The Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad (A&K) is a historic U.S.

railroad 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 ...

which operated in

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 ...

. The Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad Co. received a charter on March 28, 1847, and by January 1850 had built a line between

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...

, and Danville, Maine (now Auburn). At Waterville, the A&K connected with the

Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad The Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad (P&K) is a historic U.S. railroad which operated in Maine. The Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad Co. received a charter on April 5, 1845, and built a line between Bangor, Maine and Waterville, Maine. At Watervil ...

(P&K). At Danville, the A&K connected with the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, which opened in 1853 and was subsequently sold to

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

. In 1846, the year that the P&K was chartered, a law was enacted permitting both the P&K and A&K to consolidate under a new name. The legislation was not acceptable to both companies, thus the A&K was chartered in 1847. The P&K and A&K did not merge until after the contentious section of the previous merger legislation was

repealed A repeal (O.F. ''rapel'', modern ''rappel'', from ''rapeler'', ''rappeler'', revoke, ''re'' and ''appeler'', appeal) is the removal or reversal of a law. There are two basic types of repeal; a repeal with a re-enactment is used to replace the law ...

on September 9, 1862. The following month on October 28, 1862, the A&K and P&K merged to form 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Androscoggin Kennebec Railroad Defunct Maine railroads Predecessors of the Maine Central Railroad Railway companies established in 1845 Railway companies disestablished in 1862 5 ft 6 in gauge railways in the United States