The Mountain Division (later the Mountain Subdivision) is a railroad line that was once owned and operated by the Maine Central Railroad (MEC). It stretches from Portland, Maine on the Atlantic Ocean, through the Western Maine Mountains and White Mountains of New Hampshire, ending at St. Johnsbury, Vermont in the Northeast Kingdom. The line was abandoned in 1983 by MEC's successor, Guilford Transportation Industries (GTI). Guilford retained a stub between Portland and Westbrook. A section in New Hampshire remains in use by heritage railway Conway Scenic Railroad.
Built as the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad before acquisition by the Maine Central Railroad (MEC), the line initially provided transportation for summer visitors to grand Victorian hotels, including the Bay of Naples Inn in Naples (reached by connection with Sebago Lake steamboats), the Crawford House in Crawford Notch and the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods. Cool, clean air at Sebago Lake and the White Mountains provided a refreshing escape from the heat, humidity and smoke of 19th-century cities. Autumn foliage and winter skiing extended the tourist season. The Flying Yankee train-set operated as the Mountaineer from Boston to Crawford Notch via Intervale Junction during World War II, [1] but passenger service had been reduced to a single daily round-trip between Portland and St. Johnsbury by the 1930s. The train between Portland and St. Johnsbury usually consisted of a RPO-express car, a baggage car and a single coach after the 1920s; and substitution of a stainless steel combination for the coach and baggage car reduced the train to two cars for the last several years before the end of passenger service in 1958. [2]
The Mountain Division was the shortest route from Portland to points west of Chicago. It saw relatively heavy through freight traffic from termination of the joint operating agreement with the Boston & Maine Railroad (B&M) in 1953 until abandonment in 1983, when GTI favored a B&M routing. The westbound grade was 2.2% for 18.5 miles (29.8 km) from Bemis (Notchland) to the summit at Crawford Notch. [3] MEC operated 2-6-6-2 Mallet locomotives #1201-1204 on the Mountain Division from 1911 through the 1920s. The Mallets had been built for the B&M's Hoosac Tunnel in 1910 and were sold to MEC when Hoosac Tunnel was electrified the following year. The Mallets were built to burn oil, but were converted to burn coal after local fire departments had difficulty extinguishing oil fires. [4] Two large firemen were required to hand-fire the coal-burning Mallets westbound. [5] One Mallet was stationed in Portland, another at Lancaster on the Beecher Falls Branch, and a third at the Bartlett helper wye, while the fourth Mallet was undergoing maintenance.
USRA Light Mikados (Maine Central class S) handled freight trains on the Mountain Division after the last Mallet was retired in 1931, and class O 4-6-0s handled local trains and (often in tandem) provided helper service. EMD F3s and GP7s replaced steam locomotives in 1953. [6] Four or five diesel locomotives were typical head-end power for diesel-era freight trains; and a pair of EMD SW7s or non-dynamic-braked GP7s often provided helper service westbound. First-generation diesels were replaced by similar numbers of EMD GP38s, ten GE U18Bs and two ALCO RS-11s. Helpers were less common with these second-generation diesels.
Heritage operator Conway Scenic Railroad operates summer and fall excursion trains on the portion of the Mountain Division between North Conway through Crawford Notch to Fabyan.
The segment from Westbrook, Maine to the Maine–New Hampshire border at Fryeburg, Maine, owned by the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), remains derelict after a 2011 plan by MaineDOT to rebuild the line for freight and passenger service fell-through. In late July, 2023, MaineDOT filed an STB application to tear-up this entire, long-unused line segment. [7]
MEC's parent company, Pan Am Railways, retained ownership of the section of the line to Westbrook, which it operates as the "Mountain Branch." What remains of the Mountain Branch is now owned by CSX Corporation
The Dominion Lime Company built a railroad in 1887 from the Quebec Central Railway at Dudswell Junction to Lime Ridge, Quebec. In 1888, the Upper Coos Railroad built a railroad north to the Quebec border from the Grand Trunk Railway at North Stratford, New Hampshire. In 1889, William Bullock Ives' Hereford Railway purchased the Dominion Lime Company railroad and extended it south to connect with the Upper Coos Railroad. MEC leased the Upper Coos Railroad and the Hereford Railway in 1890 and built a connecting Coos Valley Railroad in 1891 from North Stratford to the Mountain Division at Quebec Junction. This line was operated as the MEC Quebec Division until Maine Central terminated lease of the Hereford Railway in 1925. Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) later operated over some of the line through Quebec. The Upper Coos Railroad and Coos Valley Railroad were purchased by MEC in 1931 and operated as the Beecher Falls branch of the Mountain Division. The former Coos Valley Railroad was dismantled in 1948 when MEC negotiated trackage rights over the B&M to Groveton, New Hampshire and over the former Grand Trunk Berlin Subdivision from Groveton to North Stratford. [8] The remaining line north of North Stratford operated as the North Stratford Railroad after 1976.
Carroll is a town in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 820 at the 2020 census. The two largest villages are Twin Mountain and Bretton Woods. Carroll is an important access point for recreational areas in the White Mountains, including many 4,000-footers, the Zealand River area, the Presidential Range, and the Presidential Dry River Wilderness. The town is home to the Mount Washington Hotel at Bretton Woods and to the Highland Center at Crawford Notch, the Appalachian Mountain Club's four-season lodge.
The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983.
Whitefield is a town in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States, in the White Mountains Region. The population was 2,490 at the 2020 census. Situated on the northern edge of the White Mountains, Whitefield is home to the Mount Washington Regional Airport and the White Mountains Regional High School.
U.S. Route 302 is an east–west spur of U.S. Route 2 in northern New England in the United States. It currently runs 171 miles (275 km) from Montpelier, Vermont, beginning at US 2, to Portland, Maine, at U.S. Route 1. It passes through the states of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad, known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short-line railway operating between Portland, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean, and Montreal, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Canada–US border at Norton, Vermont, and Stanhope, Quebec, and is owned by short-line operator Genesee & Wyoming.
The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine Railroad's Southern Division.
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 International Railway of Maine was a historic railroad constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) between Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, and Mattawamkeag, Maine, closing a key gap in the railway's transcontinental main line to the port of Saint John, New Brunswick.
The Bridgton and Saco River Railroad (B&SR) was a 2 ft narrow gauge railroad that operated in the vicinity of Bridgton and Harrison, Maine. It connected with the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad from Portland, Maine, to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, near the town of Hiram on the Saco River.
The Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad was a railroad planned to connect Portland, Maine to Ogdensburg, New York. The plan failed, and in 1880 the Vermont section was reorganized and leased by the Boston & Lowell Railroad. In 1886, the Maine and New Hampshire section was reorganized as the Portland & Ogdensburg Railway. That part was leased to the Maine Central Railroad in 1888, and in 1912 the Maine Central leased the eastern part of the Vermont section from the Boston & Maine Railroad, the successor to the B&L.
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 North Stratford Railroad was an interstate railroad in northeastern Vermont and northwestern New Hampshire. It ran from the village of North Stratford, New Hampshire to the village of Beecher Falls in Canaan, Vermont, a distance of approximately 23 miles (37 km).
The Portland Terminal Company was a terminal railroad notable for its control of switching (shunting) activity for the Maine Central Railroad (MEC) and Boston & Maine (B&M) railroads in the Maine cities of Portland, South Portland, and Westbrook.
The Rockland Branch is a railroad from Brunswick, Maine to Rockland, Maine. A charter was granted in 1849 to build a railway from the Portland and Kennebec Railroad on the west side of the Kennebec River to Rockland. Construction through the rocky headlands of the Atlantic coast proved more expensive than anticipated. The Knox and Lincoln Railroad commenced service to Rockland in 1871 using a ferry to cross the Kennebec River between Bath and Woolwich. The Knox and Lincoln was leased by Maine Central Railroad in 1891, and became Maine Central's Rockland Branch in 1901. Maine Central purchased the Samoset destination hotel in nearby Glen Cove in 1912, and offered direct passenger service for summer visitors from the large eastern cities. Carlton bridge was completed in 1927 to carry the railroad and U.S. Route 1 over the Kennebec River. Maine Central sold the Samoset hotel in 1941, and the last Maine Central passenger train to Rockland was on 4 April 1959. The State of Maine purchased the branch in 1987 to prevent abandonment. The line has subsequently been operated by the Maine Coast Railroad, the Maine Eastern Railroad, and, beginning in 2016, the Central Maine and Quebec Railway. In 2019, Canadian Pacific Railway agreed to purchase the Central Maine and Quebec, thereby inheriting the operation of the Rockland Branch. The acquisition was completed on June 3, 2020.
The Maine Central Railroad Rumford Branch is a railroad line in Maine now operated as part of the CSX Transportation system. The Rumford Branch leaves the mainline at Leeds Junction and continues northwest up the Androscoggin River valley, passing through Livermore Falls and terminating at Rumford. The branch comprises the remaining trackage of three earlier branches:
The Bucksport Branch is a railroad line in Maine that was operated by the Maine Central Railroad. It is now part of the Pan Am Railways system.
The Calais Branch is a mothballed railroad line in Maine that was operated by the Maine Central Railroad Company (MEC).
Crawford Depot, also known as Maine Central Passenger Railway Station, is a historic passenger railroad station at the top of Crawford Notch in the Bretton Woods area of the town of Carroll, New Hampshire. Built in 1891, it is a surviving emblem of the importance of the railroad in the area's history as a tourist destination, and is one of the finest examples of Queen Anne railroad architecture in northern New England. Now home to a visitors center operated by the Appalachian Mountain Club, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It is also the northern terminus of most trains on the "Notch Train" service of the Conway Scenic Railroad.
The Sebasticook and Moosehead Railroad was a 19th-century Maine railroad which became the 20th century Harmony Branch of the Maine Central Railroad.
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.