Washington County Railroad
Cherryfield, Maine
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The Washington County Railroad (WCRR) is a privately owned large scale railroad whose owners have a special interest in coal fired steam locomotives. It is located at the home of the Brace Family on Campbell Hill in Cherryfield, Maine. Cherryfield is in Washington County, the eastern most county of the United States, where the sun first rises on the United States of America. Therefore, the original WCRR was also known by the name Sunrise Route. Stop by on the third Sunday of any month and help work on the railroad ... on nice days trains are used haul material to repair the road bed ... helpers ride to work areas. If the weather isn't good, and even in the winter, there's always work to be done in the car barn. The WCRR was designed by John Brace and built by John, Family, Friends and Volunteers who love railroading. John is pictured below with Number 7, an engine he built starting in the 1960's: 
The logo that appears above is that of the original Washington County Railroad. It was incorporated in 1894 and its rails were a short distance from our railroad. Two of John's great uncles were extensively involved. The track existed until 2009, but had not seen any commercial traffic in years. The State of Maine is the owner and in 2009 turned it into a recreational trail. Our bridge is a copy of the nearby train bridge which still spans the Narraguagus River. Our track gauge is precisely 7.5 inches. The switches have guarded frogs making it possible for 7.25 inch gauge equipment to operate. The guarded frogs make it necessary to require that the wheels on all railroad equipment be at least 3/4 of an inch in width. The wheels on 7 1/2 inch gauge equipment must be no wider than 13/16ths of an inch while the wheels on 7 1/4 inch gauge equipment can be up to 7/8ths of inch in width. The flange profile should conform to the IBLS wheel standards established in 1974. The minimum radius of the track is 35 feet. The maximum grade is 1.5%. Trains have to climb over 21.5 feet in going from east to west on the track. Because it a private track access is limited to family and friends who actually do the work of maintaining the railroad. The main line track circuit is now 5 1/2 scale miles in length. The above picture shows the current track. There is a valley in the foreground with the top of the mountain being at the top of the picture. The spur track that can be seen at the lower left of the picture is the start of the continuation of the main line. It has been laid out for many more miles, but at this time construction is doubtful. Friends of the family are always welcome as visitors, but call first as we have no public run days. The third Sunday of the month is always a work day, stop by, help out, and learn about the railroad. |
Click on the layout for a detailed on-line view or here for the print version. |
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Pictures:
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For more information. |
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George, the Director the WCRR. Phone: 207-546-2205 |
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Jeremy, the Superintendent of the WCRR. |
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Wren, the Webmaster of the WCRR. |
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