W.W.&F. Discussion Forum
The Maine Narrow Gauges (Historic & Preserved) => Archives (Other Maine 2ft) => Topic started by: Ed Lecuyer on December 21, 2008, 06:54:14 PM
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Hancock Pond Water Tank Building has been converted from the pre-July 2008 WW&F Discussion Forum.
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Mike Fox wrote:
OK. I thought I'd start a new topic for this.
A little playing around and I have retrieved my pictures. In this first picture, you can see where the larger window was replaced with the current. See page 167 in Two feet to the Lakes. This is the same side.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-11/1225939/Hancock%20Pond%20Watertank.jpg)
This second Photo, you are looking at the back of the building. You can see where the original building ended and the addition started.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-11/1225939/Hancock%20Pond%20Watertank1.jpg)
Unfortunately, The pictures of the other side did not turn out as well. The siding was a mix of old and new clapboards. Not as noticeable as the other side where the window was replaced.
(http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-11/1225939/Hancock%20Pond%20Watertank3.jpg)
Dana Deering replied:
Hey Mike,
That is the camp that was pointed out to me as the one that was built from the water tank! Funny thing is, it used to be tan! Great photos!
Dana
Glenn Christensen replied:
Hi Guys,
During your field trip, see if you can measure the current tank building. From the photos, it looks to be exactly twice as long as the tank was.
If my perception is correct, that would explain where the bottom half of the tank structure went. The top could have been cut off and butted up to the bottom. If that is the case, maybe the bottom was never moved!
Just a theory, but if you can it might be worth checking out.
Best Regards,
Glenn
Mike Fox replied:
Glenn,
It was moved from the North side of Joe Bennett's place to the south side. I looked around for a foundation on the North side but 60 or so years has gone by. Luckily the building is still there. It is not in the greatest shape. And I forgot my tape measure again. I am going to get one just to leave in my pickup. Anyhow, if you look at the center photo, this is the side facing the road. Looking right to left from the corner board closest to you, you have a window, a vent pipe and then a very small window, and then at the far edge of the window, you can see where the clapboards change. That looks like a corner board they just left in place so the joints would look ok.
As for the south side, they redid the wall with a mix of old and new clapboards. And as for the height, I just counted the clapboards on a photo in Two Feet to the Lakes and on my photo. 22 clapboards in both. The roof line is a little lower now. It has about a foot overhang and back in 1940 it had about 6 inches.
As for the base, it looks to be only about 4 feet tall in the old photographs. But very well could have been used in the porch construction.
Mike
Dana Deering replied:
OK, now you've done it, Mike. Even though I can't go ice fishing this weekend (no, I don't walk on water, but you already knew that!), I think I'll have to make a run up to Hancock Pond and get a closer look at these buildings, weather permitting, of course.
Dana
Mike Fox replied:
Dana,
The building behind it in the lower photo with the red roof I think is the old Bennett place that you spoke of. The roof line on the lakeside has changed a little but the porch is the same.
Mike
Dana Deering replied:
That's right, Mike.
The one that is two stories with the big porch in front. When I was a kid there used to be a store on the upper floor run by a man whose last name was Pickering but we all called him "Pick". We would beg a few cents from our folks and walk "up to Pick's" and buy candy. I used to bug him with questions about the railroad and he showed me where the watertank had been, and the camp that we now know is the converted water tank building, and he showed me that flag holder that was still attached to the porch, which he said was used by Mr. Bennet for flagging trains when he was summering at the Pond. He was always patient and answered my questions.
I don't know if you noticed the water pipe near the Bennet cottage that has an enclosure built around it but he told me that that was the source for the water tank. You probably also noticed that the shoreline has eroded a lot in front of the cottage and a lot of the roadbed is gone. When the railroad was first built there was not enough shore for the RR so they built trestle work to carry it along the shore. It was filled in later and if you go out in a boat you can easily see where the fill is/was. I have looked close in the water near the shore where it has eroded for any sign of trestle work but haven't ever seen anything.
Dana
Mike Fox replied:
I too looked for trestle remains while I was there but saw nothing. The Bennett (Pick's) place is the one the gentleman told me about. The artifacts and everything. I also have a couple of pictures of that but am going to post them on NE Rail along with some others I already put on here.
Mike
Dana Deering replied:
So the other tiny white building is not likely railroad related. I wonder what they threw away and which dump they took it to? What a shame!
Dana
Mike Fox replied:
16 years of trash to dig through if you want to try and find it now. I think the way he described it, it was from the Joe Bennett cottage. Which is now tan with a red roof (see NE Rail). Can you imagine just the amount of daily paperwork or whatever there must have been in there.
Mike
Dana Deering replied:
Well, since it has been 16 years I guess I'll just write them off as lost. If it had been last week...
Nice photos on NERail Mike, and Duncan!
Now that it's finally winter you may get a chance to take a photo frm the ice, Mike.
Dana
Mike Fox replied:
Hopefully I can. I think it is the only way I will be able to get the angle I want.