By Charlotte Boynton
A miniature model of the Wiscasset waterfront in 1925 is now on display in the Turner Center Creamery car by the Main Street Pier in Wiscasset. (Photo courtesy Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum) |
The Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum unveiled a miniature model of the historic Wiscasset waterfront with the help of Wiscasset officials at a ribbon-cutting
ceremony on the Main Street Pier in Wiscasset, on June 30.
The museum commissioned the model last winter. The 1925 model of waterfront buildings is on display at the Turner Centre Creamery car at the pier.
Wiscasset Selectman Pam Dunning cuts a ribbon to unveil a model of the historic Wiscasset waterfront in the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum’s railcar on the Main Street Pier, Monday, June 30. From left: Wiscasset Selectman William Barnes, museum President Steve Zuppa, Les Fossel, Dunning, Selectman Ben Rines, and Town Planner Misty Parker. (Charlotte Boynton photo) |
Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum President Steve Zuppa thanked the town of Wiscasset for their support, Selectman and Wiscasset Public Library Director Pam
Dunning for giving away free passes at the library, and Frank Sprague for opening and closing the Turner Centre Creamery car daily.
Dunning said the new exhibit “is going to be a real draw for people who are interested in Wiscasset’s rich history.”
The new exhibit was built by Peter Barney, of New Bedford, Mass., at a cost of $3,000. The exhibit features miniature replicas of the Wiscasset Grain Company, the Wiscasset
Lumber Company, and the Turner Centre Creamery.
Zuppa also gave a brief history of the Turner Centre Creamery Car. The car traveled the rails from Albion to Wiscasset, picking up cans of raw milk at stations along the way.
During the summer months, the car was filled with ice to protect the milk; in the winter, it was heated with a coal stove.
Museum members built a full-scale replica of the original dairy car, and with the town’s approval, it now sits in the location of the original creamery car that served the
Wiscasset area for about 40 years.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Turner Centre Car was held July 4, 2012. Since that time, many visitors have enjoyed the exhibits in the car, including photos of old ships,
railroad information, Turner Centre Creamery history, and photos of Wiscasset in the early years.
Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Selectmen Ben Rines, William Barnes, and Dunning took a tour of the creamery car, along with a trip down memory lane. Photos on the wall
of the rail car brought back memories of many years past.
Rines was looking at an aerial photo of Wiscasset, and pointed to what is now the Le Garage Restaurant. “That used to be my grandfather’s garage, it was called the Rines Bros.
Garage,” Rines said.
According to Rines, the garage closed in 1962, and in 1970, Peter Green and Ray Shadis opened a pottery and painting store, which lasted only a couple of years.
Zuppa announced that the railway museum will host an ice cream social on Saturday, July 5. Musician Jud Caswell will entertain passengers on the 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. trains
to Alna Center Station. All riders will receive free ice cream provided by Lear’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream, of Wiscasset.
