Portland Company
| Industry | Railroad equipment |
|---|---|
| Founded | November 10, 1846 |
| Founder | |
| Defunct | 1978 |
| Headquarters | , |
The Portland Company was established on November 10, 1846, by John A. Poor together with Septimus Norris, an engineer affiliated with Norris Locomotive Works. It operated as a locomotive manufacturing foundry positioned at the Portland endpoint of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad, which linked Portland, Maine to Montreal. Production commenced in October 1847, with the first locomotive, named Augusta, completed in July 1848 for the Portland, Saco & Portsmouth Railroad (which later merged into the Boston and Maine Railroad). Over a span of several decades, the company constructed more than 600 steam locomotives at its Fore Street site. Alongside locomotives, it produced approximately 160 merchant and naval vessels, railcars, construction machinery, Knox automobiles, and various other items. Among its notable achievements were engines built for Civil War-era side-wheel gunboats such as and . With this extensive product range, Portland Company emerged as a prominent medium- to heavy-duty steel manufacturer in New England until it halted operations in 1978.
Today, the former industrial complex accommodates marine businesses including a marina and the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Co. & Museum. The Portland Company building remains the sole surviving 19th-century industrial edifice on the Portland waterfront, situated within the district known as Portland Foreside. In 2016, the Portland City Council sanctioned a historic district plan that permitted demolition of the old erecting shop while safeguarding seven other structures to enable development of public plazas and mixed-use projects. Later that year, proposals included relocating the principal structure—the 1895 Pattern Storehouse—to clear space for roadways, parking facilities, and new construction.
As of 2024, one of these buildings serves as the location for the restaurant Twelve.
Template:Track gauge-gauge locomotives for the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad
| Works number | Date | Type | Weight | Drivers | Cylinders | A&StL# | Name | GTR # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | September 1848 | 4-4-0 | 23 tons | 60" | 15x22 | 1 | Montreal | 101 |
| 5 | 30 December 1848 | 4-4-0 | 23 tons | 60" | 15x22 | 2 | Machigonne | 102 |
| 6 | 24 February 1849 | 4-4-0 | 22 tons | 60" | 15x22 | 3 | (1st) Oxford | 103 |
| 8 | 16 May 1849 | 4-4-0 | 24 tons | 60" | 14x20 | 4 | William P. Preble | 104 |
| 13 | 30 December 1949 | 4-4-0 | 22 tons | 66" | 15x20 | 5 | Waterville | 105 |
| 14 | 1 February 1850 | 4-4-0 | 22 tons | 66" | 15x20 | 6 | Coos | 106 |
Two-foot gauge locomotives
In 1890, Portland Company acquired pattern designs from Hinkley Locomotive Works and refined them to create a premier two-foot gauge locomotive model tailored for Maine’s railroads. This design integrated Victorian styling with enhanced power capabilities and became the preferred choice for passenger trains while larger engines were developed for freight duties. Between 1890 and 1907, Portland held a dominant position in producing freight cars for Maine’s two-foot gauge railroads.
The final two-foot gauge locomotive produced by Portland was an enlarged iteration of their original design but did not achieve significant success. Following Portland’s exit from locomotive manufacturing, Vulcan Iron Works constructed updated versions for the Monson Railroad in 1913 and again in 1918. Locomotives based on Portland’s design operated the last trains on several Maine lines including the Kennebec Central Railroad (1929), Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington Railway (1933), and Monson Railroad (1943).
616 622 624 628| Works number | Date | Type | Weight | Railroad | Number | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 615 | 7 October 1890 | '0-4-4 Forney locomotive' | '18 tons' | 'Phillips and Rangeley Railroad' | '1' | "Later renumbered as Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad #7" | |
| "22 October 1890" | '0-4-4 Forney locomotive' | '18 tons' | 'Sandy River Railroad' | '4' | "Subsequently became Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad #5" | ||
| "2 May 1891" | '0-4-4 Forney locomotive' | '18 tons' | 'Sandy River Railroad' | '5' | "Renumbered successively to Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad #6, Kennebec Central Railroad #4, then Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway #9; currently operational at WW&F Railway Museum" | ||
| "14 April 1892" | '0-4-4 Forney locomotive' | '19 tons' | 'Bridgton and Saco River Railroad' | '3' | "Later served as Kennebec Central Railroad #3 and Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway #8" | ||
| "20 September 1906" | '2-4-4 Forney locomotive' | '27 tons' | 'Bridgton and Saco River Railroad' | '5' |
Locomotives from Portland That Have Been Preserved
The following list details locomotives constructed by the Portland Company that have been saved from scrapping:
| Serial Number | Wheel Configuration (Whyte notation) |
Year Built | Operators | Current Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 233 | 4-4-0 | 1872 | Operated as Grand Trunk Railway number 40 | Exhibited at the Canada Science and Technology Museum |
| 622 | 0-4-4T Forney locomotive | 2 May 1891 | Served as Sandy River Railroad number 5 Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad number 6 Kennebec Central Railroad number 4 Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway number 9 |
Still in operation at the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway |
Archives and Documentation
- Portland Company archival materials housed at Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School.
Related Links
- Defunct locomotive manufacturers of the United States
- Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of the United States
- History of Portland, Maine
- Industrial buildings and structures in Portland, Maine
- 1846 establishments in Maine
- 1978 disestablishments in Maine
- American companies established in 1846
- American companies disestablished in 1978
- Defunct marine engineering companies of the United States
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- Companies of the United States by year of establishment