Belgrade Maine Station

I am curious for further information regarding the former Maine Central station facilities in Belgrade, Maine (in particular the exact location of the one listed in the MEC wiki as being located at milepost 70.2). As with most towns in that area I have seen hints that there was more than one stop in Belgrade at one time. Further information posted to this discussion would be appreciated.

Also looking for information on a small depot that was likely at this location.

The Belgrade depot was at milepost 70.2 on Depot Rd near where Hammond Lumber is now located. Up into the 80's there was
a short side track there- when I first hired out in '76 the signal dept. outfit cars assigned to our crew were parked there for two
weeks while we replaced the highway crossing signals on Rt.8. In "New England Country Depots" , by Edward A. Lewis, 1973 on
page 72 there is a photo of the "North Belgrade" depot at MP 73.5.

According to a 11-1980 Maine Central Employee Timetable the milepost for Belgrade is 70.24 and for
North Belgrade is 75.07. A 1972 TT doesn't list North Belgrade at all.

Thank you very much! I just put in an order for that book on Amazon which was very reasonably priced.

Any further comments and information are greatly appreciated. Timetables and any schedules of service are appreciated, for North Belgrade in particular.

Well lets remove all doubt. I have located an aerial photograph of the station. It was located on the North side of the tracks, East side of Depot Road.

1956 Image from NETR Online, Historical Aerials.



Here is a link to the area on the site.
http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials. ... &year=2007

2014 Google image, approximately the same location.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Belgr ... b3520c2000

Ok that makes sense. I've seen a fair number of historic photographs or postcards showing that station with the switch and siding at the mid point of the platform.

Still very curious about the North Belgrade locations. The one closest to the Taylor Woods Road in particular.

Time table 63, April 26, 1931, lists Belgrade at mile 70.24, with a siding West with a capacity of 41 cars, and the North Belgrade location at mile 75.07, with a siding with a capacity of 47 cars, with the station name as Messalonskee - North Belgrade.

The 1932 Official Guide shows two daily-except-Sunday Portland-Waterville-Skowhegan locals each way that stopped at Belgrade/N Belgrade: EB's #13 arr 1438/1446, #5 arr 0931/0939. WB's #14 0857/0906, arr #20 1427/1436. The trip to/from Portland took about 2 1/2 hrs.

By 1956, N Belgrade had no service but interestingly, Belgrade hosted the #15/16, the Flying Yankee daily-except-Sunday (1538 EB, 1746 WB) and the Bar Harbor (EB 0629 and WB 1933). Transit time to/from Portland had improved on the limited stop trains - to about 1 1/2 hrs.

The great responses to GOK's inquiry on Belgrade is a reminder
of how good things happen when a group of individuals pool
their knowledge and reference materials and how it all
comes together on internet groups like this one. A day late,
Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Dick H wrote:The great responses to GOK's inquiry on Belgrade is a reminder
of how good things happen when a group of individuals pool
their knowledge and reference materials and how it all
comes together on internet groups like this one. A day late,
Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Indeed and many thanks to those who have replied thus far. Nice to see that the B&M/MEC forum is still so well read.

So what about the two locations mentioned for North Belgrade. We have one at 75.07 and another at 73.5. I gather one was Messalonskee - North Belgrade and the other North Belgrade respectively?

I found a nice Black and White photo of the Belgrade Station in a book called Downeast Depots. I would share it here but do not want to infringe on any copyrights.

Mikejf wrote:I found a nice Black and White photo of the Belgrade Station in a book called Downeast Depots. I would share it here but do not want to infringe on any copyrights.

Indeed. Thanks Mike! Found it on Amazon. Very reasonably priced.

]>>So what about the two locations mentioned for North Belgrade. We have one at 75.07 and another at 73.5. I gather one was Messalonskee - North Belgrade and the other North Belgrade respectively?<<

I'm afraid we have more confusion than that. In trying to determine the origins of "Messalonskee - North Belgrade" per the 1931 ETT, I came upon these entries in the public TT for August 18, 1924 - seven years earlier:

Miles from Portland Station
68.7 Belgrade
73.0 Lakeside
73.5 North Belgrade

At some point in history it is apparent that the original North Belgrade at 73.5 disappeared and the station at Lakeside, later renamed Messalonskee - North Belgrade, at 73.0, became the only station serving North Belgrade. It appears this was true at least into the 1950s. I haven't reached the bottom of the Maine Central pile yet, so there may be more surprises.

I did find a pix of Belgrade station, made available for non-commercial use by the Belgrade Historical Society. It confirms the comment regarding the siding switch being halfway down the platform.
[attachment=0]Belgrade ME.jpg[/attachment

PBM

ferroequinarchaeologist wrote:I'm afraid we have more confusion than that. In trying to determine the origins of "Messalonskee - North Belgrade" per the 1931 ETT, I came upon these entries in the public TT for August 18, 1924 - seven years earlier:

Miles from Portland Station
68.7 Belgrade
73.0 Lakeside
73.5 North Belgrade

I think we can clarify that one relatively easily. In both cases the difference between Belgrade and North Belgrade is 4.8. Looks to me as if its just a case of the mileage getting renumbered. If anything it might have something to do with mileage from Rigby (MEC Mile 0) vs. mileage from Portland Union Station (which was not at MEC Mile 0).

These days of course its worth remembering that PAR numbers its system starting at Mattawamkeag so no parallels there.