Monson Railroad Drawings
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.
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 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.
November 30, 2010 at 6:03 pm |
Hi,
This is it. Shortly I wrote a note to the 2ft Yahoo-group, seeking for snow-fighting equipment plan or pics from Maine NG but only some hints about my existing box-car flanger are all I´ve earned. This is a snow plough as I know it from the Swiss alps, my favourite holiday place.
Thank you very much for the drawings and pics.
Is there no rotating snow fighting equipment in Maine?
Wolf
February 23, 2011 at 2:08 am |
Hi Wes I really like all your drawings and photos ,I just wish they where around when I started hunting and measuring 30 years ago .I have a question what was the colour of Monson Jct station my b&w photos don’t tell me thanks in advance Mike
May 3, 2012 at 3:49 am |
Wes we just finished a 7/8n2 kit for the Monson Combine, a lot of misinformation but am sorting through it. One question what color did the car originally come with; and what color was the roof? B&W pictures are difficult to guess on. I have been told that the orange came later. Thank you in advance.
V/R
Tom 7/8n2 Eagles “Maine Done Right”
tomeagles44@gmail.com
August 14, 2013 at 9:41 pm |
A late reply is probably better than no reply, so here it is: the combine was originally painted dark green with gold lettering. The orange color is probably red lead. It may have been redder in reality but the photos might have faded. The station was painted the creamy tan and boxcar red colors of the Bangor & Aroostock RR.
December 27, 2017 at 5:10 am |
Great looking plans. Thanks for sharing.
Richard