Master Mechanic Caswell
Bridgton machine shop foreman Millard M. "Mel" Caswell was born in 1850. He took an early interest in mechanical affairs of the proposed railroad and served as master mechanic for the B&SR until he retired in 1926. He remained interested in the railroad and frequently attended the railfan excursions of the 1930s. His son, Wilfred H. Caswell, was born in 1876 and shared his father's mechanical aptitude. Wilfred Caswell was the engineer assigned to the construction train for the Harrison extension in 1898. Wilfred was the Portland Company mechanical engineer who supervised construction of the first Maine narrow gauge Forney locomotive with a pilot truck (B&SR locomotive number 5) in 1906. Wilfred then served as a consulting engineer for Baldwin Locomotive Works during construction of B&SR locomotive number 6 and an identical locomotive for the Sandy River Railroad. In May 1909 Wilfred became master mechanic of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad (SR&RL). Wilfred's early recognition of the technical value of photography produced excellent photographic documentation of SR&RL operations through the period of Maine Central Railroad ownership. When SR&RL profits declined in 1922, Wilfred and his wife Blanche, who had been the SR&RL book-keeper, moved to Dedham, Massachusetts, where Wilfred worked for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
Read more about this topic: Bridgton And Saco River Railroad
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