South Lagrange – Searsport railway line
| South Lagrange ME-Searsport ME | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route length: | 88.2 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dual track : | formerly to Northern Maine Jct. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Society: | CMQR | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The railway line South Lagrange Searsport is a railway line in Maine ( United States ). It is 88.2 kilometers long and connects the South Lagrange junction with the Searsport seaport . The standard gauge line is operated today by the Central Maine and Quebec Railway exclusively in freight traffic.
history
The places on the west side of the mouth of the Penobscot River were still without a railway connection at the beginning of the 20th century. The seaport in Searsport and the town of Winterport in particular offered considerable transport potential . There were already plans for a railway in this area. The Penobscot River Railroad , founded in 1869, wanted to build a route from Rockland via Belfast to Winterport. However, the plan never came to fruition. In 1870, a Winterport Railroad was also established to extend this route to Bangor . Both companies were dissolved again in the 1870s and the construction of the railway between Bangor and Winterport took another three decades to come.
After all, it was the Northern Maine Seaport Railroad , founded in 1904 , that began building the route in 1905. The aim was not only to connect Winterport and the seaport of Searsport to the city of Bangor, but also to create a shorter route to the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad (BAR) network in the north of the state. For this reason, Bangor was not chosen as the northern end point, but South Lagrange station on the main line of the BAR. On November 21, 1905, the entire line went into operation.
Since the line only touched the city of Bangor to the west, the railway needed a junction with the Maine Central Railroad . At the intersection with this railway, the Northern Maine Junction station was built , which served as a transshipment point for both passenger and freight traffic. There were track connections in all directions as well as extensive parking facilities. At the southern end of the route, a short branch to Cape Jellison was also built, which was only used for freight traffic.
From 1919 the line belonged to the BAR, which had been in operation since 1907 and had leased the line. The line was extended in 1924 in the urban area of Searsport by about one and a half kilometers to a new port at Mack Point. Passenger traffic between Northern Maine Junction and Searsport has been suspended since 1933, on the remaining route since September 4, 1961. Since January 9, 2003, the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway has operated freight traffic on the route, which in 2014 was named Central Maine and Quebec Railway was reorganized.
Route description
At the northern end of the line is the South Lagrange station , a through station for Bangor & Aroostook before the opening of the Northern Maine Seaport Railroad. Later, the BAR built a stretch straight north from this station, so that the station was expanded into a crossing station. The track crossing was at ground level.
The route runs relatively straight to the southwest through forests and crosses several smaller rivers. At Hudson , where it crosses State Road 43, the train turns south. The line crosses the urban area of Bangor in the north-west of the city, touches the airport, to which there is no rail connection, and then reaches the Northern Maine Junction station . The main line of Maine Central is crossed over a bridge. The section from South Lagrange to the northern junction on the Maine Central Railroad had been double-tracked, but has since been reduced to one track.
To the south of the intersection, but still in the area of the train station, there is a six-track storage facility that is still in use today. A few hundred meters further, the railroad passes under Interstate 95 . The route then runs quite winding through the hill country west of the Penobscot River, whose banks it reaches at Sandy Point . The route then turns west and ends at the port of Searsport east of the city. Southeast of Stockton Springs used to be the short branch line to Cape Jellison, which was connected via a track triangle .
Special engineering structures were not necessary on the route. Only a few smaller river bridges and the bridge over the Maine Central Railroad are worth mentioning.
passenger traffic
Initially, three pairs of trains ran the entire route. In passenger traffic, however, the route was divided from 1907, since all trains ran over the Maine Central Railroad to and from Bangor. The bridge over the Maine Central Railroad was therefore no longer used in passenger traffic.
The timetable of September 28, 1913 provided four trains between Northern Maine Junction and South Lagrange and two trains between Northern Maine Junction and Searsport on weekdays. With some trains in Northern Maine Junction a transfer of through cars to and from trains from Portland and Boston took place. From Northern Maine Junction it took 40 to 50 minutes to drive to South Lagrange and 65 minutes to Searsport.
From 1933 buses went to Searsport and only three pairs of trains went to South Lagrange. Shortly before passenger traffic was discontinued in 1961, the Potatoland Special Northern Maine Junction – Caribou was still on the route . After Bangor you had to change to the bus last, but you could buy a one-way ticket. On the way to South Lagrange there was no stopping, the next stop was Millinocket .
Sources and further reading
Individual evidence
- ^ Mike Walker: SPV's comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. (2nd edition) Steam Powered Publishing, Faversham 2010, ISBN 1-874745-12-9 .
- ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issued November 1913. Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. Page 149.
- ↑ BAR timetables from 1906 to 1961.
literature
- Jerry Angier, Herb Cleaves: Bangor & Aroostook . Flying Yankee Enterprises, Littleton MA 1986, ISBN 0-96155-743-5 .
- 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 .