Messages

16

General Discussion / Sebasticook & Moosehead Railroad

« on: October 21, 2012, 04:51:17 PM »

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=213270298552370336255.0004cbc1348ed38c7ff7d&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=11&vpsrc=1

Here's another fallen flag. Lost but not forgotten. The most annoying part about this investigation was the inability to reach the remains of trestle a short distance North of Hartland over the Sebasticook because of private property. A video will be forthcoming shortly.

An interesting tidbit, was the idea that plans had been made to connect this to the Monson RR and thence to Moosehead Lake, and they actually got a charter, but couldn't come up with the financing.

17

General Discussion / Belfast & Moosehead map and pictures

« on: October 20, 2012, 02:21:56 PM »

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?ll=44.706242,-69.423637&spn=0.06759,0.110378&t=h&z=13&vpsrc=6&iwloc=0004cc81f2a962235e2c4&msa=0&msid=213270298552370336255.0004cc816260c3b41dcb6

Some recent pictures I took when I drove from Burnham Jct. to Unity

Is there any info on what used to be at Winnecook for them to build the siding there?

18

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / Re: SR&RL map with photos

« on: October 19, 2012, 06:16:18 PM »

Maybe the mill owner was a rail buff. 

19

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / Re: Ghost towns on the Phillips & Rangeley RR

« on: October 19, 2012, 06:15:05 PM »

The Reddington site is (or was the last time I checked a few years ago) under control of the US Military.  I can't recall if it was a survival camp or something else.  Access to the site is either by permission or by great personal risk to yourself!

Oh wow. According to my newer Topo map, its listed as US Navy Survival Escape and Evasion Training Facility. Yeah, better stay out! 

Oh well, at least Dallas is accessable. Good thing my dad has a Subaru.

20

General Discussion / Re: The Somerset Railroad

« on: October 19, 2012, 12:20:42 PM »

Good luck with that. That would be pretty sweet to see it recycled for use again instead of just sitting out there rusting away.

21

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / Ghost towns on the Phillips & Rangeley RR

« on: October 19, 2012, 11:22:51 AM »

For those of you who have the books on the SR&RL, are there any photos of the lumber boom towns of Dallas and Reddington? Do you know if anyone has investigated if there's any remains today?

22

General Discussion / Re: The Somerset Railroad

« on: October 18, 2012, 10:44:45 PM »

I don't know how to gauge rail weights, but from my guess, its the same as the rail that currently is on their existing track from North Anson south, since the section between Madison and North Anson has been unused for about 20 years and has finally been getting some traffic to the mill near the bridge.

The last time I hiked over this area a few years ago, the date stamped on it was 1922 (roughly from what I remember).

How much? Total length from the bridge to Fahi Pond Rd. is 3,325 ft., the two other siding tracks are 1,030 ft., and 936 ft. Then there's all that extra rail sitting in that little storage area in the east side of the yard.

I think there were two switches. Buried in the undergrowth.

Of course it can be recovered, if you have the proper equipment. Its been sitting out there untouched for 33 years.

I would assume that Guilford/Pan Am Railways still owns the ROW. I know very little about how property is dealt with once a company files with the ICC for abandonment.

23

General Discussion / The Somerset Railroad

« on: October 18, 2012, 12:11:54 PM »

Good day all. This is kind of a "How I spent my vacation" thread. Hope I didn't make too many mistakes in the video. Enjoy!

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=213270298552370336255.00046ec6910ef1ef61b0b&ie=UTF8&t=m&z=8&vpsrc=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tGZZ1aljQk

24

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / Re: SR&RL map with photos

« on: October 17, 2012, 09:08:45 PM »

Thanks Stewart. Too bad I'm on the other side of the country now. Next time I'm in Maine, I'll be sure to drop by. I'd love to come see the equipment.

25

Museum Discussion / Re: Maps of the WW&F Museum

« on: October 17, 2012, 02:59:01 PM »

Good job on the map.

26

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / Re: SR&RL map with photos

« on: October 17, 2012, 02:55:26 PM »

Hi Stewart.

My Google map was drawn from this 1930 Topographical map showing the ROW skirting the west side of downtown Kingfield with a small spur to the building I photographed.

http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.asp?fname=king32nw.jpg&state=ME

Plus, my friend pointed out this cool website of Maine Railroad stations, and he too says that its the Kingfield station.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzevgbob/id23.html

  So, who's correct?  

27

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / Re: SR&RL map with photos

« on: October 15, 2012, 09:29:48 PM »

Wow! Thanks James and Stewart! During the whole drive around Franklin County, I was mostly going by memory of what I had studied last year when I put the map together. Without internet access while I was visiting, I had to rely on a DeLorme atlas to get a general picture of where things ran. Still got some nice pictures in any case. It was great weather most of the time. It didn't help that I was out of range of cell service either most of the time. Having access to google maps on my smartphone would have helped a lot.

Too bad about Kingfield. That building resembles a depot pretty closely. Anyone know the location of where the old one was?

Thanks for the info on Rangeley. I had a limited amount of time to explore while our food was being cooked at the restaurant, and I'm glad I got what I could. Similarly for Bigelow, I didn't have much time to closely examine the wheel, just snap a few pictures.

The next time I'm in Maine, would anyone like to help explore and photograph where things went?

28

Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad / SR&RL map with photos

« on: October 15, 2012, 12:45:09 AM »

Good day all. Recently I produced a google map of the entire route of the SR&RL. When I was visiting last week, I got to get some pictures and add them. If you notice any mistakes, please tell me.

https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=213270298552370336255.00046f50e172e6e480a71&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=10&vpsrc=1

29

General Discussion / Re: Who Am I? or, Let's Introduce Ourselves

« on: October 14, 2012, 04:43:41 PM »

Good day all. Nice to see such an active forum. I'm an ex-Mainiac currently living in Los Angeles. Unlike most folks here, I didn't have any particular interest in railroads while growing up, beyond the excitement of watching trains go by if we happened to be near one in our travels. I grew up in Winslow, Madison and Skowhegan before joining the Navy, and then moving to Massachusetts and California. It wasn't until I submitted an old photo I took of the MEC bridge in Farmington in the 90's (before it was destroyed in a flood) to an abandoned railroad website, that I caught the bug, and became a serious historian of the railroads, and an active Ferroequinarchaeologist, luckily living in the San Francisco area and having a lot of abandoned rails to go discover. Like Robin Hillyard, I too have been mapping where fallen flags used to go, but also combining it with on the ground investigation of the relics.

In a funny twist of fate, for all my life, our family would vacation in Pemiquid at my grandparents cottage, and our route would often take us through Alna and Head Tide! So all my life, I've been driving past the museum and never knew it! I told my folks though, and they recently had a pleasant visit to the museum.

To bring it up to date. I just visited Maine for a week, and spent some of my time exploring where the Sandy River RR, the Somerset RR, the Sebasticook & Moosehead RR, the northern end of the Belfast and Moosehead RR, and the former Somerset & Kennebec line above Hinkley used to run in order to photograph as much as I could in the short amount of time I had.

In the future, I will most certainly spend some time exploring where the WW&F used to run. That would be a real fun project.