Recon in "The County"

DT&I Fan and I left his house around 7:30am and returned after 680 miles and 15 hours from a rather interesting recon of Aroostook County rails. We didn't stay in any one place for very long and the only thing moving on rails above "The Keag" was the CN on the Canadian side of the St. John River. Thank heavens for fall colors and "new turf". It turned out to be quite a fun adventure for such a small amount of railfanning. We got a lot of "recon work" done though. The photo above was shot in Fort Kent at around 3pm, about our halfway point. We went north on route 11 and returned south on US 1. $2.92 gas at Smyrna Mills cost me $19.00 both times we passed that point, which was also the meeting point for our northern loop.

Our first actual encounter with a train was on the east end (compass north) of Lincoln at around 10:30am. GRS 328 and 505 were sitting with a rather long EB train. Since we were on a different mission we didn't wait around and wondered what was causing the wait. We toured Mattawamkeag as usual taking in a "Paul Bunyon" car and a brand new "Badger" track machine. The "Luck of the Apollo" set in when we decided the sun was just right for a picture of that funky CP bridge on the west end of town. While there we heard a very nearby voice crackle on the scanner. Before I could climb into the car to leave, three NBSR units appeared from the very bridge we chose to shoot moments before. They waited at the "depot" for what may have been the train the GRS guys in Lincoln were pulling. Again, no time to wait so a few pic's were taken by the depot and we were northbound again. Our day was "made" so early! (10:50am)

Northbound we headed to Oakfield. Just shy of there is the small town of Island Falls. Apparently there was a very busy spur into town until recently. There is a National Starch plant there (a friend of mine works for them in KC) and a bunch of other smaller industries with roadbeds where tracks used to be. The "Two Potato" building was curious and I'll add photos later if I can acquire them. Oakfield was unfortunately unexciting. No power around. No one home at the museum. No yard sounds. No scanner chatter. So we moved on to what turned out to be nearly the cheapest gas of the day.

We made our way north on state route 11 and crossed the old BAR mainline a couple of times but mainly saw fall scenery hiding tracks. Checking out towns like Squa Pan, Ashland, Eagle Lake, we saw empty tracks, small yards, and a couple of low access wood industries. Our fortunes changed a bit once we reached Fort Kent and a slightly higher level of civilization. We were checking out the depot, now historical society when we spotted the stripes of MMA 1 down the tracks (see top photo). It was in a wide open place with plenty of public access for once. For some reason (lighting, access) this was my first chance to get a good photo of the wandering car. A bit down the road we couldn't help but see the Frenchville Historical Society's displays which were shoehorned between the road and the tracks. Though faded, the caboose was a neat find since I want to kitbash one for my layout. There was the water tower, a small depot and freight shed strung out in the skinny space. Hard to miss and worth the quick stop.

Madawaska and Van Buren turned out to be interesting border towns at the extreme end of the BAR empire. This photo of the Madawaska depot and MMA 2002 were actually squeezed in to a tight space between the river, border station and Fraser Paper plant. This was a "shoot and scoot" because I was turning around at the border station and a couple of "menacing looking" law enforcement and plant security vehicles were handy to watch my car do several "lost tourist" maneuvers to get the one shot. No one got excited though.

Continuing south, we checked out the relics of the past when the BAR made the same loop. Lots of roadbeds around. The current spurs to Caribou, Presque Isle and Houlton were lightly explored before dark hit. Unfortunately, clouds brought an early sunset. 30 years ago, we would have been stumbling over BAR locals handling potato traffic and the other industries now dormant or using trucks. This day we just dodged a few farm trucks hauling spuds from the fields. The big potato houses along the ROW are finding other uses or just decaying.

In the end, there was plenty to see ferroequinarchaeology-wise. Not much railfan-wise. We were just wanting to "get out of Dodge" as much as anything so it worked out well. At least now we can visualize what we've only read or heard about before. On the way back we realized that we could have gone past Albany, NY for some big-time mainline action and Selkirk Yard with the same amount of driving. People would have been impressed that you crossed all those states, visited a far off locale and can produce an evening's entertainment with all the photos you took. (The Wheelman is likely wandering through Texas doing exactly that this weekend.) We, however, never left the state! Ho Hum!

I didn't miss the traffic, rude people and "Barney Fifes" found in the other direction.


BC