Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!

[Kevin Alley]

It looks like the claim of rail in the ground can be substantiated!!!

According to a poster at:
http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=126&t=36615

He reports:

If you go southwest of Machias on Route 1 and turn left on Roque Bluffs Road, there's a track into the woods on the left just past the junction. I thought that this was the route of the [Whitneyville and Machiasport] railroad, but I could be wrong.

Well, some more Google-ing and I came up with a map of the railroad:
http://oldrailhistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=258&Itemid=293

Which lines up perfectly with the topo map I offered earlier. Here is the full route:



if i use this map from earlier, it would be just above the H and I in the machias word along the yellow line.  thats where I was.

[Arttu Manninen]

I really hope you will find some rails that can be reused. Not far away from where I live there is an abandoned siding with 33kg/metre rails, a mile long, only used by commuting rabbits and the odd neighbourhood cat. Sad thing we are on the wrong side of the planet.

[Joe Fox]

99% of the time when railroads were torn up, they didn't worry about the spikes, because they are only worth about $.15 in today's dollar amount, so they just get left were they sit. Wonder how deep the rail is, and why it would have been burried and not scrapped.

[Kevin Alley]

the pieces i was finding were only like 6 inches to 2 feet long.  I am assuming when they did the removal, pieces that broke apart they just left behind.  They are scattered all over the place underground ranging from a few inches to over a foot below dirt.  I am sure there are longer ones still below but this is what I was finding for the hour I searched. I am going out this weekend.  I will take pics.  I only found a few of the spikes.  The most so far is the strap.  I will keep you posted.

[Mike Fox]

All the reading I have done says all they ever ran on was strap rail. The rail was only as good as the timbers it supported. I bet the straps you are finding are from broken straps that were replaced.

[Kevin Alley]

All the reading I have done says all they ever ran on was strap rail. The rail was only as good as the timbers it supported. I bet the straps you are finding are from broken straps that were replaced.

thats a possibility but its just weird because it is all over the railbed and not just off to the sides.  Who really knows how they operated back then but it is still neat in finding it.