MaineCentralRailroadBlueMountainBranchLines1917

The Maine Central Railroad Rumford Branch is a railroad line in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

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 The Androscoggin River (Abenaki: ''Aləssíkαntekʷ'') is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...

valley, passing through Livermore Falls and terminating at Rumford. The branch comprises the remaining trackage of three earlier branches: * The first 20.1 miles are the former

Farmington Farmington may refer to: Places Canada *Farmington, British Columbia *Farmington, Nova Scotia (disambiguation) United States * Farmington, Arkansas *Farmington, California * Farmington, Connecticut *Farmington, Delaware * Farmington, Georgia ...

Branch from Crowley's Junction on the Lewiston Branch through Leeds Junction and Livermore Falls to Wilton and

. * The next 11 miles are the former Livermore Falls Branch from

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

to Livermore Falls. * The last 16.1 miles are the former Rangeley Branch from Rumford Junction on the Maine Central Back Road through

and Rumford to Kennebago north of

Rangeley Lake Rangeley Lake, located in Franklin County, Maine in the United States, is fed by several streams. Its waters flow out from the lake's northwestern corner via the short Rangeley River into Mooselookmeguntic Lake, then Upper and Lower Richardson ...

. Traffic over the Rangeley branch decreased after adjacent timberlands had been harvested. Summer passenger trains between Oquossoc and Kennebago were replaced in 1933 by a

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed ...

built in the

Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad The Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad (SR&RL) was a narrow gauge common carrier railroad that operated approximately of track in Franklin County, Maine. Former equipment from the SR&RL continues to operate in the present day on a revived, s ...

shops. The Rangeley branch north of Rumford was abandoned and dismantled following damage in the 1936 flood. The southern end of the Farmington branch from Leeds Junction to Crowley Junction on the Lewiston lower branch was dismantled in 1938. The southern end of the Rangeley branch from Rumford Junction to Canton was dismantled in 1952. The last passenger train to Farmington was in 1957.

Route mileposts

* Milepost 0: Leeds Junction on the Maine Central Back Road * Milepost 7.3: Leeds Center * Milepost 20.1: Livermore Falls former junction with the

Branch north to the narrow-gauge

interchange at

* Milepost 24.8: Riley's large paper mill originating or terminating 17,000 annual carloads in 1973. * Milepost 31.1:

former junction with the Rangeley Branch south through Mechanic Falls to Rumford Junction on the Maine Central Back Road near

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

. * Milepost 47.2: Rumford and Rumford Mill originating or terminating 11,000 annual carloads in 1973.

History

The Androscoggin Railroad was chartered in 1848 to build a Portland gauge railroad to

Farmington, Maine Farmington is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,592. Farmington is home to the University of Maine at Farmington, Nordica Memorial Auditorium, the Nordica Homestea ...

from Leeds Junction on the Portland gauge Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad. The railway was completed to Livermore Falls in 1852, and to Farmington in 1859. The railway was then extended south from Leeds Junction to Brunswick to connect with the

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

Kennebec and Portland Railroad in 1861. Conversion of the Androscoggin Railroad to standard gauge that year initiated a series of court battles ultimately eliminating Maine's Portland gauge rail network. Maine Central leased the Androscoggin Railroad in 1871, and converted its own line to standard gauge in 1873. The southern end of the Androscoggin Railroad adjacent to the Androscoggin River from Brunswick to Crowley Junction became the Lewiston branch of the Maine Central, while the remainder of the line to Farmington became the Farmington branch.

Farmington Branch

* Milepost 0: Crowley's Junction with the Maine Central Lewiston Lower Branch * Milepost 4.3: Sabattus * Milepost 11.2: Leeds Junction with the Maine Central Back Road * Milepost 13: Highmoor * Milepost 15.6: Curtis Corner * Milepost 18.5: Leeds Center * Milepost 21.3: North Leeds * Milepost 23.5: Strickland * Milepost 26.2:

East Livermore Livermore Falls is a New England town, town in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,060 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is included in both the Lewiston, Maine, Lewiston-Au ...

* Milepost 31.3: Livermore Falls junction with the Maine Central Livermore Falls Branch * Milepost 33.5:

Jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family (biology), family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For examp ...

* Milepost 37: North Jay * Milepost 40.6: Wilton * Milepost 42.9:

East Wilton East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

* Milepost 47.1: West Farmington * Milepost 47.8:

interchange with the

Lewiston Branch

* Milepost 0: Brunswick on the Maine Central Lower Road * Milepost 4.6: Pejepscot Mills * Milepost 8: Lisbon Falls * Milepost 11.7:

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

* Milepost 14.8: Crowley's Junction with the Maine Central Farmington Branch * Milepost 19.6: Lewiston Lower Station The Buckfield Branch Railroad was chartered in 1847 to build a Portland gauge railroad to Buckfield from Mechanic Falls on the Grand Trunk Railway. The railway was completed to Buckfield in 1849 and reorganized as the Portland and Oxford Central Railroad in 1857. The railway was extended to

in 1870 and reorganized as the Rumford Falls and Buckfield Railroad in 1874. The railway went into receivership in 1878 and was converted to standard gauge. The railway was reorganized by

Hugh J. Chisholm Hugh Joseph Chisholm I (; May 2, 1847 – July 1, 1912) was a Canadian industrialist who later became a citizen of the United States. He was born in Chippawa, Ontario, to parents of Scottish ancestry. His early years as an entrepreneur in the ne ...

in 1890 as the Portland and Rumford Falls Railway. The Portland and Rumford Falls Railway was extended north to Rumford Falls in 1892 and south to connect with the Maine Central Railroad at Rumford Junction near Auburn in 1893. A branch line was completed from Canton to Chisholm in 1897 and extended to a connection with the former Androscoggin Railroad at Livermore Falls in 1899. The Portland and Rumford Falls Railway chartered a subsidiary Rumford Falls and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in 1894 to access aboriginal forests north of Rumford. The Rumford Falls and Rangeley lakes reached Oquossoc in 1902. Maine Central leased the entire line from Rumford Junction to Oquossoc in 1907, and extended it to Kennebago. This line became known as the Rangeley branch when formally merged into the Maine Central in 1914. The branch from Canton to Livermore Falls was designated the Livermore Falls branch. Rangeley Lake

Rangeley Branch

* Milepost 0: Rumford Junction on the Maine Central Back Road * Milepost 4.1: Elmwood * Milepost 5.9: Riccars * Milepost 8:

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

* Milepost 11.6: Mechanic Falls interchange with the Grand Trunk Railway * Milepost 16.1:

West Minot West Minot is a neighborhood in Minot, North Dakota, located in the Souris River The Souris River (; french: rivière Souris) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a calque of its French name) is a river in central North Ame ...

* Milepost 20.2: East Hebron * Milepost 24.8: Buckfield * Milepost 29.5: East Sumner * Milepost 31.5: Hartford * Milepost 36.6:

* Milepost 37.3: junction with the Maine Central Livermore Falls Branch * Milepost 38.3: Gilbertville * Milepost 43: East Peru * Milepost 44.8:

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

* Milepost 48.2: Dixfield * Milepost 52.7: Rumford * Milepost 58.5: Frye * Milepost 62.2: Roxbury * Milepost 66.6:

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

* Milepost 70.5: Houghton * Milepost 79.3: Bemis * Milepost 86.1: South Rangeley * Milepost 88.6: Oquossoc * Milepost 99.4: Kennebago

Livermore Falls Branch

* Milepost 0:

on the Maine Central Rangeley Branch * Milepost 6.3: Riley's * Milepost 8.4:

Jay Bridge Jay Bridge is a wooden covered bridge that spans the east branch of the Ausable River in Jay, Essex County, New York, USA. It is eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Of the 29 covered bridges in New York State, it a ...

* Milepost 11: Livermore Falls on the Maine Central Farmington Branch

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumford Maine Central Railroad Maine logging railroads Pan Am Railways Rumford, Maine