Visiting Two Maine Museums

There are some nice museums in Maine. Two are the Maine State Museum and the WW&F Railroad Museum. I've visited both recently.

In two vists, I spent about six hours in the Maine State Museum. it is next door to the state capital building in Augusta.

It is a great museum, well laid out and full of interesting exhibits.

The entry fee for an adult is only $2 with discounts for senior citizens and kids. But at $2 who needs a discount?

There are four full floors of exhibits covering a wide range of Maine topics. Lots of old cars, old machinery, logging and sardine and textile industry stuff.

An exhibit of civil war flags is impressive as is a roomful of exhibits about Maine setting itself apart from Massachusetts after Massschusetts about gave it away in the War of 1812.

The Maine Museum has a truly excellent section on Archaic and post-Archaic era Native Americans in an exhibit that takes us from 12,000 BC to the near present. I went back a second day.to explore this section more closely.

After visiting the museum in Augusta I felt the pull of museums in general.
The WW&F railroad museum in Alna stands beside my home.

I went next door to the WW&F Railroad museum and took a ride on its steam driven passenger train that runs about three miles out and three miles back on narrow gauge 2 foot rails. The fee was $6 which goes to restoration of the railroad and its equipment.. It is all-volunteer staffed.

I rode in the open car on the way out to the stop at Alna Center and in the enclosed car out to the end of the line.

On the way back to the museum... I was asked if I wanted to ride in the cab of the engine and I said an emphatic "Yes!".

It was hot near the firebox. and, strangely enough.. it was a bit dirty in the coal-fired engine cab..... who woulda guessed, eh?

But it was really fun.. and informative to see the engineer and his assistant running the steam engine and blasting the whistle and ringing the bell as we approached RR Crossings.

It was a nice little ride down tracks I have walked pretty recently.

A link to the WW&F Railroad webpage:

http://www.wwfry.org/

A link to the to the Maine State Museum webpage:

http://mainestatemuseum.org/