Sights and Sounds of The Model T Railcar

We couldn’t fit all of our footage into the edited video and we just HAD to share! Enjoy these uncut clips of our round-trip ride from Sheepscot to Trout Brook on the Model T Railcar.
Additional Footage provided by William Judd
Starting April 2024, the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum is offering Model T Railcar Rambles on the third Sunday of every month this summer!
wwfry.org/all-activities/mode...
For more details, to buy tickets, and to learn more about our museum, visit wwfry.org/

[@bazra19]

Thank you for NOT putting music on the Video.

[@worldtraveler930]

Amen!!! 🤠👍

[@worldtraveler930]

I remember as a kid riding in my father's 1939 Ford Deluxe who shared the same gauge as a rail behind our house and all you had to do is let the air out of the tires enough that it would grip the rail and take a casual ride into the town, once in town we used a airline that replaced one of the spark plugs on the Flathead V8 to air the tires back up!!! 🤠👍

[@ZILOGz80VIDEOS]

There's a railway in Romania, Vaser Valley railway I believe that uses very similar stock based on minivans, they have the same method of turning around on a jack as well

[@dkbmaestrorules]

Yep, Ford Transits on rails! 😆

[@hughwolfe1176]

That’s pretty impressive.

[@lptape]

Oh my! Stubb switches! Fascinating! Amazing "train" video! Thank you!

[@jamesgilbart2672]

Looks like a fun way to travel! It reminiscent of the 'Ford Railmotors' that were used on a couple of rural light railways in England and Wales during the 1920s and 30s. The Model T railcar would be a good subject for a ready-to-run model.

[@MarkRBlackwell]

Too cool! Didn't even realize you guys had one of those.

[@JayYoung-ro3vu]

Whst a unique solution then and a wonderful experience now! Thank you for the presentation.

[@user-co2vz4py3r]

I love the built in turntable. At the start of the video the starter moter was used but at 5.30 he used crank start.- maybe crank start is better. They should have kept this feature in ALL cars right up to today.

[@Narrowgaugefilms]

The thing is that as time has passed, higher compression ratios have made it harder for the average driver to crank an engine over. A model T ran like 4:1 and (for example) a modern Honda Civic is up over 10:1. Even if you had a shot at one of the tiny 4 cylinder turbo engines that we have now, as you got into bigger 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder ones it would be a workout, if possible at all. Front wheel drive would be against it, too. The crankshaft is pointed into the fender sides and the wheels would get in the way! Eh! In a time when most people can't drive a car with a manual transmission, crank start is just culture shock!

[@keithammleter3824]

He crank started it when it was warm and would fire first piston up. Starting a cold engine is another matter - it can be a lot of hard work when the engine is reluctant to fire and cold oil makes it hard to turn. Many British cars up until the 1960's could be crank handle started (Rover 90, Morris Oxford, LandRover to name a few) - well they had a hole in the front bumper where you put in the jack handle to crank with. But crank starting was problematical and somewhat dangerous. Ignition occurs before top dead centre, which can cause a hand-cranked engine to run backwards and rip your thumb off or smash your wrist. Or even cause the crank handle to ram you in your belly. Engines of thee Model T era due to low compression ratio would retain a charge of fuel/air mix in a cylinder for a while and thus fire on the first ignition event - one quarter turn of the crank. Modern high compression engines won't retain a charge and so require at least 2 full turns to start even when hot.

[@marionbloom1218]

In the UK we used to use these on several light railways, but we always had two coupled back to back to save turning around, which was one of the major selling points. The one running backwards would be set in neutral with engine off. Some even had a third unpowered centre car or a baggage wagon coupled between them, but by all accounts that made it a bit of a struggle for the Ford Model T's engine. Occasionally it would be one bus coupled back to back with a lorry on flanged wheels. The Model T's were superseded by similar vehicles by Sheffield Simplex ("Shefflex" brand) which seemed a little more robust. There's a very good book out just recently about them , "Colonel Stephens and His Railmotors" which I can highly recommend. Also at the Colonel Stephens Museum in Tenterden England, there is a re-created railmotor of this type on an original Model T chassis.

[@klaus5130]

👍👍👍👍from Germany

[@trezjr73]

Marvelous ride.

[@calvinrhoades4406]

I want one!!!!

[@Kordziel]

Nice to see a person who knows how to crank a car

[@Narrowgaugefilms]

Does she also have an electric starter? (I know later Model Ts had that.) What is the electrical system like? I see electric headlights and a battery, is there some kind of generator?

[@WWFRailway]

Yes, our Model T Railcar is a replica with a few modern touches! According to the driver of the railcar, modern components include (but are not limited to) an electric starter, a canister-type ignition coil with distributor, and a tachometer. Hope this helps answer some of your questions!

[@Narrowgaugefilms]

Hats off to the driver for starting her in the Vintage way! (-especially being that he could have chosen the Easy way!) I rode the very similar SR&RL #2 at Edaville 42 years ago. -Railfan's day: damp, cold, rainy! The only time I was warm all day was riding the cab of #8!

[@Narrowgaugefilms]

Hmmm... I guess I should have figured out the "starter" part at the very beginning!

[@BenRichards227]

Driver here 🙂. The crank start works well once it's warmed up. Cold electric starts are fairly reliable as well. What you saw at the beginning of the video was the worst case: a "lukewarm" start, where the engine is still cold enough to need a bit of choke but also quite prone to flooding.

[@stevedavis9462]

Cool, cool and cool !

[@user-ks5jh1rp6d]

Wow, that's cool. The video is great.

[@clydo1946]

WW&F maintain their right of way better than mainline railroads. Thumbs up!

[@WWFRailway]

Thanks for the great compliment, our all volunteer track crews take a lot of pride in their right of way!

[@user-ou8rf5tc4s]

What better way to travel than in a model T railcar? All around vision and Ma Nature's air conditioning! And hey! A built in armstrong turntable! What more can you ask for! 😂

[@user-zq6fp7vq4h]

Шикарная машинка !

[@radeksturm]

Pleasure to see...O.K.

[@s.b.sharma9628]

Nice, love from India

[@WWFRailway]

Thanks for watching!

[@tolydukhovny682]

imho, a great toy or a hobby for life. it would be a bice time to travel across great prairee by such a truck.

[@keithtanner2806]

It is only 2 axle so how does it make the clickety-click sound at around 2mins? Short rail lengths?

[@danielfantino1714]

Thanks for the ride. So pleasant in those turmoil days to see that the past is still alive with great works from volunteers. I´m not sure if your track is longer than original 2X6 Monson ?

[@WWFRailway]

Glad you enjoyed your ride, we hope to see you again soon! With a mainline of 3.5 miles, we are currently a couple miles short of the Monson, but maybe one day 😁

[@danielfantino1714]

Thanks for your answer. Well Monson slate quarry is still in business ans most of its roadbed available. And you don´t even need a turntable 😅 But BAR connection is long gone. The magic of narrow gauge is may be its sheer size. A more humane dimension. Some modelers like HO to for the same reason. When you upgrade it, you have LGB or garden scale. Cool but still too small to carry us. But 1/8 is just perfect to sit ON. On standard gauge it makes the rails 7 1/4" apart. But on YOUR 2 feet... hey it´s almost 1/3 your size! Big enough to carry logs on the property and so many excuses to built a line. I´m not in steam. Far too costly. But a 1/8 scale wood burning Mason Bogie pulling logs of cut trees on flatcars won´t look bad either. Should call my big "Nooddle" neighbor and ask them to put a piece of team track for interchange. 1/8 Mason against big modern GE....what a photo it would be... but it´s their mainline. They wont agree.... What is/was the rail size, 40, 60 pounds ? Well you can enjoy slightly bigger gauge from eastern Europe railroads that were not so long ago or are still running on YT. Cars without air brakes with brakemens riders, funicular, and usual wheels kissing ballast....😊😊

[@STho205]

Is this 2' gauge or 3'? Wish we had a Model T or A railcar excursion service on the unused Ellijay Block south of Blue Ridge GA where there is an excursion RR going north.

[@WWFRailway]

2' Gauge. The WW&F is one of Maine's storied "two-footers".

[@garyhooper1820]

How long is the track ?

[@WWFRailway]

As of August 2022 (when we opened the mountain extension), the railroad is about 4 miles long.

[@chris4321das]

Love it! 🌟⭐⭐🤩🤩🤩🤩 🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃

[@divebombexpert2619]

I had no idea you could just lift it up and turn it around!

[@kyleeames8229]

How was this used historically? Would it have actually been used for passenger service or was it used in a manner more similar to the usage of modern hiRails?

[@WWFRailway]

It would have been used for track inspection, etc. Similar to modern hi-rail trucks today. Typically, it would not have had as much seating; but more room for tools and supplies instead.

[@stevemellin5806]

Heck I would put train wheels on my dodge ram to ride the line . Very cool . Nice railroad

[@WWFRailway]

Though there were a wide range of road cars retrofitted for the two foot, I’m not sure how well a Ram would balance on the narrow gauge 😆

[@MartenSiersma]

Looks like a stripped down galloping goose

[@trainrover]

might you know, please, how come there were (still are..?) SO many private roads around vast, vast northwestern Maine, because it's the only USA state that bore that many on the continent-wide road atlas? who owned them? and why private?

[@BenRichards227]

They are logging roads, owned by the logging companies. Some are open for public use. The Golden Road is perhaps the most famous of these.

[@Carfree-Cities]

What is top speed? Vehicle weight? Thanks!

[@BenRichards227]

The top speed of a regular T is about 45 mph. The top speed of this railcar is about 25 mph, which suits our 20 mph track very well. This is due to having only 18-inch rail wheels, rather than 30-inch road wheels. I am not sure of the weight but it is more than a road T.

[@darylcheshire1618]

interesting bridge design, was that original?

[@WWFRailway]

Originally this bridge, a Howe pony truss-covered bridge, was from the Boston & Maine’s Berlin Branch, spanning the Moose Brook in Gorham. In 2004, arsonists set the bridge ablaze, it was then removed, rebuilt, and graciously donated to the WW&F by the National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges, arriving to our railroad in 2017. The original WW&F Queen Post Truss Bridge can be seen in photos of the 1905 Mason’s Wreck, where locomotive #4 jumped the tracks and knocked out the supporting wooden truss, causing the span to collapse. Its replacement was quickly built, but ultimately was lost sometime after the railroad was abandoned in 1933.

[@darylcheshire1618]

@@WWFRailway Thank you for your reply, so the truss is made entirely of wood and covered in panels to preserve it from snow and the weather?

[@WWFRailway]

@@darylcheshire1618 Correct. The point of a covered bridge is to protect the trusses from rot. Many covered bridges used a roof to protect the bridge deck as well, but pony covered bridge was also common. Today, our bridge is only one of five that remain in all of North America.

[@danielfantino1714]

​​@@WWFRailwayi remember that original bridge. So sad it burned such a rarity. Good to see that is back and on "active" track .

[@riccodelestaque7720]

Is it a vintage railway vehicle or a recent creation?

[@WWFRailway]

This particular railcar is a replica. There are several existent examples from the common carrier era, including ones in the collection of Owl's Head Transportation Museum and another owned by Maine Narrow Gauge RR Co. and Museum.

[@riccodelestaque7720]

@@WWFRailway Merci.

[@johnfrancis4809]

Where in the world is this

[@WWFRailway]

At the WW&F Railway Museum in Alna, Maine, USA.

[@randymagnum143]

Looks like it could use a good greasing.

[@BenRichards227]

The jack handle is a little dry. The rest of the 24+ zerks received attention this spring.

[@ajivins1]

Shame, I was hoping for the AA-OO-GA!

[@BenRichards227]

It's on the to-do list. 🙂 Fun fact: Model Ts did not come from the factory with an "ooga" horn. Instead it was a buzzer-type, referred to affectionately as the "sick duck" horn.

[@ajivins1]

@@BenRichards227 Fred MacMurray lied?!

[@scottwiseman8015]

Pick them up one at Harbor Freight. I'm sure they would love to have one.

[@BenRichards227]

​@@ajivins1I think it was probably aftermarket...

[@tomellis4750]

Uber cute

[@patrickcalabro8718]

Don’t forget Henry Ford, who not only produced the Model T but is the inventor of the first automobile assembly line! This was his first mass-produced car, and then he followed up with the Model A. thank you 🇺🇸 🎌 🚩 🧑‍🎤 🏁 👩‍💼👩‍🎓

[@juemuri5448]

tolles gefährt,,,um damit schwarz-gebrannten whisky zum verkauf zu fahren...