Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad
Locale	central Maine
Dates of operation	1847–1862
Track gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge), converted from 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) by 1871

The Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad (A&K) is a historic U.S. railroad which operated in Maine.

The Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad Co. received a charter on March 28, 1847 and by January 1850 had built a line between Waterville, Maine and Danville, Maine (now Auburn). At Waterville, the A&K connected with the Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad (P&K). At Danville, the A&K connected with the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, which opened in 1853 and was subsequently sold to Grand Trunk Railway.

In 1845, the year that the P&K was chartered, a law was enacted permitting both the P&K and A&K to consolidate under a new name. The legislation was not acceptable to both companies, thus the A&K was chartered in 1847. The P&K and A&K did not merge until after the contentious section of the previous merger legislation was repealed on September 9, 1862. The following month on October 28, 1862 the A&K and P&K merged to form the Maine Central Railroad.