Reporting mark MC Successor Safe Handling Locale Maine | Dates of operation 1990–2000 Headquarters Wiscasset | |
Track gauge 4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Predecessor Maine Central Railroad Company | ||
Alco rs11 367 on the maine coast rr 05 22 1992
The Maine Coast Railroad was a railroad company that operated on tracks owned by the Maine Department of Transportation between 1990 and 2000.
Contents
Wiscasset maine coast railroad
History
The company started operations in 1990 after a contract was awarded to the Massachusetts Central Railroad (MCER) to operate the Rockland Branch between Brunswick and Rockland, Maine. The MCER chose to create a new railroad to operate the line, named the Maine Coast. During its first year, the railroad handled little traffic, but in 1991 a large cement producer on the line began shipping its product via rail. As a result of this increase in traffic, the Maine Coast acquired additional locomotives. In 1994, using funding from the Maine Department of Transportation, trackage in Rockland was rebuilt to allow freight to be transferred from the railroad to barges. The railroad closed on December 4, 2000 after losing their lease to the tracks. The lines formerly operated by Maine Coast Railroad are now operated by Maine Eastern Railroad.
Traffic
It offered both freight service and passenger service. The passenger trains operated between Wiscasset and Warren, Maine.
Freight traffic largely consisted of cement products outbound from and coal inbound to Dragon Cement and Concrete in Thomaston. There was also limited perlite and plastic products that moved along the line.
Motive Power
The Maine Coast operated with a small roster of Alco and Montreal Locomotive Works locomotives, including a former Maine Central S-1 (No. 958); a former Norfolk & Western and Central Vermont RS-11 (No. 367); and two Providence and Worcester M420s (Nos. 2002 and 2004).