Eastern Railroad Discussion > 3 Days in Maine - Monday

I usually try to make a winter trip to Maine each year to take in the sights when I don't have to battle the black flies and mosquitoes.  This year was a bit late to get much snow, at least in the southern part where we were based, but we did get lucky with the weather, cold but virtually cloudless all week long.  We based ourselves in Waterville this time, home shop of the old Maine Central.  MEC was taken over by Guilford in the early '80s, and then sold to CSX two years ago.  Monday, February 19th we got word that train L070, the Portland/Waterville turn was running in daylight (it would normally be overnight) and after a short wait in Lewiston, we shot them crossing the Great Falls of the Androscoggin River.  The leader on the train was somewhat notable, being a GE-EMD SD23T4, an SD40-2 repowered with a 6-cylindaer GEVO prime mover.

CSX has been spending a lot of money over the last two years upgrading the track.  In Pan Am/Guilford days, this was pretty much all 10 mph track, but now with welded rail and new ties, L070 was rolling along at about 25 mph.  The next photo location was Leeds Jct., where the Rumford branch leaves the main line.  There is still track work to be done here, with some new switches to be installed, so the train had slowed.  The signal shown was part of an ABS island protecting the junction, but an automobile accident damaged the signal box a few years ago, and it was not repaired, so the vintage searchlight signals are nothing more than props now.

A little farther to the east is the village of Monmouth, where L070 was about to cross main St. in front of the Monmouth General Store.  The trailing unit is MEC 7575, former CSX (no surprise there) C40-8, which was traded in to GE and then sold to Pan Am.  I'm sure CSX was delighted to get these back on their roster, but some of them are equipped with a type of PTC needed for MBTA lines near Boston, so that fact may keep them around for a while.

GTD

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With the light getting steadily worse (the old MEC back road goes more north than east as it heads towards Waterville), we broke off the chase after Winthrop, and headed to Hampden, where CPKC local G13 was making a run from Northern Maine Jct. to Searsport.  Like CSX, Canadian Pacific is a new player in Maine, not withstanding the fact that they left 25 years ago after running the International of Maine for over 100 years.  After taking over from CMQ in 2020, they now also own the former Bangor & Aroostook branch from Brownville Jct. down to Searsport, near the mouth of the Penobscot River.  This track is still restricted to 4-axle units south of NMJ, and we were lucky to get a very clean pair of of GP20C-ECOs this day.  Once the work at the Dead River propane depot was finished, we shot the train at a number of locations on its way south, including this crossing just south of Hampden, and then one of the line's signature trestles, in Winterport.  

Another classic location is the curved trestle in Frankfort, 16 miles from Searsport.  There were two other parties chasing the train this day, but I think we managed to stay out of each other's shots at this tight location.  Although the track looks to be pretty good, CP has a 10 mph speed restriction on the whole sub, ostensibly due to inadequate rail anchors.  They did have a bad derailment last winter due to a washout. Nobody was seriously hurt, but a broken rail entered the cab of the lead unit, so it was a very close call.

GTD

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About 2 miles from the end of the line in Searsport, GAC Chemicals has a plant and small yard in Kidder Pt.  G13 stopped here to lift some empties before continuing on to the yard in Searsport, to run around the train and head back north.

That was it for Monday.  Next on the docket was a visit on Tuesday to the Rockland Branch, a former Maine Central line, now operated by the Finger Lakes Railway.

GTD

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Great bunch from some seldom seen rails, and the low winter light helps all those scenes look real nice...

JG

Nice set, Geoff.

Seven days of cloudless skies in and around Waterville?  Amazing!
I had friends in/around nearby Skowhegan. But during the annual visit, I considered myself lucky to see two consecutive days of sunshine. 

/Ted



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/24 14:53 by WM_1109.

Superior set of photos - Your first photo with the bridge is exceptional.
Bob

And the state bird of Maine is... Anybody?
Sorry Geoff. You and any native Mainers are excluded from playing.
/Ted

Very enjoyable series!

Larry

NICE, Geoff!

texchief1

Great stuff Geof!

Great series!

WM_1109 Wrote:
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> And the state bird of Maine is... Anybody?
> Sorry Geoff. You and any native Mainers are
> excluded from playing.
> /Ted

The black-capped chickadee??

CP8888 Wrote:
> The black-capped chickadee??

A solid guess. But the answer we're looking for is in Geoff's narrative.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/24 13:52 by WM_1109.

I was stationed at NAS Brunswick in 80s and 90s while in the Navy - it's got to be the black fly!

3rdTMRS Wrote:
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> I was stationed at NAS Brunswick in 80s and 90s
> while in the Navy - it's got to be the black fly!

Another solid entry. But we were looking for...

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Nice pics!!