Maine is taking ownership of 233 miles of rail (Portland, Bangor: rent, how much)

[Submariner]

Maine is taking ownership of 233 miles of rail

The taxpayers of Maine now own 233 miles of previously to-be-abandoned rail lines in Northern Maine at an initial cost of $19.1 million. Last June, Maine voters approved borrowing $7 million via a future state-issued bond to help purchase the tracks from Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway (MM&A). The federal government contributed another $10.5 million to upgrade the tracks.

Maine state government is now looking for a company to operate the 233 miles of rail, on which MM&A had been losing $4-5 million per year. The rail is used by 22 private companies to haul lumber, wood chips, and paper and agricultural products to market. It's reported that 1,722 Aroostook County jobs rely on this now taxpayer-owned rail service.

When I look at MM&A's website, The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, Inc. I get the impression that it connects Bangor and Aroostook with Montreal, Quebec.

Though it sounds like there is little passenger service.

BTW, I got this article from State Treasurer Bruce Poliquin's new 'FINANCIAL NEW$ UPDATE' at FINANCIAL NEW$ UPDATE



I think it is kind of nice that a portion of our state government is making an effort at transparency [a topic that was promised to us with this president] and so now we can see some of the things that are on our state treasurer's desk.

This is not the only article in his 'update'.

[Maineah]

They should use the right of way to build an east-west highway and forget the trains. A highway that went from mid Maine to Montreal would be much more useful than a train .Eh?

[Submariner]

Steel rails and steel wheels are a much more efficient method of transportation; than soft rubber inflated wheels on petroleum pavement.

I would actually like to see greater focus placed on rail, than on pavement.

But it seems out of reach so long as there is no passenger rail option.

[Maineah]

My feelings on rail is it is old technology that was supersceded by the advent of the internal combustion
engine and the improvement of roads and inter connecting highway. While I think there is a place for rail especially in moving large, heavy items such as logs and heavy industrial apparatus, steel etc it really does not lend itself to moving people unless the destination point has a well established public transportation network available to move people from the station throughout the town or city they have come to visit. I often wondered how people visiting Freeport or Brunswick will get around once they get to town. There are ZERO public transportation busses in Freeport and just a handful of small busses in Brunswick. Sure people can walk from the depot area in Freeport to LL Bean but what about exploring the rest of the area? It's a long walk to South Freeport and the waterfront from downtown Freeport, the same goes for Brunswick. Arriving in Boston or Montreal is another story as there is plenty of public transportation available.

[kellysmith]

Originally Posted by Maineah

They should use the right of way to build an east-west highway and forget the trains. A highway that went from mid Maine to Montreal would be much more useful than a train .Eh?

The tracks from Vanceboro to Lake Megantic, Quebec are Canadian Pacific Rail, not part of the rail lines the state purchased. That is the east-west connection and still quite active, unfortunately most of the freight is just passing through Maine. The old B&A tracks (MM&A) run from Brownville up to the County.

[DarkWolf]

The Dream of many Rail fanners is to have the Northeast Corridor extend up form Boston to Portland replacing the Downeaster , then go up to Bangor and into Canada to Fredericton and Halifax....and a branch form Portland to Sherbrooke / Montreal....but thats at least 2 decades out. The smart thing for Maine to do is make all these corridors duel corridors like down here , Passenger and Freight which improves the local / regional economies. Passenger spurs growth in a smart way and lures in companies , then those companies will use the freight to ship products. Its done down here , and its a great thing to have on the lower commute corridors....

[dmyankee]

My local Senator thinks it was a good idea. I think we, the taxpayers, got screwed!

[beltrams]

Originally Posted by Maineah

My feelings on rail is it is old technology that was supersceded by the advent of the internal combustion
engine and the improvement of roads and inter connecting highway. While I think there is a place for rail especially in moving large, heavy items such as logs and heavy industrial apparatus, steel etc it really does not lend itself to moving people unless the destination point has a well established public transportation network available to move people from the station throughout the town or city they have come to visit. I often wondered how people visiting Freeport or Brunswick will get around once they get to town. There are ZERO public transportation busses in Freeport and just a handful of small busses in Brunswick. Sure people can walk from the depot area in Freeport to LL Bean but what about exploring the rest of the area? It's a long walk to South Freeport and the waterfront from downtown Freeport, the same goes for Brunswick. Arriving in Boston or Montreal is another story as there is plenty of public transportation available.

With Peak Oil, just wait until hot mix asphalt is $500 a ton and we'll see how well all those highways stay viable.

Steel rails will start looking mighty good again, compared to pavement, as the former often last 50 years or more with only the renewable ties needing replacement.

My bet, now that I live some in southern Aroostook, is that we'll have to start figuring out what main roads into the County we'll abandon first - 95, 2, 2A, or Rt 1. Especially with 95/2/2A, those latter three are pretty redundant already.

The internal combustion engine has little to do with all of this. It really is all about oil and cheap pavement.

We'll still have some cars, especially for travel within a town or city. Then too, businesses and people will reverse the settlement trends of the past 70 years and start locating closer to non-automobile transit again. Yeah, for now, it might be hard to get around Freeport without a car, but in time, high oil and pavement prices will realign things somewhat. Outlying side roads will be going back to dirt - as is already the case in many rural locations around the US. Cash-strapped towns and counties just cannot afford to keep rebuilding the back, farm roads with pricey pavement.

As much as I hated seeing the state buy the railroad, in reality, only the state could afford to buy and run the railroad since the railroad had/has to compete against the grossly over-subsidized I-95, Rt 2/2A, Rt 1 set of roads that the state and federal governments are propping up in the first place.

It was crazy, driving down to Boston from Aroostook today....there were two tractor trailers hauling some of those rebuilt military vehicles that company is rebuilding up near Limestone. It just shows how much our rail system has atrophied if it makes more sense to haul those things using expensive drivers (but on a cheap, subsidized highway) while the MMA RR, which could haul a hundred or more of those tanks and army trucks at a time, gets bypassed.

That will change.

By the way, this much ballyhooed East-West road is about as cost effective as Boston's Big Dig. *IF* the former gets built, it will have about as much usefulness, post Peak Oil, as the Big Dig will, as well. (That is, not much.)

[Bydand]

Originally Posted by beltrams

Steel rails will start looking mighty good again, compared to pavement, as the former often last 50 years or more with only the renewable ties needing replacement.

Don't forget all the track maintenance that is required on those steel rails. Leveling, re-profiling the rail, etc.... There is a whole industry that is devoted (and busy) to building huge machines for maintaining the rails, grade, ties, and ballast; as well as machines to measure and record more aspects of track maintenance than you can think of. Every few years rails need to be re-profiled to maintain the proper crown to keep the friction down. The run-out needs to be checked and corrected on a regular basis, the tracks need to be leveled on a regular basis as well. Increase rail traffic on those rails, and the maintenance will increase as well.

A railroad bed and track is not a set-and-forget proposition for 50 years like you claim. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to keep those trains running. You don't build a rail line and just replace ties every once in a while for 50 years.

[GregW]

Has anyone considered the potential for rail based tourism on this line? Again this is an investment in the future of the State's economy that will be a great investment in a decade or so.

Sometime this coming summer we are planning a trip to Rockport using the Downeaster to Portland and the (forgot name) tourist train to Rockport. Too bad it does not go as far as Acadia. It will be nice not to have to drive. We can rent a car while we are there or take a Taxi to the Owl's Head Museum.