Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad
The Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad (SR & DFR) is a former railway company in Maine ( United States ).
It was founded on January 30, 1908 and took over various smaller railroad companies that operated a continuous network of narrow-gauge railways in a gauge of 2 feet (610 mm), starting from the Farmington . The following companies became part of the SR & RLR:
| date | society | stretch | km |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 30, 1908 | Sandy River Railroad | Farmington-Phillips | 29 |
| January 30, 1908 | Franklin and Megantic Railway | Strong – Kingfield , Mount Abram Junction – Mount Abram , Kingfield – Alder Stream | 30th |
| January 30, 1908 | Kingfield and Dead River Railroad | Kingfield-Bigelow | 21st |
| July 1, 1908 | Phillips and Rangeley Railroad | Phillips-Marbles | 46 |
| July 1, 1908 | Madrid Railroad | Madrid Junction – Number 6 , Brackett Junction – Madrid | 11 |
| August 24, 1911 | Eustis Railroad | Eustis Junction – Greens Farm | 16 |
In 1912 the SR & RLR built another branch from Perham Junction to Barnjum (approx. 6 km). The steep route was only used for freight traffic.
vehicles
In the 1909/10 financial year, the company owned 14 locomotives, 13 passenger cars, 3 baggage and mail cars, 24 company vehicles and 223 freight cars. In addition, 3 locomotives and 25 freight cars were leased from other companies.
The following table contains the data of the SR & RLR locomotives:
| Locomotive no. | Factory (plant number) | Construction year | design type | resume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hinkley (1251) | 1877 | 0-4-4 | built for Billerica and Bedford Railroad ( Ariel ), from 1879 Sandy River RR Dawn (No. 1), decommissioned in 1911 |
| 2 | Hinkley (1261) | 1877 | 0-4-4 | built for Billerica and Bedford RR ( Puck ), from 1879 Sandy River RR Echo (No. 2), from 1884 Franklin & Megantic RR (No. 2, from 1886 No. 3), decommissioned in 1911 |
| 3 | Hinkley (1664) | 1883 | 0-4-4 | built for Franklin & Megantic RR (No. 1), decommissioned in 1911 |
| 4th | Baldwin (8304) | 1886 | 0-4-4 | built for Franklin & Megantic RR (No. 2), decommissioned in 1911 |
| 5 | Portland (616) | 1890 | 0-4-4 | built for Sandy River RR (No. 4) |
| 6th | Portland (622) | 1891 | 0-4-4 | built for Sandy River RR (No. 5), sold to Kennebec Central Railroad (No. 4) in 1925, to Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway (No. 9) in 1933 , now in the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland |
| 7th | Portland (615) | 1890 | 0-4-4 | built for Phillips & Rangeley RR ( Calvin Putnam , No. 1) |
| 8th | Baldwin (31826) | 1907 | 2-4-4 | built for Sandy River RR (No. 16), but only delivered after the merger |
| 9 | Baldwin (33550) | 1909 | 2-4-4 | |
| 10 | Baldwin (42231) | 1916 | 2-4-4 | for operation on the main Farmington – Rangeley line |
| 15th | Baldwin (11706) | 1891 | 2-6-0 tender | built for Phillips & Rangeley RR ( George M. Goodwin , No. 3), converted into Type 2-6-2 in Waterville in 1916 |
| 16 | Baldwin (12964) | 1892 | 2-6-0 tender | built for Laurel River and Hot Springs Railroad ( James Wyman ), later Sandy River RR (No. 3), converted into Type 2-6-2 in Waterville in 1916 |
| 17th | Baldwin (13276) | 1893 | 0-4-4 | built for Phillips & Rangeley RR ( Isaac Walton , No. 2) |
| 18th | Baldwin (13733) | 1893 | 2-6-0 | built for Sandy River RR (No. 2 '), converted into Type 2-6-2 in Waterville in 1916, in service until 1936 |
| 19th | Baldwin (23874) | 1904 | 2-6-2 tenders | built for Sandy River RR (No. 8) |
| 20th | Baldwin (23245) | 1903 | 0-4-4 | built for Eustis RR (No. 7) |
| 21st | Baldwin (23754) | 1904 | 0-4-4 | built for Eustis RR (No. 8) |
| 22nd | Baldwin (23755) | 1904 | 0-4-4 | built for Eustis RR (No. 9) |
| 23 | Baldwin (40733) | 1913 | 2-6-2 tenders | only for the Farmington – Phillips route |
| 24 | Baldwin (51803) | 1919 | 2-6-2 tenders |
The end of the train
The SR & RLR in turn was acquired by the Maine Central Railroad in August 1911 , but sold again in 1923 for economic reasons. However, the company could not prevail against the increasing competition on the street. In 1932 all operations were initially discontinued, but reopened between Farmington and Phillips and between Strong and Carrabassett in the following year. The remaining routes were dismantled in 1934. In June 1935, the entire remaining route network and most of the vehicle fleet was sold to a scrap dealer and all operations were discontinued. The lines were dismantled by the end of 1936.
In 1970, railroad fans in Phillips decided to rebuild part of the route as a museum. From 1985 the name "Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad" was used again. Today a short stretch at Phillips can be used again on weekends. A petrol-powered replica of locomotive 4 of the Sandy River Railroad and three other diesel and petrol-powered locomotives are used.
In Strong , where Franklin & Megantic branched off from the Sandy River Railroad, railroad fans built a short stretch of track at the former station on which, on September 29, 2001, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the place, the Maine locomotive 3 (formerly Monson Railroad ) Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland was used.
attachment
credentials
- ^ Poor's Manual of Railroads, 44th Annual Number. Poor's Railroad Manual Co., 1911, 98.
literature
- MacDonald, Robert L .: Maine Narrow Gauge Railroads . Arcadia Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0-7385-1179-X .
- Robert M. Lindsell: The Rail Lines of Northern New England. Branch Line Press, Pepperell, MA 2000, ISBN 0-942147-06-5 .
