Maine Eastern Railroad was a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

that operated in coastal

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 north ...

, between Brunswick and Rockland, on the former

Maine Central The Maine Central Railroad Company was a U. S. Class I 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 expanded to w ...

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 rock ...

rail line.. Maine Eastern passenger trains connected with the Amtrak '' Downeaster'' passenger train and

Pan Am Railways Pan Am Railways, Inc. (PAR) is a subsidiary of CSX Corporation that operates Class II regional railroads covering northern New England from Mattawamkeag, Maine, to Rotterdam Junction, New York. Pan Am Railways is primarily made up of former Clas ...

Brunswick Maine Street Station Brunswick Maine Street Station, or Brunswick station, is a multi-modal, multi-use real estate development in Brunswick, Maine. Located on Maine Street, it consists of commercial offices, service centers, healthcare, retail, restaurants, theate ...

. The state of Maine did not renew the operating contract with MERR, which effectively ended operations at the end of 2015.

History

Maine Eastern was a subsidiary of the

Morristown & Erie Railway Morristown & Erie Railway is a short-line railroad based in Morristown, New Jersey, chartered in 1895 as the Whippany River Railroad. It operates freight rail service in Morris County, New Jersey and surrounding areas on the original Whippany ...

of New Jersey, who won the bid to operate the line in 2003. MERR provided freight service year-round, and passenger service seasonally between Brunswick and Rockland with former

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

EMD FL-9 locomotives and stainless steel streamlined passenger cars. Maine Eastern was the successor to Safe Handling Rail, which took over operation of the MaineDOT-owned line when the

Maine Coast Railroad 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 ...

chose not to bid on a new contract. In September 2015, 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 in ...

selected the

Central Maine and Quebec Railway The Central Maine & Québec Railway was a Class II freight railroad operating in the U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canadian province of Quebec with headquarters in Bangor, Maine. It was owned by Railroad Acquisition Holdings, LLC, ...

(CMQ) to operate the line beginning on January 1, 2016. In 2020, CMQ would be acquired by

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , 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 Canadi ...

, which then was absorbed into their rail system. Commodities moved in freight service include cement, plate steel, and

perlite Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently. It is an industrial m ...

. In February 2018, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority voted to conduct a three-weekend pilot passenger service along the line during the summer. However, Amtrak later announced that this plan would be cancelled due to time constraints in the execution of their risk-assessment plan for the rail line. Despite the cancellation, Amtrak, along with the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority,

and the Central Maine and & Quebec Railroad, made a test run to Rockland on August 14, 2019.Stephen Betts, 'Train backers ride rails to Rockland,' 'Rockland-Camden-Knox-Courier-Gazette, August 15, 2019 https://knox.villagesoup.com/p/train-backers-ride-rails-to-rockland/1828630

Rolling stock

The MERR roster consisted of a former

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

MLW M-420s numbered 3573, and a RRPX

Railroad Power Leasing Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

Electro Motive Division Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its sub ...

GP9, numbered 764. These two locomotives were used entirely for freight service. For passenger operations, the MERR operated a pair of ex-

EMD F40PH-2s that still carried their original Amtrak numbers 265 and 291. These were later replaced with a pair of ex-

EMD FL-9 locomotives, 488 and 489. Both FL9s were sold so Webb Rail in 2020.

References

Bibliography

External links

* (archived) Railway companies established in 2004 Companies operating former Maine Central Railroad lines Predecessors of the Canadian Pacific Railway Railway companies disestablished in 2015 {{Maine-transport-stub

History

Rolling stock

See also

References

Bibliography

External links