Eastern Railroad Discussion > 10 Years Ago in Maine

10 years ago today I was in Maine for the George Melvin slide show, and spent part of the day "chasing" Pan Am train POSJ from Clinton (just east of Waterville) to Carmel (a few miles west of Bangor).  I use the term "chase" loosely, since it took the train 2 hours and 50 minutes to cover the 26 miles between the first and last photos here, for an average speed of just over 9 mph!  The locations below are Burnham Jct., the former interchange with the Belfast & Moosehead Lake, Pittsfield, where the branch to Harmony left the main line, and finally the Rte. 2 overpass in Carmel. 

POSJ was a train between Rigby Yard in Portland, ME and Saint John, NB.  It would have been handed off to New Brunswick Southern at Mattawamkeag.  A large part of the train was dedicated to crude oil, destined for the Irving refinery in Saint John.  This traffic ended not long afterwards, in part because of the aftermath of the Lac Megantic runaway and explosion.  Pan Am also had their own slow speed derailment near the Keag, which although nothing was spilled, happened very close to the Penobscot River.  

The hi-hood GP40s leading the train, cast-offs from Norfolk Southern in the 1990s, were all retired a few years ago.

GTD

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Well done - Interesting scenes.
Bob

Right on Bob! Nice shots!

Great work! I never thought I'd miss Guilford. 

Excellent photos from a seldom seen part of the railroad network. Love the high hood locomotives.

Nice pics!!

I like your framing in picture #2 with those signals.
John