by Andrew Martin

WOLCOTT – The Wolcott Select Board held its monthly meeting Wednesday, July 21, at 6:00 p.m. at the Wolcott Town Offices, on School Street. One of the major items on the agenda for the night was a meeting with Dan Goodrich, the Wolcott citizen in charge of restoring the 70-ton train engine that is currently located near the train station and town offices. The board has received several complaints about the appearance of the engine, and the current location of the train also remains a problem since it lies nearly on top of a major waterline. At the meeting, the select board members were hoping to receive a report from Goodrich on the status of his restoration project.

The train engine in question arrived in Wolcott in October of 2007, when Goodrich made an agreement with the Wolcott Select Board to display the train near the Wolcott Historical Society and the town offices. At that time Goodrich was planning on restoring the historical engine. His plans to do so centered on the non-profit organization Friends of the 70 that he formed around that time. Friends of the 70 was supposed to take over all maintenance and funding for the restoration of the train.

When the selectboard inquired as to the status of his restoration project, Goodrich responded that at this time he has lost nearly all of his backers. He went on to explain that while he has purchased the materials to repaint the engine he has no funds to take any further steps with the restoration, and that he has also ceased receiving volunteer efforts to aid in the project. In summary, things have come to a standstill, and Goodrich stated that he could give no definite completion date for the restoration.

After a lengthy discussion between Goodrich, the selectboard, and various community members present, the board members made it clear to Mr. Goodrich that the train can no longer remain at its present location. More discussion led to a decision that Goodrich would be in charge of the movement of the train, and that a possible new location for the engine would be on the town property where the bus barn is located. It is hoped that Goodrich can find more funds for the project and continue his restoration of the train at that location. If the location near the bus barn proves to be unsuitable for keeping the train then a new location must be found.

The selectboard reiterated that if Mr. Goodrich can complete his restoration of the engine than they will be more than willing to reopen discussion of placing the train somewhere in town. Several possibilities discussed at the meeting for possible future placement of the restored train included making the train engine mobile and placing it at Fisher Bridge during the summer months or working with other parties involved in using the enhancement grant that the Town of Wolcott has received for the area around the Wolcott Town Offices.
The discussion of the train engine project ended with the board members stating that they would like to hear from Goodrich about his progress with the train more often. Goodrich is also to report back to the board within the next few weeks about his efforts to relocate the train.

Sidebar: The Wolcott Select Board would also like to ask people traveling down Route 15 to cease parking on the pull off between the Gulf Road and Town Hill Road in Wolcott. Individuals have been parking in that pull off and leaving their vehicles there for the day. This is causing a traffic hazard since the pull off in that location is not large enough and cars attempting to pull out of the Gulf Road cannot see any oncoming traffic on Route 15 – around the parked cars. The selectboard respectfully asks that anyone who has been leaving their car in the pull off near the Gulf Road to, instead, park in the larger pull off and turnaround that is located further west down Route 15 across from Fort Hill Road.