Bridgton and Saco River Railroad

Bridgton and Saco River Railroad

Company type	Private
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	1882
Defunct	1941
Headquarters	Bridgton, Maine , United States
Area served	Bridgton, Harrison, Maine
Products	Passenger and freight rail service

The Bridgton and Saco River Railroad (B&SR) was a narrow gauge railway that operated in the vicinity of Bridgton, Maine and Harrison, Maine. It linked up with the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad (which later became the Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division) near Hiram, Maine along the Saco River.

History

The B&SR’s construction was influenced by the expertise gained from the Sandy River Railroad, with Hinkley Locomotive Works adapting their Forney locomotives to enhance operational efficiency. Building commenced in 1882, and service began by early 1883.

Initial earnings enabled significant improvements, such as replacing wooden trestles with earthen embankments and erecting a granite masonry arch over Hancock Brook in 1895. The line was extended to Harrison in 1898 using heavier steel rails, and by 1906, all trestles had been substituted by earthen fills and plate girder bridges. The original locomotives were upgraded to models equipped with pilot wheels. Between 1907 and 1910, rail weight increased from 30 to as much as 50 pounds per yard before the Maine Central Railroad took control in 1912.

Once under Maine Central’s management, B&SR operated four daily mixed train round trips between Harrison and Bridgton Junction, typically running at speeds seldom exceeding . Passenger service required two complete train sets, including baggage cars, Railway Post Office cars, and coaches. In 1913, freight shipments consisted of lumber (18%), pulpwood (15%), coal (15%), apples and canned corn (11%), manufactured goods (11%), feed and grain (10%), express parcels (10%), and petroleum products (2%). Locomotive #8 was notably the last engine constructed for Maine’s narrow gauge railroads.

By 1926, financial difficulties arose when bond interest payments were missed. The town of Bridgton spearheaded a fifteen-year campaign to maintain the railroad, which was reorganized as the Bridgton and Harrison Railway. However, following an incident in 1930 where locomotive #8 derailed due to deteriorated rails on the Harrison extension, that section was dismantled. Despite setbacks, B&SR became a tourist draw as the final narrow gauge line offering passenger service during the late 1930s until operations ceased in September 1941. The rolling stock was preserved and later operated on Massachusetts’ Edaville Railroad before being returned to Maine’s Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum.

Traces of the B&SR still exist locally today, with informal excursions arranged by the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum. In 2020, the Bridgton & Saco River Railroad Museum was founded to develop a new railyard in Bridgton for museum displays and potential tourist rail services along the original trackbed. Additional details can be found at Bridgtonrailroad.org.

Geography

Milepost 0: Bridgton Junction – This interchange yard connected with the Portland and Ogdensburg (later Maine Central Railroad Mountain Division). A shared agent's station served both railroads. The B&SR featured six northbound spurs plus a turntable accompanied by a single-stall enginehouse. The freight house spur was dual gauge, alongside another dual gauge spur used for transferring narrow gauge equipment onto standard-gauge cars. Lacking a runaround track, southbound locomotives uncoupled trains on the main line and utilized gravity to roll cars into the yard.

Milepost 0.8: Scribner's – southbound spur.

Milepost 2.0: Rankin's Mill – small flag stop with a passenger shelter.

Milepost 2.7: Mullen Siding – northbound spur.

Milepost 3: Summit – highest elevation point on the railroad.

Milepost 4: Embankment over Barker Pond featuring granite masonry abutments marking the boundary between Hiram, Maine and Sebago, Maine.

Milepost 4.4: Twin Lake – small flag stop passenger shelter.

Milepost 5.4: Gravel Pit – northbound spur.

Milepost 7: The Notch – rock cut section through terrain.

Milepost 7.2: West Sebago – southbound spur with passenger shelter.

Milepost 7.5: Water Tank Siding – passing siding adjacent to Hancock Pond near superintendent Joseph Bennett's lakeside residence.

Milepost 9.0: Perley's Mills – southbound spur featuring a passenger shelter.

Milepost 10.5: Ingall's Road – southbound spur with passenger shelter.

Milepost 11.3: Kennett's – southbound spur.

Milepost 12.1: South Bridgton – southbound spur accompanied by a passenger shelter.

Milepost 13: High embankment with granite abutments spanning Willett Brook.

Milepost 13.5: Sandy Creek – agent's station with passing siding serving a sawmill operation.

Milepost 15.8: Bridgton – largest village serviced by Maine’s narrow gauge railways; yard included branches toward Harrison and Bridgton Junction along with storage sidings and spurs serving the agent's station, freight house, team track, oil distributor, grain warehouse, B&SR workshop, plus a turntable with a four-stall enginehouse.

Milepost 15.9: Farmers Market – two northbound spurs including one coal trestle.

Milepost 16.4: Forest Mills – passing siding featuring a northbound coal trestle spur.

Milepost 19.5: North Bridgton – agent's station with passing siding and separate freight house.

Milepost 20.7: Harrison – agent's station equipped with passing siding and multiple southbound spurs serving a freight house, cannery, grain storehouse, two-track car shed, plus a turntable with single-stall enginehouse.

Master Mechanic Caswell

Millard M. "Mel" Caswell, born in 1850 and foreman at the Bridgton machine shop, held the position of master mechanic for the B&SR until his retirement in 1926. His son, Wilfred H. Caswell (born 1876), inherited his mechanical skills and significantly contributed to the railroad’s engineering advancements. In 1898, Wilfred served as the engineer for the Harrison extension construction train and later oversaw the Portland Company’s creation of Maine’s first narrow gauge Forney locomotive with a pilot truck (B&SR locomotive no. 5) in 1906. He also acted as a consultant for Baldwin Locomotive Works on both B&SR locomotive no. 6 and a similar model for the Sandy River Railroad. In 1909, Wilfred assumed the role of master mechanic at the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad (SR&RL), where he utilized photography early on to document operations during the period of Maine Central Railroad ownership. Following a decline in SR&RL profits in 1922, Wilfred and his wife Blanche—who served as SR&RL’s bookkeeper—moved to Dedham, Massachusetts, where he found employment with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.

Locomotives

Number	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
1	Hinkley Locomotive Works	0-4-4T Forney locomotive	10/1882	1563	Dismantled in 1913
2	Hinkley Locomotive Works	0-4-4T Forney locomotive	10/1882	1564	Transferred to Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway in 1907
3	Portland Company	0-4-4T Forney locomotive	4/1892	624	Sold to Kennebec Central Railroad in 1922
Bo-Peep	Hinkley Locomotive Works	0-4-4T Forney locomotive	1877	1261	Leased from Phillips and Rangeley Railroad in 1893 during repairs on B&SR engines 1 and 3
4	H. K. Porter, Inc	0-4-4T Forney locomotive	8/1901	2360	Retired from service in 1927
5	Portland Company	2-4-4T Forney locomotive	11/1906	628	Withdrawn from use in 1927
6	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-4-4T Forney locomotive	9/1907	31827	Retired in 1935
7	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-4-4T Forney locomotive	12/1913	40864	Sold to Ellis D. Atwood for use on Edaville Railroad in 1941; operational and active since 2018 at Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum; currently located at WW&F.
8	Baldwin Locomotive Works	2-4-4T Forney locomotive	3/1924	57659	Acquired by Ellis D. Atwood for Edaville Railroad in 1941; largest Maine two-foot gauge engine; presently stored awaiting restoration at Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum; now housed at WW&F.
9	'Plymouth Locomotive Works	'10 ton diesel	(1930s)			'Purchased from Silver Lake Railroad, New Hampshire (2022); planned overhaul includes new prime mover and regauging to two-foot gauge.

Rolling stock

Number	Builder	Type	Date	Length	Capacity	Notes
10	'Laconia Car Company'	'baggage car'	'1882'	'41 feet (12.50 m)'	'no seats'	'Renumbered #31'
'11'	'American Car and Foundry Company#Jackson & Sharpe'	'baggage car'-railway post office'	'1900'	'41 feet 9 inches (12.73 m)'	'6 passengers'	'Renumbered #30; later converted into a coach; currently preserved at Boothbay Railway Village, Maine'
'15'	'Laconia Car Company'	'coach (rail)'	'1882'	'41 feet (12.50 m)'	'28 passengers'
'16'	'Laconia Car Company'	'coach (rail)'	'1882'	'41 feet (12.50 m)'	'28 passengers'
'17'	'Laconia Car Company'	'coach (rail)'	'1904'	'42 feet 9 inches (13.03 m)'	'28 passengers'	"Elthea" preserved on Edaville Railroad.
'18'	'American Car and Foundry Company#Jackson & Sharpe'	'coach (rail)'	'1894'	'39 feet 9 inches (12.12 m)'	'28 passengers'	'Purchased from Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway in 1911; preserved as Wiscasset and Quebec #3 at WW&F Railway Museum.'
'25'	'Portland Terminal Company'	'RPO'-smoking car'	'1913'	'42 feet 9 inches (13.03 m)'	'30 passengers'	'Rebuilt after damage from a collision in 1927 for express and passenger service; sold for use as a restaurant car in 1935. Locomotive #7 was permanently modified.'
'101'	'Laconia Car Company'	'caboose'	'1882'	'26 feet (7.92 m)'	'5 passengers'
'2-7'	'Portland Terminal Company'	'flat cars'	'1916'	'34 feet (10.36 m)'	'15 short tons (13 long tons; 14 t)'	"Largest flat cars among all Template:RailGauge gauge railways in Maine."
'8-10'	'Portland Terminal Company'	'flat cars'	'1915'	'34 feet (10 m)'	''	"Largest flat cars on any Template:RailGauge gauge railway within Maine."
'11-13'	'Portland Terminal CompanyTemplate:Sfnp Meade 1968 p=56Template:Sfnp Barney 1987 p=12-13'	'flat cars'	'1913'	"Template:Convert 34 ft m"	"15 tons"	"Among the largest flat cars used on any Template:RailGauge 2ft gauge railroad in Maine."
"14–21"	"Portland Company"	"flat cars"	"1903Template:Sfnp Barney 1987 p=13"	"Template:Convert 30 ft m"	"15 tons; car #21 equipped with a 3,000 US gallon oil tank for Standard Oil in 1920; tank later moved to #14."
"22"	"Portland Company"	"flat car"	"1899"	"Template:Convert 28 ft m"	"10 tons"	"Equipped with a 2,500 US gallon oil tank for Standard Oil in 1901; one of only two two-foot gauge tank cars known in Maine."
"23–27, 28–33, 34, 35–44"	"Various builders including Portland Company, B&SR, Laconia Car Company"	"flat cars"	"1882–1899"	"26–28 ft"	"10–15 tons"	"Several rebuilt or repurposed over time; car #34 is preserved at WW&F."
"45–62"	"Laconia Car Company, B&SR, Portland Company"	"box cars"	"1882–1900"	"26–30 ft"	"10–15 tons"	"Includes Maine's earliest thirty-foot freight cars built for any two-foot gauge line; some adapted for livestock transport or excursion purposes."
"63–73"	"Laconia Car Company, B&SR, Portland Terminal Company"	"box cars"	"1905–1913"	"30–34 ft"	"15 tons"	"These represent the largest boxcars ever operated on any two-foot gauge railway in Maine."

References

• 1895–1914

External links

• Bridgton and Saco River Narrow Gauge Railroad
• Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company & Museum
• Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway Museum