The Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum has put nine years and about $130,000 into restoring a locomotive that holds a lot of meaning for the all-volunteer museum in Alna.

The Portland-built, 1891 locomotive used to run from Wiscasset to Albion for the same railway the museum commemorates, museum officials said. It’ll be on display Dec. 20 during the museum’s Victorian Christmas event, and could be ready for use on train rides as soon as next summer.

“It’s a huge thing for us,” museum president Stephen Zuppa said Dec. 8, about the project that appears months from completion. “It’s been a long time coming. Now that the end is finally in sight, it’s getting really exciting,” he added.

The locomotive still needs its cab and tank put on.

When the museum began leasing the locomotive from its Connecticut owner in 1995, officials were not sure how long it would take to get it back in service. After sitting for decades in a barn on a farm, its condition required it to be completely rebuilt.

The project reached a milestone near the end of November, when the volunteers were able to generate steam with the locomotive, something it hadn’t done in 81 years. On Dec. 1, work was continuing and the locomotive was again making steam, which volunteers used to steam-clean locomotive 10.

At 12 tons, that one, which dates to 1904, is smaller than locomotive 9; but plans call for it stay in use once the 1891 locomotive is back in service. The two will be used interchangeably, museum board member Jason Lamontagne said.

At the 14th annual Victorian Christmas event, visitors will be able to get an up-close look at the 19th century locomotive and ask questions about it. In addition to the display, the free event that runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. will feature steam train rides, horse-and-wagon rides, ornament-making, a bonfire and other activities.

Expect a crowd. Last year, the weather was off and the Victorian Christmas drew 900, Zuppa said; in 2012, 1,200 turned out. Not only is it popular with visitors, it’s also the volunteers’ favorite one to put on, he said.

“We all have a ball doing it.”

For more information, call the museum at 207-882-4193 or visit www.wwfry.org.

In addition to restoring the 1891 locomotive, the museum continues its work to extend the train’s route northward toward Head Tide in Alna.