Many years ago…until 1925…MEC had a line from a junction near North Stratford, NH to Lime Ridge, QC, a distance of about 110 miles. The line had interchanges with CP at Cookshire, CN at North Stratford and with the Quebec Central at Dudswell Junction, QC. What makes this line interesting is that MEC pulled out of there in 1925, when rail shipping in that area was at its peak… the QC was recording record profits and CP and CN were doing very well with their lines as well. Yet MEC apparently couldn’t make a go of it…inspite of its terminus at Lime Ridge, QC, at that time one of the largest limstone quarries in the world, and inspite of on line lumber mills and those three interchanges that gave MEC access to pretty much anywhere in North America for traffic originating on that line. I’ve read a little about MEC on the internet and have gleaned that MEC as a whole was in some financial distress in the 1920s. Yet, I haven’t been able to find anything specific on why that line was discontinued. Looking at a map of it, it really looks like a winner… lots of online business, three great interchanges, the line was a shortcut to CN’s Saint Lawrence and Atlantic route… looking at it and what I’ve read about it leave me wondering why it was cut and futhermore why someone else (CN would have been a natural fit) didn’t jump in to take it over. Any ideas?
The line was a bit longer than you think. It originated at Quebec Jct near Whitefield NH and wandered up a long marshy line punctuated with pile trestles and soggy fill. Around 1949 MEC and B&M traded trackage rights to reduce maintenance costs with B&M using MEC to Lancaster, MEC using B&M to Groveton, and MEC using GT to N. Stratford.
The biggest problem was that the entire line was lightly built, and the middle section between Beechers Falls VT and the CP And QC lines was, like the southern end, built across a soggy landscape with little traffic. After the cutback to Beechers Falls, MEC carried on unitl the late 1970s. A couple of small operators ran all or some of the line, the last one I’m sure of being the North Stratford RR, which operated until the Ethan Allen Plant in Beechers Falls shut down in the late 1980s. the New Hampshire Central reopened the line in 1993, operating from North Stratford to some point in Columbia or Colebrook NH.
The MEC’s fill between Lancaster and North Stratford is still visible along the Connecticut River.
That’s interesting…I didn’t know that nor could I find any references to that on the net. But what you’re saying makes sense and does square with my own experience hiking through the area some years ago. I believe CP operated a spur south from Cookshire until about 1973 that was on the old MEC right of way…
The Google Earth image of the still active limestone quarry does not look all that extensive. A Quebec gov mineral site says the limestone is of good quality, however, there is lots of good limestone this side of the border, and I doubt it was worth the import. Also, since CN & CP competed with MC in the US, I wonder how friendly those connections were.
Lime Ridge is very much a pale shadow of its former glory. I’m not that knowledgeable about quarries and stone, but I grew up in the area back in the 70s, and in those days the quarries were still a big part of the local economy and quite interesting to watch. The Lime Ridge quarry employed large wooden cranes and steam hammers even into the 70s… You’re right about there being lots of limestone in the US as well…but as I understand it not all limstone is the same due to impurities in the stone. apparently the stone from Lime Ridge was considered a superior stone as the quarry was at one time one of the world’s largest producers. Same with Granite out of Graniteville, QC…it too is a pale shadow of what it once was… but up until the early 70s it was one impressive quarry to watch. About MEC competing with the Canadian lines in the US… MEC and CP were very much in partnership on CP’s line through ME, from Brownsville Jct. to the NB border… Pooled power with trains running both CP and MEC power were fairly common and sometimes MEC power made it in as far as Montreal on the CP.
As a geologist I was familiar with that area of Quebec being famous for its asbestos mines, but I had not heard of the Limestone production until this thread because limestone is such a common-place mining operation. The provincial site mentions its purity, which suggests it’s useful for cement production, or perhaps flux stone in metal processing furnaces. If it was useful for building stone, I would have expected they would have talked more about its physical properties. Since you lived there, you may know better what it was used for. Looking at Google Earth, it seems the current active quarries on the west side are larger than the older workings to the north. Modern operations tend to use fewer people, and sometimes more efficient compact equipment, so it may only seams like mining activity is down. The best way to know is thru production tonnage. A mine of this type would be valuable to Prov. Quebec, since the bedrock is predominantly Canadian shield. As a point of reference when I said that the operation was not that extensive, compare to the Google Earth image of limestone quarry to the south of Rogers City, Michigan. It’s not really a fair comparison, since they haul it out of there by the boatload, mainly to lower Great Lake steel mills.
With regard to the CP connection, I was thinking CP would rather interchange with the MEC mountain division at St Johnsbury, rather than up into Quebec. I had forgotten about Mattawamkeag to the east.
That part of Quebec was largely known for Asbestos…you’re right. But we also had copper, chromite, various stones (limestone, granite primarly)…the place is still resource rich although it now looks as if those are riches the world nolonger wants. Until the early 70s the mines were still active and even then seemed from another time. I recall one school outing to Graniteville in 1974… The town straddled a huge open pit where large blocks of rock were being cut and then hoisted out by steam powered equipment. Big wooden cranes were used for the lifting. It was quite a sight, and with regret the only pictures I have of it are in my memory. About the use of Quebec limestone, many of Montreal’s older buildings were constructed out of limestone from the township quarries… When I went to school in the 70s it was a point of pride for us. Teachers would point out this building or that one and note how the stone came from the Townships.
Not to stray too far off topic, but a fair number of older buildings in northern Illinois were built with a local variety called Joliet limestone.
Perhaps the PQ site didn’t mention it’s use as building stone because it has largely fallen out of favor. They were still using limestone facing on skyscrapers thru the depression ( the Empire State Bldg uses Indiana LS) but modern curtain wall construction replaced that use. Now days with cultured stone, I’m guessing there is a lot less call for cut LS.
That’s quite likely. Apart from a few kitchy rich people who can afford it, nobody builds in stone anymore.
Look at the Beecher Falls section of the story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Division ,
More of the history is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Stratford_Railroad