Over the past couple of months, there has been a lot of discussion back and forth among members and friends concerning the possible sale of No. 10 with the idea that its sale would help fund the construction of a new locomotive, No. 11. Building No. 11 has become necessary by the new Mountain Extension, with its challenging grades and curves.
The negotiations for the sale of the locomotive have ended, so No. 10 will remain at Sheepscot for the foreseeable future. That said, a new plan has been developed that will return No. 10 to service while at the same time work will begin to build No. 11. The first phase of the plan calls for work to construct the boilers for both locomotives simultaneously. There are major benefits to doing this, not the least of which is cost savings that will be realized in performing some procedures at the same time for both boilers.
At the same time, a small team of WW&F members will start construction of No. 11. In fact, some parts have already been ordered from outside vendors. While this approach may slow No. 10's return to service, it will accelerate the construction of No. 11. No. 10 should be ready to should be ready for use in 24-30 months, and the timeline for No. 11 is 4-1/2 to 5 years.
To support the project, the museum has opened a FundRazr crowd-funding site. The goal for the first round of fund-raising is $17,000, which will boost the funding for the first year of the project to $50,000. Anyone is welcome to donate to the project at
http://build11.wwfry.org
