The Maine Central, "The Pine Tree Route"

The Maine Central Railroad was a carrier similar in nature to the Bangor & Aroostook in that it served the State of Maine and shipped timber and agricultural products. At its height the railroad was never reached 1,000 miles in length but it did serve the important coastal industries of southern Maine as well as central New Hampshire, and eastern Vermont. Until its 1980 buyout by Guilford the MEC continued to be a reliable and efficient transportation artery for the region it served.

The Maine Central came about in 1862 (a relative late comer to the scene) when the Kennebec & Portland and Androscoggin & Kennebec railroads merged. Both railroads served the southwestern portions of Maine with the K&P linking Augusta, Waterville, and Yarmouth while the A&K connected Bangor and Portland via Lewiston (they essentially connected the two same end points but using different lines with the K&P’s line known as the Lower Road and the A&K’s the Back Road).

Over time and through the latter 19th and early 20th centuries the MEC continued to expand and reached eastern Vermont (through New Hampshire) by 1909 by acquiring the former Portland & Ogdensburg (to become known as the Portland Mountain Subdivision) while its eastern extensions reached the western tips of New Brunswick and the towns of Calais to the south and Vanceboro to the north. Expansion continued and branch lines reached to places such as Rockland, ME; Farmington, ME; Bucksport, ME; Harmony, ME; and Dover-Foxcroft, ME.

As was the case for northern New England railroading, Maine Central’s primary traffic base was held in agriculture (of which, potatoes were shipped via the BAR), timber, and paper. For much of its life the MEC worked with or was under the influence of its southwestern connection, the Boston & Maine (also its link to the outside rail grid). Cooperation between the two began as early as 1911 and renewed in the 1930s when the depression was hitting everyone hard. In an effort to help cut costs the two roads worked together and did what they could to help each other. They also partnered in introducing joint bus and airline service along with their passenger trains although the government forced them to divest the airline (called Boston-Maine Airways) in 1940.

The two companies worked together until roughly 1955 when their Cooperative Agreement ended and they began to go their separate ways (although, ironically, they would be back together again when Guilford purchased a controlling interest in both in the 1980s). From this point forward the MEC became a very efficient and well-managed railroad under the guidance of E. Spencer Miller who completely dieselized the motive power fleet, kept the property well maintained, and introduced Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) across the system.

The railroad continued to do well through the 1970s with its end beginning in 1980 when it was sold to U.S. Filter Corporation, which subsequently was purchased by Ashland Oil who quickly wished to divest its rail holdings, which were purchased by Timothy Mellon, founder of Guilford Transportation Industries.

Mellon’s new system included a black livery with a bright orange trim and white lettering and sub-lettered his equipment to the owning railroad (such as the Maine Central, Boston & Maine, etc.). During Guilford’s ownership large sections of the MEC were abandoned or sold off as unprofitable and as the years progressed much of the two former allies’ rails, the MEC and B&M, were merged together (originally this also included the D&H, which was let go in 1987 following bankruptcy).

Guilford would later change its name to Guilford Rail System and today even it no longer exists as it was dissolved in 2006 in favor of parent Pan Am Systems’ Pan Am Railways.

Notable Maine Central Railroad Passenger Trains

Bar Harbor Express: (Washington - Ellsworth, Maine)

Down Easter: (New York - Waterville/Rockland, Maine)

Flying Yankee: (Boston - Bangor)

The Gull: (Boston - Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Katahdin: (Boston - Bangor)

Kennebec: (Boston - Bangor)

Mountianeer: (Boston - Littleton, New Hampshire)

Penobscot: (Boston - Bangor)

Pine Tree: (Boston - Bangor)

Skipper: (Boston - Bangor)

Today the Maine Central is still officially on the books although it survives now mostly in name only and The Pine Tree Route is all but a memory.

However, the railroad continues to live on serving its successor quite well, and other upstarts have taken over former portions of the railroad such as the Conway Scenic Railroad and Twin State Railroad, which operate sections of the old Mountain Sub.

For more on the Maine Central you may want to consider Maine Central In Color Volume 1 from Jeremy F. Plant and George Melvin who give a superb pictorial history of the MEC through the 1950s to its end as an independent carrier with Guilford. If you have any interest in the MEC you are sure to enjoy this book.