THE H. ALBERT WEBB MEMORIAL RAILROAD PRESERVATION AWARD

Mass Bay RRE member Leigh Webb created the H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad Preservation Award in 2001 to recognize his father's love for New England railroading. Mass Bay RRE acts as Mr. Webb's agent in soliciting applications for the award, reviewing the complete applications, and administering the grants as they are used. Nonprofit, tax-exempt [IRC 501(c)(3)] organizations that preserve historically significant railroad equipment, structures or information from New England railroads are eligible to apply. The successful applicant receives a single $10,000 grant.

The Downeast Rail Heritage Preservation Trust of Ellsworth, Maine, is the recipient of the 2024 H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad Preservation Award. This $10,000 grant has enabled the Trust to complete most of the exterior restoration of Maine Central Railroad Russell snowplow #82, including replacing broken windows, doors and applying new exterior paint and lettering. CSX Transportation donated the snowplow to the Trust, which moved #82 by truck from Northern Maine Junction in Bangor, Maine to their yard at Washington Junction in Hancock, Maine.
Right: MEC Russell plow #82 at Northern Maine Junction in late 2023, prior to its move to Washington Junction for preservation. CSX intends to scrap the second plow, seen here behind #82. (Photo: Downeast RHT)

#82 was built by the Russell Snowplow Company of Ridgeway, PA in 1948. The Russell Snowplows are iconic to the Maine Central Railroad as well as other New England railroads. #82 operated on the Trust's home rails, the Calais Branch as well as the Bucksport Branch of the Maine Central Railroad. Now 75 years old and facing scrapping, it was important to save, refurbish and to make available for the public to view and tour these classic pieces of New England and Maine railroad history.

Completed projects since 2001 funded (entirely or in part) by H. Albert Webb Award grants include:

• Construction of a deck and and ramp connecting the freight house section of the Greenville Junction Depot in Greenville, Maine, to the recently-acquired Bodfish Section House and providing full ADA access to the Depot.
• Completion of the "Mountain Extension" of the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum of Alna, Maine, to the new Trout Brook Preserve station at Route 218. The H. Albert Webb Award enabled the WW&F to purchase track materials and services needed to complete the project. The Mountain Extension opened for revenue service on August 6, 2022.
• Correction of deficiencies in the air brake system of Boston & Maine F7-A #4268 by the 470 Railroad Club of Portland, Maine. This was the final major step in restoring the vintage cab unit to operating condition. The restored locomotive made itsdebut on the Conway Scenic Railroad in April, 2022.
• Construction of a three-stall car storage building, including the purchase of needed track materials by the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad of Phillips, Maine
• Installation of a lavatory & generator to complete the restoration of Delaware & Hudson RR Combine #102 by the Downeast Rail Heritage Preservation Trust, Inc. of Ellsworth, Maine.
• Boiler repairs needed as part of the restoration to operating condition of ex-Bridgton & Saco River steam locomotive 7 (Baldwin, 1913) by the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad & Museum in Portland, ME.
• Completion of interior and exterior restoration of the historic Newfane Railroad Station in Newfane, Vermont, by the Historical Society of Windham County, Vermont, Inc.
• Replacement of the ties and timbers on the deck of the Danbury Railway Museum's 1917-vintage New Haven Railroad turntable in Danbury, Connecticut.
• Repair and restoration of the exterior siding, trim, slate roofing and windows on the 1867 Shelburne Falls Freight House in Shelburne Falls, MA by the Shelburne Falls Trolley Museum, Inc.
• Rehabilitation of four traction motors in Union Street Railway RPO Car 302 by the Branford Electric Railway Association, Inc., of East Haven, Connecticut, better known as the Shore Line Trolley Museum
• Stabilization of the foundation of the historic Brooks Station, located on the route of the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railway, by the Brooks Preservation Society of Brooks, Maine.
• Expanding the equipment storage and repair building at the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in Alna, ME.    
• Scanning and preserving, in digital form, 5000 historic New England railroad images from the Walker Transportation Collection at the Beverly Historical Society, Beverly, MA.
• Restoring Atlantic Shore Line electric locomotive 100 to operating condition at the Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport, ME.
• Restoring the interior of Pullman bedroom-lounge car Pine Tree State, the last sleeping car built for the New Haven Railroad, now at the North Carolina Transportation Museum, Spencer, N.C.
• Reconstructing a quarter-mile of track along the grade of the first U.S. two-foot-gauge common-carrier railroad, by the Friends of Bedford Depot Park, Bedford, MA.

• Rrestoration of Bridgton & Sandy River Coach no. 15, the Pondicherry, by the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad & Museum of Portland, Maine.
• Purchase and installation of wire & conduit for the motor circuit controls on Bay State Street Railway Car 4175 (Laconia Car Company, 1914), along with other running gear repairs, at the Seashore Trolley Museum.
• Restoration of the body shell of former Maine Central Railroad Alco S1 diesel locomotive 954, built in January 1945 and now a valued part of the Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum's operating collection of historic railroad equipment.
• Restoration to operating condition of Boston Elevated Railway “Type Five” streetcar 5706, owned by the Boston Street Railway Association.
• Rebuilding and installing a replacement engine in Naugatuck Railroad (ex-Boston & Maine) GP9 diesel locomotive 1732, at the Railroad Museum of New England, Thomaston, Conn.
• Restoration to operating condition of Boston & Maine P-4-a 4-6-2 steam locomotive 3713, part of the collection at the Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, PA

The application period for the 2025 H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad Preservation Award is now OPEN.
For details on how to apply, please see the Preservation Page.