For the first time since 1933, the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway will reopen a one-mile stretch of track between Top of Mountain Station and Trout Brook Station to public trains.
The rebuilt section of line, dubbed the “mountain extension” has been painstakingly rebuilt by a cadre of volunteers and a select group of contractors who worked alongside the museum’s volunteers to assist in the project’s completion.
The reconstruction of the extension involved the rehabilitation of right-of-way, installation and replacement of many culverts, the restoration, movement and installation of a new 65-foot bridge over Trout Brook, construction of over one mile of track, construction of a new station building at Trout Brook, installation of a turntable at Trout Brook, and many other supporting projects.
In addition to the work completed by dedicated volunteers, this project would have been impossible without the support of many businesses and organizations including Jeffrey Verney Contracting of Alna, TEC Associates of South Portland, Chesterfield Associates of Westport Island, along with the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, Amherst Railway Society, Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, Midcoast Conservancy, the town of Alna, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Park Service.
The general public’s first opportunity to ride trains on the newly rebuilt section of railway will be during the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum’s annual picnic, Saturday, Aug. 13 with trains leaving Sheepscot Station hourly between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
For tickets for the WW&F’s annual picnic, and other trains, go to wwfry.org.
