WW&F Visits....

[Carl G. Soderstrom]

This is not Whimsical, maybe Weird, but no Fooling.

It was great to meet everyone Sat. the 26th. we had a great time visiting and riding.
Our train was full.    The ambiance made strangers talk to each other. Our time there was way too short.

Wish we had time to walk up to look at Mike's work but we had a 5 hr drive to a dinner meeting.

Thanks for the cab ride - the cab ride my son & I had on #10 10 years ago convinced me to become a Life Member.

All I can add is 

[Carl G. Soderstrom]

Just met another WW&F Member - Brent - at train show at MN State Fair Grounds.
I was wearing my WW&F hat so he had to ask.

"A good time was had by all."

[James Patten]

I have no pictures for this (forgot my camera at home) but Wednesday my wife and I toured the Victoria Mansion in Portland Maine.  This was originally built by a prosperous merchant (a Morse, although no descendants) in the 1850s as a summer home (winter home in New Orleans) in an "Italianate" style.  The mansion is now owned by a non-profit doing a pain staking restoration back to its full glory.

Even though about half of the rooms have been restored, this was easily the most impressive old mansion that we have toured.  Gold leaf abounds, as do rooms done in walnut, chestnut, and other woods, along with brass, mirrors, bright paints, etc. etc.  It looks like something a king might have lived in.

Well worth a visit.  https://victoriamansion.org/

[Mike the Choochoo Nix]

We went there on our first visit to Maine, And I second the motion it's worth a visit.

[James Patten]

As the Downeaster has the Great Dome car for part of August and September, I thought I would take the train to ride the dome car.  However this year riding the dome is not as easy as last year: the only Brunswick trains that have it are on the weekends, the rest of the week they only leave from Portland on the first train of the day.  So I took the 7:30 Brunswick train (682) down to Dover NH to catch it back to Portland.

West of the Dover station the train crosses over a river (the Contookook Cochecho) and you can see a former railroad bridge crossing it off to the side - clearly a former branch line.  Turns out that railroad bridge is the start of the Dover Community Trail, which currently goes from the Dover Transportation Center (train station) across three roads before the improved section turns to a dirt path.  I walked that after I got off the train - a very pleasant walk.  A former road bridge over a cut the railroad made has been filled in with a culvert tunnel - however the abutment stones are still there.  After walking the trail I walked down to the falls by the old mill building before returning to wait for my northbound train.

Train 681 arrived a few minutes late, the conductress took my name right at the door and gave me my seat check.  I told her I was headed to the dome and she waved me off.  The dome was right behind the lead engine, one of the P42s.  There's slightly more visibility ahead with a P42 than with the cabbage, which is what happened last year. 

I was on my way down to the cafe car when I got stopped by an older gentleman.  I should point out I was wearing my WW&F #9 shirt.  The fellow was a former steam engineer on the Cog Railway.  Later the volunteer train host noticed my shirt and asked what I did at the WW&F.

The train arrived at its destination, Portland, a few minutes late.  My plan was to catch the Metro Breez bus between Portland and Brunswick, however according the schedule I had missed it (next bus over an hour later).  After waiting a few minutes, it showed up late and I caught it.

Catch the dome car while you can - rumor has it that Amtrak is retiring it after it does its runs on the Adirondack between Albany and Montreal later this year.

[Jeff Schumaker]

James,

That's a neat story. How long did it take you to describe what you did at the museum?

Jeff S.

[James Patten]

Not long - "pretty much everything".

[Jeff Schumaker]

You should have had Fred with you.

Jeff S.

[Mike Fox]

Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum. I thought I had a photo of me standing by the Trolly, but the Mrs pushed the wrong button. So look at car shop they built in 2015. Pretty sharp, for a metal building..

[Benjamin Richards]

That two-tone IS sharp...reminds me of the original British Railways "crimson lake and cream" get-up, which is also quite sharp.

[Mike Fox]

I liked the high windows. Let in plenty of natural light.

[Bill Baskerville]

Note that even though they have a gravel parking lot, they still have it marked with lime or flower for parking spaces.

[Jeff Schumaker]

That's a classic looking shop.

Jeff S.

[Carl G. Soderstrom]

Saturday we went to a MRR Swap Meet just North of Minneapolis.
While there I met a Vendor/Demonstrator from Missouri showing his wind up Marx
trains.
Because I was wearing my WW&F hat we struck up a conversation.

It seems he visited the WW&F in August (He & his wife are trying to visit all 48
contiguous states this year and while in Maine he had to see the WW&F) while at TOM
the Conductor was talking to a young family - and thought the boy was too young for a
cab ride and so was the girl. This fellow raised his hand and said "I'm 48 is that to young?"

He thoroughly enjoyed the ride and said he never rode a train with Eames Vacuum Brakes before.

I did encourage him to become a member, as a cab ride 10 YA encouraged me.

 

[Benjamin Richards]

... The Age of Steam roundhouse, in Sugarcreek, Ohio, and Gemini Industrial Machine Group, in Dover, Ohio.

A good friend of mine, "Tim", is heavily involved in what was formerly the Ohio Central steam program, now the AoS roundhouse. He is a volunteer fireman and recently "got his name on a locker". He completed the Form 4 calculations for their restored-to-operation 0-6-0 M&NF #12. While we visited my parents over the holidays, my father and I ventured out on a personal invitation.

After our tour of the roundhouse, we stopped by Gemini on another personal invitation, from Jason Johnson of the T1 Trust. My father is volunteering some CAD work for the T1 Trust #5550 project, and the locomotive components which are already fabricated are stored on-site at Jason's shop. Gemini fabricates a dizzying variety of items, from OR-grade hydraulically-assisted IV trees, to HVAC rubber isolation blocks, to knives, to live-steam locomotive frames, to production machinery for weatherstripping on European automobiles.

Here are some photos from the trip.

#1: Tim and I outside the roundhouse. The primary industry in Sugarcreek is bricks. The roundhouse was built entirely with locally-produced brick.