Official Maine Eastern Railroad Thread (ME) - 2010

[Otto Vondrak]

This thread is for the discussion of news and activities related to the operation of the Maine Eastern Railroad in Rockland, Maine.

Official Web Site: http://www.maineeasternrailroad.com/

2009 Thread: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=126&t=58033

[gokeefe]

Now that the funding for the Brunswick extension has been announced I will be very interested to see what operational changes Maine Eastern plans on making once service starts. My understanding of this has been, based on statements from Maine Eastern management, that once Amtrak got to Brunswick, Maine Eastern was going to switch to a year round operation. We'll have to see now if or how that comes to pass. I'm would even be curious as to whether or not Amtrak would sell 'inter-line' tickets for Rockland service.

Correct me if I'm wrong but if Maine Eastern does in fact operate scheduled service this would be the first time since the early 80's that anyone other than Amtrak has operated scheduled 'inter-city' passenger service in the U.S. I know its a stretch to see Rockland service as 'inter-city' but I'm not sure it would necessarily qualify as a commuter service either given that it's not being operated or contracted by a public agency.

[Cowford]

Considering Brunswick is a town, "inter-city" hardly applies. How the train is funded (revenue or subsidy) doesn't indicate the nature of its raison d'etre. How about calling it what it is... a tourist train. I don't hear the services of the Grand Canyon Railway, Cumbres and Toltec, Durango and Silverton, etc. called anything else.

[gokeefe]

Cowford AGAIN!

Well you seem to mention Brunswick being a town perhaps knowing full well that it is the largest 'Town' both in terms of population and, if I'm not mistaken square acreage, in Maine. The 'City' of Augusta has probably 5,000-7,000 people less not to mention the 'City' of Gardiner which has only about 7,000 people.

In its present form the Maine Eastern operation is certainly a tourist railroad. I'm not so sure that would continue to be the case if they began running scheduled cross platform connecting service with through ticketing available to Rockland at North Station in Boston. I think its pretty radical to consider this type of scheme but Maine Eastern itself has consistently indicated that they would change their service pattern once Amtrak reached Brunswick. These are their ideas and not mine.

[MEC407]

Brunswick is currently the largest "town" in Maine in terms of population (approximately 21,000 residents), although that's based on the 2000 census, and I assume it includes a lot of Navy folks. With the Navy leaving, it's possible that Maine's second largest town, Sanford (20,800), will overtake Brunswick to become the largest.

Bath and Rockland are both "cities" but they each have less than half as many residents as Brunswick and Sanford. Augusta's neighboring city, Hallowell, has about 2500 residents.

Long story short, whether a municipality is a "city" or a "town" has nothing to do with population; mostly it's related to how the municipal government operates.

[Cowford]

You can call Brunswick a megalopolis - it's still senseless to run passenger trains there! The term "intercity" was not coined because village-to-village "corridors" are substantial and important in rail transport. Trains need population density within the corridors they operate. BRU-POR doesn't have it. ROCK-BRU certainly doesn't. Isn't that obvious? If I'm so off-base, please help me... where in Maine does passenger service not make sense?

[gokeefe]

If I'm so off-base, please help me... where in Maine does passenger service not make sense?

There are plenty of places...I would prefer to name them by rail corridor as this might be easier...

Burnham - Belfast (B&ML)
Northern Maine Junction - Van Buren
Northern Maine Junction - Jackman
Northern Maine Junction - Vanceboro
Bangor - Mattawamkeag
Bangor - Calais (also include Eastport etc.)
Portland - Fryeburg
Leeds Junction - Rumford
Madison Branchline

The above corridors are totally out of the question at present and will be for the foreseeable future (50 years). I probably missed several right of ways in Maine but I think overall this represents the obvious choices.

If we want to look at things a little further I think there are three more categories, probable, possible and potential. Probable being the most likely for new service that could (but won't necessarily suceed), possible being choices that may emerge as probable candidates in the future if present service suceeds and potential being choices that could emerge in the future but seem likely to fail or to never be considered at all. I would emphasize that not all of the below service options necessarily represent new Amtrak service, but in some cases perhaps some type of 'commuter rail'.

Probable: Brunswick - Rockland, Portland - Yarmouth - Lewiston - Bethel - ?(Montreal??)
Possible: Brunswick - Augusta/Lewiston
Potential: Augusta/Lewiston - Bangor

[BM6569]

Looks like M&E has been doing some planning:

http://freepressonline.com/main.asp?Sec ... cleID=5047

Maine Eastern Railroad will not use the same historic, vintage coaches it now uses for its excursion service for the Amtrak-connector service. Maine Eastern's parent company in Morristown, New Jersey, will provide Amtrak-certified coaches, and it's likely, said Page, that initially Maine Eastern will run two coaches, with about 100 seats per coach, plus a locomotive for the Amtrak-connector service. The vintage coaches will continue to be used for the excursion service.

Warren

[MEC407]

Interesting article, Warren. Thanks for posting it.

[b&m 1566]

That’s a great article! I hope they will be able to provide connecting service with out any funding assistance.
It will be interesting to see if the Maine Eastern will look into connecting service for Augusta too; I know in the pasted they made mention of it.
Does Maine Eastern plan on having other stops, or is this just going to be strictly a connecting service for Rockland?
I would assume the Maine Eastern train will arrive in Brunswick before the Downeaster arrives and depart after the Downeaster; it will be interesting to see if Brunswick modifies the station layout to accommodate a second plat form, especially if Maine Eastern is serious about extending service to Augusta.

[MEC407]

Does Maine Eastern plan on having other stops, or is this just going to be strictly a connecting service for Rockland

I'm 99% certain they'll continue to stop in Bath and Wiscasset, just as they do now; I can't really think of any reason why they wouldn't.

[gokeefe]

It's amazing to watch as the Brunswick funding decision begins to filter out into the communities. There are so many places in the country that only have 'one a day each way' service from Amtrak. Now places like Bath, Wiscasset, and Rockland will have at least two a day each way and possibly more. That's a lot of service for a line that has been dormant in the winter time and hasn't had regularly scheduled passenger service since the 1950's. Hopefully the connecting service agreements will work out favorably. I'm still wondering if this will be the only place in the country that offers 'connecting service' by train instead of bus.

[joshuahouse]

How will ticketing work with this? Will I be able to buy a ticket online, at the station, at North Station?

[kilroy]

Maine Eastern Railroad will not use the same historic, vintage coaches it now uses for its excursion service for the Amtrak-connector service.

That would mean they'll be running those old NJT Comets they have. At this point I think they would qualify as "vintage" railcars as they date back to the early 70's.

it will be interesting to see if Brunswick modifies the station layout to accommodate a second plat form

I don't see why. I would expect them to disembark passengers at Brunswick and then pull forward into the wye. Once Amtrak arrives and leaves, they'll complete the wying of the train and head back to Rockland. No need for more tracks and paltforms for a handful of trains.

[MEC407]

I think Amfleets can even be considered vintage at this point! Great cars, though. I hope Amtrak continues to rebuild them. Comets aren't so bad either, although the ones I've ridden in were pretty beat-up... but with a proper refurbishing, I'm sure they're great.