Burnham Junction – Belfast railway line
| Burnham Junction ME – Belfast ME as of 2008 |
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| Society: | currently none | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 53.22 km | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks: | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Burnham Junction – Belfast (until 1926 Belfast Branch ) railway is a railway line in Maine ( United States ). It is around 53 kilometers long. The standard gauge line is owned by the state of Maine. There is currently no train service.
history
The Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad was founded in 1867 to connect the port city of Belfast to the rail network and thus enable the shipping of wood . From the two available junction points at Burnham and Kendall's Mills , Burnham was chosen because a higher volume of traffic was to be expected at the locations on the route planned there. The 53.2-kilometer standard-gauge line was completed on December 23, 1870 and officially opened on May 10, 1871. The Maine Central Railroad ran the business from the start and had leased the route.
On January 2, 1926, the lease expired and the management of the route, which was ailing due to a lack of maintenance on the part of the Maine Central Railroad, went to Belfast & Moosehead Lake. In addition to passengers, mainly feed and wood were transported to Belfast and fishery and poultry products to Burnham Junction. The last steam-powered train ran in December 1948. GE 70-ton diesel locomotives had been in service on the route since 1946 . When passenger traffic was already suspended on most of North America's branch lines, the last passenger train to Belfast did not run until March 9, 1960. The transport of mail also ended that day. In 1961, B&ML built its own feed mill on the site of the passenger station in Belfast.
The only major accident on the line occurred in April 1977 at kilometer 51.1 near Belfast when a grain train derailed and five wagons crashed into the Passassawaukeag River .
From 1987 excursion trains for tourists ran on the route. On June 9, 2005, the freight traffic ended and the remaining vehicles were sold to the newly established Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad Preservation Society . The state of Maine acquired the railway line itself. On February 5, 2008, the association announced that it would cease operations and sell the rolling stock.
passenger traffic
The timetable of September 28, 1913 provided for three working pairs of passenger trains that ran between Burnham Junction and Belfast and had connections to and from Waterville and Portland . The travel time was 75 minutes.
According to the timetable of September 24, 1933, there was a weekday mixed train and a daily passenger train in each direction. The travel time was 85 to 115 minutes, which is significantly longer than in 1913. The reason is likely to be the poor track layout that B&ML still had from the days of neglecting its route through Maine Central. This timetable pattern was retained until passenger traffic was discontinued in 1960.
attachment
credentials
- ^ Mike Walker: SPV's comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. Steam Powered Publishing, Faversham 1999, ISBN 1-874745-12-9 .
- ↑ Kilometrage from Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued August 1958. Belfast & Moosehead Lake RR. Page 129.
- ↑ http://www.belfastrailroad.com/
- ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued November 1913. Maine Central Railroad, Belfast Branch. Page 206.
- ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued February 1934. Belfast & Moosehead Lake RR. Page 108.
literature
- Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .