Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-05-05
To Be Spent This Year by
|, 4. & ". Railway
In Improving lis Road, Says
Pres. J. R. Graham.
Large Part d Amount viii Be Spent
Between Augusta and Gardiner.

A special to the Lewiston Journal
from Bangor says:
During the present year the Lewis
ton, Augusta & Waterville Street Rail
way will expend 100000 in the i'm
provement of its line. A large part of
this will be spent on the division be-
tween Augusta and Gardiner, where
new rails will be laid and the track
newly ballasted.
President John r. Graham of the
road Is authority for the foregoing
statement.
When the work has been done c2
this division the line between Lewiston
and Waterville will, in every way, be
the finest in Maine and one of the best
in the country. 1t will then be possible
to give such degree of speed as the
traffic of the line may warrant, even to
diminishing the present running time,
though that will not be done right
away.
1t is very probable that when the
imp ovements have been completed
the old schedule of time at Augusta
will he resumed. When the line was
first put in operation, last October. the
cars left Augusta on the even hour. In
the winter it was found advisable to
change this, SO that cars for Lewiston
should leave the Capital at 10 minutes
OF the hour and for Watervile at 10
minutes past the hour. President era
ham has never liked this arrangement
and fought against the change just as
long as possible. He believes that the
cars should leave on the even hour
that 1t is better schedule. This
schedule, through the winter at least,
was found to be i'll advised on ac-
count of the track conditions between
Augusta and Gardiner.
On the run between Gardiner and
Sabatis the roadbed and heavy iron
made it possible for the high speed
cars to make their schedule time, but
the officials Of the company did not
wish to so greatly increase the speed
on this division as was necessary to
offset the slow time necessary on the
old iron and roadbed.
The new rails which the company is
to lay through Gardiner and Halo
well will be Of the heaviest and most
up-to-date type. while the steel will
be of the very hardest. so that high
speed with a minimum wear on the
rail will be possible.
1t is expected that the business OF
this line will be large the coming sum
mer and President Graham states that
1t is the intention of the company tt
put an additional car upon the Lewis
ton end of the line. This car will rur
between Lewiston and Sabatis pond
just the exact point has not yet beer
decided upon. 1t may stop at the first
Sldirg beyond Sabatis and it may run
to the gravel pit siding. That is t" b,
determined later. This is designed t.
give a halfhour service between Lew
fstOn and Sabatis and accommodate
the heavy traffic of that division of the
road. This will be in accord with this
general policy of the company. In Au-
gusta they maintain such a service be
tween that city, Hallowell and Gar.
diner by using a car in between theil
through cars to Lewiston. This i'm
proVement in the service will be thor
oughly appreciated by the patrons OF
the line between Lewiston and Sa.
bats.
1t is expected that the traffic on the
L.. A. & w. will be sufficiently large
to require the use of trailers and even
tually electric trains of three or more
pany have this matter under consid
Grafton and are preparing to met the
need when the time arrives 1t is the
present intention to have special cars
built for this purpose. BY so doing they
would have cars especially adapted to
needs Of such trains even though they
were of but two cars in length. which
is not true Of the ordinary trailer used
In,
Just what the design Of these trailers
will be has not been decided upon but
they will be substantial as the needs
of the line require and will be con-
structed with the idea of permitting
the trains to make the best possible
time. In all probability the first of
these cars will be used the coming
summer.
Another thing which Pres. Graham
in his conversation said, was that he
believed that 1t was only a matter of
a few years when the traffic on the L..
A. & w. would warrant the running Of
electric express trains over the line
These trains or cars, as the case might
be. would handle only the through
passengers and only stop at Vassal-
boro, Augusta, Hallowell, Gardiner
and Sabattus between the two term-
nails. They would have a considerably
shorter running time than the others.
as the cutting out of time consumed
in stops for local traffic would save a
great many minutes in the time re-
quired to cover the so miles of track.
Pres. Graham was asked concerning
the probability of an electric line to
Dexter from Bangor and replied that
he expected it would be built. proba-
bly, this year. This line, when con-
structed. will start from point on the
Penobscot Central division of the Ban
gor Railway & Electric Cos system
through Garland to Dexter. The start
ing point will probably be at East Cor
inth, 20 miles from Bangor. The dis