Maine Coast Railroad

4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Maine Coast Railroad was a railroad company that operated on tracks owned by the Maine Department of Transportation between 1990 and 2000.

History

The company started operations in 1990 after a contract was awarded to the Massachusetts Central Railroad (MCER) to operate the Rockland Branch between Brunswick and Rockland, Maine.^[1] The MCER chose to create a new railroad to operate the line, named the Maine Coast.^[1] During its first year, the railroad handled little traffic, but in 1991 a large cement producer on the line began shipping its product via rail.^[1] As a result of this increase in traffic, the Maine Coast acquired additional locomotives.^[1] In 1994, using funding from the Maine Department of Transportation, trackage in Rockland was rebuilt to allow freight to be transferred from the railroad to barges.^[1] The railroad closed on December 4, 2000, after losing their lease to the tracks.^[2] The lines formerly operated by Maine Coast Railroad was later operated by Maine Eastern Railroad between 2004 & 2015.^[1]

Traffic

It offered both freight service and passenger service.^[3] The passenger trains operated between Wiscasset and Warren, Maine.

Freight traffic largely consisted of cement products outbound from and coal inbound to Dragon Cement and Concrete in Thomaston.^[1] There was also limited perlite and plastic products that moved along the line.^[1]

Motive Power

The Maine Coast operated with a small roster of Alco and Montreal Locomotive Works locomotives, including a former Maine Central S-1 (No. 958); a former Norfolk & Western and Central Vermont RS-11 (No. 367); and two Providence and Worcester M420s (Nos. 2002 and 2004).

References