Lining and leveling....the old fashioned way. A WW&F Section Gang gives a hard heave into their lining bars as Road Foreman Dana Deering (kneeling in the gauge) watches with a keen eye to verify proper alignment. At the WW&F, the crews strive to do as much of their work as possible using the same methods and procedures that were used a century ago on the original Maine Two-Footers. Track is laid, lined and leveled using spike mauls, lining bars....and lots of elbow grease. These operations typically require more than a few people, which is why the museum prefers to undertake them during one of their seasonal "work weekends", such as the spring event pictured here. Road Foreman Deering has developed a number of very simple, but effective leveling tools that he uses in these operations. He can often be seen lying in the ballast, using something akin to a gun sight to determine which way the track should be moved and how much it should be raised or lowered to get it level. The only obvious concession to modern technology that can regularly be seen at the WW&F is the line's tamper, which is the red contraption in the distance. But that's another story for another photo......
The location you see here is called "Top of the Mountain" and is the aptly-named current northern terminus of the WW&F Museum's track. Located about 2.5 miles north of Sheepscot, this site is now the turnaround point for the museum's excursion trains. A passing siding was built here during the 2014 Fall Work Weekend and the ballasting, lining, leveling and tamping were all completed during the 2015 Spring Work Weekend. The track is now in regular service, with the weekend excursion trains turning several times here every service day.
