Trackplan for Portland Union Station - Portland Maine

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

Can anyone give me a reference, url, etc. such that I can obtain the trackplan for the pre 1961 Union Station in Portland Maine?

2

Well, this isn’t the greatest link, but it should give you something to go on. These maps are good for a general idea. Try this (warning; This takes a while to load);

http://historical.maptech.com/getImage.cfm?fname=ptld57ne.jpg&state=ME

Look right under where it says “South Portland”. There’s the basic layout of the yards and engine facility. It’s not real detailed, but it’ll give you an idea.

This is Portland, ME., 1957 (the Northeast images map). You can blow this up pretty big to get some detail.

This is the homepage for that site so you can look up other stuff;

http://historical.maptech.com/index.cfm

Hope this is some help.

3

Hey, I also found this website;

http://www.sullboat.com/GT.htm#Plans

Check out these links too;

http://www.sullboat.com/portland%201876%20birds%20view_m.jpg
Portland 1876

http://www.sullboat.com/Portland%20rail%20map.jpg
The docks

http://www.sullboat.com/Portland%20GT%20Yard.jpg
Portland yard 1905

http://www.sullboat.com/edeeringyard.jpg
East Deering yard

And there’s more on that site. How’s this work for you?

4

Hi - I’m the creator of the above Grand Trunk website. Not much on the site will help you - even the peninsula plan is very basic - but I do have the 1909 Sanborn maps of the entire Portland Peninsula, showing just about every track, spur and siding, and, of course, buildings. Just email me offlist at tims@sullboat.com and let me know how much you want (just the immediate area around the station or more). If I get the chance I’ll stitch them together; otherwise you may need to do it. I use the 1909 maps because they are much better drawn than the 1950 update, which look like they were traced by a drunken sailor, but there are certainly some things missing for later years, for which I use the 1950 maps.

I also have the front (streetside) and west end elevations of the Union Station, if you need them.

On a final note, if you don’t already know about this resource for DIGITIZED Sanborn maps, most state historical societies and larger libraries subscribe to the service for the state they are located in: http://il.proquest.com/products_pq/descriptions/sanborn.shtml .

Tim
Grand Trunk in New England
http://www.sullboat.com/GT.htm

5

dead links

6

What do you expect? The thread’s 11 years old.

7

That having been said, there are a few videos and some maps and photos around the internet that show this track arrangement, if you were looking for it. Also note that the track arrangement changed quite a bit between 1952-1954.

The Boston and Maine Railroad Show, has a segment called “By Streamliner to Portland” that shows a few clips of the new Fore River Bridge (US 1, which is no longer there) and of the Portland Union Station track arrangement. The video shows the 1954 arrangement. If you were to travel to Portland, Me, stop by Thompsons Point and take photos of the remaining portion of the train shed, which was re-constructed as a roof for an ice skating rink, its pretty neat.