The State of Maine

Transportation history was made this month in New England when Amtrak’s Downeaster rail service rolled out of the Portland, Maine, station, heading northward to Freeport and Brunswick for the first time in more than 50 years.

In the 1950s, I used to ride the “State of Maine” passenger train and/or one of its alternative trains from Boston to Freeport and sometimes to Brunswick. The State of Maine was overnight service from Portland to New York City.

While I was visiting my grandparents, Levi T. and Nettie (Shorey) Patterson, I would hang down at the old railroad station and wait for the trains.

I knew Nelson Soule, 91, who was a telegraph operator, freight handler and ticketing agent at the time. Mr. Soule was mentioned in a recent AP story.

This was when LL Bean shipped their products and catalogues by rail.

As a visitor, I could count on “Brownie” driving a truck down the hill from L.L. Bean’s store to the railroad station to load bags into the mail car.

Brownie was a friendly guy both to myself as a kid and to those who worked for Maine Central Railroad.

There was a double track from Portland to Freeport, then it went down to one track. A lot of freight – Maine potatoes – came from Aroostook County down east, passing through Freeport.

As a child I had a couple of memorable experiences, including when a family friend worked for the old Boston and Maine railroad and he got me a seat in the engine compartment from Boston to Portland.

It was noisy, but I could view the tracks and watch both the engineer and trainman operate the diesel engine. And yes, I could view the passing landscape as we passed stations, rivers and eventually traveled near the water’s edge before stopping at Portland.

Remember, coal fired engines were in the process of being phased out at the time.

The second experience was when the train left Portland: I was sleeping and awoke to hear my grandfather ask the conductor where I was. The conductor had no idea until I walked up the aisle as the train was pulling out of the station.

Then I noticed was the train was headed to Brunswick.

I could see my grandfather in a panic on the railroad platform. I waved to him.

Next thing I knew: My grandfather, who was driving a blue Lincoln Zephyr, was racing along Route 1, sometimes in parallel with the train track, toward Brunswick.

We both arrived about the same time at the station. I was ready to disembark and greet my grandfather.

After he greeted me, I think he took me to a hot dog stand in Brunswick on the Green before heading back to Freeport.

Among the named trains operated by the MEC prior to ending passenger service in 1960 were the Bar Harbor Express, Down Easter, Flying Yankee, Gull, Katahdin, Kennebec, Mountaineer, Penobscot, Pine Tree and Skipper. Today, the Down Easter name is in use by Amtrak (now spelled Downeaster).

Posted by George C. Jordan III on November 8, 2012. Filed under Opinion,View from the Tower. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry