by trainsinmaine
A few days ago I was investigating an old thread in this forum having to do with the partially-built-but-never-operated Lee and New Haven Railroad. Fragments of the intended ROW, constructed in the 1870s, can be found between Otis, MA and the Connecticut border, along with bridge abutments and culverts.
I'm wondering how many other incomplete railroads exist in New England. I am aware of the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington roadbed between Farmington and New Sharon, ME, and the Kennebec River bridge abutment that stands in Winslow; also the partially-constructed extension of the line between Burnham and Pittsfield. There are also the two fragments of roadbed for the original ROW of the Massachusetts Central/Central Massachusetts in Hardwick, MA, and of course, the monumental attempt to build the Southern New England Railway, many sections and structures of which can still be seen.
There were several other rail lines or branches that were at least surveyed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but I don't know whether any of them saw any actual construction. Three that I know of were here in Maine: an extension of the Bangor and Bucksport Railroad (later Bucksport Branch of the MEC) beyond Bucksport through Surry to Ellsworth, with a branch to Blue Hill; a proposed extension of the Bangor and Aroostook up through the Allagash to meet the already-existing line to St. Francis and Fort Kent; and a proposed extension of the Rumford Falls and Rangeley Lakes beyond Kennebago to somewhere in Quebec. I read or heard some time ago that the RF&RL extension was actually partly laid out, though I have never been up into that area to check it out. Beyond that, however, I'm not aware that any construction ever took place on the other two. Does anyone know? Are there still more in the six-state region that I don't know about?
I'm wondering how many other incomplete railroads exist in New England. I am aware of the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington roadbed between Farmington and New Sharon, ME, and the Kennebec River bridge abutment that stands in Winslow; also the partially-constructed extension of the line between Burnham and Pittsfield. There are also the two fragments of roadbed for the original ROW of the Massachusetts Central/Central Massachusetts in Hardwick, MA, and of course, the monumental attempt to build the Southern New England Railway, many sections and structures of which can still be seen.
There were several other rail lines or branches that were at least surveyed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but I don't know whether any of them saw any actual construction. Three that I know of were here in Maine: an extension of the Bangor and Bucksport Railroad (later Bucksport Branch of the MEC) beyond Bucksport through Surry to Ellsworth, with a branch to Blue Hill; a proposed extension of the Bangor and Aroostook up through the Allagash to meet the already-existing line to St. Francis and Fort Kent; and a proposed extension of the Rumford Falls and Rangeley Lakes beyond Kennebago to somewhere in Quebec. I read or heard some time ago that the RF&RL extension was actually partly laid out, though I have never been up into that area to check it out. Beyond that, however, I'm not aware that any construction ever took place on the other two. Does anyone know? Are there still more in the six-state region that I don't know about?