Canadian Railroads > MLW Monday, M420's in Portland, Maine

A trio of CN M420's rest at Portland, Maine in August 1979. Back then I was up there after the MEC, B&M, and BAR mainly, so didn't really pay too close of attention to this "everyday, ordinary" power set but now I'm glad I did that day.

Roger Durfee
Akron, OH

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CN, (GTW) had a very interesting stub-end passenger terminal in Portland, ME. Was this photo taken in that area?
Is the depot still standing?

Never photographed CN power in Portland, thanks for posting.

Brian N.

ATSF3751 Wrote:
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> CN, (GTW) had a very interesting stub-end
> passenger terminal in Portland, ME. Was this photo
> taken in that area?
> Is the depot still standing?

I'm wanting to say this was in the vicinity of the waterfront and the line in the foreground was MEC but it's been way too many years...

Roger Durfee
Akron, OH

ATSF3751 Wrote:
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> CN, (GTW) had a very interesting stub-end
> passenger terminal in Portland, ME. Was this photo
> taken in that area?
> Is the depot still standing?

The passenger station was located to the right of the office building in the background. It was demolished after the cessation of the seasonal Montreal-Portland passenger train in the mid ‘60’s. That building in the background held GT offices.

The power shown was off 393 which arrived from Montreal the night before and was about to head back as 394. The GT was popular quarry for New England railfans in late ‘70’s through the early 90’s because of the MLW and Alco power on the line. Local power was most often DWP/Central Vermont RS-11’s.

Tom Coughlin
Stow, MA

Posted from iPhone

ATSF3751 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CN, (GTW) had a very interesting stub-end
> passenger terminal in Portland, ME. Was this photo
> taken in that area?
> Is the depot still standing?

That is the former Grand Trunk (not Western) India St. offices in the background.  It still stands (at least it was last time I was in Portland), although the tracks are all gone at that location.  Most dead ended at India Street, but at least one ran down Commercial St. to a connection with the Maine Central (or perhaps more properly, the Portland Terminal), with spurs onto wharves along the way.  I did get to see a GP9 doing some street running there in 1984, but not long after that somebody torched the GT trestle across the cove at East Deering, and the railway retreated to the other side.

Part of the right of way is still used by the Maine Narrow Gauge Museum.  They simply moved one rail over 32 1/2" to acommodate the 2 foot gauge equipment.  It looks a little funny to have 100 lb. rails so close together, but it seems to work well for them.  In a way it's history repeating itself, since the Grand Trunk line was built as 5' 6" in the 1850s, but standard gauged about 20 years later.

GTD



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/19 17:50 by cn6218.

The India Streert building that once served as a CN office bulding in Portland, Maine still stands.  After being empty for several years or more,
it has been repurposed as bank.  The building has historical significant as the starting point for a line that conneded Portland with Detroit
before the start of the US Civil War.