The Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad (PS&P) was a railroad 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 ...

that ran from

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 ...

via Saco to South Berwick.

History

It began operations in 1842. In 1843, an agreement was made between the

Boston and 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 ...

and the

Eastern Railroad The Eastern Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Maine. Throughout its history, it competed with the Boston and Maine Railroad for service between the two cities, until the Boston & Maine put an end to the compe ...

to share the railroad for their respective train services between Portland and

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 ...

. In 1872, the PS&P was bought by the Eastern Railroad, and in 1884, the Boston & Maine took over the Eastern Railroad, including the PS&P, operating it as its Eastern Division. In the 2000s, portions of the PS&P were converted to a rail trail known as the

Eastern Trail Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

.Appleton, Edward. (1871).
History of the Railways of Massachusetts
. Accessed April 15, 2016.

References

Predecessors of the Boston and Maine Railroad Defunct Maine railroads {{US-rail-company-stub