Closure of WW&F Railway - 90 Years Ago

[John Scott]

If I am correct, 15 June 1933 was the day when locomotive #8 derailed, just below Whitefield, causing the immediate closure of the WW&F Railway - 90 years ago, today. The engine was hauling the daily train down from Albion and it tripped up on a broken rail. The following year, dismantling of the line commenced.

However, the imprint of the railroad on the psyche of the community (worldwide) was sufficiently indelible for good people to make the decision to rebuild what had been lost. That effort is now well advanced, as we all know.

[Graham Buxton]

From the publication:

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway


The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, No. 57, THE TWO FOOTERS (January, 1942), pp. 114-135 (26 pages)








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[Ed Lecuyer]

Is it just me, or is that image backwards?
Shouldn't the train be facing south with the river on it's east side?

[Mike Fox]

No, the image is correct. The train was southbound on the east side of the river, entering the curve just prior to crossing the river on the iron bridge.

[Ed Lecuyer]

Ah, for some reason I thought the derailment was south of the iron bridge, not north of it.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Having walked the R-O-W to the iron bridge location a few times, I can advise that there is a curve just north of the bridge that curves to the left/east for a southbound train.  That's where #8 derailed, going off on the river side as it worked into the curve.  The photo was taken from the west side of the river.  The section house would be just out of frame to the left and the bridge is up ahead about 200'.  The grade runs fairly straight south of the bridge, following the river for a few miles down to Head Tide.