Maine’s Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington is making steady progress with its effort to build a brand new 2-foot gauge 2-4-4T locomotive, and the project is getting a major boost thanks to an anonymous donor. 

Since 1989, the museum has rebuilt 3.5 miles of track on the original right-of-way of one of Maine’s five original narrow gauge railroads. Along with that, the museum has built multiple stations, a shop, a roundhouse, and a water tower, as well as rebuilt two steam locomotives. The third locomotive, presently under construction, is a 2-4-4T based on the original WW&F’s No. 7, a 28-ton 2-4-4T Forney built by Baldwin in 1907. The locomotive will wear the number 11, one higher than the museum’s current steam roster (locomotive 9, a 0-4-4T, was the last engine owned by the original railroad, and locomotive 10 was purchased from Edaville in Massachusetts in the early 2000s. Locomotive 10 was originally built for a Louisiana plantation).  

In 2025, this anonymous donor made a generous matching donation toward the “Build 11” project, and they have decided to do it again in 2026. For every dollars raised this year, the donor will match it up to $60,000. The donor has said they hope to offer similar support over the next few years, which will help the museum get even closer to an operating locomotive. As of early 2026, a number of major components have been completed, including the frame and wheelsets. The museum hopes to have the locomotive complete by the end of the decade. For more information and to learn how to donate, visit https://wwfry.org/build-11/.

—Justin Franz