Messages

1

Museum Discussion / Re: A Tree for Sheepscot

« on: November 18, 2024, 09:44:08 PM »

Beware the soil conditions preferred by the blue spruce tree and varieties, chief among them being well draining soil. That might limit where at Sheepscot such a tree would find best growing conditions.

Yes that's a very good point, and the area near the station seems to be especially poorly drained.

Balsam fir or black spruce would be much more tolerant of wet feet than blue spruce, and also have the advantage of being native species (which blue spruce is not).

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Work and Events / Re: So. African Hoppers 2806 and 2807 - Official Work Thread

« on: October 11, 2024, 06:30:33 PM »

As another member of Wayne's EBT coupler salvage team, I'd be delighted if we could find a way to use them on the new SAR hoppers.

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Museum Discussion / Re: How did you hear of the W.W. & F. Ry. Museum?

« on: September 25, 2024, 12:36:16 PM »

I first heard about the museum in the spring of 1990 when I was 14 years old from a Dick Andrews column in Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette which mentioned that someone named Harry Percival had purchased the remaining assets of the WW&F and wanted to rebuild the railroad, and was looking for members for his new organization. I was able to convince my parents to pay for my membership, and then further convinced my dad that we should visit Sheepscot on family vacation to Maine that July. So my dad phoned Harry and got directions, which brought us to what was literally just a clearing in the woods on Cross Road (I don't remember Percival house being there), but which Harry grandly referred to as "Sheepscot Station" - something my dad found amusingly eccentric. We spent a Saturday there with Harry and a couple of other volunteers helping to frame bay 1 of the shop, which was then referred to as "the enginehouse" (with a hopeful eye on No. 9) despite there being no rolling stock on the property yet.

Life intervened after that, I let my membership lapse sometime in the late 1990s when I was in college, and I didn't return to Sheepscot for many years and so obviously missed a lot of significant developments in that time. When I rejoined the museum as a life member in 2014 after I finished graduate school, Mike Fox generously put "Member since 1990" on my membership card which I appreciate.

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General Discussion / Re: Norway, Maine Historical Society - June 2024 Newsletter

« on: August 27, 2024, 06:08:24 PM »

As a LIRR fan I appreciate the images of the PRR L1s 2-8-2s used as stationary boilers at Wheelspur Yard in Queens, NY. They were a well known curiosity that lasted for several years after the end of steam as motive power on the LIRR in 1955, used to provide steam heat for passenger coaches laid up in the yard between runs.

Here is a color photo that shows the location of the three 2-8-2s next to the coach yard http://arrts-arrchives.com/images2/002l1swsyd1.JPG

and clearly taken from the LIRR lift bridge at Cabin 'M' on the Montauk Cutoff: http://arrts-arrchives.com/images2/000Mopen.JPG.

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Work and Events / Re: Sheepscot Passenger Platform Reconstruction - Official Work Thread

« on: August 26, 2024, 10:52:22 PM »

Since the resulting castings will be slightly smaller than the original used as the pattern, shouldn't we buy 2 so we at least have a matching pair of originals that can still be used to make a bench?

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Work and Events / Re: Sheepscot Passenger Platform Reconstruction - Official Work Thread

« on: August 24, 2024, 12:23:33 PM »

I really like those cast iron bench legs. I'm in favor of more visitor seating in general around Sheepscot (the need for which was brought to my attention by my wife Kara), and I think antique benches would be an attractive way of accomplishing that.

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Volunteers / Re: July 2024 Work Reports

« on: July 29, 2024, 05:23:55 PM »

Hi Bruce, I believe the car is B&SR baggage/mail/express No. 11.

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General Discussion / Re: Keith Pratt

« on: July 24, 2024, 02:41:19 PM »

Thank you for the report, Bill. I'm glad someone has been on the case.

As an aside, how many SR&RL locomotive bells are still out there? I know the Phillips Historical Society has No. 19's bell, but are there others still extant in private collections that people know about?

Re: No. 24's bell in Louisiana, I should make it clear that it isn't the bell the engine ever wore in service in Maine, just the bell it was *supposed* to receive. The theory is the two engines were on the Baldwin erecting floor at the same time in the spring of 1919 and their assigned bells (marked with their unique Baldwin class numbers) were switched by mistake.

9

General Discussion / Re: Keith Pratt

« on: July 22, 2024, 11:24:12 PM »

Thank you for sharing this clipping, Bruce. What an unexpected location for a piece of Maine Two-Foot history to end up, almost as weird as No. 24's original bell (apparently switched on the Baldwin erecting shop floor but identified by its Baldwin class number) being on one of the Red River & Gulf engines at the Southern Forest Heritage Museum in Louisiana, per Everett Lueck.

This appears to be the Campbellton United Church of Christ on PEI. Does it match the Railroad Magazine illustration? https://www.google.com/maps/@46.7919948,-64.30242,3a,86.3y,256.87h,105.62t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sBodykwXKboqId71TnQGuBg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DBodykwXKboqId71TnQGuBg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D256.87121860365687%26pitch%3D-15.620088847520321%26thumbfov%3D90!7i13312!8i6656?coh=205410&entry=ttu

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UK (Welsh, British) Two Footers / Re: WHR Pullman car refurbishment

« on: July 09, 2024, 02:13:13 PM »

I assume the name is a reference to the historic manor house, Bodysgallen Hall: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodysgallen_Hall

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Work and Events / Re: So. African Hoppers 2806 and 2807 - Official Work Thread

« on: May 22, 2024, 07:18:23 PM »

I was thinking the same thing. Also, Somali pirates.

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Work and Events / Re: So. African Hoppers 2806 and 2807 - Official Work Thread

« on: April 23, 2024, 11:49:06 AM »

I assume that "Hudson" refers to Robert Hudson, Ltd. in Leeds, UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hudson_(company)

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Work and Events / Re: So. African Hoppers 2806 and 2807 - Official Work Thread

« on: March 21, 2024, 11:01:21 AM »

I'm excited about this development, and also gratified to hear that the EBT couplers we got from Mount Union may finally find a use.

As an aside, I've noticed that caboose 554 is on SAR trucks. I'm curious, was there a previous purchase of South African equipment by Edaville?

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Volunteers / Re: Printed Rulebook Pledges

« on: February 10, 2024, 11:42:52 PM »

Are these available to members who aren't currently involved in train operations but just want a nice hardbound rulebook?

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Two Footers outside of the US / Re: honduras north coast railway & improvement company.

« on: December 04, 2023, 06:31:43 PM »

The Honduras road may have been organized by McConnico, but George Mansfield was definitely involved. It's discussed on pp. 84-85 of Donald Ball's book, George Mansfield and the Billerica & Bedford Railroad. According to Ball, the line was supposed to be 115 miles long, linking the port of Trujillo with Puerto Cortez. Mansfield traveled to Honduras with McConnico in 1888 to plan construction, but the financing fell through and it was never built.