On Thursday I made the trip to College Park, Md. to visit the National Archives to view its holdings concerned with the WW&F. In 1914, the Interstate Commerce Commission ordered all common carrier railroads in the country to prepare a valuation statement, and the materials gathered in quest of that valuation are all at the National Archives today. I viewed maps showing the right-of-way of the railroad, a few drawings that illustrated real estate and track layouts at some (but not all) stations, and I also read the valuation notes and the valuation report produced from the notes by the ICC. Interesting stuff, to say the least.
I plan to write an article for the newsletter detailing what I found, but let me offer just a few tidbits here. At the time the field work was done in 1916, there was 2,655 feet of pile and frame trestlework at 13 locations. A great deal of that was probably the trestlework along the Wiscasset waterfront, but what about the other places? This did not include two specific bridges, including the bridge over Trout Brook and another one between Wiscasset and Sheepscot. (I presume that one to be the one located just west of the former crossing of Route 218.) Also interesting is the note that there were three toolhouses in Head Tide, and the railroad had a total of 18 handcars, including nine that were built in the Wiscasset shops. Finally, I was surprised to learn that the engine shed at Albion was 21 X 66 feet, much larger than I would have guessed.
More interesting items to come.....