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63-588: The Maine Central Railroad ( reporting mark MEC ) was a U. S. class 1 railroad in central and southern Maine . It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England . Maine Central had expanded to 1,358 miles (2,185 km) when the United States Railroad Administration assumed control in 1917. The main line extended from South Portland, Maine , east to

126-729: A German Army lieutenant attempted to blow up the railway bridge which crossed the St. Croix River at the international boundary . The lieutenant was arrested by Washington County sheriff Still Woodman, who later became chairman of Maine's Highway Department. In 1888, the Maine Central leased the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad , which ran from Portland, through the White Mountains of New Hampshire via Crawford Notch , and into St. Johnsbury, Vermont , where it connected with

189-662: A pulp mill. It was joined to the rest of the North American rail network through a connection with the Canadian Pacific Railway at St. Stephen, New Brunswick , and operated through New Brunswick territory for several miles between Calais and Woodland. In order to avoid union agreements that the rest of the rail system was forced to follow, Guilford leased this operation to an obscure B&M subsidiary known as Springfield Terminal Railway , because shortlines operate under different federal rules. Eventually,

252-695: A 2-digit code indicating the vehicle's register country . The registered keeper of a vehicle is now indicated by a separate Vehicle Keeper Marking (VKM), usually the name of the owning company or an abbreviation thereof, which must be registered with the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail (OTIF) and the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and which is unique throughout Europe and parts of Asia and Northern Africa. The VKM must be between two and five letters in length and can use any of

315-464: A hyphen. Some examples: When a vehicle is sold it will not normally be transferred to another register. The Czech railways bought large numbers of coaches from ÖBB. The number remained the same but the VKM changed from A-ÖBB to A-ČD. The UIC introduced a uniform numbering system for their members based on a 12-digit number, largely known as UIC number . The third and fourth digit of the number indicated

378-531: A major strike against the company in 1986. Guilford Transportation also moved the Maine Central's headquarters from Portland to North Billerica, Massachusetts, in the mid-1980s. One of the instigating factors which led to the labor strife at Guilford relates to a corporate reorganization at one of the company's former Maine Central properties. After the Calais Branch was abandoned, a small portion of trackage between Calais and Woodland remained in service to

441-700: A predecessor of the CNW, from which the UP inherited it. Similarly, during the breakup of Conrail , the long-retired marks of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) and New York Central Railroad (NYC) were temporarily brought back and applied to much of Conrail's fleet to signify which cars and locomotives were to go to CSX (all cars labeled NYC) and which to Norfolk Southern (all cars labeled PRR). Some of these cars still retain their temporary NYC marks. Because of its size, this list has been split into subpages based on

504-541: Is in use by Amtrak (now spelled Downeaster ), which began passenger service between Boston and Brunswick, Maine, in 2001. The Conway Scenic Railroad ( reporting mark CSRX ) is a heritage railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire , United States, owned by Profile Mountain Holdings Corp. The railroad operates over two historic railway routes: a line from North Conway to Conway that was formerly part of

567-719: Is now CSX Corporation . The Maine Central was created in 1862 through the merger of the Androscoggin and Kennebec Railroad and the Penobscot and Kennebec Railroad , resulting in a line from Danville (now Auburn ) to Bangor . The line connected with the Grand Trunk Railway on its Portland - Chicago mainline at Danville and with the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad in Bangor. As a result of its connection with

630-756: Is operating these state-owned lines as the Maine Eastern Railroad . Prior to M&E, the Rockland Branch had been operated by Safe Handling , and before that, the Maine Coast Railroad . Several railroad preservation and promotion groups are seeking to have the state-owned Calais Branch and Mountain Division routes reactivated for use by short line or tourist rail operations. In March 2006, Guilford Transportation Industries changed its name to Pan Am Railways (PAR), reflecting

693-503: The Canada–United States border with New Brunswick , and a Mountain Division extended west from Portland to St. Johnsbury, Vermont , and north into Quebec . The main line was double track from South Portland to Royal Junction, where it split into a "lower road" through Brunswick and Augusta and a "back road" through Lewiston , which converged at Waterville into single track to Bangor and points east. Branch lines served

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756-813: The Conway Branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad , and a line from North Conway through Crawford Notch to Fabyan that was once part of the Mountain Division of the Maine Central Railroad. The Conway line is owned by Conway Scenic, and the Mountain Division is owned by the State of New Hampshire . [REDACTED] Media related to Maine Central Railroad at Wikimedia Commons Reporting mark In North America ,

819-575: The European and North American Railway for extension from Saint John westward to build the "Western Extension" of the E&;NA system. The 90-mile railway was surveyed later that year and a contract for construction was awarded to E.R. Burpee. On November 9, 1865, the first sod was turned at South Bay by the mayor of Saint John. By August 14, 1869, the line was opened between South Bay and Hartts Mills (later renamed Fredericton Junction). On November 17, 1869,

882-522: The New Brunswick Railway (NBR) in 1883. On July 1, 1890, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) secured a lease for 999 years for the NBR. CPR applied to abandon the line effective January 1, 1995, however it was subsequently taken over by New Brunswick Southern Railway which continues to operate the line today. The E&NA "Maine" was operated separately from its completion in 1871 until it

945-591: The Penobscot Bay in 1871 by leasing (for fifty years) the then just-completed 33-mile (53 km) of track built by the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad (B&ML). The B&ML's grade ran the length of Waldo County from the port town of Belfast inland to Burnham Junction , where its single track connected with the MEC's Portland to Bangor mainline. Maine Central operated the road as its "Belfast Branch" for

1008-633: The Southeastern Railway (owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway ). Maine Central also operated a line southeast from Bangor along the coast through Machias to Calais , with branches to Bucksport , Bar Harbor and Eastport . Maine Central gained stock control of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in 1911 and the Bridgton and Saco River Railroad in 1912, and operated both as narrow gauge branch lines. The Maine Central

1071-530: The St. John and Maine Railway on March 29, 1878, and acquired the property in New Brunswick on August 31. The New Brunswick Railway leased this line on July 1, 1883. The Maine property was similarly reorganized under its original name - European and North American Railway - in October 1880. The Maine Central Railroad leased this line on April 1, 1882. Although the entire Portland to Halifax line that

1134-534: The University of New Brunswick , was employed in the surveying and construction of the line. Ketchum surveyed a high-capacity railway with long tangent sections and minimal grades between Saint John and Moncton. The first section of the E&NA opened between Shediac and Moncton on August 20, 1857, a distance of 16.8 miles (27.0 km). Although the Shediac-Moncton section was the first part opened,

1197-601: The 1850s, but by the 1880s it was apparent that these could no longer handle modern equipment. The city of Portland, Maine vied with Waterville to become the new shop site, but the railroad decided to remain in Waterville and constructed new, modern shops north of the old ones along the Kennebec River . By 1915 about 2,000 people were employed at the roundhouse, shops, and yards. Following World War I, Maine Central began retracting. It sold or abandoned lines such as

1260-513: The 26 letters of the Latin alphabet . Diacritical marks may also be used, but they are ignored in data processing (for example, Ö is treated as though it is O ). The VKM is preceded by the code for the country (according to the alphabetical coding system described in Appendix 4 to the 1949 convention and Article 45(4) of the 1968 convention on road traffic), where the vehicle is registered and

1323-735: The British colonies with the railway network of the United Province of Canada . Poor himself was also promoting a connection from Portland to Richmond and built the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad (SL&A), opening in 1853, the same year it was purchased by Grand Trunk . Poor stood to benefit from a dual flow of traffic from the Maritimes to New England and the Maritimes to the Canadas. The railway most commonly referred to as

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1386-546: The CPR purchased the 56 mile Mattawamkeag to Vanceboro section from MEC for US$ 5.4 million, although MEC maintained trackage rights . MEC maintained ownership of the 58 mile Bangor to Mattawamkeag section. In 1981, MEC was purchased by Guilford Rail System , which continues to operate the Bangor to Mattawamkeag section. CPR applied to abandon the Mattawamkeag-Vanceboro section effective January 1, 1995, however it

1449-630: The E&NA in Canada was built between Saint John and Shediac, New Brunswick as a segment of Poor's vision of a Portland-Nova Scotia line. The initial ownership of the line is unclear, however the European and North American Railway was incorporated in New Brunswick on March 15, 1851, following the Portland conference, with the intention being to start construction east toward Nova Scotia. Both Saint John, and St. Andrews, New Brunswick were vying for

1512-643: The E&NA to begin in their respective communities; however Saint John managed to convince the company to begin on the east side of the Saint John River . Saint John also convinced the company to forego plans to build into Nova Scotia by concentrating on reaching the Northumberland Strait first. This would give the city a steamship connection through the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Canada East , as well as allowing coal and other goods to avoid

1575-577: The Grand Trunk, the Maine Central initially operated on a track gauge of 5 ft 6 in ( 1,676 mm ) known as " Canadian " or " Portland gauge ". Maine Central purchased the Portland and Kennebec Railroad, which ran from Portland to Augusta and was built to standard track gauge, since it connected with the Boston and Maine Railroad at Portland. By 1871, the Maine Central completed its conversion to standard gauge to facilitate interchange of cars. The MEC established rail service to

1638-564: The Maine Central on the portion of the former E&NA from Mattawamkeag to Vanceboro. This Maine Central trackage formed part of the CPR's Montreal - Saint John mainline, upon completion of the International Railway of Maine . This line was an important rail route for Canadian war material heading to the port of Saint John for shipment overseas to Europe. In the months before the United States entered World War I ,

1701-599: The Metrolink system—even though it is operated by Amtrak. This is why the reporting mark for CSX Transportation , which is an operating railroad, is CSXT instead of CSX. Private (non-common carrier) freight car owners in Mexico were issued, up until around 1990, reporting marks ending in two X's, possibly to signify that their cars followed different regulations (such as bans on friction bearing trucks) than their American counterparts and so their viability for interchange service

1764-599: The Shediac spur has been cut back to Scoudouc, New Brunswick . The E&NA "Western Extension" was operated by the New Brunswick government separately from the E&NA "Eastern Extension" and thus did not get included in the takeover by the Intercolonial Railway, which was focused exclusively on building and operating a railway from Halifax to Quebec. The E&NA "Western Extension" was standard gauged by 1877. The E&NA "Western Extension" became part of

1827-682: The VKM BLS. Example for an "Einheitswagen" delivered in 1957: In the United Kingdom, prior to nationalisation, wagons owned by the major railways were marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway concerned; for example, wagons of the Great Western Railway were marked "G W"; those of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway were marked "L M S", etc. The codes were agreed between

1890-541: The acquiring company discontinues the name or mark of the acquired company, the discontinued mark is referred to as a "fallen flag" railway. Occasionally, long-disused marks are suddenly revived by the companies which now own them. For example, in recent years, the Union Pacific Railroad has begun to use the mark CMO on newly built covered hoppers, gondolas and five-bay coal hoppers. CMO originally belonged to Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway ,

1953-743: The boundary bridge crossing the St. Croix River . On November 9, 1872, the Eastern Division was consolidated, along with the Nova Scotia Railway , into the Intercolonial Railway . On the other hand, the Maine and Western companies were merged on December 1, 1872, as the Consolidated European and North American Railway , which defaulted on its bonds in 1875. The Western Extension bondholders organized

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2016-604: The circuitous and hazardous transit around Nova Scotia. Construction started in 1853, heading northeast from Saint John up the Kennebecasis River valley. Unfortunately construction did not proceed very far and the company went bankrupt in 1856 with the colonial government of New Brunswick taking over the company's line in 1857. That year (1857) saw construction proceed apace under a newly reincorporated government-owned European and North American Railway Co. Canada's first civil engineering graduate, H.G.C. Ketchum , of

2079-459: The corporate reorganization under Springfield Terminal would extend to the full extent of Guilford operations, and attempting to run a class 1 under short line rules would lead to years of union troubles. The former Maine Central locomotive shops in Waterville continue as Guilford's main repair shops. In the early 1990s, Guilford ended its practice of putting the full "Maine Central" name on

2142-448: The first letter of the reporting mark: A railway vehicle must be registered in the relevant state's National Vehicle Register (NVR), as part of which process it will be assigned a 12-digit European Vehicle Number (EVN). The EVN schema is essentially the same as that used by the earlier UIC numbering systems for tractive vehicles and wagons , except that it replaces the 2-digit vehicle owner's code (see § Europe 1964 to 2005 ) with

2205-465: The home country may also be included. The Association of American Railroads (AAR) assigns marks to all carriers, under authority granted by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board , Transport Canada , and Mexican Government. Railinc , a subsidiary of the AAR, maintains the active reporting marks for the North American rail industry. Under current practice, the first letter must match the initial letter of

2268-431: The industrial center of Rumford , a resort hotel on Moosehead Lake and coastal communities from Bath to Eastport . At the end of 1970, it operated 921 miles (1,482 km) of road on 1,183 miles (1,904 km) of track; that year, it reported 950 million ton-miles of revenue freight. The Maine Central remained independent until 1981, when it was purchased by Guilford Transportation Industries and became part of what

2331-484: The late 1850s, the Nova Scotia Railway had already built a line from Halifax to Truro, Nova Scotia , with a stated ambition of building westward to link with the E&NA in New Brunswick; thus the E&NA stood with its Saint John-Shediac line for several years. The missing link between Truro and Moncton was finally built by the Intercolonial Railway , completed in 1872. The E&NA's "Eastern Extension" locomotive shops and headquarters were located in Shediac until it

2394-530: The line was completely opened from the Maine border at St. Croix east to Saint John. The E&NA incorporated in the State of Maine as the European and North American Railway on August 20, 1850. Subsequent delays over the next 15 years saw its charter revised to run from Bangor to Vanceboro, Maine on the International Boundary opposite St. Croix, New Brunswick. Construction finally began with

2457-420: The line was soon extended 2 miles east to the better wharf facilities at Point du Chene. The line had been surveyed to extend from Cape Brule 2 miles further east of Point du Chene, however the sheltered harbour at Point du Chene won out over the more exposed Cape Brule location. Meanwhile, the line between Hampton, New Brunswick and Saint John opened in 1859 and the remaining section between Moncton and Hampton

2520-473: The long hoods of MEC locomotives. Instead, the locomotives would wear the "Guilford Rail System" moniker, with small "MEC" reporting marks underneath the cab windows. On November 1, 2003, the Morristown and Erie Railway (M&E) took over the former Maine Central "Lower Road" (main line) and Rockland Branch routes (aided by significant public funding from the state Department of Transportation). M&E

2583-415: The mark, which consists of an alphabetic code of two to four letters, is stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one- to six-digit number. This information is used to uniquely identify every such rail car or locomotive, thus allowing it to be tracked by the railroad it is traveling over, which shares the information with other railroads and customers. In multinational registries, a code indicating

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2646-413: The mid-1980s, Guilford began to rationalize its system and fully one-third of Maine Central's trackage was eliminated, including the "Mountain Division" from Portland to St. Johnsbury, Vermont; the "Rockland Branch" from Brunswick to Rockland ; the "Calais Branch" from Bangor to Calais; and the "Lower Road" from Augusta to Brunswick . Guilford also forced many management and salary changes, resulting in

2709-736: The narrow gauge and logging branches, as well as its hotels, ferries and steamships. In the 1930s it began to change its locomotives from steam -powered to diesel -powered. Beginning in 1933, Maine Central entered into a "joint management" agreement with the Boston and Maine Railroad , with which it shared the Portland Terminal Company (a switching railroad in Portland). Faced with increased competition from cars, trucks and buses, Maine Central operated its last passenger train on September 5, 1960, and continued to reduce its freight business to reflect changing traffic. In 1980,

2772-527: The next 55 years, but on June 30, 1925, MEC President Morris McDonald — after repeated public denials — gave the B&;ML (and the city of Belfast as its majority owner) the required six months notice that it would not renew its by then year-to-year lease when it expired on December 31, 1925. The reason eventually given was a net loss to the MEC on the Belfast Branch operations of $ 113,230 for

2835-572: The owner of a reporting mark is taken over by another company, the old mark becomes the property of the new company. For example, when the Union Pacific Railroad (mark UP) acquired the Chicago and North Western Railway (mark CNW) in 1995, it retained the CNW mark rather than immediately repaint all acquired equipment. Some companies own several marks that are used to identify different classes of cars, such as boxcars or gondolas. If

2898-405: The owner, or more precisely the keeper of the vehicle. Thus each UIC member got a two-digit owner code . With the introduction of national vehicle registers this code became a country code. Some vehicles had to be renumbered as a consequence. The Swiss company BLS Lötschbergbahn had the owner code 63. When their vehicles were registered, they got numbers with the country code 85 for Switzerland and

2961-464: The purchase of Pan American World Airways brand in 1998. PAR began repainting locomotives in the sky-blue Pan Am colors shortly thereafter. Pan Am was acquired by CSX Corporation in 2022. The MEC passenger trains, often advertised as "M.C. R.R." in the early 20th century, were essential to the sporting camp movement as early as the 1880s when people from Boston , New York , Philadelphia , and Detroit would make their way north to hunt and fish in

3024-529: The railroad name. As it also acts as a Standard Carrier Alpha Code , the reporting mark cannot conflict with codes in use by other nonrail carriers. Marks ending with the letter "X" are assigned to companies or individuals who own railcars, but are not operating railroads; for example, the TTX Company (formerly Trailer Train Company) is named for its original reporting mark of TTX. In another example,

3087-532: The railroad was purchased by U.S. Filter Corporation and was then sold in 1981 to Guilford Transportation Industries , which later purchased the Boston and Maine Railroad (and thereby the Portland Terminal) in 1983 and the Delaware and Hudson Railway in 1984. Initially Guilford operated the system intact, although the system now permitted run-through traffic between central Maine and Boston . By

3150-580: The railways and registered with the Ministry of Railways , Government of India . European and North American Railway The European and North American Railway (E&NA) is the name for three historic Canadian and American railways which were built in New Brunswick and Maine . The idea of the E&NA as a single system was conceived at a railway conference in Portland, Maine in 1850 by railroad entrepreneur John A. Poor . The line

3213-762: The railways and registered with the Railway Clearing House . In India, wagons owned by the Indian Railways are marked with codes of two to four letters, these codes normally being the initials of the railway divisions concerned along with the Hindi abbreviation; for example, trains of the Western Railway zone are marked "WR" and "प रे"; those of the Central Railway zone are marked "CR" and "मध्य", etc. The codes are agreed between

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3276-426: The reporting mark for state-funded Amtrak services in California is CDTX (whereas the usual Amtrak mark is AMTK) because the state transportation agency ( Caltrans ) owns the equipment used in these services. This may also apply to commuter rail, for example Metrolink in Southern California uses the reporting mark SCAX because the equipment is owned by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority —which owns

3339-419: The section from Bangor to Olamon, Maine , opening in 1868 and Olamon to Mattawamkeag, Maine , opening in 1869. The 114 mile line was finally completed to Vanceboro in October 1871, linking the E&NA (Maine) to the E&NA (Western Extension) at Vanceboro-St. Croix. A ceremony celebrating completion of the line was attended by U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant and Canadian Governor General Lord Lisgar at

3402-522: The western mountains and the Maine North Woods . From Portland's Union Station , the MEC had unnamed trains to Bangor via Lewiston , to Bangor via Augusta, to Rockland, to Calais via Ellsworth , to Farmington and to Montreal via North Conway . Among the named trains operated by the MEC prior to ending passenger service in 1960 were the Bar Harbor Express , Down Easter , Flying Yankee , Gull , Katahdin , Kennebec , Mountaineer , Penobscot , Pine Tree , and Skipper . The Down Easter name

3465-431: The year 1924. The B&ML took over operation of its road on January 1, 1926. It continued to exchange passengers and mail with the MEC at their jointly owned station at Burnham Junction until 1960 and freight interchange traffic until 2002. In 1882, Maine Central leased the European and North American Railway (E&NA) between Bangor and Vanceboro . In 1889, the Canadian Pacific Railway purchased trackage rights from

3528-492: The years: The Intercolonial Railway (ICR) took over the Nova Scotia Railway and E&NA "Eastern Extension" on November 9, 1872, following completion of its connection between Truro and Moncton. The E&NA "Eastern Extension" was standard gauged on November 11, 1872. The Intercolonial Railway came under the control of the Canadian Government Railways (CGR) in 1915. CGR was merged into the Canadian National Railways (CNR) in 1918. CN continues to operate these lines, although

3591-554: Was at its height by 1917 when it became nationalized during World War I under the United States Railroad Administration , having trackage which extended over 1,358 miles (2,185 km). It ran from Vanceboro , Calais and Eastport in the east, to Portland in the south, St. Johnsbury, Vermont in the west, and to Lime Ridge, Quebec in the north. It also operated resorts and coastal steamships and ferries. The main repair facilities for locomotives and cars were located in Waterville, Maine . The first primitive shops were built in

3654-441: Was envisioned at the Portland conference in 1850 was not built by the E&NA per se, several portions of this system were completed by other companies as follows: An express passenger train known as the Gull was jointly operated over this route by the various owners from 1930 to 1960. Although the Portland to Halifax railway line remains in operation, various sections of the line have undergone several corporate changes over

3717-480: Was impaired. This often resulted in five-letter reporting marks, an option not otherwise allowed by the AAR. Companies owning trailers used in trailer-on-flatcar service are assigned marks ending with the letter "Z", and the National Motor Freight Traffic Association , which maintains the list of Standard Carrier Alpha Codes, assigns marks ending in "U" to owners of intermodal containers . The standard ISO 6346 covers identifiers for intermodal containers. When

3780-400: Was intended to link Portland (the eastern terminus of the US rail network) with an ice-free Atlantic port in Nova Scotia to connect with fast trans-Atlantic ships from Europe ; the port at Halifax was discussed as a possible eastern terminus for the line, as was Canso . The concept was also discussed throughout the early 1850s in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Maine as a means to connect

3843-471: Was leased to the Maine Central Railroad (MEC) in 1882. In 1889 the International Railway of Maine was built by Canadian Pacific Railway from Megantic, Quebec to the MEC at Mattawamkeag, Maine The MEC granted trackage rights to the CPR over the 56 mile section from Mattawamkeag to Vanceboro at that time. In November 1955, MEC purchased the entire 114 mile E&NA "Maine" for US$ 125 per share or US$ 3,114,500 payable in cash or bonds. On December 17, 1974,

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3906-476: Was opened in 1860. In 1860, the colony of New Brunswick issued a postage stamp which illustrated an E&NA engine. The stamp was commissioned by the postmaster and one of the railway's directors, Charles Connell . Unfortunately, the E&NA never progressed east from Moncton to its stated goal of Nova Scotia. However, the extension to the Northumberland Strait provided an important link to Prince Edward Island (via ferry) and an alternate route to Lower Canada. By

3969-403: Was taken over by the Intercolonial Railway, which moved them to Moncton. Less well-known was the railway most commonly referred to as the E&NA Western Extension which was built between South Bay, New Brunswick (immediately west of Saint John) and St. Croix on the International Boundary with Maine. On April 13, 1864, the colonial government in New Brunswick incorporated a company called

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