The Central Maine and Québec Railway was a Class II

freight railroad Rail freight transport is the use of railways 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) hauled ...

operating in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

states of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

and the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

with headquarters in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's List of municipalities in Maine, third-most populous city, behind Portland, Maine, Portland ...

. It was owned by Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC, a subsidiary of Fortress Investment Group, LLC. It is now a subsidiary of

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

since June 2020. Its United States operations were named the Central Maine and Québec Railway US Incorporated with offices in

New York, NY New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, and were registered with the

Surface Transportation Board The Surface Transportation Board (STB) of the United States is an independent federal agency that serves as an adjudicatory board. The board was created in 1996 following the abolition of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) and absorbed regula ...

on February 14, 2014. Its Canadian operations were named the Central Maine and Québec Railway Canada Incorporated with offices in Sherbrooke, QC, and were registered with Revenue Québec on February 14, 2014.

History

The

Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway was a Class II freight railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec between 2002 and 2014. It was headquartered in Hermon, Maine. Its Canadian subs ...

, itself a product of the 2002 Iron Road Railways bankruptcy, filed for bankruptcy in the United States and Canada on August 7, 2013, following the fiery

Lac-Mégantic rail disaster The Lac-Mégantic rail disaster occurred in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, on July6, 2013, at approximately 1:14 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, when an unattended 73-car Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway (MMA) freight train ...

, in which a runaway crude oil train killed forty-seven people and caused an estimated $200 million in property damage to downtown

Lac-Mégantic, Quebec Lac-Mégantic () is a town in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on Lac Mégantic, a freshwater lake after which the town was named. Situated in the former Frontenac County in the historic Eastern Townships, Lac-Mégantic is the ...

. The company received protection under

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

of the

United States Bankruptcy Code Title 11 of the United States Code, also known as the United States Bankruptcy Code, is the source of bankruptcy law in the United States Code. Chapters Title 11 is subdivided into nine chapters. It used to include more chapters, but some of th ...

and under the

Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act The ''Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act'' (CCAA; ) is a statute of the Parliament of Canada that allows insolvent corporations owing their creditors in excess of $5 million to restructure their businesses and financial affairs. The CCAA with ...

in Canada to oversee the sale of assets. In December 2013, Fortress Investment Group, LLC, through its subsidiary Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC (RAH) placed a

stalking horse bid A stalking horse offer, agreement, or bid is a bid for a bankrupt firm or its assets that is arranged in advance of an auction to act, in effect, as a reserve bid. The intent is to maximize the value of its assets or avoid low bids, as part of (or ...

on the operating rail lines, which was accepted by the bankruptcy trustee in January 2014. In February 2014 RAH announced that it had formed the CMQ to become the operating entity of the rail lines and that the sale would be concluded in March 2014. CM&Q received its certificate of fitness from the Canadian Transportation Agency on June 24, 2014. In March 2014, John E. Giles of RAH drove the length of the line, visiting communities and industries served by the railway and inspecting the condition of tracks and installations. He estimated a $10–20 million investment would be needed over three years to repair the rail line, then in poor condition and not safe for the transport of oil or dangerous goods. In the same year, the CMQR acquired 10

GMD SD40-2F The GMD SD40-2F is a C-C diesel locomotive built by General Motors Diesel. It was fundamentally an SD40-2 in a cowl unit full-width body. A total of 25 units were built solely for the Canadian Pacific Railway. They were delivered in 1988 and 19 ...

s from Canadian Pacific Railway. The company planned to resume transport of crude oil by rail in January 2016; however, this did not happen due to petroleum market conditions. In 2017, CMQ took over operations of the former NS Hannibal Subdivision in Ohio from Norfolk Southern. The line services several Fortress owned industries at the former Long Ridge Energy Generation Facility in Clarington, Ohio. CIT owned SD40-2's 3053 and 3082 were assigned to operate the line. Crews were sent from Maine for a week at a time to operate trains. After the CP takeover, this operation was retained by Fortress Investment under the former CMQ subsidiary Katahdin Railcar Services. On November 20, 2019, it was announced that Canadian Pacific Railway would purchase CMQ. Canadian Pacific's CEO, Keith Creel remarked that the acquisition would give CP a true coast-to-coast network across Canada and an increased presence in New England. This would result in several former CP rail lines in Maine and Quebec, which were sold over the years to CM&Q's predecessor railroads, being reacquired by CP. On June 4, 2020, CP officially finalized its acquisition of CMQ.

Rockland Branch Operation

In September 2015, CMQ was selected 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 i ...

to operate the state-owned

Rockland Branch The Rockland Branch is a railroad from Brunswick, Maine to Rockland, Maine. A charter was granted in 1849 to build a railway from the Portland and Kennebec Railroad on the west side of the Kennebec River to Rockland. Construction through the roc ...

rail line between Brunswick and Rockland, taking over the line from previous operator

Maine Eastern Railroad Maine Eastern Railroad was a railroad that operated in coastal Maine, between Brunswick and Rockland, on the former Maine Central Rockland Branch rail line.. Maine Eastern passenger trains connected with the Amtrak '' Downeaster'' passenger ...

on January 1, 2016. The CMQ proposal did not include the operation of passenger excursions that had been operated by Maine Eastern, ending 11 years of successful passenger rail operations along the Maine coast. At the end of August 2021, it was announced

Finger Lakes Railway The Finger Lakes Railway is a Class III railroad in the Finger Lakes region of New York. The company began operations on July 23, 1995, and operates in Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Ontario, Schuyler and Yates counties. The FGLK operates 18 diesel ...

would take over operation of the Rockland Branch. Soon after the STB approved the transfer of operation, Dragon Cement, the largest shipper on the line, announced they would no longer ship cement out of its Rockland facility by the end of the year, ending the rail shuttle operation that makes up most of the revenue for this line.

Routes

CMQ owned and operated the following rail lines: * Searsport Subdivision ( Northern Maine Junction, ME to Searsport, ME) * Millinocket Subdivision ( Northern Maine Junction, ME to Millinocket, ME) * East Millinocket Subdivision ( Millinocket, ME to East Millinocket, ME) * Madawaska Subdivision ( Millinocket, ME to start of

Maine Northern Railway The Maine Northern Railway Company Limited is a U.S. and Canadian short line railroad owned by the New Brunswick Railway Company, a holding company that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the industrial conglomerate ...

) * K.I. Subdivision ( Brownville, ME to

Brownville Junction, ME Brownville is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,139 at the 2020 census. The town includes the villages of Brownville, Knight's Landing and Brownville Junction, near which passes the 100-Mile Wilderness ...

) * Moosehead Subdivision (

to Lac-Mégantic, QC) * Sherbrooke Subdivision ( Lac-Mégantic, QC to Brookport, QC) * Adirondack Subdivision ( Brookport, QC to St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC) * Newport Subdivision ( Brookport, QC to Newport, VT) * Stanbridge Subdivision ( Farnham, QC to Stanbridge, QC) * St-Guillaume Subdivision ( Farnham, QC to Sainte-Rosalie, QC) * Maine DOT Rockland Branch (

Rockland, ME Rockland is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine State Ferry Service to the ...

Brunswick, ME Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. Brunswick is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-So ...

) * Maine DOT Atlantic Branch (

) * Hannibal Subdivision CMQ owned a total of of rail line which are broken down by jurisdiction as follows: * in Maine * in Quebec * in Vermont

Interchange points

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal, located roughly halfway between Montreal and the Canada–United States border with the state of Vermont. It is situa ...

** Sainte-Rosalie, QC *Canadian Pacific Railway **

* Eastern Maine Railway **

** Millinocket, ME *

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

** Northern Maine Junction, ME **

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. Brunswick is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part o ...

St. Lawrence and Atlantic 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 Ca ...

/ ** Lennoxville, QC * Washington County Railroad ** Newport, VT

Notes and references

External links