The new Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad (operated as the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railway from 2009 to 2012) is a subsidiary of the Brooks Preservation Society (BPS), a not-for-profit organization established in 2008 to protect and preserve historic rail transportation infrastructure and assets located within Waldo County, Maine.[1]
History
Following the announcement in February 2008 of the formal demise of the original 1867-chartered Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad Company (1871–2007) by its then-private not-for-profit operator, the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad & Preservation Society based in Unity, Maine, the BPS was incorporated as an all-volunteer non-profit 501(c)(3) organization to purchase the MEC-built 1892 B&MLRR station house in Brooks (MP 12.27) to save and preserve it as an historic railroad structure.[2][3]
BML#53 (left} and BML#50 (right) at City Point in 2012.
In the months that followed, the BPS acquired several pieces of surviving B&MLRR rolling stock including the road's two still operating 1940s vintage 70-short-ton (63-long-ton; 64t) GE diesel-electric locomotives: BML#50 that had been bought new by the road in November 1946 to provide the line the first non-steam power to ever operate over its 33-mile (53km) grade from Belfast to Burnham Junction, and BML#53 that had been acquired by the BML in 1970 from Vermont's Montpelier and Barre Railroad.[4][5][6] A track inspection car, open-air observation car, 1926-vintage ex-DL&WRR Pullman-built chair car, ex-MEC stainless steel coach/cafe car, and an ex-MEC caboose were later added to the equipment roster.
In February 2009, the BPS entered into a lease agreement with the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) to operate over the State-owned 30-mile (48km) portion of BML grade running inland from the Belfast/Waldo town line (MP 3.14) to Burnham Junction (MP 33.07) and early that July began operating weekend excursion trains between Brooks (MP 12.27) and Waldo (MP 7.15).[7] The following November the BPS leased the remaining three miles (4.8km) of grade within the Belfast city limits between the Belfast/Waldo town line and the Penobscot McCrum property line under the US Rt. 1 bridge from its still then owner, Unity Property Management (UPM).[8] This permitted the BPS to establish regular seasonal excursion service from the Upper Bridge (MP 1.2) to Waldo.
In July 2010, the City of Belfast purchased the UPM-owned portion of the grade within the city limits in order to preserve the corridor and with the intention of developing it as a public multi-use rail trail.[9] While exploring how to design and finance such a rail trail, however, the City also agreed to continue to lease that portion of the grade during the interim on a year-to-year basis to the BPS to operate seasonal trains inland from its Upper Bridge station.[10][11]
BML#3248 at City Point station where operations were moved in 2013The completed "Passy Rail Trail" converted BML grade near the Beavertail at MP 1.3 (July, 2016)
After two seasons of operations from the Upper Bridge, however, the City cancelled the lease with the BPS in October 2012, and four months later formally applied to the Surface Transportation Board of the US Department of Transportation and the US Department of the Interior for permission under the National Trails System Act (16 USC§1241 et seq.) to "railbank" their portion of the grade from the Belfast waterfront at Pierce Street up to the turnout to the privately owned City Point Central Railroad Museum at MP 2.5 next to the Oak Hill Road grade crossing.[12][13][14]
The loss of the lease with the City forced the BPS to relocate the railroad's excursion train service in 2013 to the 19th century station house at the City Point Museum site, a property which the BPS subsequently purchased from its long-time private owner.[15][16] The remaining 0.64 miles (1.03km) of City-owned grade from the City Point turnout to the Belfast/Waldo town line as well as the 30 miles (48km) of State-owned grade beyond continues to be available to the B&MLRR over which it now operates its scheduled seasonal weekend excursion service from the City Point station to the bogs beyond Waldo, as well as other special event runs and group charters over that and other parts of the line.[17]
In late September 2014 the City began the process of pulling up and scrapping the grade's over 300 short tons (268 long tons; 272t) of late 19th and early 20th century rolled 75-pound-per-yard (37.2kg/m)steel rail, spikes, tie plates, sleepers, and other materials.[18][19] Between May and September 2016 extensive grading, paving, installation of railings and other physical upgrading work was undertaken along the corridor to complete its conversion to a formal pedestrian and bike trail called the "Passy Rail Trail".[20][21][22]
Unity, Maine operations
BML trains resting in Unity Yard (2020)
Passenger trains begin at the BML's headquarters in Unity, Maine. Regular trains depart at 11 a.m. and 1:30p.m. These trains generally head west past Unity Pond, through the Burnham Bog, and then reverse back to Unity Station and Depot. Eastbound trains will terminate either at the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association Station in Thorndike, ME, or Farwell General Store, also located in Thorndike. Trains run nearly year round, with the winter season picking up in late February, and running through the winter holiday season.
Rail Bike rides are also operated in conjunction with normal trains, only during the summer season. These are pedal-powered carts that ride the rails, with accommodations for two riders per bike along with a baggage compartment.
Special event trains such as "The Great Train Robbery," "The Santa Express," and "Fall Foliage Special," run in addition to the normal rides. These are often extended rides, and typically run for a longer duration of time.
Recent achievements include tie renewal to the point of trackage being FRA Class 1 conditions from the line's western terminus at Burnham Junction, to Thorndike Yard, the location of one of the town's former chicken feed mills, ditching and culvert replacement along the entire rail corridor, tree clearing to allow for safe passage of trains, the full restoration of one former Maine Central RailroadPullman passenger car, along with a Swedish State Railways dining car, the near full restoration of BML locomotive 53, and replacement and repair of several grade crossings.
Belfast is a city in Waldo County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 6,938. Located at the mouth of the Passagassawakeag River estuary on Belfast Bay and Penobscot Bay. Belfast is the county seat of Waldo County. Its seaport has a wealth of historic architecture in several historic districts, and remains popular with tourists.
BML may refer to:
The Maine Central Railroad was a U. S. class 1 railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to 1,358 miles (2,185 km) when the United States Railroad Administration assumed control in 1917. The main line extended from South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada–United States border with New Brunswick, and a Mountain Division extended west from Portland to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and north into Quebec. The main line was double track from South Portland to Royal Junction, where it split into a "lower road" through Brunswick and Augusta and a "back road" through Lewiston, which converged at Waterville into single track to Bangor and points east. Branch lines served the industrial center of Rumford, a resort hotel on Moosehead Lake and coastal communities from Bath to Eastport.
The Fitchburg Railroad is a former railroad company, which built a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. The Fitchburg was leased to the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1900. The main line from Boston to Fitchburg is now operated as the MBTA Fitchburg Line; Pan Am Railways runs freight service on some other portions.
The Housatonic Railroad is a Class III railroad operating in southwestern New England and eastern New York. It was chartered in 1983 to operate a short section of ex-New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in northwestern Connecticut, and has since expanded north and south, as well as west into New York State.
The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in Northeastern Pennsylvania, especially the Scranton area.
The Adirondack Railroad is a heritage railway serving the Adirondack Park that operates over former New York Central Railroad trackage between Utica and Tupper Lake. The railroad is operated by the not-for-profit Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society, with train crews composed largely of volunteers.
The Catskill Mountain Railroad is a heritage tourist railroad based in Kingston, New York, that began operations in 1982. The railroad leases a 4.7-mile portion of the former New York Central Railroad Catskill Mountain branch from Kingston to Stony Hollow, New York. The tracks are owned by Ulster County, New York, which bought them in 1979 from the bankruptcy estate of the Penn Central Railroad. The railroad's current permit with Ulster County expires on December 31, 2028.
The Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad was a railroad company chartered in 1845 and opened in 1846 that operated in eastern Massachusetts. It and its successors provided passenger service until 1977 and freight service until 1980 or early 1981.
The Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad was a standard-gauge shortline railroad that operated from 1871 to 2007 over a single-track grade from Belfast to Burnham Junction in Maine.
The Eastern Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine. Throughout its history, it competed with the Boston and Maine Railroad for service between the two cities, until the Boston & Maine put an end to the competition by leasing the Eastern in December 1884. Much of the railroad's main line in Massachusetts is used by the MBTA's Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail line, and some unused parts of its right-of-way have been converted to rail trails.
The Maine Department of Transportation, also known as MaineDOT, is the office of state government charged with the regulation and maintenance of roads, rail, ferries, and other public transport infrastructure in the state of Maine. An exception is the Maine Turnpike, which is maintained by the Maine Turnpike Authority. MaineDOT reports on the adequacy of roads, highways, and bridges in Maine. It also monitors environmental factors that affect the motor public such as stormwater, ice/snow buildup on roads, and crashes with moose. MaineDOT was founded in 1972 and replaced the former Maine State Highway Commission.
Southern Appalachia Railway Museum is a railway museum headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States.
The Somerset Railroad was built to serve Kennebec River communities and later extended through timberlands to a large wooden Victorian era destination hotel on Moosehead Lake. The railway became part of the Maine Central Railroad in 1911; and a portion remained in intermittent operation by Pan Am Railways until 2013.
The Maine Central Railroad Company main line extended from Portland, Maine, east to the Canada–US border with New Brunswick at the Saint Croix–Vanceboro Railway Bridge. It is the transportation artery linking Maine cities to the national railway network. Sections of the main line had been built by predecessor railroads consolidated as the Maine Central in 1862 and extended to the Canada–US border in 1882. Through the early 20th century, the main line was double track from South Portland to Royal Junction, where it split into a lower road through Brunswick and Augusta and a back road through Lewiston which converged at Waterville into single track to Bangor and points east. Westbound trains typically used the lower road with lighter grades, while eastbound trains of empty cars used the back road. This historical description does not include changes following purchase of the Maine Central Railroad by Guilford Transportation Industries in 1981 and subsequent operation as part of Pan Am Railways.
The Former Maine Central Railroad Depot is a historic railroad station on Maine State Route 7 in Brooks, Maine. Built in 1892, it is an extremely well-preserved and little-altered example of a Queen Anne railroad depot. It served as a passenger depot until 1960 and as a freight depot thereafter. It is owned by the Brooks Historical Society. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.
The Wolfeboro Railroad or Wolfeborough Railroad is a former short line that provided service to the summer resort town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire on Lake Winnipesaukee.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
