Washington County Railroad II
Cherryfield, Maine

Round trip on the track as shown is 3653 feet or approximately 5 1/2 scale miles.

Points of interest:

  1. The Cherryfield station is the top of the mountain (Campbell Hill). The railroad proceeds from here down into the valley that lies to the east.
  2. Car barn (B1), machine shop (B2), switching yard (B3) and the point of maximum elevation (B4).
  3. Traffic on the two sections of single track mainline is controlled by red and green signal lights..
  4. The mainline proceeds down the mountain at 1 1/2% grade until it reaches the valley to the east.
  5. This is a cutoff for the purpose of changing the direction of a train. The downhill grade is 3 1/2%.
  6. The present mode of traffic is for trains to proceed down the cutoff, which reverses direction and starts them back up the mountain. An alternative after clearing the switch at F, is for a train to back down to the end of the existing track. In either case, the positioning of the signal switches protects trains in that block of single track.
    Layout
  7. The twisting and turning of the track is necessary in order for the railroad to gain the needed elevation while maintaining a grade of 1 1/2%. It has to climb 21 1/2 feet.
  8. The end of track as September, 2001. UPDATE: At 10:40 on August 25, 2004 John pounded the last spike and the track is now complete, including a siding at the Milbridge Junction.
  9. The bridge is a 1/6th scale model of the nearby prototype. It weighs about 2 tons.
  10. The grade ends and at this point and the track remains level from here through Milbridge Junction.
  11. Milbridge Junction. The track is now complete through this loop and a switch and siding along US Route 1 and in place. Eventually the tracks will proceed from here into Milbridge. The township line is about 60 feet to the east. Preliminary surveys has been done for further extensions. The scheme has been to proceed in 1000 foot intervals and build some way of turning the trains.

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