Then & Now: The Maine Central's Bar Harbor branch

[James Patten]

In this case, "then" is the mid-1990s.

The Maine Central's Bar Harbor branch was built in 1884, and abandoned in 1931.  Some time after the MEC dismantled the line, a gentleman by name of Phil Sammis purchased a portion of the right-of-way, between where it crossed Rt 1 near the intersection of Rt 1 and 182 in Hancock and where it crossed the village center of Hancock.  Phil built a 3-foot gauge railroad on slightly over a mile of his acquisition, starting in the village and working west.  He built a little yard, bought a locomotive and built his own car.

In 1994, Phil Sammis and the WW&F connected.  Phil was getting older, and would not be able to continue enjoying his line.  He arranged to donate some of the rail, and sell some of the rail to us.  The catch was that we would have to remove it ourselves.  For the next several years, twice a year crews would take a field trip and go work on removing the rail.

I started joining in these crews in 1997.  At that point we were ready to remove the rail from the west end and work east.  The west end was on a causeway across Mount Desert Narrows, and my notes say that there was some worry that the causeway wouldn't be around long.

These pictures aren't in any particular order, but they were all taken by me October 18, 1997.  They are all on the causeway.

[James Patten]

After loading the rails on a home-built 3-foot gauge work flat, the car would be pushed back toward town.  Uphill, about a mile away.  Meanwhile those left back at the railhead would work on removing the joint bars and spikes.  When the railcar reached the end, the joint bars would be loaded in the back of truck (either Fred's or Zack's), and the rails would be stacked to the side waiting for pickup.  Then it was back down the hill to repeat the process.  The roadbed was straight as an arrow, and while the grade wasn't bad, it was noticeable.

These photos were taken by Bruce Wilson, and they probably aren't from 1997.  The first is Jason at the planned end of work for that weekend; then pictures of the railcar. 

[James Patten]

Skip ahead to 2023.  At some point in the past, this section of the MEC Bar Harbor branch and Phil's private railroad was turned into a hiking trail - the Old Pond Railway Trail, going from the village of Hancock west along the MEC roadbed for about 2.5 miles.  I'd always been curious about the portion that we never visited, so thought I would try to hike it before taking a ride on the Downeast Scenic Railroad in nearby Ellsworth.

Unfortunately I got there a little too late to get much of a hike in on the trail, but I had enough time to hike down to the causeway to take a few pictures.  There are still tie remnants on the ground - well rotted, in many cases.

I walked past the causeway to sections that never had Phil's railway on it (as far as I know), and there were still ties left, presumably from MEC days.

The bridge below was original to the MEC.  When we tore out the rails, we also removed the ties on the bridge, put them up as a bit of a barrier, and hoped that nobody fell into the ocean.  The first photo is from the approximate end of Phil's railroad, and the third photo is past the causeway and shows a rock cut.

[James Patten]

Unfortunately I don't seem to have any pictures of Phil's little yard or his private car, but there are remnants left.

Below is a tie with spikes at 3-foot gauge, the concrete pad that was Phil's yard/work area, and some switches left behind during the conversion to the trail.

[James Patten]

I hope this thread encourages others who have pictures from Phil Sammis's railroad to post them!

[Jeff Schumaker]

Thanks for posting the pictures, James.

Jeff

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

I was on two of those trips over east.  Rode over with Fred in his Dodge truck that later became the railroad's plow truck.  I remember we all stayed at The Birches Motel and I shared a room with Fred.  I took slides back then, so I'll have to check my pictures from way back in the '90's.

[Bruce Wilson]

I'm going to check my own photos from the various Hancock trips. I always remember the vicious duck that savaged Jason. Can't remember what year that was, but to see him limping along, covered with mud and marsh grass, pecking marks, etc., good for a laugh. That duck beat the creosote outta him...

[Fred Morse]

The good old days! The back of the truck was so full of iron I almost had to have Jason sit on the hood to keep the front wheels on the ground.

[James Patten]

The Hancock trips are where the whole Duck gag got going.

[Bruce Wilson]

I will be sending my photos from '97 and '98 to Linda at some point. These include many prints of work at Hancock. Before I put them in the mail, I want to identify all of the people in those photos. Almost 30 years have gone by and if I wait any longer to do the ID'S, I'm afraid of having memory lapse. 

[James Patten]

I also rode with Fred in his pickup truck at least one of those trips.  On that particular trip we had loaded his truck up with something heavy, probably joint bars.  Unfortunately we tended to put the load toward the back.  On the trip home Fred mentioned he noticed his steering felt different, as all the weight was on or behind the rear tires.

[Fred Morse]

Joint bars and metal ties bolts tie clips etc.