The Rockland Branch is a railroad from

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. Brunswick is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part o ...

Rockland, Maine Rockland is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine S ...

. A charter was granted in 1849 to build a railway from the Portland and Kennebec Railroad on the west side of the

Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...

to Rockland. Construction through the rocky headlands of the Atlantic coast proved more expensive than anticipated. The Knox and Lincoln Railroad commenced service to Rockland in 1871 using a ferry to cross the Kennebec River between

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

. The Knox and Lincoln was leased by

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 ...

in 1891, and became Maine Central's Rockland Branch in 1901. Maine Central purchased the Samoset

destination hotel A resort hotel is a hotel which often contains full-sized resort facilities with full-service accommodations and luxury amenities. These hotels may attract both business conferences and vacationing tourists and offer more than a convenient plac ...

in nearby Glen Cove (a part of neighbouring Rockport) in 1912, and offered direct passenger service for summer visitors from the large eastern cities. Carlton bridge was completed in 1927 to carry the railroad and

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, ...

over the Kennebec River. Maine Central sold the Samoset hotel in 1941, and the last Maine Central passenger train to Rockland was on 4 April 1959. The State of

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 ...

purchased the branch in 1987 to prevent abandonment. The line has subsequently been operated by the Maine Coast Railroad, the

Maine Eastern Railroad Maine Eastern Railroad was a railroad that operated in coastal Maine, between Brunswick and Rockland, on the former Maine Central Rockland Branch rail line.. Maine Eastern passenger trains connected with the Amtrak '' Downeaster'' passenger ...

, and, beginning in 2016, the

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 ...

. In 2019,

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 ...

agreed to purchase the Central Maine and Quebec, thereby inheriting the operation of the Rockland Branch. The acquisition was completed on June 3, 2020. In 2021 Finger Lakes Railway (FGLK) subsidiary Midcoast Railservice (MCRI) took over operations of this line. On August 16, 2024, Midcoast Railservice filed a petition to discontinue service on the line. This is due to the closure of their main customer, Dragon Cement, closed their plant on the line. According to Midcoast, the line was operating at a loss, generating only 5 cars per month. MEC_Rockland_Branch_Map_1920

Maine Switching Services

In January 2025, 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 i ...

announced that the line will be operated by a company called Maine Switching Services, which also operates freight trains on the Belfast & Moosehead Lake Railroad. MSS now operates freight trains on the Rockland Branch, and plans to operate excursion trains beginning in the fall of 2025.

Route mileposts

* Milepost 0: Brunswick junction with Maine Central Lower Road and Lewiston Branch * Milepost 8.7:

with

Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics, one of the world's largest ...

shipyard * Milepost 9.5:

* Milepost 20: Wiscasset interchange with narrow-gauge

Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway The Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway is a narrow gauge railway. The line was operated as a for-profit company from 1895 until 1933 between the Maine towns of Wiscasset, Maine, Wiscasset, Albion, Maine, Albion, and Winslow, Maine, Wi ...

from 1895 to 1933 * Milepost 27.1:

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

* Milepost 28.9: Damariscotta Mills * Milepost 31.7: Nobleboro * Milepost 38.5: Waldoboro * Milepost 45.3: Warren * Milepost 52.4: Thomaston large cement plant * Milepost 56.6: Rockland ferry connections to

Penobscot Bay Penobscot Bay () is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine, a stretch known as Midcoast Maine, in a broader Atlantic region known as Down East. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockland Maine Eastern Railroad Maine Central Railroad Canadian Pacific Railway lines in the United States Rail infrastructure in Maine Brunswick, Maine Rockland, Maine