Dedication of Spinney Model Railway held at Boothbay Railway
Son Jeffry and daughter Jennifer with their mother Nancy Spinney at the Dedication. Jeff was there with his wife Melissa, and Henry Brennan accompanied his wife Jennifer. Courtesy of Kate Steed
The unveiling of the Spinney Building plaque. Courtesy of Kate Steed
Spinney approached George McEvoy in 1964 about a job in the newly relocated Freeport Station, which was just settling into its Wiscasset Road home after long years of service in Freeport. His first letter of interest letter seems not to have survived the 55 years since its mailing, but McEvoy’s prompt response recently resurfaced in a rummage through storage boxes. His persistence as a 15-year-old seems to have paid off. Young Spinney stayed in contact with George McEvoy, volunteered, and then became the Village’s first conductor, its first paid employee. His early fascination for the Narrow Gauge trains gave way to a lifelong passion for model trains. Courtesy of Kate Steed
The MRR’s George Paine and Bob Holland describe the layout as “Maine cities and towns of the 1950s, and the railways running through them, just as Ron envisioned it – all with comprehensive block signal and central dispatcher systems, and a ’30s narrow gauge.” The main locales are Portland, Thomaston (Dragon cement), Southport, Monson (narrow gauge) and rural Maine. The Southport fishing village and harbor was named in Ron's memory a few years ago; the North Whitefield hillside village is dotted with memorable structures such as Moody's Diner, the John Deere tractor dealer, and Elm's Boothbay Texaco Garage. The farm villages of Monson. Whitefield and North Whitefield were the towns on Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railroad. “The vision we follow is Ron’s.” noted Paine. “The basic tracks have been running since 2006 with very few problems.” Courtesy of Kate Steed
Son Jeffry and daughter Jennifer with their mother Nancy Spinney at the Dedication. Jeff was there with his wife Melissa, and Henry Brennan accompanied his wife Jennifer. Courtesy of Kate Steed
The unveiling of the Spinney Building plaque. Courtesy of Kate Steed
Spinney approached George McEvoy in 1964 about a job in the newly relocated Freeport Station, which was just settling into its Wiscasset Road home after long years of service in Freeport. His first letter of interest letter seems not to have survived the 55 years since its mailing, but McEvoy’s prompt response recently resurfaced in a rummage through storage boxes. His persistence as a 15-year-old seems to have paid off. Young Spinney stayed in contact with George McEvoy, volunteered, and then became the Village’s first conductor, its first paid employee. His early fascination for the Narrow Gauge trains gave way to a lifelong passion for model trains. Courtesy of Kate Steed
The MRR’s George Paine and Bob Holland describe the layout as “Maine cities and towns of the 1950s, and the railways running through them, just as Ron envisioned it – all with comprehensive block signal and central dispatcher systems, and a ’30s narrow gauge.” The main locales are Portland, Thomaston (Dragon cement), Southport, Monson (narrow gauge) and rural Maine. The Southport fishing village and harbor was named in Ron's memory a few years ago; the North Whitefield hillside village is dotted with memorable structures such as Moody's Diner, the John Deere tractor dealer, and Elm's Boothbay Texaco Garage. The farm villages of Monson. Whitefield and North Whitefield were the towns on Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railroad. “The vision we follow is Ron’s.” noted Paine. “The basic tracks have been running since 2006 with very few problems.” Courtesy of Kate Steed
Approximately 50 of his family, friends, colleagues and fellow model railroad enthusiasts gathered this past Thursday, July 18, in an emotional dedication of the building where the late Ron Spinney devoted many hours in creating what is regarded by many as “one of the best model railroads” in New England.
As expected, friends, neighbors and fellow “modelers” travelled from several states for the evening event, one that became increasingly moving as his family, friends and colleagues spoke of him. Ron Spinney’s extraordinary life story had, in retrospect, a simple plan, one that played out so well it seemed to have been in his mind all along. The longtime Southport resident turned aside compelling big company job offers when graduating from the University of Maine. He married his college sweetheart, returned home, then built a company, and then, a family.
And, it turned out, he led the building of an ever-growing model railroad layout that remains in construction today, an ever-evolving landscape that, piece by piece, makes real what Spinney envisioned years ago: a replica of mid-20th century Maine cities and towns, and the railways running through them.”
One of several of his longtime model railway colleagues who spoke from their hearts, included George McEvoy, who hired young Spinney in the mid-1960s. Unknown to many, Ron Spinney was the first paid employee at the Village.
“He was a special man,” noted McEvoy. “He knew who he was, even when I first met him, a 15-year-old train conductor with a passion for trains that lasted his lifetime.”
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