Northern Maine Junction
After returning non-stop to Bangor by air from the Center for Railroad Photography & Art’s highly successful annual conference, Conversations 2019, at Lake Forest College, I made an unanticipated decision to revisit Northern Maine Junction, located two miles west of the the airport. To me it was a sacred place.
The first time I visited Northern Maine Junction, six years earlier, I had driven from our summer home an hour and a half Down East to photograph a coaling tower there that was supposed to be still standing. When I arrived at the site a summer rainstorm with dark cloud cover enveloped me. No problem. I preferred photographing railroads under adverse weather conditions. To my surprise I discovered that there were two coaling towers. Later research revealed that until the early 1950’s the west tower served the freight locomotives of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad while the east tower served the passenger locomotives of the Maine Central Railroad.
This time before completing my recent round trip from Chicago to Bangor my objective was to quickly examine the Junction again to see if either of these two monoliths still existed. Several major ownership turnovers had occurred since the Bangor and Aroostook established the rail-head in the late 1800’s. In 2013 the railroad was carrying the mantel of the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway. After a major calamity took place near Lac Megantic the railroad changed hands again and it is now the Central Maine and Quebec Railway. I did not know what to expect.
With only my Apple XR iPhone camera in my pocket, I drove to the desolate site off Route 2 and discovered a number of surprises. It was a bright sunny day. The blue sky was punctuated with puffy white clouds blowing in the wind. The angle of the sun was low enough to let all vertical elements cast long shadows on the ground plane. I was a happy camper. No people or
railroad staff to bother me.
The two coaling towers are still standing and overlook a cleaner rail yard than in the past. The rails are straighter and the ballast well tamped. Never-the-less, as soon as I arrived I was struck by the stark stillness of the place and the silhouettes of the towers framing the old three story yard office.
With no one around to distract me, I roamed around the yard at will taking pictures with my smart phone camera. I have to admit that my XR furnished me with crisp, clear images and tremendous depth of field that I could not achieve with my other full size camera. The most distinctive advantage of my XR was the fact that I could immediately change the color filter to noir. I have always preferred black and white rendition for all of my railroad photography.
While carefully approaching the yard I was immediately struck by the presence of two dark green snow plows coupled to each other back to back. Together they made imposing silhouettes set against the clouds and wooded backdrop. Each was decorated with suggestive graffiti. Either gang identification or sexual innuendo ruled the day.
The only other rolling stock in sight were a series of extra long flat cars loaded down with large packages of wrapped wood products that were shipped down from northern Maine.
The two coaling towers appeared a little worse for wear since 2013. Their concrete components appeared to be suffering from steady disintegration. At one time the two towers were connected with an enclosed conveyor belt supported with a delicate steel truss across the width of the rail yard. The west tower received the coal in a pit. One half of the coal load was then hoisted up to its own bin and other half was steered to the east tower. The cylindrical west tower is still graced with its red builder’s plate—Roberts and Schaefer Co., Chicago USA.
. . . the railroad continues here and the spirit of the Bangor and Aroostook lives on.
The once sturdy yard office constructed with brick veneer had retained its window glazing until recently. Since its deactivation, the windows are now covered with plywood paneling. Sad, but at least the railroad continues here and the spirit of the Bangor and Aroostook lives on.
Last, but not least, the gigantic corrugated steel tunnel structure that erupts from the yard floor deserves attention. When it was operational ( now it is locked down ) it provided the safest, yet quickest access under the yard’s rail network to the coaling tower when strings of rail cars plugged the right of way. Today, the snow plows and tunnel entrance are adorned with colorful graffiti that is similar in some respects to ancient tablets recording sexual exploits and boozing.
In spite of all these machinations the remains of the day at Northern Maine Junction made my day.
David Kahler – Photographs and text Copyright 2019
Amazing what a phone camera can do — with the right photographer behind it. Amazing too the railroad structures that have stood for decades after their usefulness ended, but they plainly will not last forever; the always-spindly and now-decaying legs of that Maine Central coal dock do not bode well for its future, and I wonder whether the railroad or a strong wind will take it down one of these days. Thanks for taking us on a tour of this remarkable place, David.
Wonderful!! Thanks!!
David, thank you so much for the tour.
In circa 1961, my father did a snap of the coal dock at Derby.
It was at that time I found out that one of my great grandfathers worked for the B&A as a “Foreman, B&B.”
And cell phone camera’s are the railfan choice of cameras. They are so good now, soon no one will be able to hide with the excuse “it was only my cell phone camera.”
David,
This is an excellent article and amazing dramatic photos. I was wondering if you would be so kind to let me republish your story and photos in the NMRA British Region magazine?
Peter Bowen
Editor
Just as information, BOTH coal docks at Northern Maine Jct were the property of Bangor & Aroostook. An elaborate gantry crossed over the MEC main tracks from south to north to deliver coal to the pocket on the north side, primarily used for coaling passenger power going to/from Bangor Union Station.
Wonderful photos of a very interesting location. I always stopped at NMJ when vacationing in Maine during the 1980’s and ’90’s. I would go to the dispatchers office and they would give me a copy of the DOB and train lineup for the day. The Bangor and Aroostook was a thrifty outfit and it seemed like they brought their out of service cars and locomotives to NMJ for storage and possible cannibalization in case they needed a part. Lots of stuff stored there back then and as these great photos show NMJ is now largely empty.
I have always had an affection for old coaling towers, which once numbered in the hundreds. Now just a handful of these crumbling old ghosts still stand like lonely sentinels scattered across the country. To have two still standing at one spot is truly amazing. They are undoubtedly a link to an era which is now but a memory.
Enjoyed the article.