The Board of New England Steam Corporation wishes to announce that they NESCo is the recipient of two grants to construct an all-weather shop facility at Washington Junction, Maine, on the tracks of the Downeast Scenic Railroad.

A grant of $10,000 has been awarded by the Deupree Family Foundation, and a grant of $51,400 has been awarded by the Samuel Freeman Foundation. These generous awards will be used to construct a 50' x 100' arch-tarp structure, which will be seated upon re-purposed cargo containers, on a footing of crushed stone.

This structure is based upon a design suggested and developed by senior Civil Engineering students of the University of Maine. It is expandable in the future, if deemed necessary. The student design was a capstone project which culminated in the awarding of their engineering degrees.

The arch-tarp structure will be ordered from Tarp-Rite company of Woodstock, New Brunswick, and is designed to withstand wind and snow loads commonly sustained in the Maine winters. The cargo containers will provide individual shop and storage spaces, as well as a library and office for New England Steam Corporation.

Volunteers of the Downeast Scenic Railroad prepared the track 7 siding to receive locomotive 470 over the summer, with new ties and track leveling. The shop building will be shared with DESR to perform maintenance on an "as needed" basis. This structure will be the first indoor facility to house locomotive 470, since 1954.