The Bangor and Aroostook Railroad was a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
company that brought rail service to
Aroostook County
Aroostook County ( ; french: Comté d'Aroostook) is a county in the U.S. state of Maine along the Canada–U.S. border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,105. Its county seat is Houlton, with offices in Caribou and Fort Kent.
...
in northern
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 nor ...
. Brightly-painted BAR
boxcars
A boxcar is the North American (AAR) term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most l ...
attracted national attention in the 1950s. First-generation diesel
locomotives operated on BAR until they were museum pieces. The economic downturn of the 1980s, coupled with the departure of
heavy industry from northern Maine, forced the railroad to seek a buyer and end operations in 2003. It was succeeded by the
Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway.
History
The company was incorporated in 1891 to combine the lines of the former
Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad and the
Bangor and Katahdin Iron Works Railway
The Katahdin Iron Works is a Maine state historic site located in the unorganized township of the same name. It is the site of an ironworks which operated from 1845 to 1890. In addition to the kilns of the ironworks (of which only one survives), th ...
.
It was based in
Bangor and lines extended from there to
Oakfield and
Houlton in 1894. The line was extended from Houlton to
Fort Fairfield
Fort Fairfield is a town in Aroostook County, eastern Maine, United States, located along the Canada–US border. The population was 3,322 at the 2020 census.
History
Fort Fairfield is named for John Fairfield, 13th and 16th governor of Mai ...
and
Caribou in 1895. A parallel branch line was extended from Oakfield to
Ashland in 1896. A branch was built from Caribou to
Limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...
in 1897, and the main line extended from Caribou to
Van Buren in 1899. The Ashland Branch was extended to
Fort Kent in 1902. A southern extension was completed in 1905 through Northern Maine Junction to
Searsport on
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay (french: Baie de Penobscot) is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, downriver from Belfast. Penobscot Bay has many working waterf ...
. The Medford Cutoff from Packard to South Lagrange was completed in 1907, and a branch was built from
Millinocket
Millinocket is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census.
Millinocket's economy has historically been centered on forest products and recreation, but the paper company closed in 2008.
History ...
to a new paper mill in
East Millinocket. Rails were extended up the Maine side of the
Saint John River from Van Buren through
Madawaska and Fort Kent to
St. Francis in 1910; and
Mapleton was connected to
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
and
Presque Isle on the main line, and to Squa Pan on the Ashland branch. An international bridge was constructed over the Saint John River between Van Buren and
St. Leonard, NB in 1915 to connect with the
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...
and
National Transcontinental Railway
The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg and Moncton in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway.
The Grand Trunk partnership
The completion of construction of Canada's ...
(later merged into the
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
CN i ...
).
BAR began hauling potatoes in heated
boxcars
A boxcar is the North American (AAR) term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most l ...
in 1895. Potatoes provided a stable income source through the great depression, and provided 50% of the railroad's revenue following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. BAR had the second-largest United States railroad-owned
reefer fleet (after
Santa Fe) during the 1950s. BAR made an arrangement with
Pacific Fruit Express
Pacific Fruit Express was an American railroad refrigerator car leasing company that at one point was the largest refrigerator car operator in the world.
History
The company was founded on December 7, 1906, as a joint venture between the Union P ...
whereby PFE reefers shipped Maine potatoes during winter months and BAR reefers carried California produce during the summer and autumn. While potatoes started moving by truck following completion of the
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...
into northern
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 nor ...
in the 1960s, what actually resulted in the railroad losing its potato business forever was the
Penn Central Transportation Company (PC), whose interchange service became so bad during the winter of 1969–70 that a large portion of the 1969 potato crop was spoiled by freezing when car heaters ran out of fuel. The claims process against PC was not resolved prior to PC's bankruptcy declaration the following June. As a result, several potato farms went out of business; those that survived distrusted rail service and never returned to using the railroad.
Inbound chemicals and outbound paper from mills on the
Penobscot River at Millinocket and East Millinocket were major revenue sources for the BAR from 1900. Another paper mill was built in Madawaska in 1925. Pulpwood and wood chip shipment to the paper mills became increasingly important as potato loadings declined. The remote port facilities at Searsport were a preferred loading point for ammunition during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, and BAR transported heating coal and aircraft fuel to
Loring AFB for
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...
s through the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
. BAR painted 2,500 boxcars in the red, white and blue colors of the US flag during the 1950s. A less-expensive oxide red paint scheme with large white reporting marks was adopted during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
The line from
Brownville Junction to
Katahdin Iron Works
The Katahdin Iron Works is a Maine state historic site located in the unorganized township of the same name. It is the site of an ironworks which operated from 1845 to 1890. In addition to the kilns of the ironworks (of which only one survives), t ...
was abandoned in 1922, but the rails remained in place until 1933.
Passenger operations
Into the 1950s, the Bangor and Aroostook operated an afternoon train, the ''Aroostook Flyer'', on the company's mainline from Bangor (where a connection could be made from the
Boston & Maine's ''Penobscot'' from
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
), to Brownville, Sherman,
Oakfield,
Presque Isle, Caribou and concluding in
Van Buren (opposite
St. Leonard in New Brunswick). A morning train making local stops, the ''Potatoland,'' ran from Bangor, using the same route, but after Van Buren continued west to
St. Francis.
Service (#9 north/#12 south, and also scheduled to meet the ''Penobscot'') operated from Bangor to Derby, leaving the main route heading west to
Greenville, whereupon it joined Canadian Pacific trackage to
Megantic, Quebec on
Lac Mégantic
Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is '' Kerria lacca''.
Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infe ...
. Greenville served as a transfer point for connecting with east-west ''
Atlantic Limited'' and other
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...
service from
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
to Saint John, New Brunswick, via
Sherbrooke, Quebec
Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...
. The company also offered service on an interior branch from Oakfield directly north to
Fort Kent, a stop on the route to St. Francis.
Postwar
BAR
passenger train
A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self p ...
service ended in 1961. Bus service, which began in 1936, continued with buses lettered for Bangor and Aroostook running on
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and ...
schedules between Aroostook County and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's
Port Authority Bus Terminal
The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving about 8,000 bus ...
until 1984. The Greenville branch was dismantled from 1962 to 1964. Several Aroostook County segments were abandoned when potato traffic disappeared in the 1970s.
Decline and sale
In 1995, the BAR was acquired by
Iron Road Railways
Iron Road Railways Incorporated (IRR) was a railroad holding company which owned several short line railroads in the U.S. state of Maine, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
IRR was formed in 1994 and headq ...
. In 2002, the company was declared
bankrupt; the next year its lines were sold to
Rail World
Rail World is a rail transport holding company. Its specialties include railway management, consulting, investment, privatizations, and restructurings. Its purpose is to promote rail industry privatization by bringing together government bod ...
, which initially incorporated them into its newly-formed
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway subsidiary. In 2010, the of track from
Millinocket
Millinocket is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census.
Millinocket's economy has historically been centered on forest products and recreation, but the paper company closed in 2008.
History ...
north to the Canada–US border were sold to the state of
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 nor ...
for $20 million to be operated by Irving Oil's
Maine Northern Railway
The Maine Northern Railway Company Limited is a U.S. and Canadian short line railroad owned by the New Brunswick Railway Company, a holding company that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the industrial conglomerate ...
.
MM&A kept the line from the Millinocket paper mills south to Searsport; after its 2013
Lac-Mégantic derailment and bankruptcy, the line was sold to the
Fortress Investment Group as the
Central Maine and Quebec Railway (CMQ). In 2019 it was sold by CMQ to Canadian Pacific, as part of expanding its rail service into New England and the Maritime Provinces.
Rolling stock
The Bangor and Aroostook rostered some 150 different steam locomotives over its history. Most were built by the
Manchester Locomotive Works or the
American Locomotive Company
The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...
(ALCO), which absorbed Manchester in 1901. The most popular type was the
4-6-0
A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the ...
, with nearly 60. Diesels began arriving in the late 1940s; general purpose types such as the
EMD GP7
The EMD GP7 is a four-axle ( B-B) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October 1949 and May 1954.Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973) pp. 53
Power was provided by an EMD 567B 16 ...
and
EMD GP38 were common. Unusually, the BAR also rostered eight
EMD BL2
The EMD BL2 is a model of diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). A total of 59 units (including a single BL1) were built between 1947 and 1949. The BL2 was not very successful, as it was unreliable and o ...
"branch line" locomotives, precursors to EMD's GPs. Many first-generation diesels remained in operation on the BAR until they were museum pieces. In the 1950s its red, white, and blue boxcars attracted national attention.
Notes
References
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*
*
*
External links
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway''official web site''
History of Railroading in Maine''Maine Dept. of Transportation''
Down East article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangor Aroostook Railroad
Defunct Maine railroads
Former Class I railroads in the United States
Former regional railroads in the United States
North Maine Woods
Companies based in Bangor, Maine
Defunct companies based in Maine
Railway companies established in 1891
Railway companies disestablished in 2003
Predecessors of the Canadian Pacific Railway
1891 establishments in Maine
2003 disestablishments in Maine
History of Maine
American companies established in 1891