Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1851-06-19
Railroads in Maine,

The Portland Argus of the 10th inst con-
tains good sssfeis under the above caption.
from which we.gather the following informal
ton and susgestions;- - D.
2" Some Of oar citizens will " surffised,
perhaps, TO see, lntle in detail p whst ex-
tent our railroad system has alresdy g0ne.-
According to Mr.. Mor,ons late IMPORT mere
are 2s2 nnies ofrailway in oPention fngthe
State, which cos, 1923, 692. OF this sum,
about VI .25O, 600 were expended Idol. The
Portland, Saco and Portsmouth, Road; but
eyer with tbs deduction the amount e4penSed
-Asetages aboata nsilSien yesr sance' The rsil-
road a,onkening in ls45. But only few of
our railways are yet completed, and very many
OF those chartered are MT yet. begun. We
subplnAa table Of the railroads whose charters
are aoM believed 10 be- in existence, indicaiiag
such information concerning each as we hap
pen to have at hand, the proposed length, the
probable cost, and the progress which they
have made ?" ''- 'is N-f otits n" ~ HWY
+. 5. q T. 81 miles, from Portland TO Ports
mouth, 81, $50 900; completed. ...r
Boston and Maine, 3 miles, from N. Ber
wick to N. II. Line, 80 900; completed.
AT. 4 ST Lawrence, $50 miles, I'm Port
land TO Montreal, 1900, 900; about 70 miles
finished. 't''f ''i i'--
Androscoggin & Kennebec, IS miles, fin DAN
vile 10 WatervilIe, l $50 900; completed.
Ken. q Portland, 60 miles, Including the
Bath branch,) FIN Augusta to Portland q
100000; 54 miles finished.
York 4 Cumberland, 50 miles, from Portland
to S. Berwick, 800, 200; 10 $40 miles fin
ished '%'i hH'ft'-'1t ~" '." TT, "Ht
Bangor & Odtown, II miles, $50, 900; COM
pleted. ' '3 e. it
Androscoggin Railroad, So 10 miles, Greene
TO Pennington, 400 900; 20 miles graded
Buckfield Branch, Mechanic Falls to Canton !;
Is miles finished ''.@
Calais g. Barring, S 3-4 miles, 100, 900 fin
Penobscot & Ken, 81 miles, Bangor to Wa
tervile l'.''7' '.-'
Belfast & Waterville, 80 miles.
Ken. & Franklin. 81 miles, Pennington to
Augusta or Gardiner. -''
Somerset & Ken, 40 miles, Carritunk Falls
10 Wa,ervllle.
Pen. Lincoln & kennebec, from E. Thomas
ton through Lincoln Co. To Bath. 4
E. & N. A. Railroad, 81 miles, from Bangor
to East line Of State. -'
Pen. Railroad, s miles, Bangor and Orono.
Great Falls g. S. Berwick, Is miles. w
Lewiston & Topsham, 90 miles. ''
Machias Port Railroad, s miles This, we
believe. is in operation.
Damarscot,a Railroad, Local. .9CE uA
South Thomaslon, . .... ..s. +.
The twelve last mentioned roads remain al
most wholly 10 be built The % roads enum-
Grated will have cast, when completed, about
eighteen millions of dollars. In order to com
plete them, they require about eleuen millions
of dollars, in addition 10 what they have al
ready had This is no irife to be raised for
expenditure within the State of Maine But
even more than this ,ciH one day have been
expended here upon railroads. We are not
frightened at the aggregate, large as it is
Massachusetts, roads have cost forty-eight mil
lions and she has not done vet But we
have begun upon these improvements some
what late, and have less superflu"us capital to
spend upon them than some of the older States.
Let Us move cautiously, One good road com
pleted, is better than half dozen roads unfn-
ished.
In this view, there are two classes of roads
those which connect the different parts of
the State with each other-and those which
connect il with other States or Provinces, and
thus furnish us with new openings for trade.
as it can reasonably be accomplished, one
trunk line of road, from the Western to
the Eastern boundary of the State This
would require about 2S5 miles of road, ria
Portland, Waterville and Bangor, at cost OF
about s l2 millions. To Waterville, it is
now completed, and soon by another route it
will be completed to Augusta. To Bangor
1t ought to go, and will 60 at an early period
Thence to the east line Of the State, there is
more difficulty, because the way lies through a
less poplous region but this portion of the
route will yet be accomplished, and deserves a
very earnest effort. Its completion will not
only terminate the connecting line of Maine,
but will open to US comparatively new region
in the Provinces. Besides this trunk line, va
rious minor and branch roads have been pro
jected, some of which will doubtless prove
highly useful, as well as proftable-and all of
which belong 10 the first class in the division
to which we have alluded.
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