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Boston and Maine Railroad: "Route Of The Minute Man"

Last revised: September 16, 2026

By: Adam Burns

The Boston & Maine was the largest railroad in New England, and for more than a century it was the railroad New England rode. The slogan was Route Of The Minute Man. Reporting mark BM. The Massachusetts ancestor, the Andover & Wilmington, was chartered March 15, 1833, and opened to Andover on August 8, 1836. New Hampshire chartered the Boston & Maine itself on June 27, 1835. By the early twentieth century the system held more than 2,000 route-miles from Boston north to Portland and the White Mountains, west through the Hoosac Tunnel to Troy and Mechanicville, and up the Connecticut River toward Montreal. It connected with the New Haven, the Boston & Albany, the Maine Central, the Central Vermont, the Rutland, and the Delaware & Hudson.

Bondholders put the company into Section 77 on March 12, 1970. Alan G. Dustin kept it out of Conrail on April 1, 1976. Timothy Mellon’s Guilford Transportation Industries took title on June 30, 1983, for $24.25 million. Guilford became Pan Am Railways in 2006. CSX closed on Pan Am on June 1, 2022.

Boston and Maine GP38-2 locomotives at Mechanicville New York during the 1970s

Relatively new Boston & Maine GP38-2s at Mechanicville, New York, during the 1970s. Warren Calloway photo.

On this page: At a glance · Andover to Portland · The Eastern · Boston & Lowell · New Hampshire · Fitchburg and Hoosac · Worcester, Nashua & Portland · Peak plant · Passenger trains · Steam and diesel · McGinnis · 1970, Dustin, Conrail · Guilford, Pan Am, CSX · What remains

At a glance

Boston and Maine Railroad Minute Man logo

Boston & Maine Railroad logo. Author’s work.

ItemDetail
HeadquartersBoston, Massachusetts
ChartersAndover & Wilmington, Massachusetts, March 15, 1833. Boston & Maine, New Hampshire, June 27, 1835
First trainsAndover, August 8, 1836. Exeter, New Hampshire, June 26, 1840
Dates of operation1836 through Guilford title June 30, 1983
States servedMassachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, New York; leased lines into Quebec
Route-milesPeak plant over 2,300 (Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society). 2,084 (1930). About 1,700 (1950)
Principal linesBoston–Dover–Portland; Boston–Portsmouth–Portland (Eastern); Boston–White River Junction; Boston–Troy / Rotterdam Junction (Fitchburg); Springfield–Berlin, N.H.; Worcester–Portland (WN&P); Dover–Intervale
Yards / shopsBoston, East Deerfield, Rigby (South Portland), Mechanicville. Shops at North Billerica, Massachusetts, and Concord, New Hampshire
Gauge4 feet 8½ inches
Slogan / markRoute Of The Minute Man / BM
Locomotives (1963)235. Freight cars 5,490. Passenger cars 155
Section 77Bondholders’ petition March 12, 1970, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts
GuilfordTitle June 30, 1983, $24.25 million. Pan Am Railways name, 2006
CSXClosed on Pan Am June 1, 2022. Genesee & Wyoming Berkshire & Eastern west of Ayer
RostersSteam (post-1900) · All-time diesel

Peak mileage follows the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society. 1930 figure is the Official Guide-era plant. Guilford close is the June 30, 1983, title date (UPI). Information compiled September 16, 2026.

Andover to Portland

People in Andover wanted a railroad to the Boston & Lowell at Wilmington, less than eight miles. Massachusetts chartered the Andover & Wilmington on March 15, 1833. Trains reached Andover August 8, 1836. The name became Andover & Haverhill on April 18, 1837, then Boston & Portland on April 3, 1839, as the object stretched toward Maine. New Hampshire had already chartered a Boston & Maine on June 27, 1835, to carry the same idea from the Massachusetts line to the Maine line. Maine incorporated the Maine, New Hampshire & Massachusetts on March 30, 1836, to finish the job from Portland to Great Falls.

Rails reached East Kingston, New Hampshire, on January 1, 1840, and Exeter on June 26. Dover opened a temporary depot September 24, 1841. The Boston & Portland and the New Hampshire Boston & Maine united on November 5, 1841. The Maine company joined on June 3, 1844. The name that survived was Boston & Maine.

On February 23, 1843, the railroad opened Exeter to South Berwick, Maine, and met the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth, which already ran into Portland. For a time the B&M and its coastal rival, the Eastern, jointly leased the PS&P rather than race each other into the city. The B&M’s own Portland extension, South Berwick to Portland, opened February 15, 1873. Until then the inland road was a guest on someone else’s last miles.

South of Wilmington the B&M at first used the Boston & Lowell into Boston. That arrangement did not last. In 1845 it built its own line from Wilmington Junction into Haymarket Square and put a Greek Revival station on the square. Causeway Street’s Union Station—North Station—gathered the north-side roads under one roof in 1893. From then on Boston meant North Station if you were riding the B&M.

Whitefield is a diamond, not a slogan. The B&M Berlin line crossed the Maine Central Mountain Division at a crew-operated ball mast dated to 1875. One ball let the B&M over the Maine Central; two balls let the Maine Central over the B&M. That plant is the hardware behind the word highball.

The Eastern

Massachusetts chartered the Eastern Railroad on April 14, 1836. Construction started in August 1837. The Eastern hugged the Atlantic: Boston, Lynn, Salem, Newburyport, Portsmouth, and on toward Portland, reaching the New Hampshire line on November 9, 1840. The B&M ran inland through Lawrence, Haverhill, and Dover. Two roads, two Portland routes, the same destination. The Eastern had its own Boston terminal. The inland road, until 1845, did not.

They fought for decades and still shared the PS&P into Portland. The B&M leased the Eastern on December 23, 1883, and bought it outright in the spring of 1890. After that the inland line was the Inside Gateway and the Eastern was the coastal main. Both still exist in pieces. MBTA’s Haverhill Line uses the old B&M; the Newburyport/Rockport Line uses the Eastern.

Boston and Maine E7A 3805 at Chicopee Massachusetts in 1956

Boston & Maine E7A #3805 leads a Greenfield-Springfield train southbound through Chicopee, Massachusetts on May 20, 1956. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection.

Boston & Lowell

The Boston & Lowell is older than the B&M. Massachusetts chartered it June 5, 1830, with a thirty-year monopoly between Boston and the mills at Lowell. The 26-mile road opened in 1835, the same year Worcester opened on the Boston & Worcester. From Lowell it reached Nashua and Keene, and it gathered branches to Salem, Concord, and Ayer. For years it was the B&M’s landlord into Boston and then its rival.

The New Hampshire Supreme Court refused, early in 1887, to ratify a Boston & Lowell lease of the Northern Railroad. That broke the Lowell’s Montreal ambition and left it strained. The B&M leased the Boston & Lowell on April 1, 1887, guaranteed the dividends, and folded the property into what became the Southern Division. The original Boston–Lowell iron is still a railroad: MBTA’s Lowell Line, with freight rights on the same corridor.

Boston and Maine 4-6-2 3712 and 4-4-2 3234 at North Station Boston in the 1950s

A busy scene at Boston’s North Station during the 1950s. In the foreground is Boston & Maine 4-6-2 #3712 (P-4); in the background, 4-4-2 #3234 (J-1e). Author’s collection.

New Hampshire: Concord, the Northern, Concord & Montreal

New Hampshire was not a branch. It was half the map. The Boston, Concord & Montreal, incorporated 1844, opened Concord to Tilton on May 22, 1848, Plymouth on June 21, 1850 via Laconia and Meredith, and Wells River, Vermont, on May 10, 1853. The B&M first took the BC&M in 1887, then lost it. The Concord & Montreal, a July 24, 1889, consolidation of the BC&M and the Concord Railroad, lasted only a few independent years. The B&M leased it on April 1, 1895. That lease put Concord, Manchester, Nashua, Bellows Falls, and Wells River on one payroll.

The Northern Railroad was a Concord–White River Junction company, chartered by New Hampshire in 1844 to reach some point on the Connecticut River. Franklin opened December 28, 1846; Lebanon, November 17, 1847; then the river bridge into White River Junction, about seventy miles in all. A single branch, the Franklin & Bristol, ran Franklin to Bristol from 1849. The Boston & Lowell had taken the Northern in 1884. On July 24, 1889, the New Hampshire General Court allowed the B&M to lease it. Bruce Heald, in A History of the Boston & Maine Railroad, is the construction authority for that date. Last passenger train, January 3, 1965. Guilford abandoned Boscawen–Lebanon, 59 miles, in 1991.

Boston and Maine GP9 1701 leaving East Deerfield Massachusetts yard July 28 1972

Boston & Maine GP9 #1701 leads a short train west out of the yard at East Deerfield, Massachusetts, on July 28, 1972. The interlocking tower and the McClelland Farm Road overpass at the west end of the yard made this a famous B&M photograph. American-Rails.com collection.

Fitchburg, Hoosac, and the west door

The Fitchburg was the piece that made the B&M a bridge road instead of a Boston commuter machine with Maine attached. Chartered March 3, 1842, it opened Boston to Fitchburg on March 5, 1845. West of Fitchburg the Vermont & Massachusetts and the Troy & Greenfield carried the idea over the Hoosac Range. The state of Massachusetts finished the tunnel after private money and Herman Haupt’s contract both failed. First train through the bore, February 9, 1875. Regular passenger service Boston–Troy, 1876. At 4.75 miles it was the longest railroad tunnel in the country when it opened. The tunnel has its own page.

The Fitchburg gathered the Troy & Greenfield, the Troy & Boston, and the Boston, Hoosac Tunnel & Western, reaching Mechanicville, Rotterdam Junction, and a D&H/Erie interchange that paid the freight bills. The B&M leased the Fitchburg for 99 years from July 1, 1900—the same morning the New York Central took the Boston & Albany. New York had to choose. It took the B&A. The B&M took the tunnel. After the lease the property was the Fitchburg Division. Mike Schafer, in Classic American Railroads, notes more than a dozen scheduled freights a day on that route after World War II. East Deerfield remains the hump. Mechanicville remains the west end of the old B&M in eastern New York, at the Hudson and the D&H.

Steam in the tunnel was a choking assignment. The B&M electrified Hoosac in 1911 under the same Charles S. Mellen who then sat on both the New Haven and the B&M. Diesels later replaced the motors. Single track returned in 1957 for clearance. Last regular passenger train through the bore, November 28, 1958.

Boston and Maine GP38-2 200 in Bicentennial paint at Mechanicville New York April 17 1975

Boston & Maine GP38-2 #200 in Bicentennial livery at Mechanicville, New York, on April 17, 1975. G. Berisso photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Boston and Maine RS3 1536 with a work train at Mechanicville New York May 17 1975

Boston & Maine RS3 #1536 has a work train in the yard at Mechanicville, New York, on May 17, 1975. Ray Sabo photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Worcester, Nashua & Portland

A third Portland route came through Worcester. The Worcester & Nashua, formed 1845, opened Worcester to Nashua by late 1848. The Nashua & Rochester, 1847, connected its namesake cities and was leased by the W&N in 1874. Those two, with the Portland & Rochester, became the Worcester, Nashua & Rochester in 1883. The B&M took control in 1886 and called it the Worcester, Nashua & Portland Division, 146.9 miles. For a generation the railroad had three routes between Massachusetts and Portland, enough traffic to keep all three. After World War I the extras started to come out. The Depression made the WN&P look redundant. New Hampshire segments went in 1932. By the 1950s two large pieces remained, west of Portland and Worcester–Hollis. By the 1980s most of the old WN&P was gone.

Boston and Maine RS3s 1517 and 1512 at Brownville Junction Maine July 6 1970

Boston & Maine RS3s #1517 and #1512 layover at the engine terminal in Brownville Junction, Maine, on July 6, 1970. A Canadian Pacific Alco switcher sits in the background. American-Rails.com collection.

Peak plant

Until the late nineteenth century the B&M was still a small road. Schafer puts the independent network around 200 miles before the post–Civil War mill boom. Then the leases arrived in a rush: Eastern, Boston & Lowell, Northern, Concord & Montreal, Fitchburg. The Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society puts the peak plant at more than 2,300 route-miles, about 1,200 steam locomotives, and a workforce on the order of 28,000. The 1930 figure commonly cited is 2,084 miles. J. P. Morgan and the New Haven took control around 1910. Antitrust pulled that apart. Lease debt, Eastern funded debt, and the Fitchburg obligation put the company into receivership in August 1916. James H. Hustis sat as receiver. The 1919 reorganization folded the principal leased roads into one Boston & Maine and reset the paper. Edward S. French, president from 1930 to 1952, ran the railroad through the Depression and the war.

Official 1946 Boston and Maine Railroad system map

An official 1946 system map of the Boston & Maine. Author’s collection.

Major yards sat at Boston, East Deerfield on the Fitchburg, Rigby in South Portland, and Mechanicville. The central locomotive shop opened at North Billerica, Massachusetts, in 1913, five miles south of Lowell. Concord, New Hampshire, kept shops of its own. Freight was New England freight: textiles, shoes, paper, furniture, coal inbound, milk in cans, less-than-carload merchandise. Distances were short. Trucks were always close. The Fitchburg to the D&H and Erie at Mechanicville was the long-haul door that mattered.

Pair of Boston and Maine GP9s at South Portland Maine September 25 1978

A pair of Boston & Maine GP9s at South Portland, Maine, on September 25, 1978. Warren Calloway photo.

Boston and Maine GP38-2 200 in Bicentennial paint at Rigby Yard South Portland March 23 1975

Boston & Maine GP38-2 #200 (renumbered from 212) in Bicentennial livery at Rigby Yard, South Portland, Maine, on March 23, 1975, soon after the unit arrived. Ronald Johnson photo.

Passenger trains

North Station was a commuter factory. Long-distance trains were fewer, and most of them were partnerships. The Minute Man was the Boston–Troy name train, Fitchburg Division, the slogan made rolling stock. Montreal was a three-road problem. The Alouette and the Ambassador / New Englander used B&M and Canadian Pacific or Central Vermont iron. The Montrealer / Washingtonian was a five-railroad overnight: Pennsylvania, New Haven, B&M Springfield–White River Junction, Central Vermont, Canadian National. Last conventional Montrealer / Washingtonian, September 3–4, 1966.

Maine was a B&M–Maine Central joint. The Flying Yankee, Budd’s 1935 shovel-nose, was a near-sister of Burlington Zephyr 9900, Boston–Bangor with the Maine Central. The Pine Tree and the Kennebec covered Boston–Portland–Bangor. The Gull went farthest: Boston to Halifax, Nova Scotia, B&M, Maine Central, Canadian National, and Canadian Pacific, last run 1960. Seasonal trains filled the summer: the East Wind, Washington–Bangor; the Bar Harbor Express, Washington–Ellsworth; the State of Maine, New York–Portland. The Green Mountain Flyer reached Montreal via the Rutland, with a Boston section the B&M handed off at Bellows Falls. Other names stayed closer to home: the Cheshire to White River Junction, the Mountaineer to Littleton and Bethlehem, the Day White Mountains New York–Berlin.

Amtrak took what was left of the intercity map on May 1, 1971. The commuter railroad remained. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, created August 3, 1964, signed a subsidy with the B&M on December 14, 1964. On December 27, 1976, the MBTA bought the north-side commuter equipment, the maintenance plant, and about 250 miles of right-of-way. The B&M kept freight rights and kept running the trains. On March 12, 1977, it also took the south-side contract over former New Haven and Boston & Albany lines out of South Station—the first time one operator had both sides of Boston. Guilford inherited that contract. It did not last the decade.

Boston and Maine 4-6-2 3692 arriving Marblehead Massachusetts February 2 1956

Boston & Maine 4-6-2 #3692 arrives in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with an outbound Boston–Marblehead commuter run on February 2, 1956. American-Rails.com collection.

Boston and Maine F2A 4225 at Springfield Massachusetts December 10 1962

Boston & Maine F2A #4225 at Springfield, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1962. Rick Burn photo.

Steam and diesel

The post-1900 steam fleet was New England power: Moguls and Consolidations on the branches, Pacifics on the named trains and the commuter peaks, a handful of Lima 2-8-4s and Baldwin 4-8-2s for the Fitchburg. The P-4 Lima Pacifics, 3710–3719, carried names. 3713, The Constitution, is the one that survives. Last steam in commuter service, July 23, 1956. The class-by-class record is the steam roster.

American Locomotive builder photograph of new Boston and Maine RS2 1503 circa 1949

An American Locomotive builder’s photograph of new Boston & Maine RS2 #1503, circa 1949. Warren Calloway collection.

Dieselization started early. A GE/Ingersoll-Rand boxcab, 1100, arrived in 1935, the same year EMC turned out Flying Yankee power car 6000. Alco HH switchers, EMC SCs, and EMD SW1s filled the yards. Wartime FTs, then F2s, F3s, F7s, and E7s, took the mains. Alco RS2s and RS3s and EMD GP7s and GP9s finished steam. Four BL2s, 1550–1553, were an EMD experiment that stuck around. Budd RDCs—the railroad called them Highliners—reached 109 cars, the largest such fleet in the country, and by 1958 covered nearly all remaining passenger work except the Montreal trains. Second-generation power was EMD: GP18s in 1961, then GP38-2s in 1973–74 and GP40-2s in 1977 under Dustin. Unit-by-unit is the diesel roster.

Electro-Motive builder photograph of new Boston and Maine GP9 1701 in 1957

An Electro-Motive builder’s photograph of freshly outshopped Boston & Maine GP9 #1701 in early 1957.

Boston and Maine F7A 4265 and GP7 1576 at West Lebanon New Hampshire in the 1960s

During a visit to the Boston & Maine roundhouse and yard at West Lebanon, New Hampshire, in the 1960s, Marty Bernard caught F7A #4265 and GP7 #1576 laying over between assignments.

Boston and Maine F7s led by 4266 with a piggyback freight at Ayer Massachusetts circa 1970

An A-B-B set of Boston & Maine F7s, led by #4266, with a piggyback freight (perhaps BJ-1) at Ayer, Massachusetts, circa 1970. Photographer unknown.

Boston and Maine RS3 1536 at Canadian Pacific yard Smiths Falls Ontario summer 1966

Boston & Maine RS3 #1536 at the east end of Canadian Pacific’s yard in Smiths Falls, Ontario, in the summer of 1966. American-Rails.com collection.

McGinnis

Patrick B. McGinnis left the New Haven presidency on January 20, 1956, and was Boston & Maine president about six hours later. He had already taken the board in a 1955 proxy fight that ended the French era and cancelled the last B&M–Maine Central corporate tie. Maroon and gold gave way to blue. FTs went back to La Grange as trade-in on GP9s. Streamlined passenger cars were sold. Maintenance was deferred. McGinnis and his successor, Daniel A. Benson, were convicted in 1966 of financial improprieties on the sale of those cars. Richard J. Mulhern followed. Deficits that began in 1958 did not stop. Stockholders declined an ICC-approved affiliation with Norfolk & Western, Erie Lackawanna, and the D&H—the Dereco grouping that later took the D&H without the B&M.

Boston and Maine GP38-2 200 leading a westbound at Valley Falls New York June 24 1978

Boston & Maine GP38-2 #200, in the road’s Bicentennial livery, leads a westbound freight on the main line at Valley Falls, New York, on June 24, 1978. Doug Kroll photo.

March 12, 1970, Dustin, and staying out of Conrail

On March 12, 1970, certain bondholders filed a petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to reorganize the Boston & Maine Corporation under Section 77 of the Bankruptcy Act. The court approved the petition and appointed trustees. The docket is 70-250-M. Trustees took operating control in May. Twelve years of unpaid taxes, unpaid bond interest, and thin capital spending sat on the table. John W. Barriger III, the “doctor of sick railroads,” became president January 1, 1971, and stayed through January 1973. Paul W. Cherington, from Harvard Business School, followed. F. C. “Buck” Dumaine’s Amoskeag bought enough defaulted first-mortgage bonds in 1973 to become the de facto owner under the court. Dumaine sent Alan G. “Dusty” Dustin. Dustin became president and CEO in August 1974.

The trustees declined inclusion in Conrail. When Conrail started on April 1, 1976, the B&M was still a separate company in Section 77. Dustin sold the commuter plant to the MBTA that December, kept freight rights, bought GP40-2s, rebuilt track and signals, and went after piggyback and coal. The railroad posted its first ordinary-income profit since 1957 in 1980. In 1982 it picked up former Conrail lines in Massachusetts and Connecticut. It was still in court. It was no longer a candidate for liquidation.

Guilford, Pan Am, CSX

Timothy Mellon had already bought the Maine Central, in June 1981, through Guilford Transportation Industries, named for Guilford, Connecticut. A federal judge in Boston approved the Boston & Maine sale on June 23, 1983. Mellon took title on June 30, 1983, for $24.25 million. Dustin stayed into 1984. Guilford painted locomotives dark gray with an orange stripe and a large G, and it sublettered Boston & Maine, Maine Central, and Springfield Terminal on the cabs. The D&H came from N&W’s Dereco on January 4, 1984, for $500,000. That story is the D&H page: bankruptcy June 20, 1988, Canadian Pacific in January 1991.

Guilford’s method was to lease B&M and Maine Central operations to Springfield Terminal, an MEC subsidiary with short-line work rules, and to abandon what it did not want. Hundreds of miles came out in the 1980s and 1990s, including Northern Railroad iron between Boscawen and Lebanon. Labor struck in 1986 and 1987. Track on the Connecticut River line deteriorated until Amtrak pulled the Montrealer. In 1998 Guilford bought the Pan American World Airways name. In 2006 it restyled the railroad Pan Am Railways. Blue paint replaced the G. Sublettering remained. With Norfolk Southern it formed Pan Am Southern in 2008, the Patriot Corridor from the Hudson to Ayer and Boston over the old Fitchburg.

CSX announced Pan Am in November 2020. The Surface Transportation Board approved the transaction on April 14, 2022. CSX closed on June 1, 2022. Genesee & Wyoming took the former Boston & Maine west of Ayer as the Berkshire & Eastern, operating the old Pan Am Southern for NS. Guilford is a date on the 1980s page. The 2022 closing is the 2020s.

What remains

CSX runs the old B&M freight mains east of Ayer: Boston to Portland, the Lowell and New Hampshire fragments that still carry cars, Springfield toward White River Junction. West of Ayer the Fitchburg is Berkshire & Eastern / Norfolk Southern through the Hoosac Tunnel to Mechanicville and Rotterdam Junction. MBTA owns the north-side commuter lines out of North Station—Fitchburg, Lowell, Haverhill, Newburyport/Rockport—and a contractor runs the trains. Amtrak’s Downeaster uses the Portland route. Conway Scenic has run from the old B&M depot in North Conway since 1974. Hobo Railroad sits on a piece of the Pemigewasset. The Whitefield mast is still there. The corporate name Boston & Maine Corporation still exists on paper under CSX, the way so many fallen flags do. The railroad a passenger meant by “the B&M” ended the morning Mellon took the keys.

Related reading on American-Rails.com

Sources

  • Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society. Company history: Andover & Wilmington origin; peak plant over 2,300 route-miles, ~1,200 steam locomotives, workforce ~28,000; New Haven/Morgan control circa 1910; 1919 reorganization; McGinnis 1955; Dustin 1974–84; MBTA commuter sale 1976; first ordinary-income profit since 1957 in 1980
  • ICC valuation, Boston & Maine Railroad (WikiProject Trains transcription). Andover & Wilmington March 15, 1833; New Hampshire charter June 27, 1835; Maine, New Hampshire & Massachusetts March 30, 1836; Boston & Portland union November 5, 1841; Maine company union June 3, 1844. Fitchburg 99-year lease from July 1, 1900
  • Heald, Bruce D. A History of the Boston & Maine Railroad: Exploring New Hampshire’s Rugged Heart by Rail. Charleston, S.C.: History Press, 2007. Northern Railroad lease July 24, 1889; New Hampshire construction
  • Schafer, Mike. Classic American Railroads. Osceola, Wis.: MBI. Independent B&M around 200 miles until late-nineteenth-century expansion; Fitchburg Division traffic after World War II
  • Kirkland, Edward Chase. Men, Cities and Transportation: A Study in New England History, 1820–1900. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1948. New England charter and lease context
  • In re Boston and Maine Corporation, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 70-250-M. Bondholders’ Section 77 petition March 12, 1970; trustees appointed; 120-day findings under the Regional Rail Reorganization Act
  • UPI, June 23, 1983. Federal judge approved sale to Guilford Industries; Mellon to take title June 30; $24.25 million
  • “Remembering the Boston & Maine Railroad.” Classic Trains, October 2019. McGinnis January 20, 1956; last commuter steam July 23, 1956; RDC fleet; Barriger January 1, 1971; Dustin August 1974; Guilford June 30, 1983
  • Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society, roster of officers (Rick Nowell compilation). Hustis, French, McGinnis, Benson, Mulhern, Barriger, Cherington, Dustin; Guilford acquisition June–July 1983
  • CSX / Surface Transportation Board: Pan Am announced November 2020; STB April 14, 2022; closed June 1, 2022. Genesee & Wyoming Berkshire & Eastern west of Ayer
  • Live American-Rails Hoosac, Flying Yankee, named-train, steam-roster, diesel-roster, Maine Central, Boston & Albany, New Haven, D&H, Conrail, decade, and Pan Am pages as linked above

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    Oct 31, 26 12:11 AM

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    Brightline West said October 27, 2026 that it is still working through a $6 billion federal loan and still talks about opening in 2029. The Florida restructuring is a separate company.

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  17. BNSF Reopens the Gallup Subdivision After New Mexico Flooding

    Oct 31, 26 12:06 AM

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    BNSF said October 28, 2026 that both Gallup Subdivision main tracks are back after flooding near Laguna, New Mexico. The El Paso Subdivision was still out of service.

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  18. CSX Says Interchange Is Moving Again After a Technology Outage

    Oct 31, 26 12:01 AM

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    CSX said October 29, 2026 that interchange with other Class I railroads is moving again after a technology outage that began October 27. Dispatching and positive train control stayed up.

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  19. Baldwin "Baby Face" Locomotives: Specs, Photos, Roster

    Oct 30, 26 11:01 PM

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    Baldwin's Babyface cab on the early road diesels: 50 short-cab units, 1946-1948, plus the related Centipede. Construction numbers, specs, and the sharknose that followed.

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  20. California High-Speed Rail Chief Resigns

    Oct 30, 26 08:36 PM

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    Ian Choudri resigned October 28, 2026 as chief executive of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. The board named Joe Stephenshaw interim chief executive.

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  21. The 1910 Portal Bridge Is Handed Over for Demolition

    Oct 30, 26 04:03 PM

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    Amtrak handed the 1910 Portal Bridge over for demolition on October 29, 2026, during the final cutover to Portal North. Regular NJ Transit and Amtrak schedules are expected November 15.

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  22. Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Merger Review Runs to 2027

    Oct 30, 26 03:59 PM

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    Union Pacific says the Surface Transportation Board's review of the Norfolk Southern merger gathers information through May 28, 2027. A closing still depends on board approval.

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  23. Amtrak Board Will Hear Restructuring Comments on November 10

    Oct 30, 26 03:41 PM

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    Amtrak's board will hear public comments on its restructuring on November 10, 2026, from 2 to 3 p.m. Eastern. Written comments were due October 30. A proposal goes to the board in December.

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  24. Canadian Pacific Selkirk 5931 Restored in Calgary

    Oct 30, 26 01:36 PM

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    Heritage Park in Calgary unveiled a cosmetic restoration of Canadian Pacific 2-10-4 No. 5931 on October 27, 2026. One of two surviving Selkirks. It stays on display.

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  25. Gettysburg Railway to Host Steam for Lincoln

    Oct 30, 26 01:18 PM

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    Northern Central Railway of York No. 17 will recreate Lincoln's arrival at Gettysburg on November 18, 2026, with public steam trips November 19-21.

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  26. NC&StL No. 576 to Steam for the Public in Nashville

    Oct 30, 26 01:00 PM

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    Nashville Steam will fire NC&StL 4-8-4 No. 576 for the public on November 7, 2026, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 220 Willow Street. Admission is free.

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  27. Pennsylvania Railroad E8s Join the T1 Trust

    Oct 30, 26 12:38 PM

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    The T1 Trust has acquired former Pennsylvania Railroad E8A diesels 5702A and 5761A from the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society. They are bound for Cumberland.

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  28. Ligonier Valley Railroad: History, Roster, Timetable

    Oct 30, 26 12:03 PM

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    The Ligonier Valley Railroad ran 10.5 miles from Latrobe to Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Opened December 1, 1877. Last day August 31, 1952.

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  29. Toledo, Peoria & Western Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 30, 26 10:25 AM

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    Toledo, Peoria & Western diesel locomotives, each frame once. Thirteen Alcos, three Lima-Hamilton switchers, and 26 Electro-Motive units.

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  30. Toledo, Peoria & Western Steam Roster

    Oct 30, 26 09:14 AM

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    Toledo, Peoria & Western steam locomotives from the Rogers Consolidations of 1895 through the 4-8-4s of 1937

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  31. Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway: Map, Roster, History

    Oct 29, 26 11:12 PM

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    History of the Toledo, Peoria & Western. The Peoria & Oquawka, George P. McNear, the Santa Fe and Pennsylvania years, and the railroad that came back in 1989.

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  32. Cotton Belt Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 29, 26 07:58 PM

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    St. Louis Southwestern diesel locomotives, each frame once. Baldwin switchers, F units, and new Cotton Belt-lettered power through the GP60s of May 1990.

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  33. Cotton Belt Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 29, 26 06:52 PM

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    St. Louis Southwestern steam locomotives built since 1900. Consolidations, Ten-Wheelers, and twenty class L-1 4-8-4s. The quantity column is 297.

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  34. Cotton Belt Railroad: Map, Logo, History, Rosters

    Oct 29, 26 10:56 AM

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    History of the St. Louis Southwestern, the Cotton Belt Route. The Tyler Tap, Paramore's silver spike, the Thebes Bridge, the Blue Streak, and Southern Pacific control. Steam and diesel rosters are sep…

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  35. Pere Marquette Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 11:54 PM

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    Pere Marquette steam locomotives built since 1900. Consolidations, Mikados, Pacifics, and 39 Berkshires. The quantity column is 503.

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  36. Pere Marquette Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 11:48 PM

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    Pere Marquette diesel locomotives, each frame once. Two SW1s, 14 NW2s, three GE 70-tonners, eight E7As, and six BL2s delivered lettered Chesapeake and Ohio. The quantity column is 33.

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  37. Pere Marquette Railway: Map, Logo, Rosters, History

    Oct 28, 26 11:44 PM

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    History of the Pere Marquette Railway. Timber roads, the Prince years, the Van Sweringens, the Ludington car ferries, and the Chesapeake and Ohio merger of June 6, 1947.

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  38. Nickel Plate Road (Railroad): Map, History, Rosters

    Oct 28, 26 10:51 PM

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    History of the Nickel Plate Road, the New York, Chicago and St. Louis. The Seney syndicate, the Van Sweringens, the Berkshires, and the Norfolk and Western absorption at 12:01 a.m. on October 16, 1964…

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  39. Nickel Plate Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 10:48 PM

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    Nickel Plate diesel locomotives, each frame once. Alco switchers and PAs, GP7s and GP9s, and the GP30s. The quantity column is 440. The 1950 fleet was 117.

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  40. Nickel Plate Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 10:43 PM

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    Nickel Plate steam locomotives built since 1900, including the Lake Erie and Western, the Clover Leaf, and the Wheeling engines that took Nickel Plate numbers. The quantity column is 786.

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  41. EMD "E9" Locomotives: Specs, Roster, History

    Oct 28, 26 10:37 PM

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    EMD E9 cab units and boosters, 2,400 horsepower, built April 1954 through January 1964. Gear ratios, specifications, and the production roster by owner, serial, and order.

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  42. NYC 4-6-4 #5344, "Commodore Vanderbilt"

    Oct 28, 26 04:31 PM

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    NYC J-1e Hudson 5344, the Commodore Vanderbilt. Alco, November 1931. Carl Kantola’s shroud, December 1934, then a Dreyfuss bullet nose in 1939. Scrapped at Collinwood in 1954.

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  43. New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois Railroad: A South Bend Shortline

    Oct 28, 26 11:05 AM

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    The New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois, the Jersey Line, ran from South Bend to Pine. Singer built it in 1905. Wabash stock control came in 1926. Two diesels, and the steam the record names.

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  44. Monon Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 10:13 AM

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    Monon diesel locomotives, each frame once. F3s, nine BL2s, the C420s, and eight U23Bs. The quantity column is 96. The 1951 fleet was 57.

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  45. Monon Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 10:09 AM

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    Monon steam locomotives built since 1900. Twelve-Wheelers, Mikados, light Pacifics, and thirteen six-wheel switchers. The quantity column is 148.

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  46. Monon Railroad: Map, Photos, History, Logo

    Oct 28, 26 09:55 AM

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    History of the Monon, the Hoosier Line. The New Albany & Salem, the X at Monon, Barriger's streamliners, and the Louisville & Nashville merger of July 31, 1971.

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  47. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 28, 26 09:48 AM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas. 406 locomotives, each frame once. Baldwin switchers, Alco cab units, F units, Geeps, and the SD40-2s.

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  48. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Steam Roster (Built Since 1900)

    Oct 28, 26 09:43 AM

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    Missouri-Kansas-Texas steam locomotives built since 1900. Moguls, Mikados, Pacifics, and the narrow-gauge shop tanks. The quantity column is 715.

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  49. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy): Map, History, Rosters

    Oct 27, 26 11:02 PM

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    History of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas, the Katy. The race into Indian Territory, Gould, the 1923 railroad, the Texas Special, and the 1988 sale. Steam and diesel rosters are linked.

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  50. Soo Line Diesel Roster (All-Time)

    Oct 27, 26 10:55 PM

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    All-time diesel roster of the Soo Line and the Wisconsin Central. 786 locomotives, each frame once. Cab units, Geeps, the Milwaukee Road engines, and the SD60s. The South Shore's 24 stay on that page.

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