Twofootartist’s Random Ramblings

The two-foot gauge Monson Railroad carried slate from quarries in Monson, Maine, to the Bangor & Aroostock Railroad at a station known as Monson Junction. The Junction station still exists, although it hasn’t been used since 1944 and is in sad shape, having sunk more than a foot from the weight of the slate roof that has kept it from rotting away completely. I made my drawings from photographs and measurements made by Neil MacDonald. I have since received a set of field notes from Moe Mechling but haven’t compared them to my drawing. I also need to complete three of the drawings.

The owner of the Monson Junction property plans to restore the station and replicate all the other railroad structures that once accompanied it. He asked me about the outhouse, which prompted me to get out my drawing board for the first time in years and create this one.

It’s crudely drawn with felt-tip pens and shaky hands, but I think it is quite accurate. There was a partition in the middle made of horizontal 5″ tongue & groove boards. There would have been benches on both sides of the partition with two holes in each. The partition most likely did not extend to the ridge and was not framed, but set into dadoes in 2 x 4s mounted on the walls.

And here is the storage shed that housed the railroad’s only passenger car. It was also used as a temporary enginehouse when the main enginehouse was being rebuilt after a fire.

Note that the right hand window is slightly lower than the others.

Here is a scan of a drawing I did years ago of the Monson Railroad snowplow. This was one of the most challenging projects I have done and took eight years of off and on work. I want to thank Peter Barney for sharing photos, advice and information that helped me finish it. This drawing was published in the Narrow Gauge and Short Line Gazette. There are no dimensions on it, but you can establish the scale by measuring the truck wheelbase, which is 48 inches. Overall length is 24 feet.

To test the accuracy of my drawing I built a 1:48 scale model out of styrene and brass and photographed it from the same angle as several prototype photos. The universal joint in the front coupler actually works. Professor Junichi Hamada of Tokyo, Japan, later bought this model.

Here is a photo that Neil MacDonald took in 2010 of part of the bench seat from the Monson combine, and posted with his permission.

Text and drawings on this page Copyright 2010 – 2021 by Wesley Ewell and may not be used in any form without permission. An exception is granted for modelbuilders who may copy the drawings for personal use, but may not sell, distribute or publish them in any way. Left click on the drawings and photos to enlarge them.