The Somerset and Kennebec Railroad was a 19th-century

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 ...

railroad which became part of 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 ...

History

The railroad was built in stages to serve mills along the Kennebec River upstream of Augusta, Maine, where it connected with the Portland and Kennebec Railroad. These two connecting railroads were built to standard gauge at a time when most Maine railroads were built to

Portland gauge , a broad gauge, is the track gauge used in India, Pakistan, western Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART in San Francisco, United States. In North America, it is called Indian Gauge, Provincial, Portland, or Texas gauge. In Arge ...

. The Somerset and Kennebec reached Waterville in 1853, Fairfield in 1855, and

Skowhegan Skowhegan () is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 8,620. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuously-held state fair in the United States. Skowh ...

in 1856. Maine Central Railroad leased the two connecting standard gauge railroads in 1870, and converted its previous Portland gauge lines to standard gauge the following year. The downstream end of the Somerset and Kennebec became the northern portion of the Maine Central "lower road" main line, while the upstream portion became Maine Central's Skowhegan Branch. Most of the Skowhegan Branch was abandoned in 1971.

Railway mileposts

Maine Central mileposts reflect main line distance from Portland and branch line distance from the branch junction with the main line.

Lower Road

* Milepost 62.3: Augusta agent's station * Milepost 66.2: Kennebec * Milepost 70.0: Riverside agent's station * Milepost 73.7: Vassalboro agent's station * Milepost 80.1:

Winslow Winslow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England, a market town and civil parish * Winslow Rural District, Buckinghamshire, a rural district from 1894 to 1974 United States and Canada * Rural Municipality of Winslo ...

agent's station * Milepost 81.7: Waterville agent's station

Skowhegan Branch

* Milepost 0: Waterville * Milepost 1.8: Keyes * Milepost 2.6: Fairfield agent's station * Milepost 4.1: Emery Hill Pit * Milepost 5.7: Shawmut agent's station * Milepost 7.5: Noble's * Milepost 8.9: Good Will Farm * Milepost 10.3: Hinckley agent's station * Milepost 18.4:

agent's station

References

{{Kennebec River Predecessors of the Maine Central Railroad Rail infrastructure in Maine