WW&F No. 9 - Official Work Thread

[Philip Marshall]

Great video, Eric!

[Tom Casper]

Great videos guys, thanks for the postings.  It is neat to see #9 moving again after all the work done on her by Jason and others.

Tom C.

[john d Stone]

Great videos, Eric and Brendon. Really gives a lot of good "eye candy" to those of us far away. And the sounds speak volumes!
And as for the photographs, they are so vivid, I almost feel like I could reach out and touch #9! Thank you Stephen, Brendon and Mike!
Nothing says Maine Two Footer like a Portland Forney and the good folks at WW&F have spoken most eloquently!

Thanks for a job superbly done,

John

[Dave Crow]

Great job to everyone involved in the restoration!  A couple of questions:

1.  Have you tested the vacuum brakes as well as the handbrake?

2.  Has Dale King provided any feedback as to how No. 9 looks and performs?

3.  Any comments as to what items are showing up on the break-in list?

Dave Crow

[Dwight Winkley]

Hi Dave, as to your first question. The vacuum brakes work. You can feel them go on in the coach. Hand brake was on when I tried to move #9 with #52. The diesel could not move #9.
dwight

[Mike Fox]

Jason is the holder of the punch list. Nothing major. Just tighten this, move that, etc. I was impressed at how short the list is...

[Philip Marshall]

In Eric's video I think you can see a vacuum brake application around the 9:08 mark.

[John Kokas]

Are we going to see #9 for Victorian Christmas?

[James Patten]

Are we going to see #9 for Victorian Christmas?

I'm sure it will be visible for those that know where to look.

[Robert Hale]

Congrats everyone that has worked so hard towards the end goal of getting #9 running again. I wish I could do more to help out, and if I could I would make volunteering at the museum my full time "job". Great work! I look forward to the double header plow extra with #9 & #10.

[Jason M Lamontagne]

A couple more test days before we decide on using 9 at Victorian Christmas.  There will be a formal sequence of public unveiling events discussed at the board meeting, Friday night.

Please don't look for double heading very soon.  It's not high on our list...  We do look forward to providing glimpses of the WW&F's hey day, when two train operations were common.

See ya
Jason

[Wayne Laepple]

Since the first photos went up on Saturday, followed by the videos, I've received a number of congratulatory notes from railfan friends who've never been to Maine and don't quite understand the whole "two-footer" fascination. All are very complimentary of the fit and finish of No. 9.

Incidentally, Trains "News Wire" has a story and three photos.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Thanks Wayne, we will have to check that out.

Here's a few thoughts and fun facts on #9 going back in service:

* There's the obvious part that Jason and his dedicated shop crew have done a beautiful job bringing #9 back to life.  It's a project with roots going back to the 1990's.  Jason has had a few cuts and headaches along the way but every few weeks or months progress was made.  He never gave up working towards Harry's dream of having #9 in steam.  Sometimes the problems were big such as the frames being unfit and other times the issues were small, "do we have any rope for the bell?".  Through it all he persevered and there are many people who have helped with the project with thousands of hours spent on everything from boiler design to picking the right varnish.  Jason can much better explain it than I.

A few tid bits:

* Locomotive #9 was steamed up on bay 1's track which is the first outdoor track Harry built in 1991-'92.

* Engine 9 pulled coach 3 on Saturday which is the first time the two have run together.  Coach 3 was gone long before #9 arrived in 1933.

* The passenger extra gave #9 and new milepost.  It's the first time she has been to Alna Center in 82 years.  

There are other special notes about the restoration but I thought I'd post the ones that came to mind last weekend.

BTW - There were 6 people working on #9 today.  Still a number of adjustments, tests and "touch up" to do.

[Terry Harper]

With all the great photos and stories the saga of No. 9's re-birth should be made available in book form. (hint)

[Paul Uhland]

I first saw Eric's great 9 trip video on the Narrow Gauge Discussion Forum today.
9  also got a mention on Jay Wimer's Narrow Gauge Dead Goat Saloon.
Looks like a coming record for WW&F hits also.
How does it feel being international rail stars?