Kennebunk – Kennebunkport railway line
| Kennebunk ME – Kennebunkport ME, as of 1999 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Society: | last BM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 7.50 km | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tracks: | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The railway Kennebunk-Kennebunkport is a railway line in Maine ( United States ). It is 7.50 kilometers long and connects the tourist town of Kennebunkport on the Maine coast to the Cummings – Portland railway line . The standard gauge line was closed in 1926.
history
The Kennebunkport Granite Railroad was founded as early as March 9, 1836 to transport the granite mined near the town of Kennebunkport to the port. On April 1 of the same year, the Kennebunkport and Portland Railroad was also founded , which was to connect the port of Kennebunkport with the city of Portland . However, both railways were never built and the companies were later dissolved. However, after the new main line Boston - Portland of the Boston and Maine Railroad through the small town of Kennebunk had been opened in 1873 , the opportunity arose to produce a cheap rail connection from Kennebunkport, which had become a popular vacation spot, to Portland. For this purpose the Kennebunk and Kennebunkport Railroad was founded on August 16, 1882 .
The railway went into operation on June 6, 1883. On the same day a retrospective lease agreement was signed with Boston & Maine, which leased the small company for 99 years with effect from May 15, 1883. During the heyday of the railways in the 1910s, 13 pairs of trains ran on weekdays in summer (end of June – September), some of them with through coaches to Portland and Montréal . Traffic was quiet on Sundays. Six pairs of trains ran even in winter. Even during the First World War , the number of passengers transported fell drastically, initially because significantly fewer people were able to go on vacation due to the war. From October 1916, partially mixed trains were used. In the course of the reorganization of B&M in 1919, the railway company was dissolved and ownership of the company went to Boston & Maine.
On September 8, 1926, after the end of the summer season, the last train ran on the route, which was then shut down and dismantled.
Route description
The rail line branches off the main line at Kennebunk station and initially runs south along the Mousam River . After crossing Western Avenue (State Route 9) the route turns east and runs parallel to the coast to Kennebunkport. The terminus was off Beach Avenue, between McKenney Lane and Wallace Street. A harbor track continued to the west bank of the Kennebunk River . Almost the entire route is now used as a hiking and cycling path.
attachment
credentials
- ^ Mike Walker: SPV's comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America. New England & Maritime Canada. Steam Powered Publishing, Faversham 1999, ISBN 1-874745-12-9 .
- ↑ Distance kilometers from http://www.trainweb.org/nhrra/Mileage-Charts/BM-RR/Kennebunkport.htm
literature
- Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .