Brunswick – Farmington railway

Brunswick ME – Farmington ME, as of 1999
Society:	PAR
Route length:	100.9 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Tracks:	1
Legend Stretch of rockland 0.0 Brunswick ME Route to Portland Androscoggin River 5 Topsham ME Interstate 295 7.4 Pejepscot Mills ME (formerly Pejepscot) Simpson's ME 13.2 Lisbon Falls ME Sabattus River 18.8 Lisbon ME 23.8 Crowleys Junction ME (formerly Crowleys) to Lewiston Lower Interstate 95 Sabattus River 30.7 Sabattus ME (formerly Sabattusville) 33.0 Golders ME 38.6 Wales ME 42.0 0.0 Leeds Junction ME Cumberland Center – Bangor route Cumberland connecting track Bangor connecting track 2.9 Libbys Pit ME (formerly Highmoor) 7.1 Curtis Corner ME 11.8 Centraltown (formerly Leeds, Leeds Center) Androscoggin River 13.5 Androscoggin ME (formerly Dead River, Wayne Pond) 16.3 Littleboro ME (formerly North Leeds) 19.8 Stricklands ME (formerly Stricklands Ferry) 24.1 Norlands ME (formerly East Livermore) 31 Shuy ME 32.5 Livermore Falls ME Canton – Livermore Falls railway line 36.1 The Bridge ME (formerly Jay) 41.5 North Jay ME 47.3 Wilton ME 51.0 Tyngston ME (formerly East Wilton) 57.8 Westville ME (formerly West Farmington) Sandy River Farmington – Marbles railway line (610 mm gauge) 58.9 Farmington ME

The Brunswick – Farmington railway is a railway line in Maine ( United States ). It is 100.9 kilometers long. The standard gauge line is now partly operated by Pan Am Railways in freight traffic. The line between Crowleys Junction and Leeds Junction and north of Livermore Falls is closed.

history

After the construction of the Cumberland Center – Bangor railway line , the desire arose to connect some communities north of Leeds to this railway line. For this purpose, the Androscoggin Railroad Company was founded in 1848 . The new line was to branch off the main line at Leeds Station, later Leeds Junction, and head north to Farmington on the Sandy River . Like the main line, the branch line was built in colonial gauge (1676 mm). In December 1852 the line to Livermore Falls was navigable, North Jay was reached in 1856, East Wilton in 1857 and Farmington finally in June 1859.

The Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad , which operated the main line in the direction of Portland and took over all goods that were loaded along the Androscoggin Railroad, charged horrific reloading fees. The shared use of the route by vehicles of the Androscoggin Railroad was refused. For this reason, the Androscoggin Railroad built its own railway line to the south. You should connect in Brunswick to the main line of the Kennebec and Portland Railroad . Since this was standard gauge , this extension line was also built in standard gauge. It was opened in 1861. The goods were now reloaded from the wide-gauge line from Farmington in Leeds Junction and transported via Brunswick to Portland.

Androscoggin & Kennebec tried to prevent the track to be changed to Farmington by court order. However, the Androscoggin Railroad re-tracked the route in one day in 1861 without waiting for the court order. It was not until 1864 that the Maine Supreme Court recognized the gauge change as legal. However, the route north of Leeds threw less profit in the following years than expected and so the section Leeds – Farmington had to be sold in 1865 to the newly founded Leeds and Farmington Railroad , which it leased to the Androscoggin Railroad. On June 29, 1871, the Maine Central Railroad , which emerged from Androscoggin & Kennebec, leased the entire route. A few years later, it also switched the main line Cumberland Center – Bangor to standard gauge. As a result, traffic between Leeds Junction and Crowleys Junction decreased rapidly, as the distance via Danville to Portland was significantly shorter. In the same year the MEC bought the Leeds & Farmington and on August 19, 1911 also the Androscoggin Railroad.

As early as June 1932, the sparse passenger traffic and through freight traffic between Leeds Junction and Crowleys Junction was set. In the following years, wagons were parked on the section. This ended in 1938 and the line was then dismantled. Passenger traffic between Brunswick and Crowleys Junction also ended in 1933. Passenger trains ran between Leeds Junction and Farmington until 1956. Freight traffic between Livermore Falls and Farmington ended in 1982, the line was then closed and dismantled. On the other sections, Guilford Transportation has been operating freight traffic since 1981 , under the name Pan Am Railways from 2006 .

Route description

The line branches off at the former wedge station Brunswick from the Portland – Rockland railway line and heads north. It crosses the Androscoggin River directly north of the station and continues to run on its eastern bank. To the north of Lisbon Falls , the route leaves the river and continues north. In South Lewiston a short branch line branches off to Lewiston , which is still used today. From here the route is closed. The route runs northwards to the southern tip of Sabattus Pond , on the eastern bank of which the railway runs. In Sabattus , the route is partly built over by streets.

A few kilometers north of the lake, the route crosses the Cumberland Center – Bangor railway. Today Leeds Junction is a triangle of tracks. In Leeds , the train touches Androscoggin Lake . A little further north it reaches the Androscoggin River again. She follows him to Livermore Falls . A connecting line branches off here in the direction of Rumford , which is the only connection there today. The route to Farmington is closed from here. It follows the river as far as Jay , but continues north from there. At Wilton the route turns to the northeast and runs parallel to US Highway 2 to Farmington. Shortly before the terminus, she crosses the Sandy River . The bridge was demolished after the line was closed. Until 1935, Farmington was also the end point of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad , a narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 610 millimeters, which operated an extensive network north of Farmington.

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

• 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
• History of the Maine Railroad