The Franklin and Megantic Railway (F&M) (original name "Franklin and Megantic Railroad") was a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railway in northern

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 ...

that branches off from the

Sandy River Railroad The Sandy River Railroad was a narrow gauge railway built to serve the towns of Strong and Phillips in the Sandy River valley upstream of Farmington. The Sandy River Railroad was the first narrow gauge common carrier railroad built in the State ...

(SRR) at

Strong Strong may refer to: Education * The Strong, an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States * Strong Hall (Lawrence, Kansas), an administrative hall of the University of Kansas * Strong School, New Haven, Connecticut, United ...

and served sawmills in Salem township and in the town of Kingfield.

History

The F&M was constructed in 1884 to reach aboriginal spruce forests on the south slope of Mount Abraham.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route''

McClain Printing Company The McClain Printing Company (MPC) is a printing company specializing in books of West Virginia history and lore. It was incorporated in 1958 in Parsons, West Virginia as an outgrowth of the local weekly newspaper, the '' Parsons Advocate''. Ken S ...

1976 p.47-50 The Mount Abram branch was constructed to Soule's sawmill in 1886.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.56 In 1894, the F&M formed the narrow gauge Kingfield and Dead River Railroad (K&DR) to extend rails up the

Carrabassett River The Carrabassett River, a tributary of the Kennebec River, is located in Franklin County and Somerset County, Maine, in the United States. It rises near Sugarloaf Mountain, east of Rangeley Lake, and runs for ,U.S. Geological Survey. Nationa ...

from Kingfield to Carrabassett. At that time, the F&M owned 2 locomotives, 7 box cars, 21 flat cars, combination car #1 built by the

Laconia Car Company Laconia Car Company manufactured railway cars in Laconia, New Hampshire from 1848 to 1928. The Ranlet Manufacturing Company began building horse-drawn wagons, carriages and stagecoaches in 1844. The company was identified as Ranlet Car Company ...

in 1885, and

baggage car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (American English), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (British English and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (Indian English) is a railroad car that is designed to c ...

#2 (renumbered #4 in 1903) built by the

Portland Company The Portland Company was established 10 November 1846 by John A. Poor and Norris Locomotive Works engineer Septimus Norris as a locomotive foundry to build railroad equipment for the adjacent Portland terminus of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Ra ...

in 1887.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.64-65''Railroad Commissioners' Report'' State of Maine 1895 p.78 The company was renamed to "Franklin and Megantic Railway" in 1897 due to financial problems. The owners of the

purchased controlling interest in the F&M in 1898.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.66 In 1899 the line was extended to a large sawmill in Crockertown (later called Bigelow), as close to the Canadian town of Megantic as it would reach. Twenty new flat cars were purchased from the Portland Company in 1900.''Railroad Commissioners' Report'' State of Maine 1900 p.85 Four of the new flat cars and one F&M box car were destroyed when the sawmill burned in 1903.''Railroad Commissioners' Report'' State of Maine 1903 p.64 F&M received two long

passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

cars from

American Car and Foundry Company ACF Industries, originally the American Car and Foundry Company (abbreviated as ACF), is an American manufacturer of railroad railroad car, rolling stock. One of its subsidiaries was once (1925–54) a manufacturer of Motor bus, motor coaches ...

in 1903.

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

#2 and combination #3 were built in a joint order with an identical coach (SR #8) for the Sandy River Railroad.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.112 In 1906 a temporary trestle was constructed over the Carrabassett River to the Hammond Field log yard where timber from the west side of the river was loaded for transport to the Bigelow sawmill.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.116 Log trains shuttled back and forth to the sawmill until the trestle washed out in November 1907.

Logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucks''Railroad Commissioners' Report'' State of Maine 1908 p.135 A crude passenger shelter was constructed adjacent to the main line for woodsmen involved in the logging. Rapid transformation of the landscape during this brief period of activity evoked memories of a local

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

veteran who named the shelter Shiloh Number Two. F&M locomotives were renumbered in 1905 to avoid confusion with Sandy River locomotives frequently working on the F&M.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 pp.114-115 The F&M was merged into 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 ...

(SR&RLRR or SR&RL) in 1908.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.121 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 ...

took control of the SR&RL in 1911.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.142 F&M combination #1 became SR&RL #11Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.136 F&M coach #2 became SR&RL #21 F&M combination #3 became SR&RL #14 F&M baggage #4 became SR&RL #6 (but was scrapped and replaced by a new baggage- RPO #6 in 1912) Fifteen of the flat cars built in 1900 were renumbered for SR&RL; but the remaining F&M freight cars were scrapped by 1911''Railroad Commissioners' Report'' State of Maine 1911 p.241

Geography

Milepost 0:

- Connection with the

. Milepost 1.0: Starbird's sawmill. Milepost 6.2: Summit - Passing siding and covered water tank at the high point between Strong and Kingfield. Milepost 8.0: Salem - Agent's station and sawmill. The original covered station burned in 1899 and was replaced with a new building in 1901.Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.98Jones, Robert C. ''Two Feet Between the Rails (Volume 1 - The Early Years)'' Sundance Books 1979 p.259 Milepost 10.2: Mount Abram Junction - Branch line to Soule's sawmill. Milepost 14.9: Kingfield - Covered agent's station, 3-stall enginehouse, and hardwood turning mills. Milepost 19.2: Bridge over

. (on K&DR extension) Milepost 21.5: Hammond Field. One-half mile branch line to a log loading yard. (on K&DR extension) Milepost 24.1: Carrabassett - Agent's station with stage connections to Stratton and Eustis until railroad extended to Bigelow. (on K&DR extension) Milepost 30.2: Bigelow - Agent's station and sawmill (on K&DR extension)Crittenden, H. Temple ''The Maine Scenic Route'' McClain Printing 1976 p.113 & fig.46

Locomotives

Notes

References

* * * * * * * 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911

External links

Brian Carter's Train History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin Megantic Railway Defunct Maine railroads Logging railroads in the United States Predecessors of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad Narrow-gauge railroads in Maine 2 ft gauge railways in the United States Railway companies established in 1884 Railway companies disestablished in 1908 1884 establishments in Maine 1908 disestablishments in Maine 1908 mergers and acquisitions