Messages

226

Museum Discussion / J

« on: March 07, 2009, 01:32:15 AM »

Matthew,

you should read the Edaville book by Linnwood Moody circa 1947. Bosicly it shows what they had when they started Edaville. A few passenger cars and a lot of freight cars.

Over the years their Shop turned out a number of "passenger cars" including the #8 which rode on freight car (arch bar trucks) which are not right for passenger cars except the occasional caboose. Even there the cabooses usually got better springs than the freight cars had.

Here is the roster in the book:

four locomotives which you know about

Freight:   These are mainly B&SR cars

           Box : 15 cars
           Flat:  14 cars
     Excurson:   4 cars
           Tank:  2 cars
      Caboose:  557 ex SR & RL 557
                     101 ex B & SR  101
       Snow plow 2 cars
            Flanger 1 car

So they had an abundence of freight car trucks to use on the home built cars. Some of the home built cars were pretty nice like the #8 others were pretty crude like the #202 that the WW& F got from Portland and took apart for mainly the trucks. You can see more of them down in Portland in the Maine Narrow Gauge collection. 

Ted Miles, WW&F Life member and Maine Narrow Gauge collector
 

227

Museum Discussion / Jackson and Sharp passenger trucks - what to do with them

« on: February 16, 2009, 11:11:09 PM »

I would like to go at this question from the other direction. I have read that the WW&F Museum bought a pair of Jackson & Sharp passenger trucks from the Edaville, USA operation. So the question is what car will they be used under?

Is it something existing or one of the several proposed cars?

The Museum's Five Year Plan has some cars listed as possible ways to increase the collection with useful additions to the rolling stock. Let's refer to that!

Ted Miles

228

Museum Discussion / Re: "NEW" 240 page book on WW&F

« on: February 16, 2009, 10:51:40 PM »

Alan,

Many thanks for doing that reprint. It contains a lot of photos and informationon about the railway that I have never seen before. Sure some of the pictures are poor quality; but we are lucky to have anything at all from the start of the 20th century! Especialy those from the W & Q period of the line.

In other news, there was a long running series of articles in the old Railroad magazine called Interesting Railfans I have seen over 100 of the series. One of them is for Alice Ramsdall. She was the person who, following after her father, preserved the WW&F equipment in Connecticut for so many years.

Interesting Railfan #61by Freeman Hubbard is in the January 1968 issue of Railroad and contains several pictures of her, the  farm house in West Thompson, CT and even the snow covered box car that has now been restored by the WW&F Museum. 
 
Ted Miles

229

Work and Events / Re: WW&F Railcar No. 4 (RC4) - Official Work Thread

« on: January 31, 2009, 01:57:17 AM »

Folks

I am not an engineer or anything mechanical so it has to be simple.
I am a simple rail fan who likes narrow gauge among other things.

Why are you pressing tires onto a wheel center? Wouldn't be easier to simply press a cast wheel onto an axel; like they do for freight cars and street cars?

The weight of a Model T or similar body must be small when compared to a typical narrow gauge freight car.

Thanks,

Ted Miles

230

Work and Events / Re: WW&F No. 11 - Official Work Thread

« on: January 31, 2009, 01:47:50 AM »

Jason and all,

I am looking at the appendix in the back of the Moody book and it says that:

WW&F 7 was built by Baldwin as their C/N 40864 in 9-1907. the total engine weight was 56,000 or 23 tons; heaviest locomotive to run on the WW&F. She was a 2-4-4RT locomotive.

I think the locomotive was burned in the engine house fire and sat out the last years of operation.   

You are announcing quite a project there! only a handful of steam locomotives have been built from scratch in the United States. The most famous are the two opeerating 4-4-0s at Promontary National Historic Site in Utah. Of course being standard gauge they are somewhat larger.

But the British proved that they can do a new locomotive for main line operation. The Toronado has just entered service. She is a standard gauge Pacific!

But if you build enough parts you will end up some day with a steam locomotive! More power to you!

When the #9 is in steam I will even send you a donation for the new locomotive project!

Ted Miles

231

General Discussion / Winter weather and...

« on: January 17, 2009, 01:24:10 AM »

Now that the winter weather has all you guys indoors, what has ben going on?

Is there work on the #9 or passenger car work to talk about?

I understand it is now heaed in the Shop part of the building?

What kind or overhaul will the #10 need this winter?

Happy New Year to everyone!

Ted Miles

232

Museum Discussion / Re: Roster of Surviving Maine 2' Locomotives

« on: December 28, 2008, 07:26:05 PM »

Folks,

In reference to the roster items posted here. Here is something that threw me a curve.

The two S.D. Warren paper mill locomotives were built with Baldwin Construction Numbers: #1
was C/N 14283 in April 1895  and #2 was C/N 14522 in November 1895.

However if you look at them today the plate numbers on them are 10187 and 10188. These are replacement boilers from 1923.

The Amuseument Park that converted them to gasoline operation was Robert Deitch's Kiddie Zoo at Fairlawn, New Jersey. I have not been able to trace the year that they went to the Boothbay Railway Yillage. I have asked they and they can not tell me.

As I mentioned above; they are short on lettering the two standard gauge cabooses are 563 and 663.

Ted Miles

233

Museum Discussion / Re: Building new rolling stock for WW&F!

« on: December 28, 2008, 07:06:43 PM »

Before we leave the subject of the B&SR tank car that needs a new flat car under it; I think that is should be a correctly sized B&SR flat car.

There are are several possible WW&F cars that can be replicated. Perhaps helping the Albion historical Society re-built that flanger would be a good thing. It sure looks like it would get a lot of use at Alna these days.

I would rather see cars that once existed on the WW&F not something like a tank on the wrong size flat car such as proposed. The wW&F did not have any tanks; that is the historical recod weather we like it or not.

By the way I just rad that the National Railway & Locomotive Historical Society just gave the Boothbay railway Village a grant to built a car barn to protect their historical equipment.

Last time I was there several years ago; therewas no lettering on their WW&F box car. how about loaning them the stencils to put the WW&F name and #312 on the car?

Happy New Year,


Ted Miles

234

Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. & Museum / Re: 2008 Restoration Work at Maine Narrow Gauge (MNG #1, B&SR #7, SR&RL #15))

« on: December 08, 2008, 11:08:59 PM »

Folks,

Brillmeyer & Smalls' was a noted builder of narrow gauge rail equipment; both passenger and freight cars.

Their stuff is on the Maine Lines, the East Broad Top and several all the way out in Colorado narrow gauge.

If you want to learn more about wooden car builders go to the Mid Continent Railroad Museum web site and scroll down to the car builders pages. They are great!

The Carter Brothers of Newark, California is another interesting company. The Society for Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources has a good site also. They operated a horse powered replica of the Centerville Branch of the South Pacific Coast Railroad. It was the most successful of the California narrow gauges. 

Ted Miles

235

General Discussion / Edaville Blogger

« on: December 07, 2008, 06:25:04 PM »

Folks,

I am out here in california a long way from the Edaville Railroad or the paper it generated.

Does anyonehave any copies of the edavilleBogger edited by Linwood Moody?

I have already go some from Bruce Wilson.

Does the museum have any issues?

Ted Miles

236

Other Narrow Gauge / Carter Brothers Trucks

« on: December 07, 2008, 06:05:18 PM »

Folks,

The Carter Brothers of Newark, California (outside San Francisco) were builders of 3 ft narrow gauge freight, logging and passenger equipment. The Society for the Preservation of Carter Brothers Resources was organized several years ago to preserve their history and equipment (www.spcrr.org)

The Carters built three types of swing motion freight car trucks. 8 tons, 10 tons and 15 tons. These last were later and as a result are fairly common. But until recently there were no known examples of the ten ton type in existance.

Thanks to a discovery of a pair in the Santa Cruz mountains on the right of way of an abandoned logging line the missing parts could be measured and patterns made and cast.

The web site has a long pictorial essay on how the pair of trucks were built in 2003. There will be more to come as other cars in the collection need trucks and more grants are being sought.

The box car that they are now under is the South Pacific Coast #472 (later Southern Pacific) The most successful narrow gauge line in California. The car had been built back in 1880 for the Oregonian Railroad at Dundee, Oregon. It last ran on the Owens Valley Line of the SP until 1960.

Their collection contains one passenger car, two caboose combines, several box cars, one flat car and a horse car. And of course two horses for motive power. Plus the occasional visiting narrow gauge steam locomotive.

Have a look at their site; I think you will find a lot of interest.

Ted Miles



Today the Society operates the only horse drawn freight line in the country. and the are now building their first car barn to protect their historic cars 

Update in 2017: they had to retire thie horses, but now use a small diesel. Restoration of a NWP baggage caboose is under way.

Ted Miles

237

Museum Discussion / Re: Building new rolling stock for WW&F!

« on: December 07, 2008, 05:36:17 PM »

Matthew,

It would be nice to build more cars.

but I think that finishing the ones we have would be good also. The W&Q #3 only has hand brakes on one truck and I am sure it had air brakes.

I don't think either of the flat cars have brakes. As the track gets ever closer to the Top Of The Mountain, it would be good to have brakes on something besides the locomotive.

As mentioned above the B&SR tank needs a car under it. I wonder if the Maine Narrow gauge have any spare B&SR freight car trucks?

Ted Miles   

238

Museum Discussion / Re: Brakes on Passenger Cars

« on: October 04, 2008, 12:55:17 AM »

Dave,

i got my newsletter today and I guess the editor thought that brake questions would be of interest to the rest of the museum as well.

I am glad to know that an important element of the museum collection is
getting restored; even if it costs time and money to do it!

Ted Miles

239

Museum Discussion / Re: Brakes on Passenger Cars

« on: September 27, 2008, 05:47:59 PM »

Thank you all for the report on the brake projects.

I gather that there is somebody at the museum who has a J&S truck drawing for passenger cars.

So now i guess somewhere there is a drawing for the Portland freight car trucks.

Up to now I thought the work was being documented by actual hardware on the surviving trucks.

Out here in the Bay Area there is the Society for the Preservation of Carter Brothers Resources. The Carters built mostly narrow gauge equipment and designed three sizes of freight 8, 10 and 15 ton size freight (swing motion) trucks. There are lots of 15 ton trucks (the most modern) around.

Now the Society has re-created the missing 10 ton size for a South Pacific Coast box car that they have. You can see the process on their web site in one of the photo galleries. They will be making more of them in the future as well as a pair of 8 ton trucks soon as they find the money.

They are about to start building a Car Barn to have a place to get their historic equipment indoors.

Again thanks for the thouough going responces.

Ted Miles

240

Other Narrow Gauge / Western Narrow Gauge

« on: September 16, 2008, 11:50:12 PM »

Folks,
My local narrow gauge museum in Fremont, CA is The Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources. The Carter Brothers built whole railroads; freight cars, passenger cars and other equipment between about 1874 and 1892.

Now the California State Railroad Museum has been house cleaning because they lost a large piece of their indoor storage.

They have given equipment to the Carter Brothers Society from the North Pacific Coast Railroad, a forerunner of the Northwestern Pacific RR going north from San Francisco to Eureka.

They had a narrow gauge line going to Point Reyes until about 1930. The NWP 5511 is a baggage caboose that may have been built by the Carters and its history is being researched as we read this.

The State Museum had it restored back in 1969; but as far as I know it has never been on display. The Society plans to redo some of the work as the car's details were not very well understood at the time.

For pictures i suggest a visit to the Carter Brothers web site. The Society has re-created a portion of the Centerville Branch of the South Pacific Coast RR which was pulled by horses for its entire existence between 1882 and 1909.

I walked through the caboose for the first time a couple of weeks ago and the visit was a long time coming! But I am glad to have had a chance to do it at long last!

Update in 2020: they have produced an excellent Historic structure Report on the car, using several newly discovered photographs of this very camera shy baggage caboose.
Ted Miles