The booklet is a response to a request from the city of Augusta to the Henry Ingalls, president of the K&W, to provide a statement on the present (May 1872) prospects of the road as well as the advantage of three foot gauge relative to standard gauge. The letter from Augusta requests the statement specifically becasue the K&W was seeking the aid of the City of Augusta to complete the road.
Henry Ingalls delegated the writing of the response to the K&W's chief engineer, Col. A.W. Wildes.
Col. Wildes examined a distance of 30-1/2 miles (Wiscasset to Augusta), with cost per mile at $22,073.69 for standard gauge and $17,141.64 for three foot gauge.
The inquiry from Augusta is a single paragraph, typed letter, addressed to Henry Ingalls. The response is an honest to goodness book. It might as well be a prospectus. It does appear to draw very heavily upon Fleming's Narrow Gauge Railways book.
There is no mention of two foot gauge in the 1872 booklet.
Linda also found an undated promotional booklet for the Wiscasset & Quebec Railroad, which looks to be dated around 1882 based on references in the text. It is directly touting the prospect of building to Quebec and is plainly a general prospectus. It is similar- but different- to the 1887 Wiscasset & Quebec Railroad promotional. Booklet- which has been reproduced. Neither mentions gauge at all, though the 1882 book gives a cost per mile at $12,000, $15,000 or $20,000, depending on location. Given Col. Wildes estimates from 1872, there's no way the 1882 could have been referencing standard gauge.
Interesting to note that the 1882 book has some very negative things to say about the Maine Central and Boston and Maine, and their monopolistic ways.
So, it seems the road was destined to be Narrow Gauge since the start of the narrow gauge movement, though the introduction of two foot gauge to the enterprise has yet to be pinned to a date.
See ya
Jason
