alternatehistory.com

A month or so ago, I asked for ideas on how to keep the Maine 2 foot gauge trains running until the 1950's or later. I got some good ideas, and threw together a rough outline of how they keep running long past their real world expiration date. This should, if plausible, be the background for a model railroad. Anything to make it more plausible would ber appreciated. (The first of them started in 1879, so this is the situation one hundred years later...


Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington links up with Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes—Maine Central is forced to allow this in court. Furthermore, Maine towns lobby for more railroads. Law passed in Maine that gives “Two foot gauge steam railroads” some serious tax incentives—most likely exemption from property taxes

One engineer who ran fast on a regular basis (and passengers that loved getting where they were going at unheard of speeds) convinced the line to upgrade one section for routine mile a minute runs. The actuality of 60+ mph runs are real, not A/H, but were never scheduled--and the ride was rough. Attempting to take advantage of this capability is, however, A/H

Although only a few locomotives could do these runs, and the rides were very rough, the raw speed was exhilarating, and a partial success. People were willing to pay for speed—but only to a point—and if the ride was better, they would pay more.

(I don't recall the name of the engineer--I'm away from my books--but he ran at 60 mph and faster...)

Two coaches were modified at great expense for smoother running, and they ran nearly full almost every day.

“Sandy River’s running a mile per minute on 2 foot track—why are we barely reaching it going south?” The president of the Maine Central glared at the yard full of tiny Forneys and miniature Pacific’s as the train gathered way. Even the plush luxury of the Parlor Car Rangely—as comfortable as anything on his line—only added to his frustration with his own line. The Maine Central was a fine, standard gauge line, with connections nationwide—but his trains didn’t catch the eye of Mainers like the little ones did.

Although the advent of motorcars took a bit out of passenger revenue, the high speed express trans kept some passengers on board—and with the merger of the Sandy River and Rangely Lakes with the Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington, Northern Maine was nicely tied together. Freight, passengers—a whole economy was running nicely with minimal trans-shipping. The bulkiest item, coal, was also the easiest to trans-ship; hoppers can run up an elevated trestle and dump directly into the narrow gauge cars.

Likewise, wood could go directly to the factories and be made into furniture, potatoes could be gathered from remote farms and brought to Wiscasset, and more. The unification of the lines made them far greater than the sum of their parts, and (other lines) were incorporated.

The success of the expansion resulted in other town wanting a railroad connection, and more spur lines went in. And—the twice daily Sandy River, Waterville, and Wiscasset Flyer was attracting new riders daily.

With freight increasing, and the 2-6-2 Pacifics finding themselves struggling with some loads, the railroad contracted with Baldwin for a 2-8-2, a 2-6-6-2 Mallet, and even contracted for a Garrat 2-6-2 + 2-6-2 from Beyer and Peacock. The Garrat was definitely a strange proposition for an American railroad, but also could give the most traction for the least strain on the rails.

Although the Garrat was a technical success, and two more were ordered, they never really caught on. They simply didn’t LOOK like what passengers thought a steam locomotive should look like. (Also, all of the heavy locomotives required heavier track…)


so--thoughts?
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