Back on home rails...after an 82 year absence. Newly restored WW&F Locomotive #9 hauls the B-Train south through Sutter's Crossing during the WW&F Museum's annual Victorian Christmas Event. WW&F #9, formerly Sandy River RR #5, formerly Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes #6, formerly Kennebec Central #4, is an 1891 product of the Portland Company, in Portland, Maine. This well-traveled machine spent a more than 40 year career on Maine's 2-foot railroads, running on all but 2 of the major ones during that time. She was rescued from the scrappers when the original WW&F went bankrupt in the 1930s and spent nearly 60 years in a barn on a farm in northern Connecticut, before returning to her home state. Freshly rebuilt, with a new, welded boiler and a new frame, she'll be good for many years to come. She's the oldest of the 5 surviving Maine 2-foot locomotives, and one of only two surviving products of the old Portland Company. With her tall shot-gun stack, fluted dome covers, a Maine Central Headlight, and an arched wooden cab, she's also arguably the grandest looking of the 2-foot survivors.
Of special note in the photo above is the staked flat car behind the coach. This is Flat Car 118, which is one of two pieces of original WW&F rolling stock that were also saved by the same folks who rescued #9.
