Maine Central Railroad
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MEC system map, c. 1923
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| Reporting mark | MEC |
|---|---|
| Locale |
Maine New Brunswick New Hampshire Vermont Quebec |
| Dates of operation | 1862–1981 |
| Successor | Guilford Transportation Industries |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Previous gauge |
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| Length | 1,121 miles (1,804 kilometres) |
| Headquarters | Portland, Maine |
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 became part of what is now the Pan Am Railways network in 1981.
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