Maine Railroading and Railfanning In "The Pine Tree State"

Maine railroading for the past 170+ years has been defined by two things, timber products and potatoes. Our northeastern-most state is sometimes forgotten from the rest of the country’s railroads but it has played a very important role throughout the years as a strong agricultural and timber producer. Today, the Pine Tree State has no Class Is operating within its borders although in years past it was home to two well-known railroads, one of which was named after the state itself.

Maine railroading has its beginnings dating back to 1836 when the Bangor & Piscataquis Canal and Railroad opened between Bangor and Old Town, a distance of about 12 miles. This railroad would go on to be joined with the Bangor and Katahdin Railroad in 1891 to form one of Maine’s most remembered railroads, the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad.

The Bangor and Aroostook was never a large railroad, consisting of less than a 1,000 miles for its entire life, and during its final days it operated a little over 800 miles after being acquired by Iron Road Railways (before this the railroad operated a little under 500 miles). The BAR was also late to the game being chartered in February of 1891 to build from Brownsville, Maine north to Caribou. Interestingly, the reason for the railroad’s creation was the very business that the BAR survived on throughout its existence, potatoes and timber.

Throughout the years the BAR made a profitable business of hauling timber, coal (early on for the paper mill operations), and potatoes to either port or connections with southern railroads (such as the Maine Central), which would earn the railroad substantial profits. Along with this the railroad operated a small fleet of passenger trains between Bangor and northern points (aside from this the rest of the railroad’s passenger operations were with mixed freights or local runs), the most famous two being the Aroostook Flyer and Potatoland Special.

The little railroad found in the northern, virtually unknown and unheard of areas of Maine surprisingly would find itself in a pop star role beginning in 1950 that really never went away. That year the Bangor and Aroostook decided to build a fleet of 500 insulated refrigerator cars (known as refers, the railroad needed these cars to keep their potato shipments at a constant 40 degrees Fahrenheit while en route to market) and painted them in a striking and eye-catching Americana scheme of red, white, and blue with STATE OF MAINE PRODUCTS proudly adorning the cars’ flanks. The cars’ celebrity status came from them touring the country when leased out to railroads and companies for use when the railroad did not need them.

Never truly recovering from its potato loss the Bangor and Aroostook continued to struggle under Iron Road Railways and when the paper mills it served could no longer support the railroad financially its owner elected to file it for bankruptcy in the early 2000s, selling off its property to Rail World, Inc. in 2003 thus ending an interesting history of Maine railroading that had carried on for over 110 years.

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.

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 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.

Today, Maine railroading is the realm of Regionals and shortlines only. The most notable of these are Pan Am Railways, which took over the operations of Guilford (which owned the B&M and Maine Central); the St. Lawrence & Atlantic, which operates the former Grand Trunk; and the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic, which operates much of the original Bangor & Aroostook system. The rest is operated by shortlines and includes Maine Eastern (operated by Morristown & Erie), Eastern Maine and New Brunswick Southern Railway (the latter two, of which, operate on former Canadian Pacific trackage).

In all this totals over 1,000 miles of active railroad in Maine although at one time the state was home to over 2,000 miles of trackage. For a more in-depth at look at Maine railroading regarding mileage over the years please refer to the chart below.

Today, passenger railroading is operated by Amtrak and includes only the Downeaster although this train continues to gain support and ridership and is becoming increasingly popular. Currently the train serves three stops in Maine; Portland, Saco, and Wells.

Passenger and freight railroading aside Maine railroading also includes several railroad museums and excursion trains like the popular Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company, which currently operates one live steamer and plans to restore another to operation. Others include the Boothbay Railway Village, Cole Land Transportation Museum, Great Northern Narrow Gauge Railroad, Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. and Museum, Oakfield Railroad Museum, Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad, Seashore Trolley Museum, the Maine Eastern Railroad, and the Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum.

All in all, Maine railroading offers a unique experience with rugged, mountainous operations in interior northern areas of the state and coastal operations to the south. So, if you are planning a visit to the Pine Tree State to see its railroads you certainly shouldn’t be disappointed!