MORRISTOWN & ERIE BOWS OUT
Maine Eastern Finale
BY JOEY KELLY/PHOTOS AS NOTED
subsidiary Maine Eastern has closed its doors. The official press release was direct and to the point: “The railroad’s main office in Morristown, N.J., was notified on [September 1] that the operating lease on the state-owned Rockland Branch, which runs for 58 miles between Brunswick and Rockland, Maine, will not be renewed with the Maine Eastern.” The state of Maine instead awarded
A
the contract to operate the former Maine Central branch to Central Maine & Quebec, the operators of the former Montreal, Maine & Atlantic (Bangor & Aroostook). Effective January 1, 2016, the new agreement does not provide for any passenger service. Passenger subsidy was the deciding factor. New proposals for year-’round
28 FEBRUARY 2016 •
RAILFAN.COM
FTER 11 YEARS OF OPERATING freight and passenger service on Maine’s mid-coast, Morristown & Erie
passenger service from the Maine Eastern would have required a subsidy and “the state is not interested in subsidizing a new passenger rail service anywhere in Maine,” according to an interview with Maine Department of Transportation spokesman Ted Talbot published in the Portland Press Herald. A ten-year lease was negotiated between Maine DOT and CM&Q, the only other company to bid on the operation.
Freight Cements the Deal The contract M&E had with the state
of Maine was for ten years of operation. One of the deciding factors was the company’s willingness to run passenger excursions. When the contract was not renewed in 2015, Morristown & Erie was offered the opportunity to continue as passenger operator of the line. Given that the excursion business was said to be “break even” at best, without the
freight operation it would be unprofitable and unwise to continue. Best known for operating the 56-mile Rockland Branch, the Maine Eastern was also the designated operator of the state-owned former Maine Central Lower Road mainline between Brunswick and Augusta. Maine DOT purchased both lines from Maine Central (Guilford Rail System) in 1987. With no customers on the old Lower
Road, MERR operations focused on the Rockland Branch. After a four-year hiatus, during which the entire branch was rehabilitated, the former Maine Central line saw the return of excursion service on the branch, taking advantage of the rebuilt line by running excursion trains over the entire 56 miles at speeds usually reserved for commuter rail. Freight traffic on the Rockland Branch consists primarily of exports of cement from the Dragon Cement Plant,
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74