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The Mountain Division (later the Mountain Subdivision) is a
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 pre ...
line that was once owned and operated by the
Maine Central Railroad The Maine Central Railroad Company was a U. S. Class I railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to w ...
(MEC). It stretches from
Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
on the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, through the
Western Maine Mountains The Western Maine Lakes and Mountains region spans most of Maine's western border with New Hampshire. A small part of the scenic White Mountain National Forest is located in this area. The region consists of Oxford County, Androscoggin County, ...
and White Mountains of
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, ending at St. Johnsbury, Vermont in the
Northeast Kingdom The Northeast Kingdom (also, locally, "The Kingdom" and abbreviated NEK) is the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Vermont, approximately comprising Essex County, Vermont, Essex, Orleans County, Vermont, Orleans and Caledonia County, Vermont, ...
. The line was abandoned in 1983 by MEC's successor,
Guilford Transportation Industries Guildford is a town in Surrey, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Guildford, the Diocese of Guildford and the Parliamentary constituency of Guildford. Guildford, Guilford, or Gildford may also refer to: Places Australia * Guildf ...
(GTI). Guilford retained a stub between Portland and Westbrook. A section in New Hampshire remains in use by
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
Conway Scenic Railroad The Conway Scenic Railroad is a heritage railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire, United States, owned by Profile Mountain Holdings Corp. The railroad operates over two historic railway routes: a line from North Conway to Conway that was for ...
.


History

Built as the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad before acquisition by the Maine Central Railroad (MEC), the line initially provided transportation for summer visitors to grand Victorian hotels, including the Bay of Naples Inn in
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
(reached by connection with
Sebago Lake Sebago Lake is the deepest and second-largest lake in the U.S. state of Maine. The lake is deep at its deepest point, with a mean depth of . It is possible that Sebago is the deepest lake wholly contained within the entire New England region, ...
steamboats), the Crawford House in
Crawford Notch Crawford Notch is a major pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, located in Hart's Location. Roughly half of that town is contained in Crawford Notch State Park. The high point of the notch, at approximately above sea level, is at ...
and the
Mount Washington Hotel The Mount Washington Hotel is a hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, near Mount Washington. It was designed by Charles Alling Gifford. In 1944, it hosted the Bretton Woods Conference, which established the International Monetary ...
in
Bretton Woods Bretton Woods can refer to: *Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, a village in the United States **Bretton Woods Mountain Resort, a ski resort located in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire *The 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, also known as the "United Nations Mo ...
. Cool, clean air at Sebago Lake and the White Mountains provided a refreshing escape from the heat, humidity and smoke of 19th-century cities. Autumn
foliage A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...
and winter skiing extended the tourist season. The
Flying Yankee The ''Flying Yankee'' was a diesel-electric streamliner built in 1935 for the Maine Central Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad by Budd Company and with mechanical and electrical equipment from Electro-Motive Corporation. It was also the ...
train-set operated as the ''Mountaineer'' 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 Crawford Notch via Intervale Junction 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but passenger service had been reduced to a single daily round-trip between Portland and St. Johnsbury by the 1930s. The train between Portland and St. Johnsbury usually consisted of a RPO-
express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...
car, a
baggage car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passen ...
and a single
coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...
after the 1920s; and substitution of a stainless steel
combination In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are th ...
for the coach and baggage car reduced the train to two cars for the last several years before the end of passenger service in 1958. The Mountain Division was the shortest route from Portland to points west of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. It saw relatively heavy through freight traffic from termination of the joint operating agreement with the
Boston & Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. Originally chartered in 1835, it became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the end of 1970, B ...
(B&M) in 1953 until abandonment in 1983, when GTI favored a B&M routing. The westbound grade was 2.2% for from Bemis (Notchland) to the summit at Crawford Notch. MEC operated
2-6-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a is a locomotive with one pair of unpowered leading wheels, followed by two sets of three pairs of powered driving wheels and one pair of trailing wheels. ...
Mallet locomotive The Mallet locomotive is a type of articulated steam railway locomotive, invented by the Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet (1837–1919). The front of the locomotive articulated on a bogie. The compound steam system fed steam at boiler pressure ...
s #1201-1204 on the Mountain Division from 1911 through the 1920s. The Mallets had been built for the B&M's
Hoosac Tunnel The Hoosac Tunnel (also called Hoosic or Hoosick Tunnel) is a active railroad tunnel in western Massachusetts that passes through the Hoosac Range, an extension of Vermont's Green Mountains. It runs in a straight line from its east portal, alo ...
in 1910 and were sold to MEC when Hoosac Tunnel was
electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
the following year. The Mallets were built to burn
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
, but were converted to burn
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
after local fire departments had difficulty extinguishing oil fires. Two large firemen were required to hand-fire the coal-burning Mallets westbound. One Mallet was stationed in Portland, another at Lancaster on the Beecher Falls Branch, and a third at the Bartlett helper wye, while the fourth Mallet was undergoing maintenance.
USRA Light Mikado The USRA Light Mikado was a USRA standard class of steam locomotive designed under the control of the United States Railroad Administration, the nationalized railroad system in the United States during World War I. This was the standard light ...
s (Maine Central class S) handled
freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...
s on the Mountain Division after the last Mallet was retired in 1931, and class O
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 abse ...
s handled local trains and (often in tandem) provided helper service.
EMD F3 The EMD F3 is a B-B freight- and passenger-hauling carbody diesel locomotive produced between July 1945 and February 1949 by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant. A total of 1,11 ...
s and
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 ...
s replaced
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s in 1953. Four or five
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
s were typical head-end power for diesel-era freight trains; and a pair of
EMD SW7 The EMD SW7 was a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between October 1949 and January 1951. It was powered by a 12-567A engine. The SW7 replaced the earlier 1,000 horsepower NW2 switcher in EMD's catalog. A ...
s or non-dynamic-braked
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 ...
s often provided helper service westbound. First-generation diesels were replaced by similar numbers of
EMD GP38 The EMD GP38 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Diesel, General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. The locomotive's Prime mover (locomotive), prime mover was an EMD 645 16-cyli ...
s, ten
GE U18B The GE U18B diesel-electric locomotive was introduced by GE Transportation as a branch line road-switcher in 1973. It was the only North American locomotive powered by the 8-cylinder 7FDL engine. The U18B was not a popular seller with GE only ma ...
s and two
ALCO RS-11 The ALCO RS-11 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive rated at , that rode on two-axle trucks, having a B-B wheel arrangement. This model was built by both Alco (327 units) and Montreal Locomotive Works (99 units). Total production was 426 uni ...
s. Helpers were less common with these second-generation diesels.


Legacy

Heritage operator
Conway Scenic Railroad The Conway Scenic Railroad is a heritage railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire, United States, owned by Profile Mountain Holdings Corp. The railroad operates over two historic railway routes: a line from North Conway to Conway that was for ...
operates summer and fall excursion trains on the portion of the Mountain Division between
North Conway North Conway is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the second-largest village within the town ...
through Crawford Notch to Fabyan. The segment from
Westbrook, Maine Westbrook is a city in Cumberland County, Maine, United States and a suburb of Portland. The population was 20,400 at the 2020 census, making it the fastest-growing city in Maine between 2010 and 2020. It is part of the Portland– South Portla ...
to the Maine–New Hampshire border, owned by the
Maine Department of Transportation The Maine Department of Transportation, also known as MaineDOT (occasionally referred to as MDOT), is the office of state government charged with the regulation and maintenance of roads, rail, ferries, and other public transport infrastructure in ...
(MaineDOT), remains derelict, although MaineDOT has long-term plans to reactivate the line for freight and passenger rail service. MEC's parent company,
Pan Am Railways Pan Am Railways, Inc. (PAR) is a subsidiary of CSX Corporation that operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine, to Rotterdam Junction, New York. Pan Am Railways is primarily made up of former Clas ...
, retained ownership of the section of the line to Westbrook, which it operates as the "Mountain Branch." What remains of the Mountain Branch is now owned by
CSX Corporation CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merger. T ...


Route mileposts

*Milepost 0:
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
interchange with B&M and
Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
; operated by
Portland Terminal Company The Portland Terminal Company was a terminal railroad notable for its control of switching (shunting) activity for the Maine Central Railroad (MEC) and Boston & Maine (B&M) railroads in the Maine cities of Portland, South Portland, and Westb ...
. *Milepost 5.4: Cumberland Mills
S. D. Warren Paper Mill The S. D. Warren Paper Mill is a paper mill on the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine. It is now owned by SAPPI Limited, a South African paper concern. It is one of Westbrook's major employers. The mill complex and former worker and managem ...
and junction with the Boston & Maine Railroad's Worcester, Nashua & Portland Division; operated by the Portland Terminal Company. Agent's station closed 1983. *Milepost 10.8: South Windham agent's station closed 1981. *Milepost 12: Newhall
company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...
for the
Oriental Powder Company Oriental Powder Company was a gunpowder manufacturer with mills located on the Presumpscot River in Gorham and Windham, Maine. The company was one of the four largest suppliers to Union forces through the American Civil War. History The Presumpsc ...
.
Gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...
mill closed in 1905 and agent's station closed 1932. *Milepost 13.6: White Rock agent's station closed 1921. *Milepost 16.7: Sebago Lake Station connection with
Sebago Lake Sebago Lake is the deepest and second-largest lake in the U.S. state of Maine. The lake is deep at its deepest point, with a mean depth of . It is possible that Sebago is the deepest lake wholly contained within the entire New England region, ...
steamboats. Queen Anne style agent's station built 1890 and closed 1935.
Turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
and 2-stall
enginehouse The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine she ...
built in 1890. *Milepost 24.6: Steep Falls privately built depot with dance hall upstairs dismantled 1961. *Milepost 26.4: Mattock's agent's station closed 1933. *Milepost 31.7: Cornish agent's station closed 1962. *Milepost 33.4: West Baldwin agent's station closed 1930. *Milepost 36.3: Bridgton Junction interchange with narrow-gauge Bridgton & Saco River Railroad. Agent's station closed 1930. *Milepost 36.8: Hiram agent's station closed 1949. *Milepost 43.3:
Brownfield In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...
agent's station closed 1935. *Milepost 49.8: Fryeburg agent's station closed 1971. *Milepost 54.3: Conway Center, New Hampshire agent's station closed 1933. *Milepost 56.9: Redstone large granite quarry. Agent's station closed 1935. *Milepost 59.3:
North Conway North Conway is a census-designated place (CDP) and village in eastern Carroll County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,116 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, North Conway is the second-largest village within the town ...
agent's station closed 1952. *Milepost 61.4: Intervale Junction with B&M to
Rochester, New Hampshire Rochester is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 32,492 at the 2020 census. In addition to the downtown area, the city contains the villages of East Rochester, New Hampshire, East Rochester, Gonic, New Ha ...
. Agent's station closed 1958. *Milepost 64.8:
Glen A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...
agent's station closed 1950. *Milepost 70.5: Bartlett helper terminal for the westbound grade up through Crawford Notch. Agent's station closed 1962, then reopened 1981-1984. *Milepost 74.8: Sawyer's River junction with
Sawyer River Railroad The Sawyer River Railroad was a lumber railroad that operated along the Sawyer River in Livermore, New Hampshire from 1877 until 1928, when all rail traffic ceased. By comparison with other logging roads of the day in the White Mountains, this wa ...
. Agent's station closed 1921. *Milepost 76.6: Bemis flag stop renamed Notchland in 1931. *Milepost 78.2: Carrigain junction with Saco Valley Railroad. Agent's station closed 1898. *Milepost 79.5: Frankenstein Trestle *Milepost 80.8:
Willey House The Malcolm Willey House is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and built in 1934. Wright named the house "Gardenwall". Malcolm Willey was an administrator at the Univ ...
section foreman's house. *Milepost 83.5: Mount Willard section foreman's house. *Milepost 85:
Crawford Notch Crawford Notch is a major pass through the White Mountains of New Hampshire, located in Hart's Location. Roughly half of that town is contained in Crawford Notch State Park. The high point of the notch, at approximately above sea level, is at ...
agent's station closed 1955 and sold to
Appalachian Mountain Club Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) is the oldest outdoor group in the United States. Created in 1876 to explore and preserve the White Mountains in New Hampshire, it has expanded throughout the northeastern U.S., with 12 chapters stretching from Ma ...
. *Milepost 88.3: Fabyan, junction with the Boston & Maine Railroad and spur to the
Mount Washington Cog Railway The Mount Washington Cog Railway, also known as the Cog, is the world's first mountain-climbing Rack railway, cog railway (rack-and-pinion railway). The railway climbs Mount Washington in New Hampshire, United States. It uses a Rack railway#Mars ...
at
Marshfield Station Marshfield was a rapid transit station on the Chicago "L"'s Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. It was the western terminus of the Metropolitan's main line, after which it branched into three branches; the northwestern Logan Square bra ...
. Agent's station closed 1958. *Milepost 93.6: Twin Mountain *Milepost 99.5: Quebec Junction with Maine Central Quebec Division (later Beecher Falls branch) to Lime Ridge,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
*Milepost 103.6: Whitefield junction with B&M to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. *Milepost 106.8: Scott, New Hampshire, junction with B&M to Groveton. Agent's station closed 1931. *Milepost 109.1:
Lunenburg, Vermont Lunenburg is a town in Essex County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,246 at the 2020 census, the most populous in Essex County. Lunenburg contains the villages of West Lunenburg, South Lunenburg, Mill Village (Northern Lunenburg) ...
agent's station closed 1924. *Milepost 111.5: Gilman paper mill agent's station closed 1983. *Milepost 113.5:
Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...
agent's station closed 1932. *Milepost 116.4: Miles Pond agent's station closed 1921. *Milepost 119.7:
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
agent's station closed 1932. *Milepost 123.5:
Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
agent's station closed 1949. *Milepost 127.2: Griswold agent's station closed 1932. *Milepost 131.4: St. Johnsbury interchange with B&M (became
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 Canadi ...
in 1926) and St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County Railroad


Beecher Falls Branch

The Dominion Lime Company built a railroad in 1887 from the
Quebec Central Railway The Quebec Central Railway was a railway in the Canadian province of Quebec, that served the Eastern Townships region south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, E ...
at Dudswell Junction to Lime Ridge,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. In 1888, the Upper Coos Railroad built a railroad north to the Quebec border from the
Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
at North Stratford, New Hampshire. In 1889,
William Bullock Ives William Bullock Ives, PC, QC (November 17, 1841 – July 15, 1899) was a Canadian politician, who served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1878 to 1899. A member of the Conservative Party of Canada, he represented the electoral districts o ...
' Hereford Railway purchased the Dominion Lime Company railroad and extended it south to connect with the Upper Coos Railroad. MEC leased the Upper Coos Railroad and the Hereford Railway in 1890 and built a connecting Coos Valley Railroad in 1891 from North Stratford to the Mountain Division at Quebec Junction. This line was operated as the MEC Quebec Division until Maine Central terminated lease of the Hereford Railway in 1925.
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 Canadi ...
(CP) later operated over some of the line through Quebec. The Upper Coos Railroad and Coos Valley Railroad were purchased by MEC in 1931 and operated as the Beecher Falls branch of the Mountain Division. The former Coos Valley Railroad was dismantled in 1948 when MEC negotiated trackage rights over the B&M to
Groveton, New Hampshire Groveton is a census-designated place (CDP) and the primary village in the town of Northumberland in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,068 at the 2020 census. It is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 3 and Ne ...
and over the former Grand Trunk
Berlin Subdivision The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad , known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short-line railway operating between Portland, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean, and Montreal, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Can ...
from Groveton to North Stratford. The remaining line north of North Stratford operated as the North Stratford Railroad after 1976.


Route

* Milepost 99.5: Quebec Junction * Milepost 101.9: Waumbek Junction with B&M to
Berlin, New Hampshire Berlin ( ) is a city along the Androscoggin River in Coös County in northern New Hampshire, United States. It is the northernmost city in New Hampshire. The population was 9,425 at the 2020 census, down from 10,051 at the 2010 census. It ...
* Milepost 104.4:
Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
station closed 1921. * Milepost 111.4:
Lancaster, New Hampshire Lancaster is a New England town, town located along the Connecticut River in Coös County, New Hampshire, Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The town is named after the city of Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster in England. As of the 2020 ce ...
station closed 1933 * Milepost 112.5: Coos Junction with B&M to
Groveton, New Hampshire Groveton is a census-designated place (CDP) and the primary village in the town of Northumberland in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,068 at the 2020 census. It is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 3 and Ne ...
(joint station closed 1932). * Milepost 124.1:
Maidstone, Vermont Maidstone is a town in Essex County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 211. It is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area. There is no town center or gas station, but there is ...
* Milepost 126.9: Mason's diamond crossing
Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
* Milepost 132.0: North Stratford, New Hampshire junction with
Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...
* Milepost 144.8:
Colebrook, New Hampshire Colebrook is a town in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,084 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 2,301 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauAmerican FactFinder 2010 Census figures. Retrieved March 23, ...
station closed 1974. * Milepost 152.8:
West Stewartstown, New Hampshire West Stewartstown is a census-designated place in the town of Stewartstown in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. It had a population of 263 at the 2020 census, down from 386 at the 2010 census. Geography It is located along U.S. Route ...
station closed 1956. * Milepost 154.5:
Beecher Falls, Vermont Beecher Falls is a census-designated place in the town of Canaan, Essex County, Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New ...
station closed 1974. * Milepost 183.6: Sawyerville,
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
* Milepost 190.3: Cookshire Junction with CP * Milepost 203.3: Dudswell Junction with
Quebec Central Railway The Quebec Central Railway was a railway in the Canadian province of Quebec, that served the Eastern Townships region south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, E ...
* Milepost 207.6: Lime Ridge


Notes


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mountain CSX Transportation Maine Central Railroad Rail infrastructure in Maine Rail infrastructure in New Hampshire Rail infrastructure in Vermont Pan Am Railways