Who Am I? or, Let's Introduce Ourselves

[Hugh Odom]

Hi, I just joined the forum after I found the thread on the USATC 611.  I've been interested in unique and especially "advanced" steam locomotives for many years, and I have a webpage on the subject, the Ultimate Steam Page (http://www.trainweb.org/tusp).

[Ira Schreiber]

Welcome, Hugh.
This is a great place to learn of primative late 19th and early 20th century practices.
Ira Schreiber

[Robert M. Ellsworth]

Bob here -- Hugh Odom steered me to your discussion of the work being done on USATC 611.

I have a longstanding interest in advanced steam power, and was on the steering committee for IAASP.  There are few things I enjoy more than a good theoretical/practical discussion of the right ways to do things -- especially the 'right ways' I have not heard of yet (and there are soooooo many  ;-})

Happy to correspond off-list to avoid MEGO syndrome for those who don't love 'the tech' as I do.

[Dylan Lambert]

Well, as the name suggests, I'm Dylan Lambert. I've only been involved in preservation for a few years, specifically an effort to save the former depot of the Boston and Albany Railroad in the town of East Brookfield, MA. The "Save The Historic East Brookfield Depot" campaign got started by two people who I credit with giving me a purpose when I needed it most. Dan Lambert and Dennis Lebeau both have continued to serve as mentors to me, and with the spectacular failure of the original campaign, which ended with the town (who really didn't bother with us) saving a few of the blocks of the granite facing for some sort of monument. At the moment, we're working out plans to replicate the wooden depot that served East Brookfield from the 1850s to the early years of the 20th century. Narrow gauge railroads have been a fascination of mine, mostly in companies like the SR&RL, Monson and Ffestiniog Railway, but I don't know enough! The quest for knowledge is unending, and narrow gauge knowledge is part of that quest.

[James Patten]

Dylan, the WW&F stands ready to help you with your fascination!  Of course to really dive into it, you need to visit us!

[Jonelle DeFelice]

Hello!  Who am I?  Wellp, I live down in Taxachusetts.  In 2003, my boyfriend Todd and I accidently saw a freight going into Hoosac Tunnel, and since then I have been a railfan.  In my helcion days of employment, I actively collected local railroad ephemera, lanterns, etc.  Things are for the most part on hold for now, though.  I often drive out to Ayer MA, the closest easily accessed location with freight.  I always have my camera handy.

One of my websites is www.newenglanddepot.homestead.com, and blog.  I still have a lot of stuff to learn, and enjoy listening to the Old Folks talk about the way things once were...

[Mario Bernkopf]

Hello All,

My name is Mario, and I live near Stuttgart in SW Germany.

Seems that the interest in New England got planted early when my parents gave me a book called "Arundel" by a writer named Kenneth Roberts. This book, a great read for a twelve-year-old, somehow never left me.

My interest in the Maine Two-Footers goes back to about 1970 when I had a
pen-pal in the US who sent me several RMC issues with Frary and Hayden's Elk
River Line articles. I don't need to elaborate here, because I assume that
several of you went through the same "induction process". A while later I took
care of a disabled teacher as part of my national service. When he was at
school, I had lots of time waiting, and killed time by reading Linwood Moody's
Maine Two-Footers. So a long-lasting love for the little lines was created.

Later I went astray and spent quite a few years modelling western US mining and lumber n. g. in
On3 and 1:24.

However, a few months ago the Maine two-foot fever was recontracted, and I
decided to go East, so to speak. Browsing the net I found this website and, most of all, your museum shop with friendly and ultra-helpful Cindy.

Somehow things are a bit easier today than when I started out with this hobby, and it took about two to three months to order and receive a book from across the pond.


Best regards,

Mario

[Dan Shelley]

Hey Guys,
  Recent visitor and new member to the WW&F forum. My name is Dan, from Litchfield, NH. I am a model railroader, collector, and photographer of all things railroad related. I am looking to get my hands dirty on a few of these work weekends.

  I have a layout 10'x10',  fictional theme with plenty of action. I also just started my 2 Footer Layout (Ho scale with N scale railroad mix). Having been Influenced more by the WW&F,
and a little by the other guys down in Portland.

  So much to read about here, and I'm looking to put my two cents in as well. I am much more interested in these narrow gauge railroads of Maine's past, than PAR.

  I am currently self employed http://sgtknots.com/

 

[Rob Carignan]

Hello everyone,
My name is Rob Carignan and I live in Portland. Though new to the Forum, I am no stranger to the WW&F. I discovered the RR about eight years ago and even helped out on a couple of track Meets back in 2004, I think. It was the year the culvert washed out beyond Center Alna. I had so much fun at those track meets, I need to do it again.

I've recently ripped down my HO Plywood Central and am planning a narrow gauge layout. Joining the forum and reading up on all I can seemed the be the smart thing to do.

[George 'Moosey' Taylor]

well, i'm a little late to the party, but...

my name is george taylor, like a few who've posted before me, i've been working in the ride-on scales for a few years now.  current collaborative projects include a 1/3 scale ford model t railcar w/trailers, a 1/3rd scale model of mngr's ge 23 tonner and a few as-of-yet 2 ft passenger cars.  past projects have been to build more than i care to recall 1.6 scale cabooses.  by indulging in my passion for research and history, following the discussions here on ww&f are sheer heaven!

[Andrew Laverdiere]

Good day all. Nice to see such an active forum. I'm an ex-Mainiac currently living in Los Angeles. Unlike most folks here, I didn't have any particular interest in railroads while growing up, beyond the excitement of watching trains go by if we happened to be near one in our travels. I grew up in Winslow, Madison and Skowhegan before joining the Navy, and then moving to Massachusetts and California. It wasn't until I submitted an old photo I took of the MEC bridge in Farmington in the 90's (before it was destroyed in a flood) to an abandoned railroad website, that I caught the bug, and became a serious historian of the railroads, and an active Ferroequinarchaeologist, luckily living in the San Francisco area and having a lot of abandoned rails to go discover. Like Robin Hillyard, I too have been mapping where fallen flags used to go, but also combining it with on the ground investigation of the relics.

In a funny twist of fate, for all my life, our family would vacation in Pemiquid at my grandparents cottage, and our route would often take us through Alna and Head Tide! So all my life, I've been driving past the museum and never knew it! I told my folks though, and they recently had a pleasant visit to the museum.

To bring it up to date. I just visited Maine for a week, and spent some of my time exploring where the Sandy River RR, the Somerset RR, the Sebasticook & Moosehead RR, the northern end of the Belfast and Moosehead RR, and the former Somerset & Kennebec line above Hinkley used to run in order to photograph as much as I could in the short amount of time I had.

In the future, I will most certainly spend some time exploring where the WW&F used to run. That would be a real fun project.

[Gary Girouard]

Hello, I am new here here. I have always been interested in history/genealogy. In 1979 my brother and I purchased a cabin in Eustis. Every time we would make the trip up I would notice the ( trail ) on the other side of the river in Carrabassett Valley. Several years later, I discovered that the " trail " was the old rail bed or the SR&Rl . I have since become very interested in two footers, and have purchased several books and pictures of Maine narrow gauge railways. I am also very interested in Maine trolley lines. Where should I be posting pics for identification?

Gary in Maine

[Stephen Hussar]

Welcome, Gary. I would say post your pics in a separate new thread, here in the General Discussion section of the forum. Looking forward to seeing them!

Stephen

[Craig Williams]

I discovered this forum searching for information on 2ft gauge trucks. I have made several patterns for 5" scale 15" gauge castings and am making patterns for a 2 ft gauge truck in 3 3/4" scale (7.x in gauge). I have the wheels and journal boxes and have a start on the journal box lid. The only info I have is from the microscopic drawings in Crittenden's book and an incomplete drawing of the tender journal box on the SR&RL #23. Below is my solid model of what I have so far. It will be about 1.5" tall and 3" wide.

Does anyone have a good close-up picture of this style of journal box lid? I would like to come fairly close to what the actual lids looked like.

Thanks,

Craig Williams

[Paul Bennett]

Greetings All,

My wife and I have a 50 acre farm in Downeast (Milbridge) Maine and we call it Downeast Thunder Farm. The farm was started just to provide fresh, unprocessed food for our family - free of steroids, antibiotics, and other chemicals & food dyes. We've been continually expanding our operation and are working towards making the farm a commercial venture. We recognize that in this part of Maine, we have to make our farm a destination, and capitalize on "agritourism."

Being a rail fan, professional engineer, and gearhead, I figured I'd integrate a railroad around our farm. The inspiration for this came from growing up on Upper Cape Cod, only about 35 minutes drive from Edaville Railroad in South Carver, Massachusetts. My thoughts are putting together a railroad and farm theme park of sorts much like Edaville, but on a much smaller scale.

I originally wanted to go with a 2' narrow gauge railway as I figured I might be able to come across 2' gauge equipment and rail fairly easy given how many private 2' gauge railroads used to operate in Maine. I soon discovered I was wrong about that and if I pursued going with the 2' gauge rail system, I would be competing with all the 2' gauge rail museums/railroads - also looking for the exact same thing. I then decided to start planning and developing an 18" narrow gauge railroad (which will fit my property better).

I've been posting progress on a few other forums as we develop or farm and railroad. I've also been developing scaled drawings for railroad buildings and equipment I provide for free to anyone wishing to have copies (in pdf format). The plans can be downloaded from the Downeast Thunder Railroad website http://www.downeastthunder.com whenever anyone want them and they are constantly being added to and upgraded all the time.

For now, live steam is on the shelf due to financial considerations, but I'm presently working on an 18" gauge diesel-hydraulic, 2-ton, 0-4-0 switcher locomotive design that will be fabricated here in our shop. The plans for this will also be made available free once completed.

We don't have a commercial web site for the farm just yet, but my wife maintains a blog about what goes on around here day to day and you can visit if you wish at http://www.downeastthunderfarm.com and you'll find some free plans there too if you want to build a chicken coop, nesting boxes, or maybe a bird feeder, and even a bunch of felt bird patterns for crafters.

I always appreciate comments and suggestions from folks. There are several folks on this forum I recognize from other forums that I've corresponded with in recent days and weeks, and I hope to spend a bit of time at WW&F when the warmer weather rolls around, becoming a member.