International Railway (Canada)
Encyclopedia
The International Railway of Maine was a historic railroad constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway
(CPR) between Lac-Mégantic
, Quebec
and Mattawamkeag
, Maine
, closing a key gap in the railway's transcontinental main line to the port of Saint John
, New Brunswick
.
, Quebec to Vancouver
, British Columbia
in 1885. In the decades prior to the use of ice breaking ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence River, the port of Montreal was closed from December to May, limiting any advantage that the railway might have over its competitors.
CPR's primary Canadian competitor, the Grand Trunk Railway
(GTR), managed to avoid the winter ice problems in Montreal by using the ice-free port of Portland
, Maine, accessed by a route constructed by the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
which the GTR had purchased in the mid-1850s.
The Delaware and Hudson Railway
ran a feeder route down the valleys of Lake Champlain
and the Hudson River
to New York City
. The Maine Central Railroad
operated an arduous route over the White Mountains
from St. Johnsbury
, Vermont
to Portland.
Looking 350 miles directly east from Montreal however, CPR surveyors saw the Canadian port of Saint John, New Brunswick, was underutilized (dwarfed by the growth of Halifax, Nova Scotia
); and Saint John was accessible by a route across northern Maine which was less mountainous than other options for reaching the Atlantic coast.
The CPR acquired the International Railway in the mid-1880s and surveyed a line running directly from Megantic to a point on the E&NA (then leased by the Maine Central) at Mattawamkeag. This portion of new railway would cross the International Boundary between Megantic, Quebec and Jackman, Maine
, thus the CPR organized two separate companies:
Construction under Chief Engineer James Ross
began in 1886–1887 and proceeded in both directions from various points on the route. The new line opened in June 1889 and CPR obtained trackage rights over the Maine Central from Mattawamkeag to Vanceboro, and purchased the New Brunswick Railway to acquire control of the route from Vanceboro to Saint John, as well as a branch line network in western New Brunswick and northern Maine.
The CPR operated its new line across Maine as its International of Maine Division for many years; the International Railway of Maine existing on paper for operating purposes, however the track and all operations became seamless in the CPR system.
The Quebec Central Railway
anticipated that the new CPR main line across Maine to its winter port of Saint John would result in traffic to Quebec City
, thus the QCR built a line from the CPR at Megantic north to Tring Junction and thence on to Vallee Junction in the Beauce River valley.
The north-south oriented Bangor and Aroostook Railroad
created an interchange with CPR at Brownville Junction, Maine, and had an earlier interchange where Bangor and Aroostook predecessor Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad reached the south end of Moosehead Lake
at Greenville Junction
. Bangor and Aroostook dismantled the Greenville branch in 1961.
In addition to interchanging with CPR at Vanceboro and Mattawamkeag, the Maine Central had an interchange with the CPR from 1906 to 1933 west of Greenville Junction where the Kineo branch
crossed at Somerset Junction enroute to Kineo Station connections with steamboats serving the Mount Kineo
House.
Two logging
railroads also interchanged with the International of Maine Division. There was an interchange at Jackman with Jackman Lumber Company's Bald Mountain Railroad from 1915 to 1926, and with the Ray Lumber Company (later Indian Lake Lumber Company) railroad at Ray Siding near Caribou Stream in Bowerbank Township
from 1912 to 1929.
in Montreal and Union Station in Saint John, where passengers could continue on the Intercolonial Railway to Moncton and Halifax.
Until the early 1960s, traffic on the International of Maine Division was extremely heavy and the railway was well-used.
The 201 mile section of railway across the state of Maine was operated directly by CPR from 1889 to 1988. The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958 and the provision of icebreaking services for the port of Montreal by the new Canadian Coast Guard
after the 1960s saw the importance of a winter port at Saint John diminish.
, the CPR line became infamous for being the sabotage target of a German army officer. The United States was still a neutral country at that point and CPR was not permitted to transport war material and troops across US soil on the way to Saint John; most war goods for Canada's war effort were transported entirely in Canada on the government-owned Intercolonial Railway route instead. However Imperial Germany was convinced that CPR's route across Maine was being used for the war effort and sought to destroy the Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge
over the St. Croix River between Vanceboro, Maine
and St. Croix, New Brunswick. The officer travelled to Vanceboro on a Maine Central passenger train and stayed several nights in the local hotel, then laid explosives which detonated but did not destroy the bridge. He was arrested and then jailed by the United States before eventually being extradited and jailed in Canada.
Government investment in the 1970s for an intermodal container terminal and various improvements at Saint John resulted in some freight traffic increases and CPR invested in infrastructure improvements over the route, however by the 1980s, it was in severe decline as changes in shipping patterns and cargo logistics saw CPR make less and less return on the line.
In 1978, Via Rail Canada took over operation of CPR passenger services and The Atlantic Limited was changed to become the Atlantic and service was extended east from Saint John to Halifax. Passenger traffic increased but government cutbacks in 1981 saw the train discontinued, removing passenger service from the Montreal-Saint John route for the first time since the route opened in 1889. The Atlantic was restored in 1985 and remained in daily service until 1990 and then tri-weekly service thereafter.
In 1988, CPR organized all its lines east of Montreal into Maine and the Maritimes (including its Dominion Atlantic Railway
subsidiary in Nova Scotia) under a new subsidiary called the Canadian Atlantic Railway
(CAR). The CAR experiment was short-lived as its lines were still losing money, despite abandoning many of its small rural branch lines in western New Brunswick and northern Maine. CPR applied in 1993 to abandon the mainline from Montreal to Saint John but was refused by government regulators.
discontinued passenger service with the Atlantic on December 17, 1994, and the line has not had dedicated passenger service since then.
The section from Saint John to the Maine-New Brunswick border was purchased by New Brunswick Southern Railway
, a subsidiary of J.D. Irving Limited, an industrial conglomerate and major traffic source in Saint John. The section from the Maine-New Brunswick border west to Mattawamkeag (where it interchanges with Guilford Rail System) and on to Brownville Junction (where it interchanges with Bangor and Aroostook Railroad) was also sold to a JDI subsidiary, Eastern Maine Railway. West of Brownville to Montreal, the route was purchased by Iron Road Railways
, the corporate owner of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad.
The bankruptcy of Iron Road in the early 2000s saw the western part of the system taken over by the newly organized Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway
, while JDI continues at the eastern end of the route.
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CPR) between Lac-Mégantic
Lac-Mégantic, Quebec
Lac-Mégantic is a town in Estrie on Lac Mégantic, a freshwater lake for which the town was named. Situated in the former Frontenac County in the historic Eastern Townships, Lac-Mégantic is the seat of Le Granit Regional County Municipality and of the judicial district of...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
and Mattawamkeag
Mattawamkeag, Maine
Mattawamkeag is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States located where the Mattawamkeag River joins the Penobscot River. The population was 825 at the 2000 census.-Railroad history:Mattawamkeag's history is inextricably linked to the railroad....
, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, closing a key gap in the railway's transcontinental main line to the port of Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
.
Winter alternative to Montreal
The CPR completed its route from MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec to Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
in 1885. In the decades prior to the use of ice breaking ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and St. Lawrence River, the port of Montreal was closed from December to May, limiting any advantage that the railway might have over its competitors.
CPR's primary Canadian competitor, the Grand Trunk Railway
Grand Trunk Railway
The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...
(GTR), managed to avoid the winter ice problems in Montreal by using the ice-free port of Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, Maine, accessed by a route constructed by the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad
The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad , known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short line railroad operating between Portland, Maine on the Atlantic Ocean and Montreal, Quebec on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Canada-U.S...
which the GTR had purchased in the mid-1850s.
The Delaware and Hudson Railway
Delaware and Hudson Railway
The Delaware and Hudson Railway is a railroad that operates in the northeastern United States. Since 1991 it has been a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway, although CPR has assumed all operations and the D&H does not maintain any locomotives or rolling stock.It was formerly an important...
ran a feeder route down the valleys of Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
and the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The Maine Central Railroad
Maine Central Railroad
The Maine Central Railroad Company was a railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. It operated a mainline between South Portland, Maine, east to the Canada-U.S...
operated an arduous route over the White Mountains
White Mountains (New Hampshire)
The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...
from St. Johnsbury
St. Johnsbury, Vermont
St. Johnsbury is the shire town of Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 7,571 at the 2000 census. St. Johnsbury is located approximately northwest of the Connecticut River and south of the Canadian border.St...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
to Portland.
Looking 350 miles directly east from Montreal however, CPR surveyors saw the Canadian port of Saint John, New Brunswick, was underutilized (dwarfed by the growth of Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
); and Saint John was accessible by a route across northern Maine which was less mountainous than other options for reaching the Atlantic coast.
Existing railways
Some sections of a direct railway route between Montreal and Saint John already existed in the 1880s:- The International Railway began operating in 1875 between Sherbrooke, Quebec and Lac-Mégantic, Quebec to service the forest industry. As suggested by the name of the company, its builders envisioned extending into Maine. This company was the successor to the St Francis and Megantic International Railway.
- The European and North American RailwayEuropean and North American RailwayThe European and North American Railway is the name for three historic Canadian and American railways which were built in New Brunswick and Maine....
was constructed as part of a plan to link the Maritime provincesMaritimesThe Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
with the North American rail network at Portland. Organized as separate companies, the E&NA had built a section from Shediac, New BrunswickShediac, New BrunswickShediac is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Situated on Shediac Bay, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait, the town calls itself the "Lobster Capital of the World" and hosts an annual festival every July which promotes its ties to lobster fishing; the largest lobster...
west to Saint John in the late 1850s but had gone bankrupt and the colonial government had assumed its operation. The E&NA built a western extension from Saint John to the International Boundary at St. Croix, New Brunswick and VanceboroVanceboro, MaineVanceboro is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The town was named after landowner William Vance. The town is located at the eastern terminus of Maine State Route 6. Vanceboro is across the St. Croix River from St. Croix, New Brunswick, Canada, to which it is connected by the Saint...
, Maine during the 1860s, while the E&NA in Maine had built from BangorBangor, MaineBangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
up the Penobscot RiverPenobscot RiverThe Penobscot River is a river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's West Branch and South Branch increases the Penobscot's length to , making it the second longest river system in Maine and the longest entirely in the state. Its drainage basin contains .It arises from four branches...
valley and then across the lowlands of eastern Maine to the border at Vanceboro-St. Croix in 1869. Another bankruptcy at the E&NA saw the New Brunswick portion from Saint John to the border purchased by the New Brunswick RailwayNew Brunswick RailwayThe New Brunswick Railway was a historic Canadian railway operating in western New Brunswick. Its headquarters were in Woodstock.The original NBR lines were built to the narrow gauge of...
and the Maine portion from Bangor to the border leased by the Maine Central Railroad.
Building the International of Maine
A roughly 100 mile / 160 km gap between Mattawamkeag and Megantic required new construction to complete the Montreal-Saint John direct route.The CPR acquired the International Railway in the mid-1880s and surveyed a line running directly from Megantic to a point on the E&NA (then leased by the Maine Central) at Mattawamkeag. This portion of new railway would cross the International Boundary between Megantic, Quebec and Jackman, Maine
Jackman, Maine
Jackman is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 718 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
, thus the CPR organized two separate companies:
- The International Railway was incorporated federally in Canada for the portion between Megantic and the border. In 1886 it was sold to the Atlantic and North-West Railway, a CPR subsidiary.
- The International Railway of Maine was incorporated in the state of Maine to cross the sparsely populated Appalachian MountainsAppalachian MountainsThe Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
between the border and Mattawamkeag and assumed the charter of a previous company of the same name that had been organized in 1871. It was also sold to the Atlantic and North-West in 1886. A little known 374-meter (1227-foot) long steel trestle 38 meters (124 feet) above Ship Pond Stream near Onawa was replaced by a viaduct in 1931. Until 6 July 1960, railway employees along this remote line were paid from the last pay carPay carA pay car was an official railway car operated as a mobile bank to disburse cash wages to railway employees. Railway company employees were widely dispersed with some maintaining track in relatively remote locations, while others moved from place to place with train crews...
operating in the United States or Canada.
Construction under Chief Engineer James Ross
James Ross (Canadian businessman)
James L. Ross , was a Scottish-born Canadian civil engineer and businessman, who developed his fortune in railway construction.-Early life:...
began in 1886–1887 and proceeded in both directions from various points on the route. The new line opened in June 1889 and CPR obtained trackage rights over the Maine Central from Mattawamkeag to Vanceboro, and purchased the New Brunswick Railway to acquire control of the route from Vanceboro to Saint John, as well as a branch line network in western New Brunswick and northern Maine.
Interchange points
The new CPR line across Maine to Saint John was the last link in creating a transcontinental railway, although the section from Mattawamkeag to Vanceboro was operated under trackage rights. In 1955, the Maine Central purchased the E&NA shares for approximately $3 million USD and in 1974, CPR purchased the Mattawamkeag-Vanceboro portion from the Maine Central, finally securing ownership and operation of its entire transcontinental network.The CPR operated its new line across Maine as its International of Maine Division for many years; the International Railway of Maine existing on paper for operating purposes, however the track and all operations became seamless in the CPR system.
The Quebec Central Railway
Quebec Central Railway
The Quebec Central Railway was a railway in the Canadian province of Quebec, that served the area of Quebec called the Eastern Townships, south of the St. Lawrence River. Its headquarters was in Sherbrooke. It was originally incorporated in 1869 as the Sherbrooke, Eastern Townships and Kennebec...
anticipated that the new CPR main line across Maine to its winter port of Saint John would result in traffic to Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, thus the QCR built a line from the CPR at Megantic north to Tring Junction and thence on to Vallee Junction in the Beauce River valley.
The north-south oriented Bangor and Aroostook Railroad
Bangor and Aroostook Railroad
The Bangor and Aroostook Railroad is a defunct United States railroad company, that brought rail service to Aroostook County, Maine. Brightly painted BAR box cars attracted national attention in the 1950s. First-generation diesel locomotives operated on BAR until they were museum pieces...
created an interchange with CPR at Brownville Junction, Maine, and had an earlier interchange where Bangor and Aroostook predecessor Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad reached the south end of Moosehead Lake
Moosehead Lake
Moosehead Lake is the largest lake in the U.S. state of Maine and the largest mountain lake in the eastern United States. Situated in the Longfellow Mountains in the Maine Highlands Region, the lake is the source of the Kennebec River. Towns that border the lake include Greenville to the south and...
at Greenville Junction
Greenville, Maine
Greenville is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,623 at the 2000 census. The town is centered around the lower end of Moosehead Lake, the largest body of fresh water in the state. Greenville is the historic gateway to the north country and a center for...
. Bangor and Aroostook dismantled the Greenville branch in 1961.
In addition to interchanging with CPR at Vanceboro and Mattawamkeag, the Maine Central had an interchange with the CPR from 1906 to 1933 west of Greenville Junction where the Kineo branch
Somerset Railroad (Maine)
The Somerset Railroad was built to serve a large wooden Victorian era destination hotel on Moosehead Lake. The railway became part of the Maine Central Railroad in 1911; and a portion remains in intermittent operation by Pan Am Railways.-History:...
crossed at Somerset Junction enroute to Kineo Station connections with steamboats serving the Mount Kineo
Mount Kineo
Mount Kineo, situated beside Moosehead Lake in Maine, is in the northern Maine forest, which stretches north to Canada. Kineo is a peninsula, comprising 1,150 acres , which extends from the easterly shore into the lake...
House.
Two logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
railroads also interchanged with the International of Maine Division. There was an interchange at Jackman with Jackman Lumber Company's Bald Mountain Railroad from 1915 to 1926, and with the Ray Lumber Company (later Indian Lake Lumber Company) railroad at Ray Siding near Caribou Stream in Bowerbank Township
Bowerbank, Maine
Bowerbank is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 123 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
from 1912 to 1929.
Ray Lumber Company Locomotives
| Number | Builder | Type | Date | Works number | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line... |
Shay locomotive Shay locomotive The Shay locomotive was the most widely used geared steam locomotive. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive... |
21 August 1912 | 2560 | purchased new; sold to Appalonia Lumber Company of Pelahatchie, Mississippi Pelahatchie, Mississippi Pelahatchie is a town in Rankin County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,461 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.Pelahatchie means "Crooked Creek " in the Choctaw language.-Geography:... |
| 2 | Manchester Locomotive Works Manchester Locomotive Works Manchester Locomotive Works was a manufacturing company located in Manchester, New Hampshire, that built steam locomotives in the 19th century. The first locomotive they built was for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in March 1855. In 1901, Manchester and seven other locomotive... |
4-4-0 4-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-0 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles , four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and no trailing wheels... |
May 1884 | 1195 | formerly Bangor and Aroostook Railroad #201; purchased 1913 |
Passenger and freight service
The new route was served by CPR's passenger rail service between Windsor StationWindsor Station (Montreal)
Windsor Station is a former train station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formerly serving as the city's Canadian Pacific Railway Station.Windsor Station was the Canadian Pacific Railway's headquarters built between 1887 and 1889. The Romanesque Revival building was designed by New York architect...
in Montreal and Union Station in Saint John, where passengers could continue on the Intercolonial Railway to Moncton and Halifax.
Until the early 1960s, traffic on the International of Maine Division was extremely heavy and the railway was well-used.
The 201 mile section of railway across the state of Maine was operated directly by CPR from 1889 to 1988. The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1958 and the provision of icebreaking services for the port of Montreal by the new Canadian Coast Guard
Canadian Coast Guard
The Canadian Coast Guard is the coast guard of Canada. It is a federal agency responsible for providing maritime search and rescue , aids to navigation, marine pollution response, marine radio, and icebreaking...
after the 1960s saw the importance of a winter port at Saint John diminish.
Vanceboro sabotage attempt
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the CPR line became infamous for being the sabotage target of a German army officer. The United States was still a neutral country at that point and CPR was not permitted to transport war material and troops across US soil on the way to Saint John; most war goods for Canada's war effort were transported entirely in Canada on the government-owned Intercolonial Railway route instead. However Imperial Germany was convinced that CPR's route across Maine was being used for the war effort and sought to destroy the Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge
Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge
The Saint Croix-Vanceboro Railway Bridge is a long railway bridge crossing the St. Croix River from St. Croix, New Brunswick, Canada to Vanceboro, Maine, United States. A deck truss design, it is owned and operated by the New Brunswick Southern Railway....
over the St. Croix River between Vanceboro, Maine
Vanceboro, Maine
Vanceboro is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The town was named after landowner William Vance. The town is located at the eastern terminus of Maine State Route 6. Vanceboro is across the St. Croix River from St. Croix, New Brunswick, Canada, to which it is connected by the Saint...
and St. Croix, New Brunswick. The officer travelled to Vanceboro on a Maine Central passenger train and stayed several nights in the local hotel, then laid explosives which detonated but did not destroy the bridge. He was arrested and then jailed by the United States before eventually being extradited and jailed in Canada.
Traffic declines
In 1955, CPR created a limited stop express passenger train named The Atlantic Limited. This daily train operated overnight from Montreal to Saint John and vice versa, with full service diner, observation and coach/sleeper cars.Government investment in the 1970s for an intermodal container terminal and various improvements at Saint John resulted in some freight traffic increases and CPR invested in infrastructure improvements over the route, however by the 1980s, it was in severe decline as changes in shipping patterns and cargo logistics saw CPR make less and less return on the line.
In 1978, Via Rail Canada took over operation of CPR passenger services and The Atlantic Limited was changed to become the Atlantic and service was extended east from Saint John to Halifax. Passenger traffic increased but government cutbacks in 1981 saw the train discontinued, removing passenger service from the Montreal-Saint John route for the first time since the route opened in 1889. The Atlantic was restored in 1985 and remained in daily service until 1990 and then tri-weekly service thereafter.
In 1988, CPR organized all its lines east of Montreal into Maine and the Maritimes (including its Dominion Atlantic Railway
Dominion Atlantic Railway
The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
subsidiary in Nova Scotia) under a new subsidiary called the Canadian Atlantic Railway
Canadian Atlantic Railway
The Canadian Atlantic Railway is a historic Canadian and U.S. railway that existed from 1988 to 1994.The CAR was created in September 1988 as a business unit of CP Rail System to serve the Maritime Provinces and state of Maine...
(CAR). The CAR experiment was short-lived as its lines were still losing money, despite abandoning many of its small rural branch lines in western New Brunswick and northern Maine. CPR applied in 1993 to abandon the mainline from Montreal to Saint John but was refused by government regulators.
Abandonment and sale
In 1994 it applied again for abandonment and permission was granted for the end of that year. Shippers and communities along the route were upset and urged CPR to sell the line, which it finally did in sections on January 1, 1995. In advance of the pending abandonment and later sale of the line, Via RailVIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
discontinued passenger service with the Atlantic on December 17, 1994, and the line has not had dedicated passenger service since then.
The section from Saint John to the Maine-New Brunswick border was purchased by New Brunswick Southern Railway
New Brunswick Southern Railway
The New Brunswick Southern Railway and Eastern Maine Railway form a 189-mile railway system operating a former Canadian Pacific Railway mainline between Saint John, New Brunswick and Brownville Junction, Maine....
, a subsidiary of J.D. Irving Limited, an industrial conglomerate and major traffic source in Saint John. The section from the Maine-New Brunswick border west to Mattawamkeag (where it interchanges with Guilford Rail System) and on to Brownville Junction (where it interchanges with Bangor and Aroostook Railroad) was also sold to a JDI subsidiary, Eastern Maine Railway. West of Brownville to Montreal, the route was purchased by Iron Road Railways
Iron Road Railways
Iron Road Railways Incorporated was a railroad holding company which owned several short line railroads in the U.S. state of Maine, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia....
, the corporate owner of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad.
The bankruptcy of Iron Road in the early 2000s saw the western part of the system taken over by the newly organized Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway
Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway
The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway is a Class II freight railroad operating in the U.S. states of Maine and Vermont and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec. Its Canadian subsidiary is the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Canada Company. The entire system is owned by Rail World,...
, while JDI continues at the eastern end of the route.