Winter in the Maine Woods. WW&F Locomotive #9 charges south with an afternoon passenger train, high above the icy Humanson Brook, en route to its destination, the seacoast town of Wiscasset.
The shiny #9, which was recently restored by the WW&F Museum, likely looks a whole lot prettier in this photo than she did for the short time that she ran on the original railroad back in 1933. At that point, she'd already had a 40-year career on three other Maine, 2-foot lines and was probably a pretty tired little engine. The WW&F acquired this engine and an identical sister from the defunct Kennebec Central Railroad in 1933. After an engine house fire and some other issues, the WW&F was really hurting for power. They were put to work almost immediately, but their tenure was short. The #8 derailed one morning, and the railroad pretty much went out of business right then and there. The #8 and her train remained at the wreck site for several years, slowly being stripped by vandals and scavengers, and was eventually scrapped. The 9 remained in the Wiscasset Yard for some time, before being purchased by a railfan named Frank Ramsdell. He then hid this little treasure in his barn in Connecticut....for the next 50 years....which is why she is still with us today.
