Bridgton and Harrison Railway
The Bridgton and Harrison Railway is a former Maine ( United States ) railway company based in Bridgton . It was founded on June 29, 1881 under the name Bridgton and Saco River Railroad and existed until 1941. The abbreviation used on the vehicles was B. & S.RRR until 1927 , then B. & S.RR until 1930 , reorganized as "Bridgton and Harrison Railway ”in 1930, the lettering was changed to B. & H.R.
history
The company established the connection between the city of Bridgton and the main line of the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway with the help of the railroad magnate George E. Mansfield and opened it in 1883. The gauge was chosen two feet (610 mm). The line was extended in 1898 beyond Bridgton to Harrison on the northern tip of Long Lake . The Bridgton Junction – Harrison railway had a total length of 34.2 kilometers.
The Bridgton & Saco River Railroad was acquired on July 24, 1912 by the Maine Central Railroad (MEC). Economic problems set in in the 1920s and the bankrupt railway company was renamed the Bridgton and Saco River Railway in 1927 . On July 1, 1930, the newly formed Bridgton and Harrison Railway acquired the railway from the MEC. Only a few weeks later, however, the section between Bridgton and Harrison had to be closed after a train derailment. Locomotive 8 that overturned in this accident was recovered and repaired.
The final end came for the remaining route in September 1941, which was then dismantled. The railway company was dissolved. Part of the route is now a hiking trail.
vehicles
Initially, two small steam locomotives with the wheel arrangement B2 '(Forney), two passenger cars and 15 freight cars were sufficient for traffic. In 1886 another company car was procured. One of the original steam locomotives was sold in 1906. In the 1909/10 financial year, the company owned 5 locomotives, 3 passenger cars, 2 baggage and mail cars , a company car and 57 freight cars. Another two locomotives were bought later after the oldest vehicles had to be retired. In 1933 the master mechanic Everett Brown converted a Chevrolet automobile into a makeshift rail car. A professionally built passenger railcar was bought by the disused Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in 1936 and was given locomotive number 3.Many of the vehicles, including railcar 3 and locomotive 8 that crashed in 1930, were rescued after the railway was shut down and are now in Visit the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland .
The following table contains the operating data of the steam locomotives:
| Locomotive no. | Construction year | Manufacturer | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1882 | Hinkley | probably retired in the 1910s |
| 2 | 1882 | Hinkley | 1906 to Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railroad |
| 3 | 1892 | Portland | 1922 to Kennebec Central Railroad (there also No. 3) |
| 4th | 1901 | porter | was presumably retired in the 1920s (still in use in 1923) |
| 5 | 1906 | Portland | Retired in 1933 |
| 6th | 1907 | Baldwin | retired between 1934 and 1937 |
| 7th | 1913 | Baldwin | 1941 on the Edaville Railroad , now in the Narrow Gauge Museum in Portland |
| 8th | 1924 | Baldwin | 1941 on the Edaville Railroad, now in the Narrow Gauge Museum in Portland |
credentials
- ^ Poor's Manual of Railroads, 44th Annual Number. Poor's Railroad Manual Co., 1911, p. 34.
literature
- Robert L. MacDonald: Maine Narrow Gauge Railroads . Arcadia Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-7385-1179-X .