Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad

Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad

Company type	Private
Industry	Timber railway, Logging
Founded	1927
Defunct	1933
Headquarters	Eagle Lake , United States
Area served	Penobscot County, Maine; Piscataquis County, Maine; North Maine Woods
Products	Pulpwood transportation

The Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad was a specialized timber railway constructed to facilitate the movement of pulpwood between distinct watershed areas within the North Maine Woods. Functioning from 1927 until 1933 across the isolated regions of Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties, this railroad’s steam engines remain abandoned at the Eagle Lake Tramway location, famously referred to as the 'ghost trains'—notably the sole locomotives found within a 100-mile radius.

History

Throughout the 20th century, spruce stands in Maine’s northern forests provided a continuous supply of pulpwood. Harvested logs were cut into four-foot segments and transported via sleds or logging haulers to nearby rivers or lakes, where they were floated downstream to paper manufacturing facilities. Pulpwood originating from the upper reaches of the Allagash River watershed was destined for the Great Northern Paper Company’s mill situated in Millinocket along the West Branch of the Penobscot River. The primary logistical obstacle involved transferring pulpwood from the northward-flowing Allagash River basin to that of the eastward-flowing Penobscot River.

Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad

In the winter of 1926–27, Édouard Lacroix’s Madawaska Company undertook an ambitious project, hauling heavy railroad equipment over frozen terrain from Lac-Frontière, Quebec, to Eagle Lake via Churchill Depot and snow-packed haul roads. This shipment encompassed a steam locomotive, two Plymouth gasoline-powered switching engines, extensive lengths of steel rail, and 45 railcars each designed to carry 12 cords of pulpwood. Three diesel-driven conveyor belts elevated logs 25 feet vertically over a span of 225 feet, loading each railcar within approximately 18 minutes. Lacroix completed construction of the railway extending to a pulpwood unloading trestle at Umbazooksus Lake’s northern shore, including a 1,500-foot trestle crossing Chamberlain Lake. Track laying began on June 1, 1927, with operations officially starting on August 1, 1927.

Operations

Initially, the railroad operated continuously around the clock with three trains composed of ten cars each, powered by a steam locomotive. While one train was en route with pulpwood, another was being loaded at Eagle Lake and a third unloaded at Umbazooksus Lake. The original steam locomotive (number 1), manufactured in 1897 and acquired in 1927, was in poor repair which restricted train length. After a week-long pause to ballast tracks and reduce derailments, service resumed with extended shifts of up to 15 hours daily and at least five round trips per day. In March 1928, a more robust steam locomotive (number 2) was introduced; it could haul fifteen loaded cars on a three-hour round trip schedule. Locomotive number 1 remained as a reserve unit while two Plymouth switcher engines handled loading duties at Eagle Lake and unloading at Umbazooksus Lake respectively.

The unloading dock included a 600-foot inland rail line raised six inches above track adjacent to the lake to aid in transferring pulpwood. The pulpwood cars featured sloped flooring and hinged side panels allowing logs to slide directly into the water efficiently. Bark buildup necessitated regular clearing by a Plymouth switcher to preserve sufficient water depth for floating logs. These operations transported roughly 6,500 cords of pulpwood each week, supporting Great Northern Paper Company’s output which accounted for about one-fifth of the nation’s annual paper production.

Fuel oil was essential for powering conveyors, switchers, and locomotives—locomotives alone consumed approximately 950,000 liters per operating season (June through November). Lacroix arranged winter transport of fuel oil from Lac Frontière in Canada to twelve storage tanks at Eagle Lake for use during summer months. To circumvent conflicts with American oil suppliers, Great Northern constructed a five-mile branch line—the Chesuncook and Chamberlain Lake Railroad—southward off the main route to bring supplies from Greenville, Maine. From there, materials traveled over 45 miles by road and across Chesuncook Lake aboard the side-wheel steamboat A. B. Smith. Transporting petroleum drums became a significant freight component on this corridor, exemplifying Great Northern’s integrated logistics strategy underpinning its pulpwood operations.

Closure

The demand for paper diminished during the Great Depression, leading to the cessation of pulpwood shipments in 1933 after nearly one million cords had been moved. The Plymouth switcher locomotives were reassigned to different functions, whereas the steam engines remained unused in the engine house as they awaited improved economic conditions. Following World War II, Great Northern opted for truck transportation instead of rehabilitating the railway, prioritizing cost-effectiveness. Eventually, the trestle gave way and fell into Chamberlain Lake, although personnel from the Maine Forest Service continued utilizing motor vehicles along the remaining two-mile stretch of track between Eagle Lake and Chamberlain Lake.

During the 1960s, the engine house became a popular spot for snowmobile enthusiasts; over time, locomotive components such as gauges and bells vanished, and the wooden cab of engine #1 was destroyed by fire in 1969. After the State of Maine acquired the Allagash Waterway area in 1966, it mandated the demolition of outdated structures to enhance safety and maintain natural scenery. In 1969, the Maine Forest Service was directed to move its headquarters and to incinerate the Forest House along with associated buildings, including the locomotive shed and most likely the trestle. Although boiler jackets and asbestos insulation were removed in 1995, the remaining locomotive shells still stand as industrial artifacts representing the Maine North Woods legacy.

In 2012, a group of volunteers carried out a modest restoration effort by raising and placing locomotives back onto their tracks.

Locomotives

Number	Builder	Type	Date	Works number	Notes
1	Schenectady Locomotive Works	4-6-0	1897	4553	Originally New York Central Railroad #63 class F53; initially constructed as Chicago Junction Railway #109; subsequently Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad #115
2	Brooks Locomotive Works	2-8-0	1901	4062	Former NYC #26 class G43a; built as Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway #780, later renumbered #5780