The Franklin, Somerset & Kennebec Railway (FS&K)

[Eric Larsen]

Does anyone knew when the rails from Farmington to New Sharon were removed?  (Year)

[Glenn Byron]

Hi, Great to see so many others getting into the frey. How about moving some of this to a new thread not buried on a page 2 where so few find it?  I can't urge you all enough to see those Blueprints first hand.  Glenn

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Eric,  If you are asking about the MCRR, I remember reading somewhere that the line into Farmington was removed in the early 1980's.  It was after the branch and yard trackage was removed that the station was moved towards the river and enlarged.

[Glenn Byron]

I've long wondered how close Leonard Atwood and Co. got to see his dream railroad connect with The Sandy River and Rangely Lakes rails in The Maine Central Railroad Yard at Front Street, Farmington.  Nancy Porter, Curator of The Farmington Historical Society, shared this great article from The Farmington Chronicle dated October 11, 1900.  Headline: RAILROAD MATTERS  Subheadline: Workmen Laying Ties on the Roadbed of the FS&K Railway, and the Iron is Expected Later.# "Frank Pooler and two other men have been laying ties on the FS&K Railway, and Tuesday were laying ties and filling the back of the Russell Bros.-Estes Co's lower mill, so as to bring the ties on a level with those of The Sandy River Railroad on the trestle at that point. By consent, also, of Supt. Beal of The Sandy River Railroad, as we are informed on good authority, Mr. Pooler laid a frog and rail on the trestle-which is just south of their yard limit- so that when the rails should be laid along the whole line of The FS&K a connection would be made there with The Sandy River road. # Mr. Pooler says that after he laid the frog and rail he saw several men with Supt. Beal on the trestle talking, and later he noticed that some twenty feet of The Sandy River Railroad's track north from the frog had been taken up and a "bunter" set in the roadbed. It is said that this was done by order of the chief engineer of The Maine Central Railroad who was advised so to do by that railroad's attorney.  He said that The FS&K had no right to make any attempt to connect with The Sandy River or any other railroad here till permission to do so had been granted by the proper officers- the railroad commissioners- after the customary legal proceedings had been gone through with. # The Franklin, Somerset & Kennebec's roadbed  is graded, and trestles and culverts built from Farmington to New Sharon, and now the ties are being laid; in the near future, it is hoped, the rails will be put down. But it will be readily seen that the occasion for a "marry war" is an event not likely to occur for some time, if ever."

[Glenn Byron]

Now, I'm not too adept here to see this picture clearly.  Maybe some of our track layers can get in here to show us non railroad types exactly what this scene entailed.  I've been enjoying the great discussion elsewhere on this forum about the Tasmanian Railroad and the great pictures included.  We know The SR&RL had tracks south of the MCRR Yard into the lumber yard below and used them for car storage.  If I'm getting the picture correctly, these unused rails was where The FS&K was trying mate up with.  Also included in this article is the term "Trestle".  This gives me the picture that maybe that 1000 foot trestle really did cross Front Street and into the lumber yard.  What do you think?

[Mike Fox]

More from Glenn Today.


"Hi All,  There has been quite a lot of discussion lately about the trestle shown in this photo.  This particular copy was included in a booklet titled " Maine Sesquicentennial, 1820-1970, Franklin County Edition".  It is also included in many other sources including the one I frequently refer to, "The Falls: Where Farmington Began In 1776" by Ben and Natalie Butler on page 18.  The copy included with this email is mislabeled as Sandy River, Waterville-Wiscasset R. R. Bridge, Farmington, Never Used, (Courtesy, Ben Butler).  The same photo is labeled in the Butler book as; Trestle Built On Intervale Road For The "Railroad That Never Ran" Built in Farmington in 1890's. Building shown was the "Little Blue" School dormitory, now the parking area for the Learning Center, UMF.  Exactly what we see here is hard to determine as we are looking at only a small portion of what we are told was a 1000' structure overall.  Hopefully some other views of this will surface.  We can, however, learn from what we have here.  First, the location.  I think those pictures Mike Fox placed on the Discussion Forum that I took at UMF Learning Center are just about right in locating this trestle and the dirt mound shown is about right to form the approach.  Second, Estimating Height and Width.  If the clearance is about 12' as shown, then about 60' of the trestle is all that appears in this picture, and the width of the span between the uprights is about 24'.  I don't think that is Main Street below as it appears untraveled, looks like it goes to the right of the building.  In all other pictures of Little Blue I've seen, Main Street would be to the left of the building, meaning that the Main Street crossing would be to the left of this picture and on another portion of the trestle. I also think the major artery into downtown Farmington would be much wider than shown.  Anyway, we have this shot so far, and a place to begin more discussion from.  Glenn  Byron"

[Mike Fox]

Photo Courtesy of Allan Socea

[Eric Larsen]

It is also interesting to note the tellegraph poles in some of these pictures that look like they follow the FS&K ROW.  The SR&RL had them on thier line but the WW&F did not.  If this had ever been built to a connestion in Waterville, I would bet that the WW&F would have gotten tellegraph too.  Another interesting "what if" - Perhaps John McNamara should ask for some "stimulus money" for this project.   

[John McNamara]

It is also interesting to note the tellegraph poles in some of these pictures that look like they follow the FS&K ROW.  The SR&RL had them on thier line but the WW&F did not.  If this had ever been built to a connestion in Waterville, I would bet that the WW&F would have gotten tellegraph too.  Another interesting "what if" - Perhaps John McNamara should ask for some "stimulus money" for this project.   

Eric,

Thanks for the thought, but I'm getting too old (and/or lazy) to climb poles.

-John

[Cliff Olson]

Great photos.  At first glance, the bracing (or whatever) on the left of the smaller photo looked like a modern-day international cross-buck!

[Glenn Byron]

Hi all,  Here is a copy of an Allan Socea email giving us the exact wording from The Railroad Commissioners Report regarding this trestle:  Glenn
According the the Maine Railroad Commission the first two FS&K Crossing in
Farmington were as follows.
#1 A way in Farmington leading from Main Street to West Farmington, and
known as Bridge Street.

Bridge Street; The railroad shall pass over Bridge Street and shall be
constructed so as to give a passageway for horses, teams and carriages
having a clear width of at least thirty (30) feet and a clear way for
travelers on foot, at least eight ( 8 ) feet wide and a clear head room of not
less than fourteen (14) feet.

#2 A way in Farmington leading from Farmington center Village to Farmington
Falls, known as main Street being Southerly of and near the "Little Blue"

Main Street; The Railroad shall pass over Maine Street and shall be so
constructed as to give a way of travel having a clear height or head room of
at least fourteen (14) feet and a clear width not less than thirty (30)
feet.  Allan

Just to clarify,  Bridge Street today is known as Main Street or Intervale Rd. and Main St. or Lower Main St. is called Prescott St.  Glenn

[Glenn Byron]

Update:  With the dimensions given in the Allan Socea email from The Railroad Commissioners Report to go by, let's change the overhead height on the small trestle photo to 14 feet, the width of the opening to about 45 feet, and the total length shown as about 70 feet.  Now, some big news! I've found the answer to the Front Street question as relating to this trestle crossing it or not as discussed previously on this Forum.  Go to Ed Lecuyer's Topo map site  posted 12/03/09 on The FS&K Railbed Fall 1897 topic and bring up Farmington Quadrangle, 1924 Edition.  Front Street, from the intersection of Intervale Road to Depot Street, did not exist when this map was made.  That means the portion we see today from The Farmer's Union to Gifford's Ice Cream was not there in FS&K days, so Front Street was not an issue.  Let's think a little about that great construction photo Mike Fox put on here provided by Allan Socea.  Which end of the 1000 foot trestle is shown?  A clue we might be able to go by is the fairly low embankment shown on the left side and that house shown up top.  The Topo Map shows one contour line (Contour Interval = 20 Feet) from the valley floor of the Sandy River to the MCRR Yard.  A look at that steep embankment from the UMF Parking Lot and the adjacent athletic field shows two contour lines, which makes that climb more than 20 feet but less than 40 feet. It seems to me that as I look at the picture, the trestle is rising to the right or eastbound. I think the house on the hill may be on the left side of Main Street as you go up Abbott Hill into downtown Farmington. Seems like the west end is shown. At least we know it was taken while leaves were still on, and probably late summer 1898.  My research at UMF Library ends thus far in May 1898, so I'm hoping my next visit will get me to the building of this trestle.

[Glenn Byron]

Hi All,  Our guide to all the great pictures and stories along the FS&K Railway route, Burchard Cook, died suddenly last Saturday.  While we grieve along with his family, we relish the memories he was allowed time to share with us, and cherish especially the day last December we shared Burchard's companionship for a peek back in time.  Our knowledge of this failed, nearly forgotten venture expanded greatly because of his generosity.  Thank You, Burchard Cook, RIP.            Glenn  Byron, Smithfield, ME.

[Mike Fox]

From Glenn
  " Hi All, I'm trying something new, attaching a picture. Let's see what happens.  Allan Socea found this great second picture of the 1000 foot FS&K Trestle under construction in Farmington. I went into UMF Library digging for the exact dates of construction.  Farmington Chronicle 7/28/1898:  ---and it is expected another crew will begin next Monday (8/1/1898 gb) to build the trestle which extends from near Fewacres across Bridge and Main Streets to the hill at the rear of Frank Grounder's house. On 10/20/1898 we find another Farmington Chronicle entry: ---The work on the long trestle near Little Blue is nearly completed and work on the High Street Bridge is begun.  I'm quite sure we are looking eastbound on the trestle and, at least on the original, there is a girl about halfway across.  Some of the upright supports are not installed yet, but the leaves are still clearly on the trees.  My digging in the library uncovered lots of grumbling by local landowners while this construction was going on, and a court case started.  Alongside the land damage case, labor unrest among the workers is starting to rear it's ugly head.  All is not well on the FS&K in the fall of 1898.  Stay tuned.  Glenn"

[Tom Casper]

Mike,  you need to make it bigger.

Tom C.