Aroostook County Recon

The DTI Fan and I came up with the idea that we had to go north again.  As we compared schedules on the upcoming week or two with the weather, we decided Monday 6/25 would have to do.  It was a little like hearing from Staggs the weather guy before D-Day; "a brief period of barely tolerable conditions".  The gamble paid off.  It wasn't all sunny but the rain was light when we had any.

This was our second incursion into the vastness of Aroostook County to see the sights.  This time the Maine, Montreal and Atlantic Railway is not the new guy in town, but the most recently vacated guy.  The state has taken over much of the track and Maine Northern Railway, or a U.S. version of J.D. Irving's New Brunswick Southern Railway, has taken over as operator.   All track was cleared of cars and equipment since our last visit.  No more strings of cars awaiting the scrap heap or storage duty.  All the rolling stock we saw was either working for a customer or in use by the scattered maintenance forces trying to shape things up.   Here's the previous post: "Recon In The County"

The trip was pretty much an express run north with one exception; Waterville.   Little was happening but as we were heading out of Fairfield to get on to I-95 we spotted the last car of a PAR eastbound heading out over the Kennebec River.   After a slightly rude maneuver at the traffic signal, we headed over the river to catch the train at Bellesqueeze Rd. in Benton.  This spot is also the far end of the "controlled siding" that ends with CPF107.  515 was at the lead of EDNM, or whatever the latest symbol is.  Lots of empty centerbeam cars to refill with lumber.

After this little diversion, we headed back onto I-95 and raced north.  This was express other than pumping gas and grabbing coffee in Old Town.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the 75 mph speed limit signs above Old Town.  I've heard the proposals but not known that the change was actually made.  Nice, if only mental, change of pace.  We got off at the Lincoln/Mattawamkeag exit and headed north for "the Keag".  We took some local shots, as we do every year when we visit, and moved north.

Somewhere along the way we were chatting and left Rt. 2 for 2a and ended up in Houlton.  We had intended to stop in Oakfield first but managed to bypass it.  The "Welcome to Houlton" sign was our first hint of error.  No big deal, we could visit Oakfield later.   Our prior trip got us to Houlton as it was getting dark so we didn't see much and here was our chance to do better.  As we were to see all day, the yard was cleaned out save for MOW forces and a few cars actually seeing revenue service.  The large engineering shed was the main feature of the yard area.  There were still a few spurs running back to small industries and warehouses.  You could see plenty of empty roadbeds for a complex of industrial spurs that once covered the area.  One thing we couldn't place though was the CP's presence in the area.  We didn't bring enough detailed information.

On the way north again we stopped by the Information Center north of town to get a map of the "Maine Solar System Model" that is found along the road from the info center north to Presque Isle.  It's a minor diversion for travelers on that straight and relatively unexciting road.   We were eyeing the old roadbeds and we are not unsympathetic to science.  Once in Presque Isle we went down to the old yard office.  Here we have photos of the old BAR yard office and the cleaned out yard.   Last trip this place was choked with old MOW relics and cars in storage.  Based on old maps, the BAR, CP and AVR came into this area at one time. 


The passenger depot was just down the tracks on the back side of downtown.  It looked to be in good shape.  I personally don't know if it was BAR, CP or AVR.  The area is a small town modeler's delight of trackage in all directions.   Not much is still active or even in place, but the ghosts are everywhere.


Caribou was the next stop along Rt. 1.  We were getting into the depths of the BAR's web of trackage in the county.  Branches spread in all directions for the 3 local railroads.  At Caribou we see the station sitting on the lower side of town among collapsing potato sheds and other industry.  The track split up to go north and over to Limestone from here.  The old roundhouse and turntable are still present.  The tracks closest to the building are those of the somewhat idle Limestone branch. The old line to Stockholm is behind me and across the road.  I really couldn't tell what might have been AVR or CP.  There were plenty of empty potential track alignments in the area.

Next on our journey north we stopped off in Van Buren at an open area designed for loading centerbeam cars with lumber.  This was gravel on our last tour.  It appears that it was recently paved and now it is stocked with fairly new MMA lumber cars.  We could see the Van Buren bridge to Canada from this area but we found no public access, and didn't really press it.  We also did not have our passports to visit St. Leonard on the other side.  Apparently MMA still owned the Madawaska to Van Buren line and recently negotiated to sell it to Maine Northern Ry.  That might explain all of the MMA equipment sitting around.  Perhaps the actual operational change hadn't taken place yet. 



A little down the road is the mill town of Madawaska.  All you have to do to find the depot is to follow the signs to Canada across the river.  However, I'd stop short of the customs bulding, which is packed in tightly between the mill and the river.  The depot is in the best spot to turn around there, to the north.  We didn't dally to get our photos.  Mill security is near and the customs lot is only feet away.  But, we saw no signs governing the spot we stopped on.  The "confused tourist" look bought us the time for the shot.


Not far away is the town of Frenchville where a prime example of the troop sleeper cabooses resides in a local historical society.  It was raining as we passed and we took many photos last time so we continued to Fort Kent just down the road.  I couldn't help but notice that we could see CN tracks on the other side of the river.  Too bad nothing was moving.  The scanner was pretty quiet except for one barrage of French from a dispatcher.  Anyway, we continued on to the last few feet of U.S. Route 1 and the depots at Fort Kent.  Again the yard was cleaned out this time around and we could actually see the old BAR yard office.  Last time we were here I got my only shot of the tri-color MMA 1 boxcar.

We headed south on state Rte. 11.  Not much to see along the empty and quiet line.  We didn't see much until we got to the town of Ashland.  Here we found some intriguing chip cars and lumber cars that looked to be recently loaded.  We were able to get close on some open areas near some old freight houses.  The Fraser lumber mill on the other side of town was apparently quite active and using the railroad.   It did not diminish my desire to shoot the centerbeam loaded with Irving lumber.

As we left the town behind we closed in on Squa Pan.  It was nearly deserted the last time we passed it.  This time it was less so.  As we neared we heard a FRED on the scanner along with some two-sided conversations.  We pulled in by the crossing as soon as we arrived.

The first shot reflects the normal view we expected plus the surprise of a HCLX "rent a wreck", former UP GP38-2 #906.

The next two shots are of a slightly more exciting nature as a headlight appears and a pair of NBSR GP38-3's pull in lite to tie down for the night.  Not much activity, but a relative bounty compared to the day so far.   The new operators appear to be spreading their resources differently than the prior owners.  Makes sense with Millinocket as the new beginning point.  They have trackage rights to Brownville Jct. to connect with sister road NBSR.

Finally, we get back to Oakfield.  A quick recon over to the yard reveals a nicely spruced up yard office and the usual cleaned out yard.  A couple of gondolas next to the parking lot had unpacked stacks of lumber strewn about.  It looked like someone made a mess with 1" lumber, Irving lumber of course.  We weaved over to the depot for a final shot before light failed.

The rain was beginning to fall harder and the waters in town were pretty high.  Time to get back to that 75 mph speed limit. 


BC