Courtesy of Farmington Historical Society
There are many events in the month of April that bring joy to many Farmingtonians. For some, Easter is an important time for families to get together and celebrate the festivities of the season. Some environmentally minded folks go out and clean up their neighborhood for Earth Day or plant a tree on Arbor Day. But, for some of our more rascally members of the community, April 1st is their day to have a little mischievous fun. April Fools’ Day has been around for centuries and was popular even in the ever-so austere 1910s. Today’s stories involve pranks and shenanigans having to do with the railroad. For the information of my readers who may be new to town or younger, Farmington used to have two rail lines: the Maine Central Railroad, Farmington Branch and the Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad. The former was standard gauge and the latter was two-foot narrow gauge. Let’s leave Farmington station and travel back once again to 1915.