Considering the level of effort Tim Andrews of Barns and Bridges of New England has put into this specific bridge over the years, he can probably re-assemble it with his eyes closed. :)

The Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington (WW&F) Railway Museum is continuing the 12 week series across our social media presence. In this series we will explore the high and low points in the history of and the technology behind the people and things involved in the "Narrow Bridge Ahead!" Campaign.

Our second episode picks up with heroic engineers fighting against the ravages of entropy and chaos in

Episode 2: Not all Covered Bridges are Fully Covered



The Campaign is asking for $50,000 in donations by 31 December 2017 for site preparation and erection of "Moose Brook" bridge to carry the Museum's reconstruction of the two foot, narrow gauge WW&F Railway across Trout Brook in Alna, Maine. The bridge, originally constructed near Gorham, New Hampshire (NH) in 1918 on the Berlin Branch of the Boston & Maine Railroad, is a historically-significant example of a Howe Boxed Pony Truss bridge, one of only five surviving examples of such a design. This reconstruction effort is being performed in conjunction with the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges with funding provided by the National Park Service, Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) program.

A couple of pictures I was sent yesterday of one of the trusses being assembled.

The Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington (WW&F) Railway Museum is continuing the 12 week series across our social media presence. In this series we will explore the high and low points in the history of and the technology behind the people and things involved in the "Narrow Bridge Ahead!" Campaign.

Our third episode teaches us a lesson that chaos can seek revenge even in idyllic Midcoast Maine in

Episode 3: The Tale of Mason’s Wreck



The Campaign is asking for $50,000 in donations by 31 December 2017 for site preparation and erection of "Moose Brook" bridge to carry the Museum's reconstruction of the two foot, narrow gauge WW&F Railway across Trout Brook in Alna, Maine. The bridge, originally constructed near Gorham, New Hampshire (NH) in 1918 on the Berlin Branch of the Boston & Maine Railroad, is a historically-significant example of a Howe Boxed Pony Truss bridge, one of only five surviving examples of such a design. This reconstruction effort is being performed in conjunction with the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges with funding provided by the National Park Service, Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) program.

Am I seeing some kind of steel angle plate at the intersection of the middle chord pieces?

And it looks like the diagonal bracing is all new material?

All the wood is new Douglas Fir, but the cast iron nodes and steel rods are salvaged from the bridge. The steel nodes are the ingenious part of Howe's design.

Here's a video from Will Truax on the cast iron nodes ..

I believe that Episode 4 will talk more about this on Sunday.

Assembly of the trusses was completed this week..

The Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington (WW&F) Railway Museum is continuing the 12 week series across our social media presence. In this series we will explore the high and low points in the history of and the technology behind the people and things involved in the "Narrow Bridge Ahead!" Campaign.

Our fourth episode delves into the origins of our Howe Boxed Pony in the wilds of New Hampshire ...

Episode 4: B&M Railroad Builds a Bridge

The Campaign is asking for $50,000 in donations by 31 December 2017 for site preparation and erection of "Moose Brook" bridge to carry the Museum's reconstruction of the two foot, narrow gauge WW&F Railway across Trout Brook in Alna, Maine. The bridge, originally constructed near Gorham, New Hampshire (NH) in 1918 on the Berlin Branch of the Boston & Maine Railroad, is a historically-significant example of a Howe Boxed Pony Truss bridge, one of only five surviving examples of such a design. This reconstruction effort is being performed in conjunction with the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges with funding provided by the National Park Service, Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) program.

If I am not mistaken the Trout Creek crossing is not far from the highway 218 crossing. This brings up two questions. First, how far is your current end of track from the Trout Creek bridge site? Second, is it your intention to cross highway 2018 at some time down the line after the bridge is in and track extended beyond it?

It is a half mile from the now current end of track (which was recently extended slightly to now be over the first culvert replaced along our "mountain extension") to the site of Trout Brook Bridge.

It is .2 miles from the site of the Trout Brook Bridge to the edge of Route 218. We hope to have the main line track reach this point in 2020-2021. This will require the continued support of our members, volunteers, friends, fans, and followers.

After that, we honestly haven't decided if we build northward across Route 218 - which could add a potential .7 miles to the line. This would bring us just shy of the site of the original railroad's Head Tide station. (Land ownership issues currently make reaching the station site prohibitive.) Regardless, that would give us a terminus in the midst of a historic New England village, which would be nice.

We could also decide to build southward from Sheepscot station (our museum's base of operations) across Cross Road - which could add a potential .4 miles to the line. (A small pond currently floods the ROW south of this point.) This would make it possible to extend our run-around track, which would greatly help train operations - especially during our busiest events. It would also send us towards Wiscasset, a major tourist destination in Midcoast Maine. (Before you ask, it is about 4.5 miles to Wiscasset, and it would probably cost us about two million dollars a mile to get all the way there due primarily to land ownership and encroachment.)

In either case, crossing either 218 or Cross Road would place us under so-called "FRA-light" jurisdiction. So, we may decide not to extend the line in either direction, especially if doing so would alter the historic nature of our operations.

That said, we really could use additional support for our Narrow Bridge Ahead campaign. Our membership has contributed valiantly towards the project (as part of our annual Fall Fundraiser) and we invite all of our friends and followers to help by contributing at: https://fundrazr.com/NarrowBridgeAhead

This morning the bridge trusses were stood up and aligned to each other so floor beam installation can start.

Is there a subtle hump in the trusses, or is that an artefact of the photography?

The trusses are straight no hump.

Time lapse video of one of the trusses being set upright:
https://youtu.be/dbn8ZhP7UGA

If any of you readers can get up to the WW&F this month, the "Victorian Christmas" is just an amazing winter adventure. December 16th, one long day of steam trains in winter, with Mr. and Mrs. Santa at one end of the ride, a bonfire, and horse drawn wagon or sleigh rides. Great tours, plenty of holiday food and based on the donation system, rather than a fee.

Yes, your wife will love it.