Farmington – Marbles railway line
| Farmington ME-Marbles ME | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route length: | 75 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 610 mm ( 2 foot track ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dual track : | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Society: | SR&RL | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The railway Farmington-Marbles is a railway line in Maine ( United States ). It is around 75 kilometers long. The line was built in the gauge of two feet (610 mm) and has been closed. In Phillips , a short section has been rebuilt as a museum railway.
history
There were numerous logging camps on the upper reaches of the Sandy River in the 19th century. Originally, the Brunswick – Farmington line of the Maine Central Railroad was to be extended north along the river. However, the railway company refused to do so for reasons of cost. George E. Mansfield had built the Billerica and Bedford Railroad in Massachusetts in the mid-1870s, which was two feet (610 mm) track. He was commissioned in 1878 to build the Sandy River Railroad . Since Billerica & Bedford had gone bankrupt, almost new locomotives and wagons could be procured cheaply. The line was built quickly and opened to Phillips on November 20, 1879 , ten days before the agreed date.
In 1889 the Phillips and Rangeley Railroad was founded, which extended the route. In April 1890 the first trains reached Dallas and on June 10, 1891 the planned route to Rangeley on Rangeley Lake went into operation. The two railway companies used a common station in Phillips, but the management was separate. Further plans to extend the line south to Gardiner on the Kennebec River and west to Oquossoc , where the Rumford Junction – Kennebago line ended, were not implemented. In 1906, Phillips & Rangeley extended the line by a few hundred meters to the lakeshore, where a new hotel had been built. The terminus at Marbles did not have a transfer siding, so the trains turned around in Rangeley and reversed to Marbles.
In 1908, the two railroad companies merged after Phillips & Rangeley went bankrupt to form the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad . In 1911, Maine Central acquired the railroad, but left it to continue operating. The timetable of May 8, 1916 called for a pair of trains from Farmington to Marbles, two pairs of trains from Farmington to Phillips and a pair of trains from Strong to Rangeley, and a pair of trains from Farmington to Rangeley on Sundays. The drive from Farmington to Marbles was between two and a half and three hours.
After the Phillips locomotive shed fell victim to a fire in 1923, Maine Central returned the railroad to the private investors who founded it in 1908. From 1926 on, there were no longer any pure locomotive-hauled passenger trains on the route. Some of the trains were replaced by diesel railcars, the others ran as mixed trains .
On July 8, 1932, all operations were initially discontinued. However, a freight customer of the railroad appealed against the closure and so the company resumed rail operations between Farmington and Phillips on April 17, 1933. In the fall of 1934 the tracks between Phillips and Marbles were dismantled and sold. After the closure of the railway had been approved, the company stopped all operations on June 30, 1935 and dismantled the line by autumn 1936.
In 1970, railroad fans in Phillips decided to rebuild part of the route as a museum. From 1985 the name "Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad" was used again. Today a short stretch at Phillips can be used again on weekends. A petrol-powered replica of locomotive 4 of the Sandy River Railroad and three other diesel and petrol-powered locomotives are used. The engine shed and terminus are on Bridge Street. The bus shelter of the former Sanders stop has been rebuilt here true to the original.
In Strong , railway enthusiasts built a short section of track at the former station, on which locomotive 3 (formerly Monson Railroad ) of the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland was used on September 29, 2001, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the place . She was brought to Strong on a flatbed truck especially for this event. Otherwise the track will not be used.
Route description
The route begins at Farmington Station where there was a shared platform with the Maine Central Railroad. It runs along the winding Sandy River and crosses the river several times. From Madrid Junction, where the northern and southern arms of the Sandy River converge, the route follows the northern tributary. From Reeds to shortly before Dallas, the former railway line is now used by an unpaved road. Around Redington, the main direction of the route changes from north to west. In Dallas, the line briefly runs along the Dead River , only to turn southwest a little later. Shortly before Rangeley, the route is used today by a snowmobile slope. The actual terminus was a bit off the lake on Depot Street. The route led a few hundred meters further to the lakeshore, where only a short platform was built due to lack of space.
literature
- Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issue June 1916. Page 222.