page_title: Maine Central Railroad Company
hierarchical_section_title: Maine Central Railroad Company
caption_attribution_description: English: I took photo of Maine Central Railroad car at the Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor, ME.
context_page_description: The Maine Central Railroad Company was a former U. S. Class I railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to 1,358 miles when the United States Railroad Administration assumed control in 1917. The main line extended from South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada–United States border with New Brunswick, and a Mountain Division extended west from Portland to Vermont and north into Quebec. The main line was double track from South Portland to Royal Junction, where it split into a "lower road" through Brunswick and Augusta and a "back road" through Lewiston which converged at Waterville into single track to Bangor and points east. Branch lines served the industrial center of Rumford, a resort hotel on Moosehead Lake, and coastal communities from Bath to Eastport.
  At the end of 1970 it operated 921 miles of road on 1,183 miles of track; that year it reported 950 million ton-miles of revenue freight.
context_section_description: The Maine Central Railroad Company (reporting mark MEC) was a former U. S. Class I railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expanded to 1,358 miles (2,185 km) when the United States Railroad Administration assumed control in 1917. The main line extended from South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada–United States border with New Brunswick, and a Mountain Division extended west from Portland to Vermont and north into Quebec. The main line was double track from South Portland to Royal Junction, where it split into a "lower road" through Brunswick and Augusta and a "back road" through Lewiston which converged at Waterville into single track to Bangor and points east. Branch lines served the industrial center of Rumford, a resort hotel on Moosehead Lake, and coastal communities from Bath to Eastport.
  At the end of 1970 it operated 921 miles (1,482 km) of road on 1,183 miles (1,904 km) of track; that year it reported 950 million ton-miles of revenue freight. The Maine Central remained independent until 1981,  when it was purchased by Guilford Transportation Industries and became part of what is now the Pan Am Railways network.
caption: Maine Central rail car on display at the Cole Land Transportation Museum in Bangor, Maine
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