The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMA) is a Class II Regional railroad, which has only been in operation since 2003. The MM&A instantly became a large Class II carrier of over 700 miles when it took over the remains of the historic (and bankrupt) Bangor & Aroostook. The railroad also recognizes its heritage and uses a mirror Bangor & Aroostook logo.
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 of track). The railroad 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 the BAR survived on throughout its entire life, potatoes and timber.
Never recovering truly 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.
Currently the MM&A’s roster consists of a mix of EMD and GE power and even includes two ex-BAR GP9s. The below roster is courtesy of The Diesel Shop:
The Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway Roster
#21-23 - EMD GP7
#79 - EMD GP9: Ex-Bangor & Aroostook
#100 - EMD GP9: Ex-Bangor & Aroostook
#1450-51, #54, #57, #58, and #461 - EMD F40PHM-2
#502 - EMD F3: Stored
#2000 - GE B23-7: Ex-Conrail
#3603, #3605, and #3609 - GE C30-7: Ex-FAIX
#3613 and #3614 - GE C30-7: Ex-FAIX
#5016-5018, #5021, #5023, #5026 and #5078 - GE C30-7: Ex-Burlington Northern
#8522, #8525, #8536, and #8539 - GE B39-8: Ex-LMX/GE
#8541, #8546, and #8548 - GE B39-8: Ex-LMX/GE
#8553, #8560, #8561, #856, and #8569 - GE B39-8: Leased from GECX
#8578, #8583, #8592 - GE B39-8: Leased from GECX
Today, the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway operates roughly 745 route miles of what is left of the BAR system and dispatches about 25 trains a day out along the system. Currently the MM&A serves the cities of Madawaska, Searsport and Brownsville Junction, Maine; Montreal and Farnham, Quebec; Newport, Vermont; and Saint John, New Brunswick. Also, the MM&A has connections with nine Class I, Regional and shortline railroads.
For more reading on Regionals like the MM&A consider the book Regional Railroads of the Midwest by Steve Glischinksi. While the book obviously does not feature every Regional in the country it does cover the "Chicago Central Pacific; Dakota, Minnesota Eastern; Escanaba Lake Superior; Iowa Interstate Railroad; Iowa, Chicago Eastern; Indiana Rail Road; Kyle Railroad; Red River Valley Western; Twin Cities Western; Toledo, Peoria Western; Wisconsin Central; and Wisconsin Southern" with plenty of photographs and information about each. If you have an interest in smaller carriers like Regionals, and/or are interested in learning more about their operations, you will almost surely enjoy the book. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".
