Early History
The Calais Railway was chartered in 1832 as one of the first railway charters granted by the State of Maine. Construction started in 1835. The company was reorganized as the Calais Railroad in 1838 and opened a 2 miles (3.2 km) railway from Calais to Salmon Falls in 1839. Horses pulled cars over the railway until it was abandoned in 1841. The railway was re-activated and extended to Baring in 1852 as the Calais and Baring Railroad. Lewy's Island Railroad was chartered in 1854, and extended the railway from Baring through New Brunswick to Princeton in 1857. The railway was reorganized as the Saint Croix and Penobscot Railroad in 1870. The Washington County Railroad was chartered in 1893 to take control of the Saint Croix and Penobscot and connect it to the Maine Central Railroad Bar Harbor branch at Washington Junction. The Washington County Railroad was completed in 1898, and became the Calais branch in 1911 after Maine Central gained controlling stock interest in 1904.
The Calais branch was the longest of three Maine Central Eastern Division branches converging near Bangor. Trains leaving Bangor for Calais first traveled 31.5 miles (50.7 km) over the Bar Harbor branch. The Calais branch was considered to include the Bar Harbor branch after passenger service to Mount Desert Ferry was discontinued in 1937; and the first 1.2 miles (1.9 km) from Bangor to Brewer Junction have recently been considered part of the Bucksport branch.
Read more about this topic: Calais Branch
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