MEC Lower Road in danger
Moderator: MEC407
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MEC Lower Road in danger
It was recently announced on a bike forum, that a new rail trail which would remove rail between Gardiner and Topsham. The bill which is in the legislature is LD 1141, and would remove 25 miles of rail. This would effectively end any possibility of reactivation of the lower road. Here is the link: https://www.pedal2page.com/post/build-i ... o2Kuzg29VM
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Re: MEC Lower Road in danger
George O'Keefe: get right on this and put a stop to it! 

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Re: MEC Lower Road in danger
Any potential on line business?
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Re: MEC Lower Road in danger
Zero freight... and conversion to a bike trail would be millions cheaper than any pax rail boondoggle and it would definitely generate more "passenger miles" .
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Re: MEC Lower Road in danger
Like the Watertown Ma branch, might as well be utilized for some form of transit as it appears to have no rail potential ; unlike the soon to be rail trailed Eastern CM which could be used for revived commuter rail to Sudbury, but alas, not going to happen.
Last edited by MEC407 on Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: unnecessary quoting
Reason: unnecessary quoting
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Re: MEC Lower Road in danger
Tough business case to say you need to continue putting dollars towards preserving a dormant line that is paralleled closely by another line of the same rail operator who is only running 2 trains a day between Waterville and Portland.... even still, service exists to Augusta and Brunswick via the branches on either end so again, why not make it a bike trail? At least people can use it then.
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Re: MEC Lower Road in danger
IIRC, the line's rail is 115# and I'm guessing that the condition is ok... possibly put to good use elsewhere in the state as relay rail?
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Re: MEC Lower Road in danger
Knowing this state, probably to close the gap on the Mountain Division...
Eric
Eric
470 Club Trustee and "Webmaster"
Unless otherwise stated, the opinions I post are mine and are not the opinion of the 470 Railroad Club.
Unless otherwise stated, the opinions I post are mine and are not the opinion of the 470 Railroad Club.