Bangor – Vanceboro railway line

Bangor ME – Vanceboro ME, as of 1999
Route length:	183 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Dual track :	%
Society:	PAR , EMRY
Legend from Cumberland 0.0 Bangor ME Union Station to Bucksport Former access to the MEC / EMRY station Bangor ME MEC / EMRY Station (until 1882) Calais Junction approx. 5 Mt. Hope ME about 6 Veazie ME approx. 11 Basin Mills ME approx. 12 Eight Mile Siding ME 13.0 Orono ME to Stillwater Stillwater River approx. 14 Webster ME 18.0 Great Works ME 19.6 Old Town ME to Greenville Penobscot River by Bangor (BOTM) 21.1 Milford ME 29.0 Costigan ME 36.4 Greenbush ME 42.3 Olamon ME Passadumkeag River 49.3 Passadumkeag ME from Howland 56.5 Enfield ME about 64 Pollard Brook ME (formerly South Lincoln) 71.6 Lincoln ME 74.2 Middletown ME (formerly Lincoln Center) 79.2 North Lincoln ME (formerly Houstons) approx. 81 South Winn ME (formerly Chamberlains) 89.0 Winn ME from Brookport 92.9 Mattawamkeag ME (formerly Keag) Mattawamkeag River ? Gordon ME 106.1 Kingman ME approx. 109 Drew ME approx. 116 Meadow Brook Siding 121.0 Wytopitlock ME approx. 126 Herseys ME approx. 127 Bancroft ME Mattawamkeag River 141.1 Danforth ME about 150 Eaton ME (formerly Jackson Brook) 156.4 Forest ME approx. 164 Tomah ME approx. 171 Wilderness ME 174.9 Lambert Lake ME 183.0 Vanceboro ME St. Croix River (US / Canada border) to Saint John

The railway Bangor-Vanceboro is a railway line in Maine ( United States ). It is 183 kilometers long and is part of the main Boston - Halifax line . The standard gauge line is now operated between Bangor and Mattawamkeag by Pan Am Railways exclusively for freight traffic. The remaining section belongs to the NBSR subsidiary Eastern Maine Railway , which also operates freight. Passenger traffic is stopped.

history

construction

John A. Poor founded the European and North American Railway (E&NA) in Maine and New Brunswick in 1850 . He wanted to build a main line in colonial gauge (1676 mm) from Portland (Maine) to Halifax . The western section to Bangor, however, was built by the two railway companies that merged in 1862 to form the Maine Central Railroad (MEC). Construction of the remainder of the line began on the eastern edge of New Brunswick, where the first section was opened in 1857.

Another railway company, the Penobscot Railroad , began building a railway line north from Bangor in 1850. However, the route was not opened because the company ran out of funds. E&NA acquired this company along with the railway line and the concession that had been started in 1863. The Bangor, Old Town and Milford Railroad , which opened the first Maine railway line from Bangor to Old Town and later to Milford in 1836, was a competing company Standard gauge railway was built, and they wanted to use the line in Milford for their own line, E&NA also acquired this line in 1868, shut it down and opened the colonial-gauge line from Bangor to Olamon in the spring of 1869. At the end of 1869 the railway was passable to Mattawamkeag and on October 18 and 19, 1871, six weeks after John A. Poor's death, they finally celebrated the closing of the gap between Mattawamkeag and the St. Croix River, which forms the border with Canada Completion of the Bangor – St. John. US President Ulysses S. Grant and the Governor General of Canada, John Young, 1st Baron Lisgar , attended the opening ceremony .

Together with its branches, the line soon formed a colonial-gauge island network, as the lines west of Bangor in 1871 and east of St. John in 1872 had been converted to standard gauge. In order to remain competitive, E&NA also re-tracked its route on September 12, 1877.

Further history and today's operation

From 1878 the line in Canada was owned by the Saint John and Maine Railway , which later became part of the Canadian Pacific Railway . The Bangor – Vanceboro route remained in the possession of E&NA, which was leased in 1882 by the Maine Central Railroad. When the Brookport – Mattawamkeag railway was opened in 1889 , Maine Central agreed with the Canadian Pacific a right of use over the Mattawamkeag – Vanceboro section. From 1893 an express train from Montréal to Halifax ran over this section. For the section Bangor - Old Town, the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad had obtained a right of use, which they made use of until 1907. Around this time, the express train, known as Gull from 1926, ran from Boston to Halifax, as well as another express train from Boston to St. John. Both trains ran the full length of the Bangor – Vanceboro line.

From 1926 the Gull only ran in the summer half- year , but the Pine Tree drove all year round on Fridays from Boston to St. John by through car to Halifax and on Saturdays as Acadian in the opposite direction. From 1930 onwards, Pine Tree and Acadian drove every day except Sundays. On April 25, 1954, the last local train ran. Instead, the Gull received several additional stations. On September 5, 1960, however, the Gull also drove for the last time, and Maine Central completely stopped passenger traffic. Now only the Atlantic Limited of the Canadian Pacific operated between Mattawamkeag and Vanceboro on the route. Since the Canadian Pacific used the route more than the Maine Central, the MEC sold this section to the CP on December 17, 1974. The MEC received a right of joint use.

In 1981 Guilford Transportation took over Maine Central, and from 1988 the Canadian-Pacific network east of Montreal was under the control of the CP subsidiary Canadian Atlantic Railway .

From 1978 the Atlantic Limited was operated by VIA Rail , which had taken over almost all passenger traffic in Canada. From 1982 to 1985 the express train did not run and at the end of 1994 passenger traffic on the route finally ended. At the same time, the Canadian Pacific planned to shut down the line between Mattawamkeag and St. John on January 1, 1995. Since there was still a need for transportation, the New Brunswick Southern Railway acquired the New Brunswick CP network and also the section from Mattawamkeag to the border, which it leased to the Eastern Maine Railway . Guilford Transportation, operating under the name Pan Am Railways since 2006 , continues to operate freight traffic between Bangor and Mattawamkeag, and the Eastern Maine Railway on the rest of the route.

Route description

The route begins on the west bank of the Penobscot River in Bangor. It runs north to Mattawamkeag along the river, which it crosses near Old Town . From Mattawamkeag it follows the Mattawamkeag River in a northeasterly direction to Bancroft . It crosses the river in both cities. From Bancroft the route runs winding towards the east. Along the Crocked Brook Flowage , a large lake between Danforth and Eaton, it leads southeast to Lambert Lake , where it turns northeast again to reach Vanceboro , the St. Croix River and thus the state border a few kilometers further .

attachment

credentials

1. ^ Mike Walker: SPV's comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. Steam Powered Publishing, Faversham 1999, ISBN 1-874745-12-9 .

literature

• George H. Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads. 2nd edition. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha, WI 2000, ISBN 0-89024-356-5
• Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .

Web links

• Pan Am Railways
• New Brunswick Southern Railway
• History of the Maine Railroad