Flag-stop: Alna Center. A WW&F Engineman and his head Brakeman chat briefly in a pouring rain as empty milk cans come off the Turner Centre Dairy Car, right behind Locomotive #9. These cans are destined for a local dairy farm, which will refill them in time to catch a southbound train the next day. This stop will be a quick one. Once the cargo has been offloaded and the doors closed, the train will resume its northbound journey.
Typical freight on the original WW&F, back in the early 1900s, consisted of farm products, and timber/lumber products. The line's rolling stock consisted almost entirely of box cars and flats. One of the line's larger customers was the Turner Centre Creamery in Wiscasset. Southbound freights and mixed trains would regularly collect raw milk from farms along the route and bring it to the creamery, which existed on the pier next to the Sheepscot River in downtown Wiscasset. The creamery had a small fleet of primitive reefer cars which were used to carry this very perishable cargo. One such car was #65, a replica of which was in the consist when this image was taken. These reefer had double walls, insulated with sawdust. Inside, a large metal bin held blocks of ice to chill the air and keep the milk cool during the warmer months. Interestingly enough, the cars were also equipped with stoves, to keep the milk from freezing in the winter....and keep the Turner Centre Attendant, who typically rode inside this car, from freezing as well. On the northbound runs, such as the re-creation seen here, the trains would typically drop off empty milk cans so the farmers could retrieve and re-use them.