Union Station was a

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

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 ...

History

The building was opened on June 25, 1888, serving trains of the

Boston and Maine 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 ...

Maine Central 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 ...

and Portland and Ogdensburg railroads. Designed by Boston architects Bradlee, Winslow & Wetherell, it was inspired by the designs of medieval French châteaux. It was a primarily granite building, with a clock tower. Despite its 'union station' name, 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 ...

used a different station two miles away. The Maine Central ended passenger rail service to the station in September 1960, and it closed on October 30 when the Boston and Maine moved its remaining trains out of the facility. On August 31, 1961, the train station was demolished, and a strip mall built on the property. Nevertheless, the Boston and Maine continued multiple daily trains from Portland itself to Boston until 1965.

Passenger trains

Noteworthy trains into the 1950s and in some cases to 1960: *Boston and Maine: **''

East Wind An east wind is a wind that originates in the east and blows in a westward direction. This wind is referenced as symbolism in mythology, poetry and literature. In mythology In Greek mythology, Eurus, the east wind, was the only wind not associate ...

'' (Portland-Washington, DC) (summer only) **''

State of Maine Maine () is a U.S. state, state in the New England and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and territories of Canad ...

'' (Portland-New York City) *Boston and Maine and Maine Central Railroad **'' Bar Harbor Express'' (Ellsworth-Washington, DC) (summer only): **''

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 ...

'' (Bangor-Boston, via Lewiston) **''

Gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century, m ...

'' (Halifax-Boston via Lewiston) **''Penobscot'' (Bangor-Boston via Augusta) **''Pine Tree'' (Bangor-Boston via Augusta) *Maine Central Railroad: **unnamed trains to Bangor via Lewiston, to Bangor via Augusta, to Rockland, to Calais via Ellsworth, to Farmington, to Montreal via North Conway A proposal to relocate

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's '' Downeaster'' service from the

Portland Transportation Center Portland Transportation Center is a bus and train station in Portland, Maine, United States, served and run primarily by Concord Coach Lines (18 round-trips a day) and Amtrak '' Downeaster'' passenger trains (five round-trips a day). It is also ...

to a location near Union Station's original location has been endorsed 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 ...

References

External links

* Transportation in Portland, Maine Former railway stations in Maine

Stations along Boston and Maine Railroad lines Maine Central Railroad stations

Railway stations in the United States opened in 1888 Transportation buildings and structures in Cumberland County, Maine {{Maine-railstation-stub