Bangor & Aroostook Passenger Trains

davidp wrote:There's a photo of BAR and B&M E-7s preparing to depart Bangor Union Station on the last page of the current issue Classic Trains magazine. There's also a geographic error in the caption - has anyone else spotted that?

Yes, down east
Noel Weaver

Not the one I was thinking of Noel. The caption identifies the Aroostook Flyer's destination of Van Buren as being on the Maine - Quebec border. Its actually on the border with New Brunswick.

Thanks for playing

Dave

"Downeast" or "down east" is an accepted term to describe the region of coastal Maine roughly from Rockland to Calais. "Downeaster" is also a common term to describe someone from that area, or any Mainer in general.

I bought these timetables at a train show... first BAR timetables I ever found, and I like how they are later issues... BAR passenger service went out in 1961, right? So notice one timetable puts emphasis on Trains/Bus, the second one is Bus/Train! The writing was on the wall...

Otto Vondrak wrote:I bought these timetables at a train show... first BAR timetables I ever found, and I like how they are later issues... BAR passenger service went out in 1961, right? So notice one timetable puts emphasis on Trains/Bus, the second one is Bus/Train! The writing was on the wall...

BAR_Feb6_1960.jpg

BAR_Oct20_1960.jpg

The Bangor and Aroostook tried hard to make their passenger service decent but after McGinnis took over the Boston and
Maine it was pretty difficult for both the Maine Central and the Bangor and Aroostook to continue.
Pretty late in the scheme of things their trains were still reasonably decent. The last trains came off in 1961 even after
there were no passenger train connections anywhere on the system. They still put out an attractive timetable for the bus
operation which held on for a while longer. I have a good number of timetables from this line.
Noel Weaver

Cool timetables, Otto. I always liked the look of first-gen locomotives in the off white/blue BAR scheme, especially the E7. It's interesting to me that BAR bought an E7, I figured a northwoods road would have 1-2 boiler-equipped geeps or RS3's like the Soo or D&H.

Noel Weaver wrote: The last trains came off in 1961 even after there were no passenger train connections anywhere on the system.

I didn't realize that these were isolated rail operations. When did the MEC drop their passenger trains? 1958?

-otto-

MEC passenger service ended September 6, 1960, with the last run of the Gull.

PBM

Tadman wrote:Cool timetables, Otto. I always liked the look of first-gen locomotives in the off white/blue BAR scheme, especially the E7. It's interesting to me that BAR bought an E7, I figured a northwoods road would have 1-2 boiler-equipped geeps or RS3's like the Soo or D&H.

The BAR ran a classy mainline passenger operation, with the Aroostook Flyer and Potatoland Special providing twice-daily Bangor - Van Buren service. Power was provided by two E-7s and two boiler-equipped F3s. They bought three streamlined coaches and two 6-4-6 sleepers from Pullman Standard from designs nearly identical to those used by the NH, B&M and MEC. They even had buffet-lounge cars rebuilt from pre-war American Flyer coaches. The Flyer was replaced by a bus in 1958, and the Boston - Van Buren sleeper came off in 1959 when the B&M dropped its last non-RDC trains on the south end of the route. After passenger service ended the Es worked freight until being traded in the EMD in 1967, and the passenger cars went to the Ontario Northland, CN and LIRR.