Trains return to Ellsworth Maine

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/114260.html

8/4/09
Train returns to Ellsworth: Downeast Scenic Railroad plans to offer excursion trips
By Bill Trotter - BDN Staff
ELLSWORTH, Maine — Downtown-area residents of the largest municipality in Hancock County were treated this weekend to a sound that has not been heard here for many years. While people were outside Saturday walking on the downtown sidewalks of Main Street, hanging their laundry on clotheslines or mowing their lawns, the distinctive call came soaring through the air. A train locomotive repeatedly sounded its horn, signaling the approach of rail service coming back to coastal eastern Maine. “It has been [nearly] 25 years since a locomotive has run on that line,” Gary Briggs, vice president of Downeast Rail Heritage Preservation Trust, said Monday. “It was a very exciting day for us.”

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail.h ... _id=115311

8/10/09
Rhythm of rails back on track in Ellsworth
By Rich Hewitt - BDN Staff
BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY KATE COLLINS
ELLSWORTH, Maine — The train whistle echoed throughout the downtown area Saturday afternoon as a locomotive eased its way across Main Street and headed out on the 2½-mile trip back to the rail yard at Washington Junction in Hancock. This was the second weekend in a row that the volunteers from the Downeast Rail Heritage Preservation Trust have put the 70-ton locomotive through its paces on the restored section of the old Calais-to-Brewer rail line.

[EDIT- please provide brief quote of stories you link to - omv]

Wow. A bunch of Nimby's read that paper. Just read the comments at the end. Alot of negativity there from people who know nothing about the train, it's location or the reason for being there.
Mike

I stopped by Washington Junction today... the ex-B&ML GE looks sharp, as does the caboose, but the two passenger cars I saw still need some work before they're ready to go into business. Nonetheless, they've done a fantastic job, and having lived a very short distance from Washington Junction for a couple of years in my youth, I am thrilled to actually see a train there again!

On the other hand, it was a little morose to head up to Cherryfield, where there are no longer tracks at the original location of the station or over the Narraguagus River bridge. Track removal has progressed west all the way to the Black Woods Road (Route 182) crossing.