Portland Company building 6, November 2016

The Portland Company was established 10 November 1846 by John A. Poor and

Norris Locomotive Works The Norris Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive manufacturing company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that produced nearly one thousand railroad engines between 1832 and 1866. It was the dominant American locomotive producer during most of ...

engineer Septimus Norris as a

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

to build railroad equipment for the adjacent Portland terminus of the

Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad 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 C ...

connection between Portland,

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 ...

and

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- ...

. The shops opened for business in October, 1847. Its first locomotive, the Augusta, emerged from the shops in July 1848 for delivery to the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth (later part of 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 ...

). Over the next several decades, the Company produced in its Fore Street facilities over 600 steam locomotives as well as 160 merchant and naval vessels, railcars, construction equipment, Knox automobiles, and the like. Portland Company built the engines of the civil war side-wheel gunboats and .Switzer, November 1964, p.85 Taking into account its other products, the Company could lay claim to being one of the leading medium-to-heavy steel manufacturers in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. The company ceased production in 1978. Presently, according to The Portland Company Complex website, the site has become a marine-oriented complex with a small

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

, several marine as well as other office tenants and the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum.

5'6"-gauge locomotives for the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad

Two-Foot Gauge Locomotives

In 1890, The Portland Company acquired patterns used by the

Hinkley Locomotive Works Hinkley Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Boston, Massachusetts in the 19th century. History The company that was to become known as Hinkley Locomotive Works got its start in Boston in 1831. Holmes Hinkley and his pa ...

for 2-foot gauge locomotives. Portland improved the pattern into the most successful design on Maine's 2-foot gauge railroads. The Portland design retained ornate Victorian features including capped domes and a cab roof with graceful reversing curvature. The first of the design was the heaviest and most powerful locomotive on any of the Maine 2-foot gauge railroads at the time of delivery. Portland locomotives became the standard for passenger service as larger freight engines were built. Portland locomotives were subsequently used for yard service and on lines with lighter rail. Portland Company was the dominant manufacturer of freight cars for the Maine 2-foot gauge railroads between 1890 and 1907. The final 2-foot gauge locomotive built by The Portland Company was a less successful enlargement of the original design. Vulcan Iron Works built two modernized versions of Portland's basic design for the

Monson Railroad The Monson Railroad was a narrow gauge railway, which operated between Monson Junction on the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and Monson, Maine. The primary purpose of this railroad was to serve several slate mines and finishing houses in Mons ...

in 1913 and 1918 after Portland Company ceased manufacture of railway locomotives. The basic Portland design pulled the last

Kennebec Central Railroad The Kennebec Central Railroad was a narrow gauge railroad operating between Randolph and Togus, Maine. The railroad was built to offer transportation for American Civil War veterans living at Togus to the nearby City of Gardiner.Barney(1986 ...

train in 1929, the last

Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington Railway The Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway is a narrow gauge railway. The line was operated as a for-profit company from 1895 until 1933 between the Maine towns of Wiscasset, Albion, and Winslow, but was abandoned in 1936. Today, about ...

train in 1933, and the last

train in 1943.

Preserved Portland locomotives

The following locomotives built by Portland have been preserved.

References

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Notes

Archives and records

Portland Company records
at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.

External links

photos from 1949 made by Leyland Whipple, a talented photographer who worked there as a quality control technician
{{NA Loco builders Defunct locomotive manufacturers of the United States Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States History of Portland, Maine