The Saint Croix–Vanceboro Railway Bridge is a Google Map showing aerial photo of Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge
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railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

bridge crossing the St. Croix River from St. Croix,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, to Vanceboro,

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 ...

United States 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 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. A deck truss design, it is owned and operated by the

New Brunswick Southern Railway The New Brunswick Southern Railway Company Limited is a Canadian short line railway owned by the New Brunswick Railway Company Limited, a holding company that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the industrial conglo ...

Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge USGS

History

The first railway bridge over the St. Croix River at this location was opened in October 1871 by U.S. President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

and

Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada () is the federal representative of the . The monarch of Canada is also sovereign and head of state of 14 other Commonwealth realms and resides in the United Kingdom. The monarch, on the Advice (constitutional la ...

Lord Lisgar on the completion of the

European and North American Railway The European and North American Railway (E&NA) is the name for three historic Canada, Canadian and United States, American Rail transport, railways which were built in New Brunswick and Maine. The idea of the E&NA as a single system was conceiv ...

(E&NA) between

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 ...

, and

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...

. Railway bridges at this location endured divided ownership from 1871 until 1974. The New Brunswick portion of the E&NA was reorganized as the Western Extension and later folded into the

New Brunswick Railway The New Brunswick Railway Company Limited (NBR) is currently a Canadian non-operating railway and land holding company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick that is part of Irving Transportation Services, a division within the J.D. Irving L ...

. The Maine portion of the E&NA was leased to the

Maine Central Railroad The Maine Central Railroad was a United States, U. S. class 1 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 expand ...

in 1882. In 1889, MEC granted operating rights over its tracks,

Mattawamkeag Mattawamkeag is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States, located where the Mattawamkeag River joins the Penobscot River. The population was 596 at the 2020 census. The village of Mattawamkeag is in the southwestern part of the town. ...

to Vanceboro, to the

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 ...

. In 1955, MEC purchased the E&NA from its shareholders and in 1974 sold the "joint" line, including its portion of the Saint Croix–Vanceboro Railway Bridge, to the CPR. On January 1, 1995, the CPR sold the line to the New Brunswick Southern Railway. The through truss bridge was replaced with the current deck truss design in the mid-20th century.

1915 sabotage attempt

On February 2, 1915, Lt. Werner Horn, a German army reservist, bombed the international railway bridge crossing the St. Croix River from Vanceboro into Canada in an unsuccessful attempt to sabotage the CPR line across Maine; it was alleged that the railway was being used to transport

materiel Materiel or matériel (; ) is supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commerce, commercial supply chain management, supply chain context. Military In a military context, ...

across the then-neutral United States territory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge Railway bridges in New Brunswick Railroad bridges in Maine Canada–United States bridges International bridges in Maine Canadian Pacific Railway bridges in Canada Maine Central Railroad Truss bridges in the United States Truss bridges in Canada Metal bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in York County, New Brunswick Transportation buildings and structures in Washington County, Maine

History

1915 sabotage attempt

See also

References