The was a railroad in central and southern
Maine . It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. It operated between
South Portland, Maine , east to the
Canada-U.S. Border with
New Brunswick , west to
Vermont and north to
Quebec .
The Maine Central was created initially through the merger of the
Androscoggin And Kennebec Railroad and the
Penobscot And Kennebec Railroad , resulting in a line from
Danville (northeast of Portland) to
Bangor . The line connected with the
Grand Trunk Railway on its Portland-Chicago mainline at Danville and with the
Bangor And Piscataquis Railroad in Bangor. As a result of its connection with the Grand Trunk, the Maine Central was initially running with a
Track Gauge of known as "Portland" gauge.
Maine Central purchased the
Portland And Kennebec Railroad , which ran from Portland to Danville and was built to standard track gauge, since it connected with the
Boston And Maine Railroad at Portland. By 1871, the Maine Central completed its conversion to standard gauge to facilitate interchange of cars.
1
The MEC established rail service to the
Penobscot Bay in 1871 by leasing (for fifty years) the then just-completed of track built by the
Belfast And Moosehead Lake Railroad (B&ML). The B&ML's grade ran the length of
Waldo County from the port town of
Belfast inland to
Burnham Junction where its single track connected with the MEC's Portland to Bangor mainline. The Maine Central operated the road as its "Belfast Branch" for the next 55 years, but on
June 30 ,
1925 , MEC President
Morris McDonald — after repeated public denials
2 — gave the B&ML (and the city of Belfast as its majority owner) the required six months notice that it would not renew its by then year-to-year lease when it expired on
December 31 ,
1925 .
3 The reason eventually given was a net loss to the MEC on the Belfast Branch operations of $113,230 for the year 1924. The B&ML took over operation of its road on
January 1 ,
1926 . It continued to exchange passengers and mail with the MEC at their jointly owned station at Burnham Junction until 1960 and freight interchange traffic until 2002.
In 1882, Maine Central leased the
European And North American Railway (E&NA) between Bangor and
Vanceboro .
In 1888, Maine Central purchased the
Portland And Ogdensburg Railroad , which ran from Portland, through the
White Mountains of
New Hampshire via
Crawford Notch , and into
St. Johnsbury, Vermont , where it connected with the
Southeastern Railway (owned by the
Canadian Pacific Railway ). The railroad also purchased several
Narrow Gauge branch lines used for the logging industry, such as the
Sandy River And Rangeley Lakes Railroad in 1911 and the
Bridgton And Saco River Railroad in 1912.
In 1889, the
Canadian Pacific Railway purchased trackage rights from Maine Central on the portion of the former E&NA from
Mattawamkeag to Vanceboro. This Maine Central trackage formed part of the CPR's
Montreal -
Saint John mainline, upon completion of the
International Railway Of Maine . This line was an important rail route for Canadian war material heading to the port of Saint John for shipment overseas to Europe. In the months before the United States entered the war, a
German saboteur attempted to blow up the railway bridge which crossed the
St. Croix River at the
International Boundary .
Maine Central also built a line southeast from Bangor along the coast through
Machias to
Calais , with branches to
Bar Harbor and
Eastport .
Maine Central was at its height by 1917 when it became
Nationalized during
World War I under the
United States Railroad Administration , having trackage which extended over . It ran from
Vanceboro ,
Calais and
Eastport in the east, to Portland in the south,
St. Johnsbury in the west, and to
Lime Ridge, Quebec in the north. It also operated resorts and coastal steamships and ferries.
Following World War I, Maine Central began retracting. It sold or abandoned lines such as the narrow gauge logging systems, as well as its ferries and steamships. In the 1930s it began to change its locomotives from
Steam powered to
Diesel powered. Beginning in 1933, Maine Central entered into a "joint management" agreement with the
Boston And Maine Railroad , with which it shared the
Portland Terminal Railroad (a switching railroad in Portland).
In 1955, Maine Central completed a purchase of the E&NA line from Bangor to Vanceboro which it had leased in 1882. The deal consisted of $125 per share or $3,114,500 payable in cash or bonds at the election of the E&NA shareholders.
Faced with increased competition from cars, trucks and buses, Maine Central operated its last passenger train on
September 5 ,
1960 , and continued to reduce its freight business to reflect changing traffic. On
December 17 ,
1974 , Maine Central sold its trackage between Mattawamkeag and Vanceboro to Canadian Pacific for $5.4 million while retaining trackage rights from CPR over the section of line.
In 1980, the railroad was purchased by to
Rockland , the "Calais Branch" from Bangor to Calais, and the "Lower Road" from
Augusta to
Brunswick . Guilford also forced many management and salary changes, resulting in a major strike against the company in 1986.
,
2006 .]]
One of the instigating factors which led to the labor strife at Guilford relates to a corporate reorganization at one of the company's former Maine Central properties. After the Calais Branch was abandoned, a small portion of trackage between Calais and
Woodland remained in service to a
Pulp mill. It was joined to the rest of the North American rail network through a connection with the
Canadian Pacific Railway at
St. Stephen, New Brunswick and operated through New Brunswick territory for several miles between Calais and Woodland. In order to avoid union agreements that the rest of the rail system was forced to follow, Guilford leased this operation to an obscure B&M subsidiary known as Springfield Terminal Railway. Eventually, the corporate reorganization under Springfield Terminal would extend to the full extent of Guilford operations.
The former Maine Central locomotive shops in
Waterville continue as Guilford's main repair shops.
In the early 1990s, Guilford ended its practice of putting the full "Maine Central" name on the long hoods of MEC locomotives. Instead, the locomotives would wear the "Guilford Rail System" moniker, with small "MEC"
Reporting Mark s underneath the cab windows.
On
November 1 ,
2003 , the
Morristown And Erie Railway (M&E) took over the former Maine Central "Lower Road" (main line) and Rockland Branch routes (aided by significant public funding from the state Department of Transportation). M&E is operating these state-owned lines as the
Maine Eastern Railroad . Prior to M&E, the Rockland Branch had been operated by
Safe Handling , and before that, the
Maine Coast Railroad . Several railroad preservation and promotion groups are seeking to have the state-owned Calais Branch and Mountain Division routes reactivated for use by short line or tourist rail operations.
painted in the new
Pan Am Railways livery in 2005.]]
In the first quarter of 2006, Guilford Transportation Industries officially changed its name to
Pan Am Systems , reflecting GTI's purchase of
Pan American World Airways in 1998. The rail division of GTI changed its name from Guilford Rail System to
Pan Am Railways (PAR). PAR began repainting locomotives in the sky-blue Pan Am colors shortly thereafter.
Pan Am Railways ' Boston and Maine Railroad comes into the state of Maine in
South Berwick , through the town's southwest corner, continuing northeast through
North Berwick ,
Wells ,
Kennebunk ,
Arundel ,
Biddeford ,
Saco ,
Old Orchard Beach , and
Scarborough before coming to Rigby Yard in
South Portland . Rigby is the historic junction point for the end-to-end MEC and B&M systems.
The MEC main line's western terminus is at Rigby and runs northeast through Portland, Falmouth, Cumberland, and Royal Junction (in Yarmouth). The "Back Road" main line continues northeast through North Yarmouth, New Gloucester, Auburn, Danville Jct., Lewiston, Leeds Jct., Readfield, Belgrade, Waterville, Pittsfield, Hermon, Northern Maine Jct., Bangor, Orono, Old Town, and ends at its eastern terminus at Mattawamkeag.
PAR's Maine Central main line interchanges with the
Eastern Maine Railway at Mattawamkeag, the
Montreal, Maine And Atlantic Railway at Northern Maine Jct., and the
St. Lawrence And Atlantic Railroad at Danville Jct.
Maine Central under PAR still has several branch lines in operation.
The Brunswick branch splits off the mainline at Royal Junction and continues through the center of Yarmouth, before meeting the
St. Lawrence And Atlantic Railroad (ex-
Canadian National Railway , nee-
Grand Trunk Railway ) at Yarmouth Junction. The tracks meet at a 90 degree angle, and then the branch line continues through Freeport, where the line crosses under
U.S. Route 1 . After going through the center of Freeport, the line ends in Brunswick where it meets the Rockland Branch, which is now owned by the Maine Department of Transportation and leased to the
Maine Eastern Railroad .
The Rumford branch splits off the mainline at Leeds Junction and continues northwest up the
Androscoggin River valley, passing through Livermore Falls, terminating at Rumford.
The Bucksport branch splits off the mainline at Bangor and continues south down the Penobscot River valley, passing through Brewer and terminating at Bucksport. This branch was chartered in 1870 as the
Bucksport And Bangor Railroad and its grade was surveyed in the autumn of 1872. Construction of the line began in the spring of 1873 with trains beginning to run regularly over its whole length on
December 21 ,
1874 . The MEC took over operation of the branch from the
European And North American Railway in 1883.
The Calais branch is a short, isolated section of former MEC trackage at the far eastern edge of Maine, running from a pulp mill in Woodlands to the city of Calais. Once part of a much longer line that ran from Bangor to Calais, it has been cut back to the present trackage and for part of the way it runs through the neighbouring province of
New Brunswick ,
Canada where it interchanges with the
New Brunswick Southern Railway . In January 2006 the segment of the Calais Branch from Brewer to Washington Junction, East of Ellsworth, was leased by owner MaineDOT to the not for profit Downeast Rail Heritage Preservation Trust. The Trust is currently working on rehabilitation of the line to begin excursion service from Ellsworth to Green Lake, Maine.
