Phillips and Rangeley Railroad

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Phillips and Rangeley Railroad
Locale Maine
Dates of operation 1891–1908
Successor line Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad
Track gauge 2 ft (610 mm)
Length 28 miles
Headquarters Phillips

The Phillips and Rangeley Railroad was a 2 ft (610 mm) gauge narrow gauge common carrier railroad in the State of Maine.

It connected the towns of Phillips and Rangeley and was built to serve the forestry and resort industries of Franklin County. This railroad pioneered the use of large 2-foot gauge rolling stock in North America. Earlier freight cars built for the Billerica and Bedford Railroad,[1] the Sandy River Railroad[2], the Bridgton and Saco River Railroad[3], the Monson Railroad,[4] the Franklin and Megantic Railroad[5], and the Kennebec Central Railroad[6] had a maximum length of 26 feet (8 meters.) Phillips and Rangeley Railroad ordered the first 28-foot (8.5-meter) cars in 1890 and the subsidiary Eustis Railroad ordered the first 33-foot (10-meter) cars in 1903.[7] The Portland Company locomotive built in 1890 was 12.5% heavier than any previous 2-foot gauge locomotive in Maine.[8] The 2-6-0 locomotive purchased from Baldwin Locomotive Works the following year was 28% heavier than the Portland locomotive;[9] and it's success encouraged subsequent purchase of similar locomotives by the Laurel River and Hot Springs Railroad of North Carolina in 1892,[10] the Sandy River Railroad in 1893,[11] the Cazadero and San Pablo Railroad in 1897,[12] the Córdoba and Huatusco Railroad in 1902,[13] and the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway in 1907.[14]

Contents

[edit] History

Owners of the Phillips and Rangeley Railroad (P&R) were most interested in a means of transporting lumber to markets from the aboriginal spruce forests of Redington township. Redington Lumber Company owned 375 of the 400 shares of P&R stock sold. Construction began where the Sandy River Railroad ended in Phillips; and the first train reached Redington on 11 October 1890. After leaving Reeds Mills, the railroad climbed 800 feet up nine roadless miles of Orbeton Stream canyon between Saddleback Mountain and Mount Abraham. Redington sawmill was built near the summit of what came to be called Sluice Hill. Although no station buildings had been constructed, the P&R commenced regular train service to Redington a few days before the mill started producing lumber on 21 February 1891. Frozen ground halted construction for the winter, but spring weather brought rails to Rangeley on 10 June 1891. On 1 July 1891, scheduled train service commenced from Rangeley to the Maine Central Railroad in Farmington via the Sandy River Railroad from Phillips.

P&R locomotive #1 was the first two-foot gauge locomotive built by the Portland Company. It was the largest 2-foot gauge locomotive in Maine when delivered. P&R #2 locomotive was purchased from the Sandy River Railroad and kept the Sandy River number although it was available for construction work before #1 was delivered. P&R #3 locomotive was even larger than #1, and was the first locomotive with a separate tender on Maine's 2-foot gauge railroads. Initial P&R purchases of 16 box cars, 3 coaches, and one combination car matched Sandy River Railroad inventories of those car types for joint service; but P&R had seventy flat cars to ship lumber from Redington and from Sanders sawmill. P&R #1 and identical Sandy River engine #4 generally pulled passenger trains between Farmington and Rangeley, while P&R #3 pulled freight trains from the sawmills. For the third time, P&R ordered the heaviest two-foot gauge locomotive in Maine to replace #2 in 1893. The old Hinkley locomotive was too small to provide satisfactory service on Sluice Hill when the larger locomotives needed repairs, but it was renumbered #4, renamed Bo-Peep, and remained on the roster for less demanding work. P&R received a baggage-RPO car from Portland in 1892; and the Sandy River Railroad put a similar car into service the following year.

The Redington sawmill closed briefly in 1895. Although the P&R grade up Sluice Hill was well positioned to receive logs sluiced off the flank of Mount Abraham, there was a limited supply of timber left within easy reach of the railroad. Workers began to move away from the boom town of Redington. P&R made no further rolling stock purchases. A box car and 3 flat cars were destroyed when Sanders sawmill burned in 1900. Redington was virtually deserted by that time. Rangeley Lakes trout fishing was legendary, and the population of deer increased as wild berry bushes grew on cutover timberland. The Rangeley Lake House, a large wooden hotel on the lakeshore near Rangeley, offered luxury accommodation for tourists interested in fishing and hunting; but their summer and autumn business did not cover the cost of railroad maintenance through the winter and spring.

The P&R was in difficult financial circumstances when branch lines were needed to reach nearby timberlands. Berlin Mills purchased the Redington sawmill machinery and moved it into a new mill at Madrid Junction in 1902. The P&R formed the Madrid Railroad in 1902 to build a branch line from the new sawmill into Township #6 and formed the Eustis Railroad in 1903 to purchase new rolling stock and build another branch line into aboriginal spruce forests north of Redington. P&R management held controlling stock in both branch railroads and issued bonds to cover costs. The branch lines were promptly leased to and operated by the P&R upon completion. Trainloads of logs moved from the branches to Madrid Junction for the next few years, and trainloads of lumber moved south through Phillips and the Sandy River Railroad. In 1906, end-of-track at Rangeley was extended 1700 feet to serve Rangeley Lake House guests from a small stone lakeshore station on the hotel grounds.

Sandy River Railroad management began buying defaulted bonds of the P&R, Madrid, and Eustis railroads; and put the P&R into receivership in 1905. Sandy River Railroad management then forced auction of the properties to satisfy the defaulted bonds, purchased the P&R at that auction, and merged the P&R into their Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in 1908. 1908 also saw closure of the Madrid Junction sawmill. Franklin County's aboriginal spruce forests were virtually gone.

[edit] Geography

Milepost 0: Phillips - Connection with the Sandy River Railroad.

Milepost 5.4: Madrid Junction - Connection with the Madrid Railroad. Sawmill from 1903 to 1908.

Milepost 7.1: Reeds - Sawmill.

Milepost 9.6: Sanders - Sawmill from 1891 to 1900.

Milepost 16.2: Redington - Sawmill from 1891 to 1902.

Milepost 22.4: Eustis Junction - Connection with the Eustis Railroad.

Milepost 24.2: Dead River - Stage connections to Stratton and Eustis.

Milepost 28.6: Rangeley - Rangeley Lake House hotel.

[edit] Locomotives

Number Name Builder Type Date Works number Notes
1 Calvin Putnam Portland Company 0-4-4T 1890 615 Became Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad No. 7
2 Izaak Walton Hinkley Locomotive Works 0-4-4T 1877 1261 Became Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad No. 2
3 George M. Goodwin Baldwin Locomotive Works 2-6-0 tender 1891 11706 Became Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad No. 15
2nd #2 Baldwin Locomotive Works 0-4-4T 1893 13276 Became Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad No. 17

[edit] References

  • Barney, Peter S. (1986). The Kennebec Central and Monson Railroads. A&M Publishing. 
  • Barney, Peter S. (1987). The Bridgton and Saco River: A Technical and Pictorial Review. A&M Publishing. 
  • Best, Gerald (1968). Mexican Narrow Gauge. Howell-North Books. 
  • Cornwall, L. Peter and Farrell, Jack W. (1973). Ride the Sandy River. Pacific Fast Mail. 
  • Crittenden, H. Temple (1976). The Maine Scenic Route. McClain Printing. 
  • Jones, Robert C. (1979). Two Feet Between the Rails (Volume 1 - The Early Years). Sundance Books. 
  • Jones, Robert C. (1980). Two Feet Between the Rails (Volume II - The Mature Years). Sundance Books. 
  • Jones, Robert C. (1998). Two Feet to the Quarries. Evergreen Press. 
  • Jones, Robert C. and Register David L. (1987). Two Feet to Tidewater. Pruett Publishing. 
  • MacDonald, Robert L. (2003). Maine Narrow Gauge Railroads. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-1179-X. 
  • Moody, Linwood W. (1959). The Maine Two-Footers. Howell-North. 
  • (1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, and 1909) Railroad Commissioners' Report. State of Maine. 
  1. ^ Moody 1959 pp.51-52
  2. ^ Jones 1980 p.370
  3. ^ Barney 1987 pp.13-14
  4. ^ Jones 1998 p.136
  5. ^ Maine Railroad Commissioners' Report 1908 p.135
  6. ^ Barney 1986 pp.25
  7. ^ Jones 1980 pp.379-384
  8. ^ Jones 1980 p.351
  9. ^ Jones 1980 p.351
  10. ^ Jones 1979 p.146
  11. ^ Crittenden 1976 pp.92-93
  12. ^ Moody 1959 p.204
  13. ^ Best 1968 p.166
  14. ^ Jones and Register 1987 pp.111&237
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