Monson Railroad
| Monson RR as of 1999 |
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The Monson Railroad is a former railway company in Maine ( United States ). It existed from 1882 to 1945 and had its headquarters in Monson .
history
The Monson Railroad was founded on November 1, 1882 by the Monson Township and the Monson Slate Company and built a 9.9 kilometer railway line from Monson Junction on the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad to Monson. The track width was two feet (610 millimeters). In Monson there was a one-kilometer turn to Kineo and a two-kilometer turn to Hebron Pond. These branches were only used for freight traffic and tied up slate quarries. The removal of this rock was the main source of income for the railway company, along with the passenger shuttle service to Monson Junction station. The opening train ran on September 4, 1883, but the start of operations was delayed until October 22, 1883.
In 1909 the line was lengthened by about six kilometers when another freight connection was built in Monson. The Eighteen Quarry Branch attached further quarries. This extension was shut down again in 1922.
In 1943, competition from the road led to slate transport being discontinued by rail. Since the passenger traffic was very deficit and had already been stopped on November 1, 1938, the municipality of Monson then shut down the railway and dismantled the facilities in the winter of 1943/44. The railway company was dissolved in 1945. Although the standard-gauge railway in Monson Junction has now also been closed, both station buildings of the Monson Railroad are still intact. The track bed of the railway is also still there and is used today as a hiking, cycling and snowmobile path.
vehicles
In 1883 a steam locomotive built by Hinkley (serial number 1621) with the type 0-4-4T was bought. In the following year, an identical locomotive from the same factory was purchased (factory number 1661). Locomotive 1 was converted into a snow plow in 1919, locomotive 2 in 1918. The two vehicles were in use until the end of the run. In 1913 a third steam locomotive of the same design was acquired, but from Vulkan-Werke (factory number 2093), which was followed in 1918 by a similar locomotive (factory number 2780).
In June 1997, the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland lent the city the still operational Locomotive 3, which was on display at the station during the city's 175th anniversary. A short piece of track and a small museum serve as a reminder of the railway there today. Locomotive 4 is also still in use today in the Narrow Gauge Museum in Portland.
In the 1909/10 financial year, the company also owned a passenger car and 22 freight cars, 8 of which were closed.
literature
- Robert C. Jones: Two feet to the quarries: The Monson Railroad . Evergreen Press, Burlington VT, 1998, ISBN 0-9667264-0-5 .
- Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .
- Robert L. MacDonald: Maine Narrow Gauge Railroads . Arcadia Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-7385-1179-X .