Lewiston Industrial Track/Lewiston Lower Rd/Branch status

As General McAuliffe said to the Germans in Bastogne: "nuts".

LePage Bakeries used to receive flour by rail on a siding at the corner of Cedar and Lincoln Streets in Lewiston
on the Lewiston Lower branch, some of it arriving in the shorty "Golden Loaf" covered hopper cars. The flour was
unloaded into 18-wheel semi hopper trailers for movement up the street to the plant. At some point in the late 70's
this traffic moved to the Grand Trunk with the unloading operation performed on the siding immediately west of
Lewiston Junction Road using the same semis. I don't know how the flour is delivered now and had wondered if
Safe Handling was involved as hopper cars being unloaded in the same manner can be observed in their yard from
Washington St.

Just caught (at about 4:45pm) a long train (8+ cars) headed towards Grimmels. I have some grainy iphone pictures I'll post later. I wonder if this is the last time we'll see a freight on this line.

Only if Grimmels doesn't forward the scrap to one of their facilities around the country elsewhere.

sleepingtree wrote:Just caught (at about 4:45pm) a long train (8+ cars) headed towards Grimmels. I have some grainy iphone pictures I'll post later. I wonder if this is the last time we'll see a freight on this line.

I don't believe that this is the last freight you'll see on the LIT.

Grimmel is currently in the midst of an application with the Town of Topsham and the DEP to build a new access road into its facility as well as an improved "truck rail transfer facility" that includes a 900' track extension and an acre of pavement. This "transfer facility" plan extends the spur through and just past their existing shredding facility towards Grimmels land along the bank of the Androscoggin river. This area includes a large parcel owned by Grimmel that is adjacent and abuts the existing gravel pit/quarry currently operated by H.C. Crooker and produces massive quantities of crushed rock. Crooker's quarry is currently crowding its property lines and the obvious long-term expansion of the quarry would involve moving into Grimmels' parcel. In speaking with the consultant overseeing permitting, it was suggested that gravel and crushed stone materials (as well as other products) may be loaded directly onto railcars at the new truck/rail facility in the future.

This access road / transfer facility permitting and construction is moving forward. Grimmel has already begun construction of the first part of the road from Rt 196 (near Coastal Metal Fab) to the railroad tracks and a crossing permit has already been obtained. Grimmel is awaiting approval for the final phase of the permit which amounts to the road from the new grade crossing down to the shredding facility and the new truck/rail transfer facility. The consultant is confidant that the permit application will receive DEP and Town approval. H.C.Crooker is currently involved in the construction of the road and may be looking to the future to use this new road to access its expanded quarry operations in the current Grimmel parcel.

Grimmel would not extend his rail spur 900' unless he intends to utilize rail in the future.

Wow. Amazing. Next thing you know someone will have a "plan" for some kind of freight shipments off the B&ML.

Here's a link to the minutes of the Planning Board meeting which addressed Grimmel's truck-rail transfer facility and their new road in case you are interested.


http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 9334,d.cWc


I attended this meeting and there were numerous questions and answers regarding the truck-rail transfer facility. It was also stated that this facility would occasionally be used to off-load large equipment/or "objects" from railcars and onto trucks. It was stated that Grimmel has similar truck-rail facilities at other locations The consultant estimated the facility might result in one or two railroad pickups/dropoffs per week from PanAm. It was all a bit unspecific as to the truck-rail facility's actual purpose...

Wow. Once or twice a week??!

I've actually noted that after the most recent snow storm, PanAm sent a bucket loader up to clear the snowbanks at grade crossings, so I was, in fact, wrong in my prediction - even for the short term. At least I hope so.

I'm glad to hear it - as a Bridge St resident, I'm always excited to catch a train at the bridge!

Side note: does anyone have any pictures of Prejepscot when it was an active papermill? Particularly with active rail traffic?

As my ridiculous obsession with Lewiston Lower continues, I stumbled across some nifty circa 1967 arial photos taken just west of Lewiston Jct. I'm particularly curious about this shot of outer Lisbon St./Commercial St. What's with the tank car with the multiple loading "bells"? I believe this is today the White Rock Distillery building, though I'm not sure if they would have been there in the late '60s.

http://vintageaerial.com/photos/maine/a ... /FAN/56/12" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks for finding this! Cool PRR boxcar too. This is the section of the ROW I walked before the snow came last year. I never did post the photos I took. Need to get working on that!

The White Rock Distilleries building is actually on the other side of Lisbon St down Westminster.

The photo you posted is behind Fast Breaks restaurant.

Here are some others showing the trackage back there. There were quite a few customers on this line back in the day. Much of this trackage with sidings is still there.

http://vintageaerial.com/photos/maine/a ... /FAN/56/10" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://vintageaerial.com/photos/maine/a ... /FAN/56/11" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://vintageaerial.com/photos/maine/a ... /FAN/56/17" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://vintageaerial.com/photos/maine/a ... 7/FAN/56/8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://vintageaerial.com/photos/maine/a ... /FAN/56/13" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://vintageaerial.com/photos/maine/a ... /FAN/56/14" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'll have to check these out some more after work.

This one shows the (now) Shoe plant. Never had a siding.

Warren

http://vintageaerial.com/photos/maine/a ... 7/FAN/56/9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Somehow, I have a recollection of seeing an HO model tank car with multiple "bells" (manways or valve housings, I believe) described as a "wine car."

I also seem to remember a side street in that area known as "Bleachery St.," and wondered if said bleachery might have been a rail customer.

Gotta go out and rake snow off the roof to combat a leak, but this is an interesting discussion that I'll be checking in on later today. Those photos are a good find.

Picture 17 of that roll shows the other side of the building. Looks like the sign on the roof says Poland Spring!

The building with all the beer signs on it may have been the old Central Distributors location. Part of the old Lewiston
Bleachery Works complex still exists- going north on Lisbon St. at the foot of the hill on the right just before the Lisbon St./
Canal St. split. A spur off the Lewiston Lower Branch ML just south of the Androscoggin Mill crossed Lisbon St, passed the south
side of the Bleachery to the far east end of the complex and made a hairpin 180 degree turn coming in next to Bleachery St.
This spur was still in service into the early 1980's with part of the buildings being used as a paper warehouse. There is a
picture in George Melvin's "Maine Central In Color Vol. 1" on page 22 of 567 with a string of boxcars at the end of the spur
in 1985.

Somehow, I have a recollection of seeing an HO model tank car with multiple "bells" (manways or valve housings, I believe) described as a "wine car."

The "bells" are called domes that were placed on the cars to allow for product expansion and may also have contained a valve for operating the bottom outlet. Several on a car indicate a multiple compartment car that are today uncommon, most often found now in lube oil service. Domes are vulnerable in a derailment, and have been replaced with low-profile manways. The "domes" one sees on today's tanks are called "protective" or "top fittings" housings that contain various valves, sample lines, fill gauges mounted on a bolted-down "pressure plate". And that's more than anyone here probably wanted to know!