Author Topic: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!  (Read 45882 times)

Ed Lecuyer

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #30 on: January 07, 2009, 09:16:45 AM »
Thanks Mike.

I guess we can officially close the thought that there may be rail available up that way. Thanks for doing such an exhaustive search.
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Mike Fox

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #31 on: January 07, 2009, 02:38:58 PM »
Hopefully the next time someone sees something, they can whip out a tape measure and check it for us.
Mike
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Allan Fisher

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #32 on: January 08, 2009, 12:48:04 AM »
I am not ready to give up on this yet - I have the phone number of the original informant - and will get it to Mike as soon as I can find it.

He was positive there was a lot of light rail - and he said it was not strap rail.
Allan Fisher

Ira Schreiber

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #33 on: January 08, 2009, 03:55:27 PM »
Allan and all.
As a "mainline" railroader, 85# IS light rail. It all depends on what your standard is. On the former PRR, there was 155# rail, so 133# was light.
And don't forget that light rail also refers to electric traction... Many definitions and few with consensus.

Mike Fox

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #34 on: January 08, 2009, 05:25:19 PM »
Yes Allan, I would be more than glad to contact him. I have been there enough now that I am very familiar with the area so even a vague description can lead me in the right direction. If there is something there, I'd like to find it. Even if I have to bring a shovel to throw the snow out of the way.
 
Mike
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Kevin Alley

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #35 on: April 19, 2011, 12:41:54 PM »
Hello.  I am bringing this thread back to life becuase I work here at the University of Maine at Machias.  I just happened to be talking to a faculty member that knows a little bit about this.  As I started googling machias old topography maps I came across this forum. The Lion use to sit up here on campus I believe till around 1986 sometime.  The buddy I know his son use to play on it when it was up in the barn here. I heard all the rails and spikes were taken up by a guy in the Portland area. the faculty member is going to take me out back of the school to show me where the track ran.  I am taking my metal detector with me to see if I can find anything.  In the next few months during some free time I am going out there to explore.  He said he had walked from behind the college towards where it crossed the road on the Kennebec road.  We are going to walk the route from behind campus towards east machias.  He also told me he use to have it flagged off but that was 20 years ago and it is quite grown up.  I will take pictures along the way if I find anything and of places where the track ran.  Hope this sparks some interest because it has me.   ;D

Mike Fox

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #36 on: April 19, 2011, 08:06:31 PM »
You can still see the pilings I took pictures of down by the river. I forget the name of the road but if you turn right out of the campus and take the road on the right before the bridge, it will take you all the way to the pilings. Keep an eye out, they pop up quick.
  Enjoy. I traveled 5 hours to get there (one way) and wish I would have stayed longer than 2 or 3 hours.
Mike
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Pete "Cosmo" Barrington

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #37 on: April 19, 2011, 10:26:38 PM »
I did notice the Jointbars have been removed from the Route 182 crossing in Chesterville.
Wait a sec...
"Chesterville"?  ???
The Chesterville I know of iss down near Jay and Livermore Falls!
Does this mean there's TWO "Chestervilles" in Maine?

Mike Fox

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #38 on: April 20, 2011, 08:03:32 PM »
Yes, and two Eagle Lakes also.
Mike
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Pete "Cosmo" Barrington

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #39 on: April 21, 2011, 12:24:15 AM »
Oh, ok...
gawsh, Maine is a strange place!  ;)

Bill Reidy

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #40 on: April 21, 2011, 09:15:44 PM »
gawsh, Maine is a strange place!  ;)

Oh, not so strange.  I grew up next to the site of (originally) Agawam station, later East Wareham, then Onset Junction/Onset, in East Wareham, MA.  Not to be confused with any railroad stations in the town of Agawam, MA!
What–me worry?

Dave Buczkowski

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #41 on: April 21, 2011, 10:26:18 PM »
The only train tracks in Agawam, MA are roller coaster tracks...

Kevin Alley

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #42 on: April 02, 2012, 07:19:09 PM »
I found the railroad today.  I walked about 300 yards along the railbed where it ran.  I took my metal detector out there and found all kind of strap metal.  There is so much metal still in the ground it was making my detector go crazy.  I am going to continue searching the area this spring as the frost is not all the way out of the ground.  If anybody ever wanted to swing through Machias I would show them where it was and find some railroad strap for them.  You will need to wear boots as the path is very muddy and must be able to hike about 3/4 of a mile to it.  But I am excited to finally find it and find strap.  It was neat to stand there and think that thing ran so long ago right where I was standing.

Mike Fox

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #43 on: April 02, 2012, 08:50:39 PM »
Where was the section you found? I could not find it in Machias because of all the changes in town but instead found the end out near Machiasport. And the short section in Whitneyville. I just took an educated guess as to where the rest ran.
Mike
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Kevin Alley

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Re: Whitneyville and Machiasport Railroad: Old rail still in the ground?!!
« Reply #44 on: April 02, 2012, 10:53:02 PM »
If you look at the map of Machias and the University, I left from the southeast end of the parking lot, where I work, and headed out about 1/2 mile or so.  The rail there would be closer to the east machias side of halfway between whitneyville and east machias. I wish I knew how to highlight a section on a map and attach it.  I plan on in a week or so to go back out with my camera and take a few photos.  I used flashearth.com  There is an old skidder trail to the east side of the campus all the way down to a beaver brook.  The railroad ran exactly east and west just above the beaver pond.  I started working my way west towards whitneyville until it got too dark.  My metal detector had tons of sign underground.  I found a bunch of strap and a few large nail like stakes.  I hope to come up with something interesting my next few trips back out there.