"Maine Central" North Dexter branch?

I've just seen a "Buffalo" map of about 1905 which shows a spur on the "Maine Central" Newport Jct to Dover-Foxcroft line in ME, running from Dexter to North Dexter. I've not come across this anywhere else; was it a common carrier line or someone's private lumber railroad?

I've checked old USGS maps of the area and there is no indication of an abandoned ROW. Ronald Karr's books don't mention a branch or spur in that area, either. What makes me think it's an error is the layout of the land. The line would have had to cross Wassookeag Lake, either on or near the present Route 23 causeway. Northwest of the causeway there's a hill, and I've never seen any sign that a railroad ever went through or around it.

I suppose, however, that anything is possible; I'd have to look at a town history to know for sure.

I contacted a friend in Dexter who was raised in the area and has lived there most of her life. She in turn contacted the head librarian of the Dexter library, who responded: "I have two old railroad maps here at the library, one from 1905 and the other . . . from 1910 . . . there was no railroad up to North Dexter . . . but [the railroad] did go through Silvers Mills and there was a railroad station [there] . . . Silvers Mills was a busy little spot at one time with a railway station and saw mill, a post office, a couple of stores, etc."

I have been to Silvers Mills. There's nothing there now but the MEC Dover-Foxcroft Branch rail-trail crossing and a tiny village with a few houses and a church. DeLorme's Maine Atlas and Gazetteer will confirm where this is located.

In regards to a recent post about Silver Mills, Dexter and no railroad going through North Dexter, I'm going to get a little more technical than I usually do. So just hang with me.......

In fact, Silvers Mills IS in north Dexter, northeast corner to be exact. You could practically yell to a neighbor in Sangerville from the spot, but it is Dexter territory. I used to spend summer vacations up on Lake Wassookeag, so I kind of know the area, too. Haven't been there in a while, though. When did they actually rip the tracks up along the branch?

J Bray

I haven't recently looked at this forum, but I was looking for some mileage info on MBTA lines and came upon this thread.

I don't have anything to offer about North Dexter, but I spent a summer at camp on Lake Wassookeag in the mid-1960s, and on walks into town from camp I saw the MEC local a number of times, with an Alco switcher of some sort and a few cars. There was a wig-wag signal at the grade crossing. The local apparently ran daily, or at least five days a week.

I haven't been back to the area for about 40 years, so I don't know when the branch was abandoned by MEC. I own a pair of Dexter shoes, though (probably made in China). In 1966 the shoe factory in Dexter was running three shifts, making boots for the Army. No doubt much of the local's traffic was inbound raw materials and outbound Army boots.

Being a one time resident of Dexter in the 1970's, I can state that there was never a branch line to North Dexter. However, there is a mystery that I yet to solve. When the railroad was first built from Newport, the terminus was in the south end of Dexter. When the railroad was extended to Dover, the freight and passenger stations were relocated to the north end of town. Even so, according to state railroad map from 1899, the Maine Central still maintained a station at the original terminal. I have been trying find out when this spur was abandoned. Incidently, the original ROW can still be seen in an aerial photo of Dexter.