For those of you who are framiler with the state of Maine and its railway history I am in need of your help. I visit the town of Houlton Maine at times, and when walking on the well known Gateway bridge in the centre of down that crosses the river then runs thru it I noticed when crossing t and looking into the water below, a single wheel set that I can tell once belonged in the truck of a railway freight car.
Does anyone know familer with the town area or the bridge who has walked on it and look at the water below know what I am talking about? Any idea of it might have ended up there? Its nowhere near where the current railway tracks are so I have to ask why a two or one tone railway wheelset ended up in the river.
I’m in Maine (not near Houlton), and I have never heard of that.
You might try to find a contact in the 470 Railroad Club (named after the last steam locomotive to run on the Maine Central) in Portland. I’m pretty confident someone in that group would know. If I can find a contact , I’ll let you know.
You might also try to find a guy named Jerry Angier; he wrote a book about the BAR, and AFAIK he knows about all things railroad in Maine.
The US 1 bridge is a few blocks down from the BAR rail bridge, and a derailment on or near the bridge could have sent a car into the river, and been carried down over flood stages.
Now that you say this, that is a plausable explination. Prehaps if I am over across (I’m Canadian, cant visit the USA because of Covid-19) I could look in the newspaper arhcives to find if any crashes occured.
BAR’s yard was near the bridge, and as many derailments happen during switching, it might not have involved a crash.
I see. I realize now thats what I meant to say. I was in a hurry to type. Why didnt the Maine central own the yard? I am guesing the Bangor and Arrostock railroad was its maine rival in Maine?
The MEC operated in southern Maine, and the BAR operated in northern Maine. Much of BAR’s traffic was exchanged with MEC to be forwarded south.