[Moderator's Note - I have been asked to post the following announcement on behalf of WW&F Railway President, Dave Buczkowski.]
After much thought and discussion the WW&F Board of Directors has decided that it’s time for the railroad to be used for its highest and best use. Two-foot gauge has proved to be too confining for our goals. It has been difficult to find and obtain motive power and rolling stock that will fit our narrow rails. Building locomotives and coaches from scratch takes too long. As you all know, freight connections with standard gauge railroads require much labor and transfers are inconvenient for passengers.
The decision has been made to regauge the WW&F.
This will commence at the 2022 Spring Work Weekend when we will add a third rail to our current right of way. We have purchased a used GE 45 ton diesel-electric locomotive to test this concept. A test track is currently being constructed at Sheepscot under the direction of Mike Fox.
The official press release with additional details follows.
-Dave
Today, WW&F President David J. Buczkowski, Esq. announced that the route of the historic Sheepscot Valley Narrow Gauge will soon be entering the big time. Or at least as wide...
“The WW&F Railway operates under the charter of the Wiscasset and Quebec Railroad, which was initially to be built as a standard gauge road. Because of the obligation to utilize the railroad to its highest and best use, pending merger, and promise of Amtrak passenger service, the rails along the route will be re-gauged to 4’ 8.5” - the so-called ‘standard gauge’.” stated Buczkowski.
Work has already commenced with a short piece of track constructed in the museum’s parking area. WW&F Trainmaster and parking lot nitpicker Ed Lecuyer was reportedly displeased in losing a half of a parking space. The track is being prepared for the arrival of a new-to-the-WW&F locomotive, a GE-built 45 tonner.
The re-gauging is necessary to accommodate the increased traffic on the railroad, which will be operated as a bridge route connecting the Canadian Pacific mainline across central Maine to the currently isolated Rockland Branch. Moreover, the port of Wiscasset will be revitalized in order to relieve congestion at CP’s port in Searsport and to ship containers of organically grown lavender products from SeaLyon Farm to destinations world wide.
As part of a broader consolidation of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, a seamless railway from Canada and Wiscasset will be created all the way into Mexico. With the inclusion of the WW&F into this three-way corporate merger, the CPKC corporation will instead be known as WFCKP (which is pronounced <expletive deleted>).
Buczkowski is in negotiations with Amtrak to use the regauged WW&F as part of its “ConnectUS” plan to link Portland Maine to Greenville (via Wiscasset) and points beyond. Once completed, he is looking forward to using the new service to commute from Alna, Maine to Boston, Mass. on a regular basis. “Clearly, my personal travel patterns illustrate the need to connect the Sheepscot Valley with the rest of the US via convenient rail transportation.” It was noted that each train seat shall be equipped with a cup holder, purely for the benefit of Mr. Buczkowski.
The Museum’s historic collection of two-footers will be relocated to Monson, Maine, along the route of the 6-mile Monson Railroad. Part of this initiative will include the reactivation of the slate quarry, and the use of the narrow gauge trains (including surviving Monson locomotives 3 and 4.) Daily trains will run from Monson to a reconstructed Monson Junction - which is being rebuilt along the route of the WW&F extension from Burnham to Greenville, Maine.
“We felt that Alna was just too far out of the way from anywhere to create a sustainable operation,” remarked WW&F Marketing Director Stephen Piwowarski (the third in a series of unpronounceable surnames, not including WFCKP.) “Moving the railroad to the up-and-coming artist enclave of Monson fits well into our growth plans, and we do not anticipate any trouble running our coal burning, smoke belching locomotives in an area known for its unspoiled scenic beauty and lack of power transmission lines.”
Railroad Superintendent Jason Lamontagne did not offer comment, since his surname is somewhat easier to pronounce than Buczkowski, Lecuyer, or Piwowarski and gauges all of these developments as “stupid.”
