• Depot in Medway, Maine(?)

  • Discussion of present-day CM&Q operations, as well as discussion of predecessors Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) and Bangor & Aroostook Railroad (BAR).
Discussion of present-day CM&Q operations, as well as discussion of predecessors Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MMA) and Bangor & Aroostook Railroad (BAR).

Moderator: MEC407

  by trainsinmaine
 
I saw the news clip regarding today's dedication of the new Medway highway bridge on WABI-TV (Bangor) tonight, and recalled that the BAR's branch to Medway originally crossed the Penobscot and entered the eastern side of the village. Some of the branch east of the East Millinocket paper mill is still there. My question: Did Medway have its own depot at one time, or was the branch used only for freight?

In answering this question, some kind participant in this forum will save me from trying to hunt down my copy of Bob Lord's "Downeast Depots," which is buried somewhere amidst my recently-moved library. Many thanks. I've only got 4,000 books.
  by BAR
 
Medway is not pictured or mentioned as a passenger station in Robert Lord's "Downeast Depots." Medway is also not shown as a passenger station in my 1930 "Official Guide." I never realized that the BAR served Medway in any capacity since it is not shown on any of my old BAR maps or mentioned in any materials that I have read.
  by BAR
 
It appears that the BAR did provide passenger service to Medway on its bus route. The May 1960 "Official Guide" shows a southbound bus at 10:40 AM and a northboud bus at 6:44 PM.
  by trainsinmaine
 
I still need to locate my RR books, but I recall Ronald Karr's "Railroads of Northern New England" indicating that what is now the East Millinocket branch went all the way to Medway at one time. The segment between the two was abandoned many years ago. What appear to be the piers of the line's bridge over the Penobscot are still there, some distance south of the highway bridge.
  by BAR
 
Medway is mentioned in "Lost Railroads of New England" by Ronald Dale Karr but he does not indicate if there was a depot there. According to Karr the Bangor and Aroostook abandoned nine tenths of a mile of track from East Millinocket to Medway in 1922. This section of track had been laid in 1902 and remained intact for several years after abandonment.