Locomotive #9 is the only surviving locomotive from 3 different railroads: the Sandy River & Rangely Lakes (SR&RL), the Kennebec Central (KC), and the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington (WW&F). Additionally, it is the oldest of the Maine Two Footer locomotives (built 1891), and only one of possibly two locomotives surviving from its builder, the Portland Company of Portland, Maine. Therefore it is a unique engine.

A major expense of the restoration will come from the new boiler. Ultrasounds on the old boiler indicated excessive disintegration in certain spots. In addition, the boiler was built with a "modified lap-seam" which is now illegal to operate under Maine law. Rather than to destroy the old boiler with numerous patches and fixes, it was decided to preserve the historical integrity of the old boiler, and to set it aside for future generations to view, while building a new boiler for the locomotive to run with and giving it many more years of life. The new boiler is planned to match the old boiler as closely as possible, working within today's rules and guidelines. Additionally, the locomotive was assembled with the boiler an integral part of the frame. This technique was used on early standard gauge Forneys, and was used by the Portland Company when it first built the two foot gauge locomotives. Later techniques used by Portland and Baldwin disconnected the boiler from the pulling forces of the train and built a frame around it, much like most locomotives were built. Therefore 9 will be re-assembled with this new frame piece around its firebox.