Picnicking by the rails
Monica and Chris Betz of Houston, Texas, wait on an open train car for the start of a ride at Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna on Aug. 9. The museum held a picnic throughout the weekend with steam train rides, a yard sale and other attractions. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Joe and Kathy Devonshire of Jefferson eat before riding the rails Aug. 9 on day two of a picnic at Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Volunteer engineer Dana Deering of Buxton looks out before the start of a train trip Aug. 9 at Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Train buff Chris Betz of Houston, Texas, looks over a century-old engine Sunday, Aug. 9 at the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum’s picnic weekend. Richard Verney of Alna owns the engine that was on display. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Monica and Chris Betz of Houston, Texas, wait on an open train car for the start of a ride at Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna on Aug. 9. The museum held a picnic throughout the weekend with steam train rides, a yard sale and other attractions. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Joe and Kathy Devonshire of Jefferson eat before riding the rails Aug. 9 on day two of a picnic at Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Volunteer engineer Dana Deering of Buxton looks out before the start of a train trip Aug. 9 at Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Train buff Chris Betz of Houston, Texas, looks over a century-old engine Sunday, Aug. 9 at the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum’s picnic weekend. Richard Verney of Alna owns the engine that was on display. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
When Kathy Devonshire was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s and would ask for a train set, she was told that trains weren’t for girls.
On Aug. 9, the retired high school librarian joined husband Joe Devonshire for their second train ride in two days at the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna.
“So I’m finally getting to play with trains,” Kathy Devonshire said over a burger.
The former New Jersey couple, married 36 years, live in Jefferson. “We fell in love with Maine, and Jefferson is what really bit us,” Joe Devonshire said. “It’s the sense of family and community, and the friendliness of the people.”
The railway museum on Alna’s Cross Road also struck a chord. “There’s a real spirit around here,” he said.
“So many people have given their time and effort to it,” his wife said.
The nonprofit museum’s volunteers put on a picnic Saturday and Sunday that raised thousands of dollars, including $1,600 in a yard sale to benefit the museum’s project of cataloging its archives on a computer, President Stephen Zuppa said.
One visitor delivered a check with $2,500 left to the museum in a will; an anonymous donor agreed to match the weekend’s fundraising up to $250. “We more than exceeded that,” Zuppa said.
“The donations were coming in fast and furious,” he said.
Before boarding the train with his family Sunday, Chris Betz of Houston, Texas, checked out the gas-powered antique equipment that Alna’s Richard Verney had on display.
Betz was around trains as a boy in Dayton, Ohio. Metal for his father’s scrap metal recycling business arrived by rail, he said. Friends who have been to the Alna museum encouraged him to visit it.
Verney incorporated toy monkeys into his displays of a Maine-made wood-splitter and an engine from a former saw mill in upstate New Hampshire. He likes to show people the types of equipment used before the electric motor came along, and answer their questions. “A lot of the younger generation doesn’t even know what this was used for,” he said.
“The kids like the monkeys more than they like the engine,” he said, smiling.
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