WW&F Railway and the Maine Two-Footers featured in Voie Etroit magazine.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Last Summer, WW&F member Chris Walker came from the UK to do research on the WW&F and other reborn Maine Two-Footers.  His research was for a feature story in the French magazine Voie Etroite, a full color publication dedicated to narrow gauge railways.  He told me that he wanted to give French railfans a look at the Maine Two-Footers, a subject they don't know very well.

Chris just sent me the Oct. - Nov. 2013 issue of VE and his 6 page article has text with 10 photos covering the WW&F, SR&RL, and MNG.  The nice thing is that the WW&F is on the cover, showing #10 with a southbound mixed train entering Sheepscot yard.  My French is a bit rusty but the article is a nice piece on the Maine Two-Foot museum's with good ink on the WW&F.  The magazine will be at the museum this weekend for everyone to see.  Afterward it will go into the archives.  

Many thanks to Chris Walker for writing a nice article bringing the Maine Two-Footers to life for French railfans, with an emphasis on the WW&F.

Good job!

[Ira Schreiber]

There should be lots of translators in Maine.

[Dave Buczkowski]

Tres bien!

[Wayne Laepple]

The Google is our friend: http://www.voieetroite.com/

I can't read or speak a word of French, but at least we can see the cover of the magazine, and maybe even dig out the article if someone knows French.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Thanks for the link Wayne.  If you click on the top left "Le Numero 258" (issue #258) it will give you a larger image of the cover.  The article is on pages 26 - 33 but you can't access the it yet.  You may be able to once the next issue comes out and the current one goes into the archives.

[James Patten]

Google translate is also your friend.  Although it's not perfect, you get the idea:

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http://www.voieetroite.com/ve2.htm

I should also note that I know some French, so I can get the general idea of what the magazine article will say.

[Wayne Laepple]

I wonder if "CF" as seen in the translations is "Chemin de Fer," French for railway?

[James Patten]

I believe so, yes.

[Dave Crow]

See, Wayne, you do know a few words of French!

[James Patten]

I took a look at the magazine today, and was able to read enough to get the general idea of what the author wrote.  He started out discussing the history of the Two Footers, from George Mansfield and the B&B, up to the closures, Edaville RR, and the birth of the current museums.  The article is either 8 or 10 pages long, as I recall, so there's a lot of history but some good photos from WW&F, MNG, and SR&RL.  I don't think I saw anything from Boothbay, which surprised me, but maybe my memory is faulty (quite possible).