Franklin and Megantic Railroad
| Locale | Maine |
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| Dates of operation | 1884–1908 |
| Track gauge | 2 ft (610 mm) |
| Length | 14.5 mi (23.3 km) |
| Headquarters | Strong |
| Franklin and Megantic Railroad (Main Line) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Line length: | 48 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Track gauge: | 2 ft (610 mm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Franklin and Megantic Railway (F&M) (original name "Franklin and Megantic Railroad") was a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway in northern Maine that branches off from the Sandy River Railroad (SRR) at Strong and served sawmills in Salem township and in the town of Kingfield.
The F&M was constructed in 1884 to reach aboriginal spruce forests on the south slope of Mount Abraham. The 1.8-mile (2.9 km) Mount Abram branch was constructed to Soule's sawmill in 1886. In 1894, the F&M formed the 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge Kingfield and Dead River Railroad (K&DR) to extend rails up the Carrabassett River from Kingfield to Carrabassett. At that time, the F&M owned 2 locomotives, 7 box cars, 21 flat cars, 40-foot (12.19 m) combination car #1 built by the Laconia Car Company in 1885, and 20-foot (6.1 m) baggage car #2 (renumbered #4 in 1903) built by the Portland Company in 1887.
The company was renamed to "Franklin and Megantic Railway" in 1897 due to financial problems. The owners of the Sandy River Railroad purchased controlling interest in the F&M in 1898. In 1899 the line was extended to a large sawmill in Crockertown (later called Bigelow), as close to the Canadian town of Megantic as it would reach. Twenty new flat cars were purchased from the Portland Company in 1900. Four of the new flat cars and one F&M box car were destroyed when the sawmill burned in 1903. F&M received two 40-foot (12.19 m) long passenger cars from American Car and Foundry Company in 1903. Coach #2 and combination #3 were built in a joint order with an identical coach (SR #8) for the Sandy River Railroad.
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