Who Am I? or, Let's Introduce Ourselves

[Charlie Lacasse]

I was reading the board and saw this section and thought this would be a good place for me to introduce my self since I am a new volunteer. My name is Charlie Lacasse, and I first became interested in trains when I was a kid. I had an HO model train all set in my my room until I graduated high school. As a kid I rode the north conway scenic railroad and totally loved it.  I remember some trips to the narrow gauge up in boothbay. My first career when I got out of high school was in the print shop industry. As I became more interested in work, my passion for trains was forgotten about. I stayed in the production environment until i was about 27, and joined the air force. I was stationed out in Nebraska, at Offutt air force base. I was a crew chief on the RC-135 rivet joint aircraft. I worked on air planes for 3 years, then moved inside where I took a job in the tool room where I worked for another 3 years. Once I got out of the military I spent 6 years as a correctional officer. (Maine correctional center windham maine, and kenebec correctional facility in Augusta maine) I got out of corrections, and landed a wonderful job at LL Bean in brunswick maine as a stitcher where I now sew the liners or (booties) for the iconic bean boot. This past summer I took fridays off and rediscovered my love for trains. I started with the Maine Narrow gauge in portland maine, then took a trip down to the sea shore trolley museum in kennebunkport maine. In July I went and rode the conway scenic railroad and boom, my love for trains came back. While discovering different train places on face book, the WW&F popped up as a suggested place I might like to visit. I liked the page and discovered an entire new world of an authentic 2 foot railroad. My first visit to the WW&F was the annual picnic in July. I rode the train, pulled by #9 steam locomotive. The 125th birthday celebration was amazing. So much great history. I also rode the Model T rail car and Stewart explained a lot about the railroad, and about the rail car itself. On The next Saturday, I showed up at the museum and bought an all day pass so I could ride the train all day. I even got a cab ride in #9. After riding the train all day I became totally hooked on the railroad and my passion for railroads is as strong as it was back when I was a kid. On the next Sunday I showed up to volunteer. There wasn't a lot for me to do,but I polished the brass on #9, swept out the coaches and washed the windows. I worked with Stewart and we shoveled ballast in to track #7. Last Sat I showed up helped out where I could. I also brought with me a test sew out of an embroidery project that I am working on for the current volunteers. Its a sew out of the Engine #9 logo that already exists as a screen printed item on the sweat shirts and t-shirts. (I do Embroidery as a hobby) I look forward to becoming a part of the WW&F and plan on being there on a weekend day, when I can.

[Steve Smith]

Good that you've got the railroading bug again, Charlie. Welcome to the WW&F Railway Museum. Hope you can come often.

[Ira Schreiber]

Charlie, I am sure you will keep the members in stitches for years.

[Charlie Lacasse]

Yes I'm sure they will be bobbin around

[Steve Smith]

I guess Ira and Charlie are reminding us this is a thread

[Ira Schreiber]

Steve, please do not needle us.

[Charlie Lacasse]

It's all fun and games until someone gives a spool sample 

[Pete "Cosmo" Barrington]

Well, it's the fabric of the tread that counts.

[Stephen Piwowarski]

Charlie, I saw the embroidery sample you dropped off. It looks great! Next Saturday (9/24) there will be plenty to do since it is the Fall Festival. Glad you're with us. Welcome aboard!

[Charlie Lacasse]

Thank-you Stephen. I had planned on being at the railroad over this past week-end but I ended up having to work. I do however plan on being at the festival sat to help out. I'm glad you liked the sew out sample.

[Kenneth Steeves]

My name is Kenneth Steeves and I got to meet a lot of you at this Fall work weekend, my first.  I had a great time.  I had come up to the annual picnic a few years back with friends from Connecticut.  I'm a new member this year.  Had an interest in railroading for some time and as with most people I had a Lionel train as a child.  A member of the Mass Bay Railroad Enthusiasts for several years. A few years ago I took engineer for a day class at Valley Railroad in Essex CT to drive their old Mikado.  Looking forward to spending more time at WWF.  I'm an engineer by training and work for the Federal Aviation Administration in the Engine Certification Office.  Ken

[Ira Schreiber]

Welcome Kenneth.

[Bill Uffelman]

Newest kid here -- first visited Wiscasset in the summer of 1963 shortly after my 16th birthday - -I drove across the bridge on the way to a few weeks of work at a Boy Scout camp. I have been a scale model railroader for almost 50 years and a narrow gauger modeler since the early 1970s - of course there is a picture of me on line taken in front of a Sumpter Valley 3 foot gauge box car in the summer of 1954. I took the family to Edaville a couple of times in the late 1980s and visited a couple of more times when I was in Massachusetts on business.

Over the years I collected most of the books on the two footers but was always modeling western narrow gauge mining and logging. Retirement in 2014 and a move to the Delaware shore has led to the desire to model something else -- either an Appalachian coal mining operation or a Maine two footer in On30. Visited Wiscasset and Bob Bennett in South China last summer with my wife  and the Maine two footers won out -- after 47 years of marriage, if the boss likes something I like it too! Layout room in the garage has been completed and construction supplies laid in.

Plan to join the museum this coming year and visit/work in the summer -- a son and grandaughter in Boston are a good excuse for trips to Maine.

Look forward to meeting many of you as time goes by.

Bill Uffelman
Ocen View DE

[Bill Baskerville]

Bill U.,

Welcome to the WW&F.  I am glad your wife won out.  I have always found keeping my wife happy makes my railroading go smoothly.  When I discovered the WW&F I found that visiting and working on a real Maine two footer was a lot more fun than modeling.  It gave me a much better understanding of what I was modeling.

Again, welcome and enjoy your 'new year' of railroading experiences with the fine team at the WW&F.

Bill B.

[Bryce Weeks]

hello to any one who is reading this. i live in west gardiner and i'm 14. i try to go to the ww&f every chance i get. i am probably the youngest trainee at the moment and its fun working/training.its part of my bloodline.(as i like to call it) my uncle and grand father got me into going down there and it just sucked me in to the world of trains. my uncle is leon weeks of which you know who built the model t rail car. (i helped out every once in a while not really knowing what i was doing to help.) i've helped work on TOM,#9,the upper yard,the Whitefield section house,car barn,replace culverts,lay track and much more. and almost every time i visit i hear people say "this is the generation that will get us to albion". of which i think is true. some people say "well why don't you invest in those automatic rail layers and track replacers". and i always reply with "its a museum it supposed to represent the way they did it by hand they didn't have drills,automatic tie replacers,ETC." and thats about it on my life so far so now you know me.

ok so now this is a bit of an update 2 years later. my name is still Bryce but things are different now. i still try to get down as much as possible (almost have my licence) and still done those things i wrote in the past but now im on a new leg of my musuem journey. im 16 and a fully qualifyed brakeman and i just started shadowing on firing but i need to have my interview on firing. im just going to throw this out there but everyone at the musuem, new and old members, you all have made a huge impact on my life and made it so much more fun. also quick little thing, leon is my great uncle not my regular uncle. just putting that out there. but ive made tons of new friends at the museum and i consider everyone there a part of my family.