The Canadian American Railroad was a railroad that operated between Brownville Junction, Maine and

Lennoxville, Quebec Lennoxville () is an ''arrondissement'', or borough, of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Lennoxville is located at the confluence of the St. Francis and Massawippi Rivers approximately five kilometres south of downtown Sherbrooke. Lenn ...

. The railroad later expanded west to

Farnham, Quebec Farnham is a city in Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 10,149, making it the second most populated community in the RCM. History The city of ...

and then St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec with running rights on

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 ...

(CP) to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. CDAC was established in 1994 and operated as a railroad between 1995 and 2002. It was owned by transportation holding company Iron Road Railways.

History

Beginning in 1993, CP announced its intention to abandon or sell its Canadian Atlantic Railway (CAR) subsidiary due to declining traffic levels. In early January 1995 the eastern portion of the CAR mainline from

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 ...

to Brownville Junction, Maine was sold to industrial conglomerate

J.D. Irving Limited J. D. Irving Limited (JDI) is a privately owned Conglomerate (company), conglomerate company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a part of the Irving Group of Companies and consists of various s ...

(JDI) which created 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 ...

(NBS) and Eastern Maine Railway (EMR) as subsidiaries. Owning this section gave JDI access to interchange points with

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

(CN) at

, Guilford Rail System at

Mattawamkeag, Maine 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. ...

, and Bangor & Aroostook Railroad (BAR) at Brownville Junction, ME. Also in early January 1995, the western portion of the CAR mainline from Brownville Junction to

saw operation transferred to the Canadian American Railroad (CDAC) which was a joint venture of Iron Road Railways and Fieldcrest Cannon Inc. established in mid-1994. In March 1995, CDAC completed purchase of this portion of the CAR mainline from CP; at that time, Iron Road Railways bought out the interest of Fieldcrest Cannon to assume complete control. Also in March 1995, Iron Road Railways purchased the BAR, creating a T-shaped system focused on the interchange point at Brownville Junction. Iron Road Railways also entered into an agreement with J.D. Irving to market the entire line from Lennoxville to Saint John, however EMR and NBSR remained the operator for the line east of Brownville Junction. CDAC 454

For the remainder of the 1990s, CDAC was able to dramatically increase the amount of freight traffic handled from what CP had carried, largely due to aggressive marketing and customized service, particularly for the forestry industry. After several years CDAC operations extended west from Lennoxville to a junction in

after Iron Road Railways purchased a former CP route in northern

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. CDAC trains also handled traffic from BAR and intermodal traffic from Saint John. The growth of intermodal traffic saw CDAC receive trackage rights over CP from Farnham to

where trains terminated at Cote St. Luc Yard. CDAC's physical plant suffered due to

deferred maintenance Deferred maintenance is the practice of postponing maintenance activities such as repairs on both real property (i.e. infrastructure) and personal property (i.e. machinery) in order to save costs, meet budget funding levels, or realign available bu ...

, as the holding company Iron Road Railways encountered financial difficulties by the early 2000s. Plans to improve infrastructure for Brownville Junction to Farnham during 1999 never stalled: CDAC and BAR and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in 2001. On 8 October 2002, the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) acquired all of the assets of Iron Road Railways' operations in Maine, Quebec, and Vermont including CDAC and BAR. CP has since regained ownership of the former Canadian Atlantic rail lines, through the 2019 acquisition of MMA's successor,

Central Maine and Quebec Railway The Central Maine and Québec Railway was a Class II railroad, Class II freight railroad operating in the United States, U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec with headquarters in Bangor, Maine. It was own ...

References

{{Maine railroads Regional railroads in the United States Defunct Maine railroads Defunct Quebec railways Predecessors of the Canadian Pacific Railway 2002 disestablishments in Maine 2002 disestablishments in Quebec 1994 establishments in Maine 1994 establishments in Quebec