B&SR Books and photos

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

I recently purchased Peter Barney's "Bridgton & Saco River, A Pictoral Journey" from the WW&F Museum gift shop.  There are some photos I have seen before, new images, track maps and structure plans.  One interesting photo on page 54 shows delivery and team track operations on the fuel delivery spur.  This is the track that went right behind the bleachers down to the fuel dealer's storage tanks.  The photo shows tank car 22 and box car 54 tied down on the spur.  An old Ford Model TT (ton truck) is backed up to the box car.   I look forward to when our B&SR tank is restored and on a new flat car so we can photograph freight train and team track scenes like this on the WW&F.

[Dana Deering]

Stewart,

     Those oil tanks were still there a few years ago.  I haven't been that way for a while so I'm wondering if they're gone now.  Guess I'll find out on Sunday!

[Mike Fox]

Stewart, I'm glad you brought that book up. There are some photos I have never seen before. And some with angles that give better clues to where things sat in the yard. When we walked the Bridgton yard last fall, we came away with a pretty good idea where things were. Some of these photos help confirm that.
   And those pictures of Harrison Yard as lumber storage. Too bad all that lumber could not have travelled over the rails. Maybe the Haarisn Branch would have survived longer.
  Also the pictures of the turntables, some after abandonment. It's great to be able to see what they were made of. I always thought they were all wood.
  IMHO, another great book from Mr. Barney

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Mike, I have gotten a better understanding of the Bridgton Yard with the book's photos and track maps.  As you said, there are views from new angles where things make more sense.  The Bridgton Yard area had a facinating track layout.  I like how the spur tracks fed over to stores, etc in town.  It was a neat operation.

Dana or Mike, Let us know if the fuel tanks are still there.

[Mike Fox]

I don't remember seeing them last year. Most likely they have been removed, due to the proximity of the school and its pupils.

[Duncan Mackiewicz]

Mike,
I'm with you.  I was by the yard site in August and I don't recall seeing those tanks either.
Duncan

[Dana Deering]

Well, after seeing the Bridgton Yard site for the first time during the Fall Field Trip I can see that the tanks I saw were not the ones that were in the yard.  Tanks, but no tanks.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

I picked up some B&SR books at the Springfield Show.  Two are titled "Bridgton, Maine - It's scenic Lakes, Mountains and Summer Delights"  The booklets were published by the B&SR to bring tourists to the Bridgton area.  They were printed around 1899 - 1900 judging by the Harrison Branch looking new.  There are many photos of the railroad, guest houses, lakes, and industry.  The booklets have different covers but similar photos and text.

Another book is titled "My First Sixty Years in Harrison, Maine" by Ernest E. Ward, published in 1966.  I've heard Dana talk about this book, it's a good short history book with a 29 page section on the B&SR.  Mr. Ward was a brakeman for a number of years and has good descriptions of his years on the railroad.  There are other chapters on life in Bridgton in the early 20th century.

[Dana Deering]

I have one of those old books, Stewart.  It got packed away at my folks house when I left for college and I haven't seen it since.  I can't recommend Ernest Ward's book enough.  He has some great stories about his experiences on the B&SR.  He was the brakeman on the northbound train in May, 1911, when #5 hit the sun kink and went over the bank near Perley's Mills.  His description helped me pinpoint the spot.  I was lucky enough to meet him shortly before he died.  My grandmother and he were friends and he dropped by our camp one Sunday for a visit.  My grandmother had asked him to bring one of his books and she bought it for me and he signed it.  He was a character, that's for sure, and meeting him is one of my fond memories.  I was just a kid but I was awestruck to meet an actual B&SR man!

[Allan Fisher]

Both of these books (one a booklet) are in our Archives - I donated them in the last couple of years.

[Duncan Mackiewicz]

Dana and Stewart,

I, too, have Ernest Ward's book.  What a great bit of writing.  I was able to pick mine up at the public library in Harrison, ME several years ago during one of my many B&SR hunting trips.

Duncan

[Erik Z. Missal]

Hi,
My parents just gave me a couple of railroad books for my birthday. One of them is Steam Trains of The World by Collin Garratt. On page 26 there is a photo from EDAVille with the caption "The world famous "Edaville" No. 7 - forfunner of so many different engines - preserved now in museums round the world. A 2-4-4T on the Bridgton and Saco Railroad, built by Baldwin in 1913.". It is a winter scene with the engine along with an Express car and passenger car behind. There are 4 people standing by the train, one is oiling the engine.

Erik

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

I've had a chance to read "My First Sixty Years in Harrison, Maine" , the book is great.  I read the B&SR chapter 3 times.  Good stuff, I like the rabbit story.

[Dana Deering]

Yeah, that's a great one, they really liked their cigars!  I also like the one about Ernest being sent back down the track on the handcar to locate the lost piece of baggage!  I can't recall if it was in his book or another one that tells about the engineer Roland Woddbury (the same fellow who took the dive in #5 near Perley's) and how he carried a .45 caliber pistol in the cab.  The sectionmen would set bottles on the fenceposts and Woodbury would try to shoot them (the bottles not the sectionmen) as the train went by.  Imagine trying to do that today!

[Keith Taylor]

Dana, yup they've taken all of the fun out of railroading these days!
I remember car retarder operators at Oak Island Yard in Newark, NJ (LVRR) going to work every day with a .22 rifle, so they could shoot rats while we ran around the next train to be humped....ah the good old days!
Keith