Shay #11 crossing over the culvert at Sugar Grove, about to tackle the 8.7% grade toward Whittaker Station

Big Six is running in reverse, shoving the log train up the hill toward the second switchback. Carl Franz Photo Special

Carl Franz Photo Special

Big Six pulls the log train toward the Back Mountain Road grade crossing on a Carl Franz Photo Charter.

Inspired by a photo taken by Walter Scriptunas back in 2007, I thought I'd try a slow shutter speed to add some motion to the shot.

Fireman Amy polishing the number plate on Shay #11. Carl Franz Photo Charter

Big Six approaches the Upper Water Tank on the way to Bald Knob

Big Six is shoving a flat car up the grade at the 1st Switchback. Carl Franz Photo Special.

And here they come down the backstretch... #5's leading by a locomotive length, #11's gaining ground quickly and Big Six is bringing up the rear on the three train race at this year's Carl Franz ... (more)

The first runby of the day was the tripple-header led by Shay #5, followed by Shay #11 with Big Six bringing up the rear. Special thanks to the entire staff of the Carl Franz Photo Special and th... (more)

Original Kodachrome by the late Joseph Jessel Jr, a good friend who taught me much about photographic composition as it applied to streetcar views (not always the same as it is for railroad views)... (more)

A Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington passenger train pauses briefly at the tiny Alna Center Station to allow a couple of patrons to board and some light cargo to be loaded. The engine crew remai... (more)

A track crew working in the Maine wilderness pauses as a southbound freight passes them. Scene courtesy of the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum and Historic Transport Preserva... (more)

In the early 1900s, Maine's 2-foot railroads represented the only link to the outside world for many rural communities. Facilities, equipment and procedures were decidedly unsophisticated. The... (more)

A local freight from Albion hauls the mail south through the Maine woods toward Wiscasset about 1920. Unlike most such scenes, this one didn't come from Grandpa's dusty attic. It's a real-life,... (more)