St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
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The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad (
The line was built by the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad in the U.S. and the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway in Canada, meeting at Island Pond, Vermont, south of the international border. Major communities served include Portland and Lewiston in Maine; Berlin, New Hampshire; Island Pond, Vermont; and Sherbrooke and Montreal in Quebec.
History
The line was proposed as a connection between Portland and
Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad
The Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad was chartered in Maine on February 10, 1845; New Hampshire on July 30, 1847; and Vermont on October 27, 1848, to build a continuous line from Portland northwest into northeastern Vermont. William Pitt Preble was the railroad's first president. The line was originally built to the Portland gauge of 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm). Construction started in Portland on July 4, 1846. The first section, from Portland to Yarmouth, opened July 20, 1848. Further extensions up the Royal River to Danville (now Auburn) opened in October 1848 and to Mechanic Falls in February 1849. Construction then proceeded up the Little Androscoggin River to Oxford in September 1849 and Paris in March 1850. Construction was then completed down the Alder River to the Androscoggin River at Bethel in March 1851.[2] Simultaneous construction of Portland gauge connecting railways occurred from Danville and Mechanic Falls. Sections into and within New Hampshire opened to Gorham on July 23, 1851, and Northumberland July 12, 1852, and the full distance to Island Pond, Vermont, on January 29, 1853.
Construction began with three locomotives built in Britain, but John Poor had organized the Portland Company with locomotive erecting shops adjacent to the railroad yard and wharves at Portland. Approximately half of the early Portland Company production was 25 Portland-gauge locomotives built for the Atlantic & St. Lawrence. These 4-4-0 locomotives weighing 20 to 25 tons were augmented by locomotives built elsewhere when the road was completed to Montreal.[2]
The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway was chartered to build the part of the line in
Grand Trunk Railway
Four months later, on August 5, 1853, the
The locomotives burned wood exclusively until the cost of seasoned firewood increased during the winter of 1871–72 to make other fuels competitive. Peat from Quebec was used briefly before coal became the standard. Coal was used exclusively between Portland and Gorham by 1879, but use of wood continued for a few more years north of Gorham.[2]
Interchange with
During the week preceding the change, each section foreman made sure all ties on his section were properly adzed and clear of gravel. Spikes were laid out beside each tie, and some sidings were re-gauged before the main line. Two eight-man squads were assigned to each five-mile section. They slept by the track with their tools on the night of September 25, 1874. Work began at Portland when the last Portland gauge train from Island Pond arrived at 2:00 am September 26, and the main line was ready for standard gauge trains by 9:00 am the same day. The change resulted in nearly complete replacement of locomotives on the New England line, since most of the Portland gauge locomotives were sold or scrapped. Five new "Burnside" 2-6-0 locomotives from Rhode Island Locomotive Works had arrived in Portland from Boston to resume service.[2]
The GTR line to Portland was built during the boom period for New England
Grain elevators were constructed at Portland to facilitate storage and loading of Canadian wheat for export. The first elevator was built on Galt Wharf in 1863. The elevator with capacity for 150,000 bushels burned in 1873, and was replaced with a larger elevator in 1875. Portland Elevator Company built an elevator with capacity of one million bushels in 1897, and New England Elevator Company built the largest elevator on the Atlantic coast at the time, with capacity of 1.5 million bushels, in 1901.[2]
By 1881, all wooden bridges had been replaced by iron and stone structures, and steel rail had replaced early iron rail. Fourteen steamship lines were serving the Grand Trunk wharves at Portland by 1896 with connections to Bristol, London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Antwerp. Fifty steamships visited Portland that winter, and as many as seven could load simultaneously from the Grand Trunk wharves. More powerful 2-6-0 mogul locomotives increased freight train length from 16 to 30 cars.[2]
Passenger train service included the Seaside and White Mountains Special (later called the International Limited) from Chicago to Portland, equipped with plush silk and mahogany-finished Pullman, dining, sleeping, parlor, and observation cars including a library and a barber shop.[2] By 1946 this required a change of train in Montreal, taking #16 from Montreal to Portland (and #17 the reverse trip). As late as summer, 1963, the Canadian National/Grand Trunk operated this route as a weekends only train, equipped with coffee shop car in addition to coach, for the route from Montreal to Portland.[3]
Canadian National Railways Berlin subdivision
The GTR's bankruptcy in the early 1920s saw it nationalized by the Canadian federal government, which merged it into the nascent
Paper mills remained a major source of traffic. Annual car loadings in 1973 were 12,758 for Berlin, 5,794 for Groveton, and 1,161 for Mechanic Falls; but the Boston and Maine Railroad carried some of the traffic for the New Hampshire mills.[4] Dressed meat from Chicago to Maine continued to use the shorter Canadian routing as long as railway reefers remained competitive with highway trucking.
From 1934[5] to 1939 the twice-weekly Maine Coast Special from Montreal left the Grand Trunk at Yarmouth Junction to follow the Maine Central Railroad to Portland's Union Station and then the Boston and Maine Railroad to the beach communities of Old Orchard Beach and Kennebunkport during July and August. The CNR class U-1 4-8-2 locomotives pulling as many as 17 car trains around Dominion Day would be serviced at Rigby Yard in South Portland before making the return trip. Daily except Sunday passenger trains 16 and 17 continued to carry a railway post office between Portland and Island Pond through the 1950s. These trains remained popular with summer vacationers from Montreal, and summer weekend service continued until 1967 after daily train service ended in 1960. Passengers were transported by bus from Portland station to Old Orchard Beach. Portland station was razed in 1966.[2]
Despite the decline in traffic being handled over the line, its strategic connection to the Atlantic Ocean for Montreal saw other use arise during
CNR (CN after the 1960s) continued to operate the Portland-Sherbrooke line as its Berlin Subdivision, but traffic continued to decline. By the late 1980s, following deregulation of the U.S. railroad industry, it became a candidate for divestiture to a shortline operator.
St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
In 1989, the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad was formed to take over operation of the
Reactivated passenger service
In April 2012, the Maine Department of Transportation put a project out to bid which would "purchase, design, and construct a portion of rail line for future passenger service to Lewiston and Auburn."[9] The potential passenger route would operate on tracks operated by the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad. As of 2013[update] prospective operators of a night train from Montréal to Boston are attempting to get access to the St. Lawrence and Atlantic right-of-way for a 2014-passenger launch.[10]
Bridge collapse
A bridge over the Saint-François River near Brompton, Quebec, collapsed on January 13, 2018. There were no injuries. The preliminary opinion is that the collapse was due to an ice jam and rapid water level rise following an unseasonal day of rain.[11]
Route
- Milepost 0: Portland terminal facilities including wharves, grain elevators, Portland Company shops, and interchange with Portland Terminal Company until 1984.[2]
- Milepost 1.4: Portland Junction with Portland and Rochester Railroad from 1871 to 1947[12]
- Milepost 1.5: Back Cove Trestle abandoned following fire damage in 1984[13]
- Milepost 2.4: East Deering stockyard with resting pens for 2,500 head of export livestock and 15-stall roundhouse with steam locomotive servicing facilities (station closed 1939)[2]
- Milepost 4.4: Presumpscot River bridge[2]
- Milepost 8.9: Cumberland[2]
- Milepost 11.3: Yarmouth Station, looking north
- Milepost 11.7: Royal River trestle[2]
- Milepost 12.2: Yarmouth Junction with Kennebec and Portland Railroad (later Maine Central Railroad "lower road") since 1849[14]
- Milepost 22.7: New Gloucester station burned in 1940[6]
- Milepost 23.9: Royal River bridge[2]
- Milepost 24.3: Royal River bridge[2]
- Milepost 24.8: Royal River bridge[2]
- Milepost 26.8: Royal River bridge[2]
- Milepost 27.6: Danville Junction with Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad (later Maine Central Railroad "back road")[14]
- Milepost 29.7: Lewiston Junction with 5.4-mile branch to Lewiston, Maine since 1874[2] (Lewiston station closed 1971)[6]
- Milepost 32.1:
- Milepost 36.2:
- Milepost 36.3: Little Androscoggin River bridge[2]
- Milepost 46.7: Little Androscoggin River bridge[2]
- Milepost 47.3: South Paris junction with 1.4-mile branch to Norway, Maine since 1879 and 3-stall roundhouse until 1929[2] (Norway station closed in 1964 and was razed in 1968)[6]
- Milepost 55.6: Little Androscoggin River bridge[2]
- Milepost 55.7: Bates 65-car passing siding and roundhouse for 1.1 percent Bacon's Grade helper engine to Bryant Pond. Feldspar was mined, processed and loaded here for the manufacture of porcelain from 1925 to 1988. Station built in 1851, enlarged in 1879, and closed in 1967 was razed in 1968.[6]
- Milepost 58: Little Androscoggin River bridge[2]
- Milepost 58.9: Little Androscoggin River bridge[2]
- Milepost 61.8: Bryant Pond 2-stall roundhouse until 1923[2] (station built in 1851 closed in 1958)[6]
- Milepost 65.3: Locke Mills[2]
- Milepost 67: Alder River bridge[2]
- Milepost 68.2: Alder River bridge[2]
- Milepost 69.6: Alder River bridge[2]
- Milepost 75: Pleasant River bridge[2]
- Milepost 80.1: Wild River Railroad from 1891 to 1904[15]
- Milepost 80.5: Wild River bridge[2]
- Milepost 82.6: state line[2]
- Milepost 85.9: Shelburne, New Hampshire[2]
- Milepost 87.9: Rattle River bridge[2]
- Milepost 88: Rattle River bridge[2]
- Milepost 88.2: Rattle River bridge[2]
- Milepost 88.4: east end of Androscoggin River causeway[2]
- Milepost 89.2: west end of Androscoggin River causeway[2]
- Milepost 91: Peabody River trestle[2]
- Milepost 91.6: Gorham 12 stall roundhouse and coaling tower until 1956 with shops from 1869 to 1902[2] Station built in 1907 housed the Gorham Historical Society when railroad occupancy ended.[6]
- Milepost 92.8: Moose River bridge[2]
- Milepost 93.1: Moose Brook bridge[2]
- Milepost 93.3: Boston and Maine Railroad to Berlin, New Hampshire crosses overhead on high bridge[2]
- Milepost 97.9: Berlin junction with Berlin Mills Railway[2]
- Milepost 101: Dead River bridge[2]
- Milepost 103.3: Copperville station closed 1929[2]
- Milepost 103.7: Upper Ammonoosuc River bridge[2]
- Milepost 106.3: Upper Ammonoosuc River bridge[2]
- Milepost 108.7: Upper Ammonoosuc River bridge[2]
- Milepost 109.4: West Milan junction with Upper Ammonoosuc Railroad from 1893 to 1903 with 37-car siding for pulpwood loading (station closed 1957)[6]
- Milepost 110.2: Upper Ammonoosuc River bridge[2]
- Milepost 110.5: Upper Ammonoosuc River bridge[2]
- Milepost 111.7: Phillips Brook bridge[2]
- Milepost 114.3: team track[6]
- Milepost 117.3: Upper Ammonoosuc River bridge[2]
- Milepost 121.8: Upper Ammonoosuc River bridge[2]
- Milepost 122.2: Groveton junction with the Boston and Maine Railroad Groveton branch and (from 1948 to 1976) the Maine Central Railroad Beecher Falls branch[14]
- Milepost 129.5: Masons crossing the Maine Central Railroad Beecher Falls branch from 1887 until Maine Central negotiated trackage rights from Groveton to North Stratford in 1948[14]
- Milepost 134.6: North Stratford, New Hampshire junction with the North Stratford Railroad from 1887 to 1989[14]
- Milepost 134.7: Connecticut River bridge[2]
- Milepost 142.3: Wenlock, Vermont station closed 1925[2]
- Milepost 145.3: East Brighton[2]
- Milepost 149.5: Island Pond ice harvesting facilities for reefer icing and passenger car air-conditioning until 1959 and division point yard with 20-stall roundhouse and locomotive servicing facilities until 1966[2]
References
- ISBN 9780823245680.
- ^ ISBN 0-919130-43-7.
- ^ Canadian National Railway timetable, April 1963, Table 28
- ^ United States Department of Transportation (1974). Rail Service in the Midwest and Northeast Region. United States Government Printing Office.
- ^ Montreal Gazette 16 June 1934
- ^ ISBN 978-1-58248-193-7.
- ^ Morison, Samuel Eliot (1975). History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume I: The Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1943. Little, Brown and Company. p. 68.
- ^ "U.S. Navy Activities World War II by State". U.S. Naval Historical Center. Retrieved 2012-03-07.
- ^ "Construction Advertisement Plan". Maine Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
- ^ "Portland-Auburn-Montreal passenger rail possible within the year". bangordailynews.com. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ "Un pont ferroviaire s'effondre à Sherbrooke". latribune.ca. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- ^ Webb, Edmund Fuller (1875). The Railroad Laws of Maine. Dresser, McLellan and Company. pp. 504–505.
- ^ Johnson, Ron (1985). The Best of Maine Railroads. Portland Litho. pp. 12–13 & 115.
- ^ a b c d e f g Peters, Bradley L. (1976). Maine Central Railroad Company. Maine Central Railroad. p. 11.
- ^ Wight, D.B. (1971). The Wild River Wilderness. Courier Printing Company.