St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (SLR/SLQ)

Expecting the Mods to rap my knuckles for posting GT/CN stuff in the SLR thread but there isn't
any other appropriate place. I suppose one could post in the fallen flags thread..... Then there
becomes a disconnect with an ongoing discussion here.

It helps those of us who weren't around prior to SLR becoming it's own entity see how things used to be. If it wasn't for this thread, I wouldn't have known when to find these guys in operation back in 2014.

The SLR of the 90s was a fond memory-- a railroad with ambition, hope and growth. 393/394 ran regularly during the daylight 6 days a week, and 146/147 ran 4+ days a week depending on traffic, with CN run through power and often some of the latest and greatest locomotives. Not to mention the operation down to Portland and the Ski Train. Now here we are in 2023 seeing trains 2 days a week....

The decline in paper manufacturing the last few years probably didn't help their traffic base. Still, glad to see they're at least operational. Rail transit trends in New England have certainly been unpredictable so it'll be interesting to see what the future holds for them. I'm an eternal optimist so I think they'll be just fine.

Aren't they due to be finished with the northern NH track upgrades this November?

Realistically, what are the possibilities for traffic growth? Pulp and Paper traffic won't come back in any meaningful way, intermodal potential is limited, and propane volumes are going to start to level off and then decline in coming years as more and more Maine homes and businesses switch to heat pumps.

Transloading maybe?

In the presentation the railroad gave during hearings for the Berlin Subdivision from Portland to Auburn last year, they made two notes: first, they'd like that line to remain intact based on "potential future traffic patterns". Second, they had a slide that labelled opportunities for growth with "distribution warehouses, C&D waste and recycling, lumber, plastic, and energy". Where they base that future growth potential I would be the last person to know, but I would hope they aren't just pulling it out of nowhere.

Hello,
I haven't been able to get out trackside much lately, but last night my daughter drove us to Island Pond to see the SLQ eastbound 394, which arrived at 1923 with the following:

GP40-3 3806
RM-1 8SD40-2 3403
2 centerbeam flats
3 covered hoppers
8 hi-sdied gondolas
9 hi-cube boxcars
33 tank cars

That's 55 cars total, including 52 loads and 3 empties. Because of the holiday, I thought they might just run a turn to Island Pond, but the train continued east to Lewiston Junction last night.
Have a great 4th of July!
Fritz

Does anyone know where I might find info on a derailment in Bryant Pond that occurred sometime in the 1980s? My girlfriend has pics but wants more information.

Found it...so thanks

CN derailment in Bryant Pond due to possible vandalism in 1984

Switch point was wedged open.

New ties dropped off in Locke's Mills and Bryant Pond.

There's been quite a bit of track work going on between Lewiston Jct and Bryant Pond- haven't
been west of there lately as I was recruited out of retirement to work on a mill maintenance
outage at Rumford. Hopefully I can re-retire in about a month and go on a trip somewhere.
The past two weekends I've spotted a contract crew rebuilding switches on the wye and either
side of the mainline crossing of Lewiston Junction Rd- the highway crossing itself was rebuilt
this past week. As mentioned substantial tie replacement is occurring and a tamper and ballast
regulator are working westward; saw them tied up for the night in South Paris one night last week.
There is also a panel of track aside the crossing at Old County Road two miles west of West Paris
waiting to be installed.

On a different note the Fall issue of "Classic Trains" is out with a Roger Cook article with photos
recalling visits to Island Pond in 1964, 1966 and 1971. I wonder if there is anyone around who could
identify some of the people pictured?

QG 6904 and 6908, stored on a track behind the shop at Lewiston Junction since April, have been
moved with 6904 seen outside on a shop lead this afternoon. Perhaps they have an appointment
for some TLC coming soon?

Probably getting ready for the LPG season to begin....!

With all the track maintenance going on in the area on both SLR and former MEC it recalls a
similar flurry of activity by CN. In the late 1960’s CN started a massive right of way and track
rehab project , starting on the east end of the Berlin Subdivision and gradually working west
over a period of years. By 1971 the project had reached the South Paris area, starting with
bulldozers clearing the right of way of trees, bushes, and debris- leaving the full width of the
right of way bare dirt in most places. I can just hear the abutting land owners scream if something
on this scale were attempted today. Fill was removed from cuts and used to widen embankments
using GT’s Wellman crane with a clamshell bucket and Jordan spreader as well as borrowed CV
Ohio Crane 4252 and CV spreader 4285 and a string of CN side dump cars. The project also
included replacing numerous culverts. Tie removal followed this work. By 1972 the ballast
renewal part of the project had reached Mechanic Falls. The routine for the summer was for
a 70 car ballast extra originating at the quarry in Actonvale, PQ to arrive at South Paris in the
early morning hours where it would be split into two work extras and the stone dumped during
the day. Late afternoon the two work extras would be reassembled into one train and head back
west overnight. Needless to say with ballast trains, spreaders, cranes ditching and doing culvert
work in addition to the regular train movements, track space was at a premium. Virtually every
side track had some type of OCS equipment parked on it, even the small yard at the end of the
branch in Norway. The two photos show Train 799 forwarding a string of side-dump cars west to
Bethel as the base for that part of the work was relocated westward and shows some of the
embankment widening. The shot was taken from the cupola of conductor John Egan’s assigned
van GT 75955 which he later purchased and moved to North Conway. The other shot shows
borrowed CV Ohio Crane 4252 on the Paris Farmers Union siding at South Paris.