Lewiston Industrial Track/Lewiston Lower Rd/Branch status

Don't forget, there never was a connection between Lewiston Lower and what is now the PAR main (formerly the MEC Back Road), other than through Crowleys Junction to Leeds Junction. The elevation alone makes the connection in Lewiston very difficult. Near impossible, without spending a train load of money.

miketrainnut wrote:Don't forget, there never was a connection between Lewiston Lower and what is now the PAR main (formerly the MEC Back Road), other than through Crowleys Junction to Leeds Junction. The elevation alone makes the connection in Lewiston very difficult. Near impossible, without spending a train load of money.

No forgetting at all here. Let's say for a moment that L/A absolutely insists on having service. PAR says, "nope, not unless you spend $XX million double tracking Portland to Auburn or $XX for additional double track (over and above what's being planned) for at least Portland - Royal Junction)", NNEPRA then replies, "nope, not interested in running anything that doesn't serve Freeport and Brunswick." L/A then counters (through their legislators) with a proposal over the Lewiston Lower for "stub" (but connecting) service with service running via Brunswick and Freeport. Obviously PAR isn't going to object with capacity issues and NNEPRA cant' reject it because of connectivity etc. (whether they say it or not that's probably their biggest problem with any proposal to go to Lewiston).

Which then leaves the decrepit and nearly derelict (but intact RoW!) line above Lisbon a suddenly rather serious contender (at least in the world of the hypothesis) for the creation of a new service to/from Lewiston. Pretty remarkable stuff in all but I believe we will probably not be the only ones who will look at this problem and come to the same conclusion. Seriously I find it nearly impossible to believe that NNEPRA, or anyone else, is really going to tolerate a solution that bypasses Freeport and Brunswick.

A surprising detail regarding the properties at Cedar Street. Parcel RE00006563, the former station lot is currently owned by the Lewiston-Auburn Railroad Company. Others more familiar with this area may have already known this. I thought the property would have been owned by the either MDOT, the City or a successor to the MEC.

If you go PAR or SLR to Auburn/Lewiston, it's a lot faster to get there from Portland than going up to Brunswick then west to Lewiston. It would add at least half an hour to the trip time.

Warren

You will never see the Downeaster go to Brunswick, then make another reverse move to go to Lewiston and Dead end. It just doesn't make sense...

newpylong wrote:You will never see the Downeaster go to Brunswick, then make another reverse move to go to Lewiston and Dead end. It just doesn't make sense...

Convince the politicians of this and your prediction will come true.

Right, wrong or indifferent I am not sold on the idea that officials from L/A will be able to resist the temptation to try and get the Downeaster to their community.

With the success of the service to Freeport and Brunswick it has now become a very juicy apple indeed! It also currently stops tantalizingly close to a potential route to Lewiston, and one that would take the train straight into the heart of the Mill District, right at the center of Lewiston-Auburn. A new station at Cedar Street would also be ideal for serving Bates College students just a few blocks away. All of these factors together make me very reluctant to believe that L/A won't at least attempt to get the service.

The work that the State has done to keep the corridor 'alive' over the years makes the "Lewiston Lower" very tempting yet again. Obviously the routing was 'supposed' to be Portland - Yarmouth Junction - Danville Junction - Auburn, but I strongly believe that the unexpected success of the service in Brunswick and Freeport may have done some very substantial damage to the prospects for this routing (despite all of the efforts made over the years to ensure it could happen).

Cedar Street is the former Grand Trunk Station I believe. If I remember correctly, they also own land in Auburn, which would be the ROW, possibly all the way to Lewiston Junction. I have not found anything online as far as land ownership goes in Auburn.

miketrainnut wrote:Cedar Street is the former Grand Trunk Station I believe.

Not quite. The former Grand Trunk Station is here at the corner of Lincoln and Beech Streets.

miketrainnut wrote:If I remember correctly, they also own land in Auburn, which would be the ROW, possibly all the way to Lewiston Junction. I have not found anything online as far as land ownership goes in Auburn.

Per City of Auburn GIS, 8 parcels in Auburn all of which appear to be the RoW. Exactly how it isn't clear but somehow L/A RR managed to get control of the ex-MEC station property at Cedar & Lincoln Streets. I'm guessing this transaction may have occurred since the State of Maine took over ownership.

miketrainnut wrote:Cedar Street is the former Grand Trunk Station I believe.

According to the Maine Memory Network website, the [Maine Central] railroad "had a 'Lower' Station near Main and Lincoln streets." That would put it right about here, which makes sense as it puts the line directly adjacent to the Bates Mill complex, an obvious freight customer. As near as I can trace the right-of-way from Brunswick via Lisbon, it probably ran mid-block between Lincoln and Mill streets after crossing Cedar Street at what is now Lincoln Park.

The Grand Trunk entered Lewiston (on tracks leased from the Lewiston and Auburn Railroad Company) from Auburn over what is now the Auburn Riverwalk (Bonney Park), two blocks northwest of Cedar and Lincoln. (You can see the remnants of the right-of-way all the way from Lewiston Junction.) According to Wikipedia, the line terminated at the station at Lincoln and Beech, and according to this article in the Sun Journal the building still stands and is to be rehabilitated. And here it is with what looks suspiciously like the remnants of a railroad trestle crossing the canal just west of Oxford Street. I'd bet anything that what is now the Lewiston-Auburn Railroad Park was once the Grand Trunk yard.

--eastwind

eastwind wrote:

miketrainnut wrote:Cedar Street is the former Grand Trunk Station I believe.

According to the Maine Memory Network website, the [Maine Central] railroad "had a 'Lower' Station near Main and Lincoln streets." That would put it right about here, which makes sense as it puts the line directly adjacent to the Bates Mill complex, an obvious freight customer. As near as I can trace the right-of-way from Brunswick via Lisbon, it probably ran mid-block between Lincoln and Mill streets after crossing Cedar Street at what is now Lincoln Park.

Even better if they do it that way. Interesting to think of street running anywhere in Maine, especially south of Bangor.

eastwind wrote:The Grand Trunk entered Lewiston (on tracks leased from the Lewiston and Auburn Railroad Company) from Auburn over what is now the Auburn Riverwalk (Bonney Park), two blocks northwest of Cedar and Lincoln. (You can see the remnants of the right-of-way all the way from Lewiston Junction.) According to Wikipedia, the line terminated at the station at Lincoln and Beech, and according to this article in the Sun Journal the building still stands and is to be rehabilitated. And here it is with what looks suspiciously like the remnants of a railroad trestle crossing the canal just west of Oxford Street. I'd bet anything that what is now the Lewiston-Auburn Railroad Park was once the Grand Trunk yard.

The "remnants" you're looking at are actually still technically 'active' Right of Way. Nothing abandoned yet.

Your guess re: GT yard would be the same as mine. However when you look at the position of the depot relative to the canal I have to wonder if they have enough linear space to get a trainset in there. Not sure how Amtrak would feel about a platform that crosses over a canal.

Actually, the station pictured on the Maine Memory Network is the Main Line station on the back road, which still stands and is here,the building in the center with the tan roof. Which can also be seen by looking down from Bridge Street.

And to take the guess work out of everything, I can tell you that there is a 10 to 15 foot elevation difference between Mill Street, which was the railroad ROW, and the GT depot. The ROW would have to be relocated to lower it to make any type of connection. Standing by the GT depot in the yard, I have to look up to see the ROW of the MEC. The Enginehouse was located where this parking garage is now. The station would have been beyond it toward Maine Street, but I don't recall seeing a picture of it.

Amazing looking through that part of Lewiston and realizing just how much unused real estate there is in the Mill District. You don't really see all of it when you drive through.

If there were ever a place in Maine that could benefit from Transit Oriented Development this would definitely be it. Probably one of the few genuinely high density districts anywhere in the state.

Another good reason to see the train stop in Auburn as ridiculous. Total lack of vision to think that sending the train that way would be a good idea at all.

If they were going to be truly revolutionary they would street run up Lincoln Street turn left at Beech and use the L/A RR Bridge to get out of town and head north to Bethel.

That would get it to the right level.

gokeefe wrote:However when you look at the position of the depot relative to the canal I have to wonder if they have enough linear space to get a trainset in there. Not sure how Amtrak would feel about a platform that crosses over a canal.

I have no knowledge of how GT operated this branch from Lewiston Junction into downtown Lewiston. However, the Official Guide gives a clue. In the '50s at least, trains between Portland (India St.) and Montréal stopped at Danville Junction, where they were met by a shuttle (train or bus) from/to Lewiston, 7.5 miles away. As near as I can tell, no mainline trains entered the branch; at about 20–25 minutes each way, that jog would have added considerably to the overall running time, already a nine-and-a-half-hour trip, just for a busload of passengers.

There appears to be about 300 feet between the bumping post at Lincoln Street and the canal west of Oxford Street, enough for about a three-car train plus locomotive (even more if the locomotive were on the other end, pushing). I doubt the shuttle was even that long. I have no idea of the platform layout back then, but I have no problem envisioning a platform extending across the canal; built correctly, it would pose less of a safety risk than, say, an el station platform hovering over thin air.