Strong – Bigelow railway line
| Strong ME - Bigelow ME | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Society: | SR&RL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 45 km | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 610 mm ( 2 foot track ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks: | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The railway Strong Bigelow is a railway line in Maine ( United States ). It is around 45 kilometers long. The line was built in the gauge of two feet (610 mm) and is completely shut down.
history
After the opening of the Farmington – Phillips railway by the Sandy River Railroad in 1879, the city of Kingfield tried to connect to this railway. A local investor therefore founded the Franklin and Megantic Railroad in 1883 . The approximately 24 kilometers long railway line to Kingfield connected in Strong to the Sandy River Railroad and was completed on December 10, 1884. Due to the severe winter, however, the official opening was postponed to spring 1885.
Shortly thereafter, the railway company decided to extend the route along the Carrabassett River to Bigelow . A subsidiary was founded, the Kingfield and Dead River Railway , and the line opened on August 1, 1894 to Carrabassett and in late 1898 to Bigelow. In 1908 the two railroad companies merged with others to form the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad , which in turn was owned by the Maine Central Railroad from 1911 to 1923 .
The timetable from May 8, 1916 provided for two train pairs Strong – Bigelow and one train pair Kingfield – Bigelow on working days. The journey from Strong to Bigelow was an hour and a half, but the trains in Kingfield usually stopped for several hours.
From 1926, the passenger trains were either operated as diesel multiple units or ran as a mixed train . At the same time, the upper section of the track between Carrabassett and Bigelow was shut down. On July 8, 1932, all traffic was stopped and the railway company applied for the line to be closed. After an industrial customer of the railway appealed against the closure, the company resumed operations on April 17, 1933. In 1935 the closure was approved and on June 30, 1935 the last train to Carrabassett ran. The tracks were completely dismantled by autumn 1936.
Route description
The line branches off from the Farmington – Marbles railway line at Strong Station and initially leads north along a short tributary of the Sandy River . The route reaches the West Branch River over a ridge at Salem , on the southern bank of which the route runs northeast to Kingfield . The railway line crosses the river here, which flows into the Carrabassett River in Kingfield and now leads north again along the Carrabassett. Between Kingfield and Carrabassett Valley , the route crosses the river on an iron bridge that was demolished after the railway was closed. Today Iron Bridge Road and Claybrook Road run north of the bridge on the railway line. In Carrabassett Valley, the railway line is now used by Gauge Road , Oxford Road and Houston Brook Road . North of Carrabassett, the route turns west together with the river valley and now runs north of the river to Bigelow, where Bigelow Station Road still bears witness to the earlier presence of the railway.
attachment
credentials
- ↑ Official Guide of the Railways and Steam Navigation Lines of the United States, Porto Rico, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. Issue June 1916. Page 222.
literature
- Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .