MaineCentralRailroadBlueMountainBranchLines1917

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 ...

Rumford Branch is a railroad line 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 ...

now operated as part of the

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 ...

system. The Rumford Branch leaves the mainline at Leeds Junction and continues northwest up the

Androscoggin River The Androscoggin River (Abenaki: ''Ammoscongon'') is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data''The National Map'', a ...

valley, passing through Livermore Falls and terminating at

Rumford Rumford may refer to: People * William Byron Rumford (1908–1986), California politician * Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753–1814), American-British-German inventor, scientist, soldier, and official * Kennerley Rumford (1870–1957), E ...

. The branch comprises the remaining trackage of three earlier branches: * The first 20.1 miles are the former Farmington Branch from Crowley's Junction on the Lewiston Branch through Leeds Junction and Livermore Falls to Wilton and Farmington. * The next 11 miles are the former Livermore Falls Branch from

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

to Livermore Falls. * The last 16.1 miles are the former Rangeley Branch from Rumford Junction on the Maine Central Back Road through

and

to Kennebago north of

Rangeley Lake Rangeley Lake, located in Franklin County, Maine, United States, is fed by several streams. Its waters flow out from the lake's northwestern corner via the short Rangeley River into Mooselookmeguntic Lake, then Upper and Lower Richardson Lakes ...

. Traffic over the Rangeley branch decreased after adjacent timberlands had been harvested. Summer passenger trains between Oquossoc and Kennebago were replaced in 1933 by a

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar with an automotive engine. It shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels (2 axles) on a fixed base instead of on bogies. O ...

built in the

Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad The Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad (SR&RL) was a narrow gauge common carrier railroad that operated approximately of track in Franklin County, Maine. The former equipment from the SR&RL continues to operate in the present day on a rev ...

shops. The Rangeley branch north of Rumford was abandoned and dismantled following damage in the 1936 flood. The southern end of the Farmington branch from Leeds Junction to Crowley Junction on the Lewiston lower branch was dismantled in 1938. The southern end of the Rangeley branch from Rumford Junction to Canton was dismantled in 1952. The last passenger train to Farmington was in 1957.

Route mileposts

* Milepost 0: Leeds Junction on the Maine Central Back Road * Milepost 7.3: Leeds Center * Milepost 20.1: Livermore Falls former junction with the Farmington Branch north to the narrow-gauge

interchange at Farmington * Milepost 24.8: Riley's large paper mill originating or terminating 17,000 annual carloads in 1973. * Milepost 31.1:

former junction with the Rangeley Branch south through Mechanic Falls to Rumford Junction on the Maine Central Back Road near Auburn. * Milepost 47.2:

and

Rumford Mill Rumford Mill is a pulp mill and paper mill located in the United States town of Rumford, Maine. The mill has two kraft pulp lines and three paper machines. The mill produces 460,000 tonnes of kraft pulp and 565,000 tonnes of paper annually. The m ...

originating or terminating 11,000 annual carloads in 1973.

History

The Androscoggin Railroad was chartered in 1848 to build a

Portland gauge (), also known as the Indian gauge is a broad track gauge, used in India, Pakistan, western Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Argentina, Chile, and on BART (San Francisco Bay Area). In North America, it is called Indian, Provincial, Portland, or Texas ga ...

railroad to

Farmington, Maine Farmington is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,592. Farmington is home to the University of Maine at Farmington, Nordica Memorial Auditorium, the Nordica Homeste ...

from Leeds Junction on the Portland gauge Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad. The railway was completed to Livermore Falls in 1852, and to Farmington in 1859. The railway was then extended south from Leeds Junction to Brunswick to connect with the

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

Kennebec and Portland Railroad in 1861. Conversion of the Androscoggin Railroad to standard gauge that year initiated a series of court battles ultimately eliminating Maine's Portland gauge rail network. Maine Central leased the Androscoggin Railroad in 1871, and converted its own line to standard gauge in 1873. The southern end of the Androscoggin Railroad adjacent to the Androscoggin River from Brunswick to Crowley Junction became the Lewiston branch of the Maine Central, while the remainder of the line to Farmington became the Farmington branch.

Farmington Branch

* Milepost 0: Crowley's Junction with the Maine Central Lewiston Lower Branch W* Milepost 4.3: Sabattus A* Milepost 11.2: Leeds Junction Ewith the Maine Central Back Road * Milepost 13: Highmoor * Milepost 15.6: Curtis Corner * Milepost 18.5: Leeds Center M* Milepost 21.3: North Leeds * Milepost 23.5: Strickland F* Milepost 26.2: East Livermore * Milepost 31.3: Livermore Falls junction with the Maine Central Livermore Falls Branch D* Milepost 33.5:

Jay Jays are a paraphyletic grouping of passerine birds within the family Corvidae. Although the term "jay" carries no taxonomic weight, most or all of the birds referred to as jays share a few similarities: they are small to medium-sized, usually ...

Y* Milepost 37: North Jay X* Milepost 40.6: Wilton O* Milepost 42.9: East Wilton B* Milepost 47.1: West Farmington S* Milepost 47.8: Farmington Dinterchange with the

Lewiston Branch

* Milepost 0: Brunswick on the Maine Central Lower Road * Milepost 4.6: Pejepscot Mills * Milepost 8: Lisbon Falls * Milepost 11.7:

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

* Milepost 14.8: Crowley's Junction with the Maine Central Farmington Branch * Milepost 19.6: Lewiston Lower Station Portland and Rumford Falls RW 1902

The Buckfield Branch Railroad was chartered in 1847 to build a Portland gauge railroad to Buckfield from Mechanic Falls on the

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 ...

. The railway was completed to Buckfield in 1849 and reorganized as the Portland and Oxford Central Railroad in 1857. The railway was extended to

in 1870 and reorganized as the Rumford Falls and Buckfield Railroad in 1874. The railway went into receivership in 1878 and was converted to standard gauge. The railway was reorganized by Hugh J. Chisholm in 1890 as the Portland and Rumford Falls Railway. The Portland and Rumford Falls Railway was extended north to Rumford Falls in 1892 and south to connect with the Maine Central Railroad at Rumford Junction near Auburn in 1893. A branch line was completed from Canton to Chisholm in 1897 and extended to a connection with the former Androscoggin Railroad at Livermore Falls in 1899. The Portland and Rumford Falls Railway chartered a subsidiary Rumford Falls and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in 1894 to access aboriginal forests north of Rumford. The Rumford Falls and Rangeley lakes reached Oquossoc in 1902. Maine Central leased the entire line from Rumford Junction to Oquossoc in 1907, and extended it to Kennebago. This line became known as the Rangeley branch when formally merged into the Maine Central in 1914. The branch from Canton to Livermore Falls was designated the Livermore Falls branch. Rangeley Lake

Rangeley Branch

ith telegraoh calls* Milepost 0: Rumford Junction on the Maine Central Back Road J* Milepost 4.1: Elmwood * Milepost 5.9: Riccars (Poland Spring Sta) G* Milepost 8:

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

D* Milepost 11.6: Mechanic Falls Finterchange with the

* Milepost 16.1: West Minot N* Milepost 20.2: East Hebron O* Milepost 24.8: Buckfield * Milepost 29.5: East Sumner * Milepost 31.5:

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

A* Milepost 36.6:

A* Milepost 37.3: junction with the Maine Central Livermore Falls Branch * Milepost 38.3: Gilbertville * Milepost 43: East Peru * Milepost 44.8:

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

* Milepost 48.2: Dixfield X* Milepost 52.7:

D(Dispatch Office Y * Milepost 58.5: Frye * Milepost 62.2: Roxbury * Milepost 66.6:

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

* Milepost 70.5: Houghton * Milepost 79.3: Bemis M* Milepost 86.1: South Rangeley * Milepost 88.6: Oquossoc K* Milepost 99.4: Kennebago N

Livermore Falls Branch

* Milepost 0:

on the Maine Central Rangeley Branch A* Milepost 6.3: Riley's I* Milepost 8.4:

Jay Bridge Jay Bridge is a wooden covered bridge that spans the east branch of the Ausable River (New York), Ausable River in Jay, New York, Jay, Essex County, New York, USA. It is eligible to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Of the 2 ...

Y* Milepost 9.4 Chisholm Yard * Milepost 11: Livermore Falls on the Maine Central Farmington Branch

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumford Maine Central Railroad Maine logging railroads Pan Am Railways Rumford, Maine