Bridgton and Saco River Railroad
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| Bridgton and Saco River Railroad | |
|---|---|
| Locale | Maine |
| Dates of operation | 1882–1941 |
| Track gauge | 2 ft (610 mm) |
| Length | 21 miles |
| Headquarters | Bridgton |
The Bridgton and Saco River Railroad (B&SR) was a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge railroad that operated in the vicinity of Bridgton and Harrison, Maine. It connected with the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad (later Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division) from Portland, Maine, to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, near the town of Hiram on the Saco River.
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[edit] History
B&SR design was based on experience of the Sandy River Railroad. Hinkley Locomotive Works modified their 2-foot gauge Forney design to run boiler first with an extended frame similar to that installed on Sandy River Railroad #1 following a wreck in early 1882. The successful design of the Bridgton Hinkleys was subsequently repeated for the Monson Railroad and the Franklin and Megantic Railway. Construction began in 1882, and trains were running to Bridgton by early 1883.
B&SR used early profits to replace wooden trestles with earthen fills. A 14-foot granite masonry arch was constructed over Hancock Brook in 1895. track was extended to Harrison with 35# steel rails in 1898. Trestles on the Harrison extension had been replaced by earthen fills and plate girder bridges by 1906. Original Hinkley locomotives #1-2 were replaced by #5-6 of an improved design with pilot wheels. B&SR then replaced the original 30# steel rails from Bridgton Junction to Bridgton with 48# and 50# steel rails from 1907 to 1910 before Maine Central Railroad secured control of the B&SR in 1912.
Under Maine Central operation, there were 4 mixed train round trips daily from Harrison to Bridgton Junction and return. The first left Harrison at 5:15 AM and the last returned to Harrison at 8:45 PM. Train speed seldom exceeded 20 miles per hour. Two passenger train sets were required for this service. The first consisted of baggage #10, RPO #25, and one or two coaches. A couple of bench seats at one end of baggage-RPO #11 provided smoking accommodation for the second train set. Freight traffic in 1913 was 18% outbound lumber, 15% outbound pulpwood, 15% inbound coal, 11% outbound apples and canned corn, 11% manufactured goods, 10% feed & grain, 10% express, and 2% inbound petroleum products. Locomotive #8 was the last locomotive built for the Maine 2-foot gauge railways.
Bond interest went unpaid in 1926, and the town of Bridgton began a 15-year effort to preserve their railroad. The B&SR was reorganized as the Bridgton and Harrison; but the extension to Harrison was dismantled after locomotive #8 tipped over when the 35# rails sagged in 1930. Locomotive #8 was the heaviest locomotive on any 2-foot gauge railway in Maine. B&SR became a tourist attraction as the last 2-foot gauge railroad offering passenger service in the late 1930's. Operation ceased in September 1941. The rolling stock was preserved when the rails were converted to scrap metal as the United States prepared for World War II. The rolling stock was moved to Massachusetts for another half-century of operation on the Edaville Railroad after the war. There are still signs of the B&SR evident in a few places if one searches carefully for them.
[edit] Geography
Milepost 0: Bridgton Junction - Interchange yard with the Portland and Ogdensburg (later Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division.) Agent's station shared with Maine Central Railroad. B&SR had 6 northbound spurs plus a turntable with a single-stall enginehouse. The freight house spur was dual gauge, and there was a second dual gauge spur for loading and unloading narrow gauge-equipment on standard-gauge cars. There was no runaround track; so southbound B&SR locomotives uncoupled their train on the main line, moved into the yard, threw a turnout, and let their train roll past them into the yard by gravity to avoid being trapped at the end of the spur.
Milepost 0.8: Scribner's - southbound spur.
Milepost 1: granite masonry arch over Hancock Brook.
Milepost 1.2: Small's
Milepost 2.0: Rankin's Mill - small flag stop passenger shelter.
Milepost 2.7: Mullen Siding - northbound spur.
Milepost 3: Summit - highest point on the railroad.
Milepost 4: Fill over the north end of Barker pond with granite masonry abutments for a short timber stringer span on the boundary between Hiram and the town of Sebago.
Milepost 4.4: Twin Lake - small flag stop passenger shelter.
Milepost 5.4: Gravel Pit - northbound spur.
Milepost 7: The Notch - a rock cut.
Milepost 7.2: West Sebago - southbound spur with small flag stop passenger shelter.
Milepost 7.5: Water Tank Siding - passing siding adjacent to Hancock Pond. The main line ran between Hancock Pond and B&SR superintendent Joseph Bennett's lakeside cottage a short distance south of the covered water tank.
Milepost 9.0: Perley's Mills - southbound spur with small flag stop passenger shelter.
Milepost 10.5: Ingall's Road - southbound spur with small flag stop passenger shelter.
Milepost 11.3: Kennett's - southbound spur.
Milepost 12.1: South Bridgton - southbound spur with small flag stop passenger shelter.
Milepost 13: high fill with granite masonry abutments for a short timber stringer span over Willett Brook.
Milepost 13.5: Sandy Creek - agent's station with passing siding serving a sawmill.
Milepost 15.8: Bridgton - had the largest population of any village served by the Maine 2-foot gauge railroads. The yard was on the stub of a wye with branches to Harrison and Bridgton Junction. There were 2 storage sidings and 4 spurs serving the agent's station, a separate freight house, a team track, an oil distributor, a grain store, the B&SR shop, and a turntable with a 4-stall enginehouse.
Milepost 15.9: Farmers Market - two northbound spurs (one was a coal trestle.)
Milepost 16.4: Forest Mills -- passing siding with a northbound coal trestle spur.
Milepost 19.5: North Bridgton - agent's station with passing siding serving a separate freight house.
Milepost 20.7: Harrison - agent's station with a passing siding and several southbound spurs serving a freight house, a cannery, a grain store, a 2-track car shed, and a turntable with a single-stall enginehouse.
[edit] Locomotives
| Number | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hinkley Locomotive Works | 0-4-4T | 1882 | 1563 | |
| 2 | Hinkley Locomotive Works | 0-4-4T | 1882 | 1564 | Sold to the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway in 1906 |
| 3 | Portland Company | 0-4-4T | 1892 | 624 | Sold to the Kennebec Central Railroad in 1922 |
| 4 | H. K. Porter, Inc | 0-4-4T | 1901 | 2360 | |
| 5 | Portland Company | 2-4-4T | 1906 | 628 | Retired by 1933 |
| 6 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 2-4-4T | 1907 | 31827 | |
| 7 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 2-4-4T | 1913 | 40864 | Sold to the Edaville Railroad in 1941. Stored serviceable at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. Awaiting FRA certification.[1] |
| 8 | Baldwin Locomotive Works | 2-4-4T | 1924 | 57659 | Stored serviceable at the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. Awaiting FRA certification. |
[edit] Rolling Stock
| Number | Builder | Type | Date | Length | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Laconia Car Company | baggage car | 1882 | 41 feet | no seats |
| 11 | Jackson & Sharpe | baggage-RPO | 1900 | 41 feet 9 inches | 6 passengers |
| 15 | Laconia Car Company | coach | 1882 | 41 feet | 28 passengers |
| 16 | Laconia Car Company | coach | 1882 | 41 feet | 28 passengers |
| 17 | Laconia Car Company | coach | 1904 | 42 feet 9 inches | 28 passengers |
| 18 | Jackson & Sharpe | coach | 1894 | 39 feet 9 inches | 28 passengers |
| 25 | Maine Central Railroad | RPO-smoking car | 1913 | 42 feet 9 inches | 30 passengers |
| 101 | Laconia Car Company | caboose | 1882 | 26 feet | 5 passengers |
| 2-7 | Maine Central Railroad | flat cars | 1916 | 34 feet | 15 tons |
| 8-10 | Maine Central Railroad | flat cars | 1915 | 34 feet | 15 tons |
| 11-13 | Maine Central Railroad | flat cars | 1913 | 34 feet | 15 tons |
| 14-21 | Portland Company | flat cars | 1903 | 30 feet | 15 tons |
| 22-27 | Portland Company | flat cars | 1899 | 28 feet | 10 tons |
| 28-33 | Portland Company | flat cars | 1891 | 28 feet | 10 tons |
| 34 | B&SR | flat car | 1889 | 26 feet | 10 tons |
| 35-44 | Laconia Car Company | flat cars | 1882 | 26 feet | 10 tons |
| 45-49 | Laconia Car Company | box cars | 1882 | 26 feet | 10 tons |
| 50-51 | B&SR | box cars | 1889 | 26 feet | 10 tons |
| 52-54 | Portland Company | box cars | 1895 | 28 feet | 10 tons |
| 55-58 | Portland Company | box cars | 1898 | 28 feet | 10 tons |
| 59-62 | Portland Company | box cars | 1900 | 30 feet | 15 tons |
| 63-68 | Laconia Car Company | box cars | 1905 | 30 feet | 15 tons |
| 69-70 | B&SR | box cars | 1906 | 30 feet | 15 tons |
| 71-73 | Maine Central Railroad | box cars | 1913 | 34 feet | 15 tons |
Baggage car #10 later renumbered #31
Baggage car #11 later renumbered #30
Coach #18 purchased from Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway in 1911.
RPO #25 was badly damaged in a collision with locomotive #7 in the Bridgton yard about 1927. The larger smoking compartment was rebuilt to carry express with a single baggage door on only one side of the car; and the smaller RPO compartment was rebuilt with a few seats to carry passengers. The car was sold for use as a restaurant in 1935. The appearance of locomotive #7 was permanently changed by replacement of a smaller number plate on the front of the boiler.
Flat cars #2-13 were the largest flat cars on any 2-foot gauge railway in Maine.
Flat car #21 was fitted with a 3,000 gallon oil tank for the Standard Oil Company of New York in 1920. The tank was later transferred to flat car #14 when #21 was scrapped.
Flat car #22 was fitted with a 2,500 gallon oil tank for the Standard Oil Company in 1901. Cars #22 and #21/14 were the only 2-foot gauge tank cars in Maine.
Flat cars #35, 38, and 41-42 were rebuilt by B&SR to a length of 28 feet when they required repairs.
Flat car #40 was rebuilt as a flanger.
Box cars #56-58 had two small hinged doors on either side which could be opened as windows when transporting livestock.
Box cars #59-62 were the first 30-foot freight cars built for any 2-foot gauge railroad in Maine.
Box cars #71-73 were the largest box cars on any 2-foot gauge railway in Maine.
[edit] References
- MacDonald, Robert L. (2003). Maine Narrow Gauge Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-1179-X.
- Jones, Robert C. (1993). Two Feet to the Lakes, The Bridgton & Saco River Railroad. Pacific Fast Mail.
- Moody, Linwood W. (1959). The Maine Two-Footers. Howell-North.
- Barney, Peter S. (1987). The Bridgton and Saco River: A Technical and Pictorial Review. A&M Publishing.
- Meade, Edgar T., Jr. (1968). Busted and Still Running. The Stephen Greene Press.
- Meade, Edgar T., Jr. (1987). The Bridgton Narrow Gauge (Volume II)(Bridgton & Harrison Railway Co.). Railhead Publications.
- Ward, Ernest E. (1966). My First Sixty Years in Harrison, Maine. Cardinal Printing Co..
- McLin, William Hellen (1941). The Twenty-Four-Inch Gauge Railroad at Bridgton, Maine. The Bridgton News.
- Johnson, Ron (undated). Maine Central R.R. Mountain Division. 470 Railroad Club.
- (1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1914) Railroad Commissioners' Report. State of Maine.
