I started at the local model engineering club at first I was only 12 at the time but that stopped when we moved house. T There was no local model engineering club near us but there was traction engines up the road in a yard. I became very good friend to the owner of the yard and his 1911 Fowler traction ELSA named after his wife. The yard was owned by a man Ted Sansome and he taught me lots about steam engine and how to drive them,we all ways drove the engine to rally on the road covering about 300 miles a year. I was all so an apprentice toolmaker by this time so I leant to make the parts to fix the engines. When I was 23  Ted gave me the engine on my birthday but 3 months later he died, I have now the engine for 23 years now and its a big part our life. we have just finnised a 6 year boiler rebuild we only kept the side sheet as you call them in the states the rest is all new.
 After a few years as a fitter a job came up at the Statfold Barn Railway near Birmingham which is owned by a MR G Lee  The railway is a mixed gauge 2feet and 2' 6 gauge and 1 and 1/2 miles long  We have now restored 17 locos of English and German make  and one very unusal French loco. If you want to see what we do watch on Youtube, we have  3 open days a year when we steam all the locals. The current project is the Hudswell Clarke that was in Fiji which ran on the Coral Coast Railway the same as that's Edalvale. The loco has had a diesel convertion in it, which is quite horrific in what they did to it, we are going to rebuild it back to its 1936 condition when the Belpair boiler was fitted.
 I have been to America 3 times first time we went to Cass the second to bring back to England a ploughing engine from the Ford museum.
 I have all ways liked a American narrow gauge locos so I can keep up to  date on what you are doing one day I might get there, I will post on progress at Statfold

[Ira Schreiber]

Welcome and remember Maine is closer to the UK than New York City.................

Ira Schreiber
Aurora, Colorado
I live just a short 2200 miles from Alna, Maine.

[Steve Smith]

Welcome to our forum., Stuart, and thank you for alerting us to the Statfold Barn Railway. What a fabulous place for steam fans! 

[Rod Smith]

Hi,

My name is Rod Smith and I've just signed up. I live in the UK and have been involved in preservation of 2'0"/60 cm gauge items for nearly forty years. The group I am involved with have three steam locos (Jung 0-4-0WT of 1906; Henschel Brigadelok of 1918 and a Hunslet 0-4-2T of 1940) and a number of small internal combustion locos.

Rod

[Ira Schreiber]

Welcome from a fellow 2'er.
Ira Schreiber
Aurora, Colorado
where it has been snowing for three straight days............

[Paul Barone]

Hi there railfans. I'm Paul, originally from upstate NY, where I had a NYC mainline just a short walk from home. Spent my adolescence with Lionel, and as an adult, I enjoy rail history, especially that of Washington and Hancock County, Maine. (Any and all Maine history, really.)

I used to live on Mount Desert Island, and I'm looking forward to visiting again at the end of this week. Will be searching for the remnants of the Green Mountain Cog Railway which plied the slopes of Cadillac (then Green) Mountain in the 1880s. There are still many, many spikes on the mountain, some driven into the granite, others lying loose, but the route is not disclosed by Acadia Nat'l Park and remains something of a challenge to find initially. I enjoy poring over old maps and new satellite views to uncover lost routes.

[James Patten]

My wife and I took one of the Island Explorer busses on a trip, and the driver on his way up Cadillac Mountain pointed out the lower terminus of the cog route, and pointed out one of the spikes in the rock for the track structure.

[Paul Barone]

That's pretty cool that he did that! The lower terminus should have been on the shore of Eagle Lake...there was a whole wharf and support buildings there that are now gone. Riders took a stagecoach from Bar Harbor out to the north end of the lake, then a steamship down Eagle Lake a couple of miles to the cog railway station. It was a mostly straight shot up the mountain from there, with a bend to the south, or right, near the summit. I have enough supporting material (maps, photos, satellite views, anecdotes, original promo materials, locals' insight) now that I should be able to find it unaided, but that's really interesting to note that the Island Explorer drivers (or at least that one) pointed it out. Thanks!

[Andy Dolph]

Hello,

I have been a railfan for as long as I can remember, but have really gotten seriously into it in the last year for the first time as an adult.  I live In Rochester, NH and have been making a point to visit lines that are within an easy drive.

I came to the WW&F last Sunday, July 7th and thoroughly enjoyed my day and the railroad.

It's a beautiful line, and I love the period look of it.  It really feels like something out of the '30s though I didn't realize that until it was pointed out because it felt so natural.

One of my primary interests as a railfan is photography - particularly artistic photography of steam in action - so of course I had my camera with me - here are a few of the results:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201591613381001.1073741829.1498065699&type=1&l=0e347c7d0c

According to Facebook, that link will allow anyone to view the photos even if you don't have a Facebook account.

If that doesn't work let me know and I'll post them elsewhere.

Feedback is welcome.  If the museum (or individuals for that matter) would like full resolution copies of any of these photos, then let me know and we can arrange that. 

Enjoy!

Andy

[Richard "Steam" Symmes]

Great shots Andy. You're going to give our Steve Hussar a run for his money.

[Andy Dolph]

Thanks Richard!

[Pete Leach]

My name is Pete Leach.  I've been a fan of railroads, and the WW&F in particular for a long time.  Although I grew up in the mid-west (Ohio-Indiana), I've always loved the New England coast. When I picked up a copy of Two Feet to Tidewater in a hobby shop, I was hooked on this 2-foot gem.

I got a chance to move to New England in the mid-1990s and it didn't take me long to find Wiscasset and the museum there.  My wife and I spent many a happy time at the track weekends.

I am also an avid model railroader.  I am currently living in Texas and filling a spare room with my versions of Wiscasset and Albion in O Scale (On30).  My plan is to focus on the look, feel, and operations in these two locations in 1925.

I look forward to learning more about the WW&F thru this site and visits back to Maine.
Pete

[Steve Smith]

Welcome to the Forum, Pete. Various members who post here know a great deal about the WW&F and its history, as well as a good deal about the other two-footers, so I think you'll get answers to questions as they come up.

[Greg Klein]

Hi all,  My Name is Greg Klein.  I've been a new face around the museum latley and figured I should introduce myself.  I was born in NYC in 1981 and have always been a railfan.  When I was three or four, my Dad built an HO scale point to point layout on a windowsill for me.  I had dummy locomotives so I could push them around manually. By the time I turned five, i was running the 4'x4' electric set by myself. We lived in an appartment in Washington Square Village so space was at a premium. We soon moved to New Jersey and Dad would commute via New Jersey Transit.  I have lots of great memories riding into Hoboken for visits to the city, as well as waiting for him at night at the station befor dinner. Needless to say, I flattend many a penny...and a few matchbox cars while waiting. (the cars were so I could simmulate wrecks on the layout at home).  That was when my trainfever became incurable because they were an everyday part of my life.  I was lucky that my parents would endulge me with trips to Strasburg and Steamtown as well as the B&O museum. The NYC transit museum was a wonderful trip as well!   We went to countless train shows and my collection of HO cars and locomotives grew.  We moved to Maine in '92.
My Mother grew up in Topsham and Brunswick in the 40's and 50's and has many memories how much of a rail town Brunswick was. A few of the old structures are still around but most are long gone. That is another topic entirely!  My connection with the local past feels very strong and the WW&F brings it to life.
As far as what I can offer, I enjoy getting dirty with grease or soot, good with hand/powertools, can run a decent bead with a welder and can move objects with my mind.  Wait, scratch that last one...  I like homebrewing, silly movies and space/astronomy. (NASA has its own railroad. Best of both worlds!) 
I look forward to meeting new folks and seeing where I can fit in!

Greg

[Martin K. Van Horn]

I'm Martin K. Van Horn, Life Member No. 63 of the WW&F Ry Museum since 1994. I have been interested in the Maine 2-Footers since I first read about them in the late Dick Andrews' "Narrow Gauge Junction" column in Railroad Model Craftsman in 1953. Later, I was a correspondent with Dick from 1982 until his passing in 1979, and he used  my modeling for 3 of his Extra Narrow Gauge Junction columns in Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette. I am currently a model railroader in On30 gauge, having built my first On30 model in 1954: a Bridgton & Saco River boxcar. I was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1938 and have lived in its environs all my life. I have been a member of the Baltimore Chapter, National Ry. Historical Society since 1957 and am currently serving as Chapter President. I am slao a member of the Baltimore Streetcar Museum and have worked there in the 1970's as Track Superintendent and Motorman/Conductor/Operator, and Instructor. I lived 64 years close by the Northern Central Railway and I am that Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary's historian. I wrote hitories of the N.C.Ry. for Rails Northeast and pennsy Journal magazines and a book on its Green Spring Branch: "Green Spring Accommodation.