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![]() The Mt. Kineo House in 1908 | |
Overview | |
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Locale | Maine |
Dates of operation | 1873–1911 |
Successor | Maine Central Railroad |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Length | 91 miles (146 km) |
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.
Somerset Railroad was chartered in 1860 to build north along the Kennebec River from the Maine Central Railroad "back road" at Oakland, Maine. The line originally shared the Maine Central Portland gauge of 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm). Construction reached Norridgewock in 1873, Madison in 1875, and North Anson in 1877. The company defaulted in 1879 and was reorganized as the standard gauge Somerset Railway in 1884 before construction continued to Solon in 1889 and Bingham in 1890. The reorganized company extended the line to Moosehead Lake in 1906 and built a large resort hotel called the Mount Kineo House. The railroad had fifteen plush upholstered coaches, nine baggage cars, and twelve combination smoking-baggage cars with leather seats in the smoking section. [1] Hotel patrons arrived on through Pullman cars from large eastern cities, and reached the hotel by steamboat from the railroad terminal at Kineo Station. Maine Central railroad purchased the Mount Kineo House with the Somerset Railway; and the railway became the Kineo branch of the Maine Central Railroad in 1911. Aboriginal forests had been converted to lumber and pulpwood before the last passenger train over the branch ran in September, 1933; and the line north of Bingham was dismantled that year. [2] The Mount Kineo House was razed in 1938. [3]
Mount Kineo was not the only destination sought by passengers on the Old Somerset Railroad. Many prominent figures of the time, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Henry David Thoreau, ventured to Maine's Somerset County in search of wilderness. Lake Moxie Station became the jumping off point for sporting camps and remote destinations north along the current U.S. Route 201 all the way up to The Forks, Lake Parlin, and Upper Enchanted Township.
Bingham became an important loading point for pulpwood floated down the Kennebec River to Wyman Dam until environmental regulations curtailed log driving in the 1970s. The former Madison Paper Industries paper mill at Madison was the last major customer on the branch originating or terminating 3,000 annual carloads in 1973. [4] A portion of the line from Oakland to Madison remained in operation by Pan Am Railways until service was ended in 2013. Access to the remaining section of line from Madison to Embden is gated off at the former Madison Paper Industries mill. Track from Embden to Bingham has been removed but the roadbed remains in use as a rail trail. On June 24, 2021, Pan Am Railways had filed with the Surface Transportation Board to formally abandon the remaining section of line from Oakland to Madison and Embden. On November 30, 2021, The State of Maine announced the acquisition of a 32 mile section of the former rail line from Oakland north to Embden for conversion into a multi-use rail trail.
As of July 2022, all remaining track and ties have been removed with the exception of grade crossings covered by asphalt and the bridges.
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Number | Name | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
General Veazie | Kerk | former European and North American Railway locomotive leased from Maine Central Railroad during initial railway construction [6] | ||||
Somerset | Hinkley Locomotive Works | 4-4-0 | purchased used after service on the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth and Eastern railroads; replaced by Caratunk [6] | |||
1 | Caratunk | Hinkley Locomotive Works | 4-4-0 | used locomotive purchased to replace Somerset [6] | ||
2 | Black Dinah | used as a yard shunter after delivery of Old Point [6] | ||||
2 | Old Point | Portland Company | 4-4-0 | 1869 | 150 | purchased 1875 [6] |
2 | Manchester Locomotive Works | 4-4-0 | 1901 | 1760 | last locomotive to bear this number; became Maine Central Railroad # 84 [7] | |
3 | Norridgewock [6] | 4-4-0 | ||||
4 | Carrabassett [6] | 4-4-0 | ||||
5 | Moxie [6] | 4-4-0 | ||||
6 | Bombazeen [6] | 4-4-0 | ||||
7 | Messalonskee [6] | Manchester Locomotive Works | 4-4-0 | 1900 | 1743 | purchased new; became Maine Central Railroad # 85 [7] |
10 | American Locomotive Company (Manchester) | 4-4-0 | 1907 | 41438 | purchased new for passenger service; became Maine Central Railroad # 86 [7] | |
12 | American Locomotive Company (Manchester) | 4-4-0 | 1907 | 41439 | purchased new for passenger service; became Maine Central Railroad # 87 [7] | |
20 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 4-6-0 | 1905 | 26269 | purchased new for freight service; became Maine Central Railroad # 106 [7] | |
21 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 4-6-0 | 1905 | 26270 | purchased new for freight service; became Maine Central Railroad # 107 [7] | |
22 | American Locomotive Company (Manchester) | 4-6-0 | 1906 | 41437 | purchased new for freight service; became Maine Central Railroad # 108 [7] | |
23 | American Locomotive Company (Manchester) | 4-6-0 | 1906 | 41437 | purchased new for freight service; became Maine Central Railroad # 109 [7] |
Somerset County is a county in the state of Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 50,477. Its county seat is Skowhegan.
The Kennebec River is a 170-mile-long (270 km) river within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river flows southward. Harris Station Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the state, was constructed near that confluence. The river is joined at The Forks by its tributary the Dead River, also called the West Branch.
Moosehead Lake is a deep, coldwater lake located in Piscataquis County in Northwestern Maine. It is the largest lake in Maine, second-largest lake in New England, and the largest mountain lake in the eastern United States. Situated in the mostly undeveloped Longfellow Mountains, the lake is the source of the Kennebec River. Several rural Townships border the lake. Greenville is by far the largest town on the lake, with a small downtown area that has banks, shops, and restaurants. There are over 80 islands in the lake, the largest being Sugar Island and Deer Island to the west being the second largest.
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 Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad (SR&RL) is a 2 ft narrow gauge common carrier railroad that operated approximately 112 miles (180 km) of track in Franklin County, Maine. The former equipment from the SR&RL continues to operate in the present day on a revived, short segment of the railway in Phillips, Maine.
Moxie Falls is a waterfall in Somerset County, Maine. At a vertical drop of over 90 feet (30 m) into a pool about 17 feet (5 m) deep, Moxie Falls is one of the highest falls in New England. The falls are part of Moxie Stream which flows from Moxie Pond into the Kennebec River approximately 1 kilometer (0.62 mi) downstream the falls. Moxie Stream drains Moxie Pond approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) upstream of the falls.
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 Carrabassett River, a tributary of the Kennebec River, is located in Franklin County and Somerset County, Maine, in the United States. It rises near Sugarloaf Mountain, east of Rangeley Lake, and runs for 33.8 miles (54.4 km), flowing southeast past Kingfield and joining the Kennebec River in the town of Anson.
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 Pan Am Railways 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 Calais Branch is a mothballed railroad line in Maine that was operated by the Maine Central Railroad Company (MEC).
North Anson is a village in the northeastern part of the town of Anson, Somerset County, Maine, United States.
The Seboomook Lake and Saint John Railroad was a forest railway built to transfer pulpwood between drainage basins in the Maine North Woods. The railroad was built slowly in preparation for anticipated pulpwood harvesting, but onset of the Great Depression caused the railroad to be dismantled when harvesting plans were delayed.
The Sebasticook and Moosehead Railroad was a 19th-century Maine railroad which became the 20th century Harmony Branch of the Maine Central Railroad.
The Somerset and Kennebec Railroad was a 19th-century Maine railroad which became part 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.
Anson is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,291 at the time of the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Anson and North Anson.
Fairfield is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,484 at the 2020 census. The town includes Fairfield Center, Fairfield village and Hinckley, and borders the city of Waterville to the south. It is home to the Good Will-Hinckley School, Lawrence High School and Kennebec Valley Community College.
Madison is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,726 at the 2020 census.