MAINE CENTRAL - Denis Hurst and Robert Hughes

Denis Hurst performs his own song 'Maine Central', with photographs by Robert Hughes.

[@TomOgden-hw8po]

Great song. Father was an engineer BM. Started at MEC. Got me a job at 18 as yard clerk in 84. 24/7 freight rolling 2 strikes later all over. Lived this story

[@irishrifle1]

Awesome song and pictures. It is truly unfortunate what happened to this once proud railroad, the Maine Central.

[@alanswett3221]

What a great video! Thanks, I worked there right out of high school This is where my work ethic came from. To bad alot of us could not have retired from there . It never should have been sold to a junk dealer!

[@geraldcates7785]

Alan, I am glad to see that you are still around! I am still kicking, as well. and still in Waterville! Gerry Cates

[@misterk58]

What a poignant, proud and beautiful portrait of the the Maine Central! The song is beautifully written and performed, and the photography is just superb!! First class all around, like the men who made her great....

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Many thanks, Ken.

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

Why did Maine Central shut down anyway?

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

@Joe Madej thank you.

[@mainecoastrailfan]

@@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan I will try to write this in as short of terms as possible, as its a bit of a complicated subject. Maine Central itself was fine, while much of the industry in Central and Southern Maine was beginning to dry up, most everything was still profitable. At the upper management level however, Maine Central as a corporate entity had bounced around several owners, much like the Bangor & Aroostook, and eventually it landed in the hands of man named Timothy Mellon. Mr. Mellon was and still is just a generic rich, greedy Wall Street type guy, who had a vision of a Northeastern rail system to compete with railroads like Canadian Pacific and Conrail, and make him the big bucks $$$. So he bought the Maine Central as his starting point, and then bought railroads like the Portland Terminal, Boston & Maine, Springfield Terminal, and Delaware & Hudson. Together it was a system spanning from Mattawamkeag Maine, to Philadelphia P.A. and Montreal Canada. However Mr. Mellon didn't and still doesn't understand how railroads work. His idea was to only operate the lines of railroads with high amounts of traffic, and simply abandon the rest. The result was he almost destroyed the New England rail system. Normally what happens is that all the branch lines, like the one in Rockland Maine, feed small amounts of money into the bigger system, making the whole thing profitable. And if one line isn't doing well, like a big factory closes down, its no big deal because there's lots of other lines to fill in the gaps. However what he did made it so that not only was there substantially less money being made, but the railroad was reliant on only a few big customers. To make up for this they cut wages, fired workers, and all that bad stuff. So in the 1980's there were huge labor strikes, basically freezing the moving of freight in New England. The result was the selling of the D&H railroad to Canadian Pacific, and the further consolidation of the size of the rail system. Guilford also put the final nail in the coffin for big industry in the state of Maine. Maine Central being bought by Mr. Mellon is the direct reason why Maine's factories simply don't exist anymore. Things got so bad that they actually had to change their name. Mr. Mellon bought the Airline company Pan Am, which was an attempt at making even more money, however when that failed, he sold the airline but kept the name, and rebranded Guilford as Pan Am Railways. You may have also noticed if you've ever seen a Pan Am line, that the tracks are in pretty bad condition, and that's no mistake either. To cut costs, Mr. Mellon hasn't put a single dollar into track maintenance in over 30 years on anything north of Yarmouth. However fast forwarding to 2021, this is the reason he's trying to sell everything to CSX. Trains on most of Pan Am can only go 10-15 miles an hour, and it takes so long now their loosing money. They have waited so long to do any kind of track work that the costs of rebuilding the track so that they go just 10 miles an hour faster, would be around 50-60 million dollars. Having said all of that, Maine Central itself is still actually a railroad. Most Pan Am locomotives wear "MEC" on the side of them, standing for Maine Central. Pan Am is more of a holding company, a temporary owner, of Maine Central. Personally, I think a new company should be formed to buy Pan Am, not some mega railroad like CSX. And restore the lines in Maine. It would cost a lot up front, but it can be done and if there are reliable railroads, industry would move back in and Maine could be a big manufacturing state again.

[@mainecoastrailfan]

This is an excellent song, I've watched it many times and it is very enjoyable!

[@jasonarnold8448]

A very passionately and wonderfully written song! This singer does make a very great point - no railfan ever wanted the railfanning scene to become as it is today. In fact, if you look at railroading today compared to the days of the MEC and other Class I's then, way too many changes that are often for the sad - everything is the same, lots of rail lines lost, and more so, railroad workers now often not friendly to railfans.

[@fostoriadistrictrailfan3907]

my least favorite part is all the m bells getting replaced with e bells. some e bells are cool, but avery railfan wants to see a m bell!

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

@@fostoriadistrictrailfan3907 I agree, mechanical bells are better.

[@alanswett3221]

Excellent video, thanks for sharing this. MEC was the best little Railroad

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@averillvision]

Great story told in song. Thanks, Denis and Al. I just picked up the link on BLOODLINES.

[@geraldcates7785]

I very much appreciate your song, and as a 21 year former Maine Central employee, I lived through the last days of that line. I lasted as Guilford employee until I was given a RR Disability after damaging my back. in the Signal Department! By the way, I still get in touch with Al Cook once in a while!

[@truckee08]

Hi Jerry, GREAT to hear from you!! I've retired from the Somerset Mill!!

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Hi Gerald. Thanks for your kind comment. I'll mention it to Al Cook - we have never met but exchange emails quite regularly... Denis

[@alanwbelcher]

Nice job! Thank you for sharing this lovely portrait of a wonderful railroad.

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Thank you very much!

[@hemihead68]

Great pictures, music and video editing !! Top Job !

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Many thanks!!

[@DanielHensley-lj7pr]

Top notch 👍

[@mainecentralofficial]

I approve this message

[@thecarguy455]

Outstanding

[@northrailproductions]

0:22 ay! #252!

[@Mountaindivisionrailfan252]

This is a great song!

[@CoreyKinley]

awesome

[@lpete2766]

The biggest shame there could ever be . the death of maine central railroad . i will never forget the Ry2 run .

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

This song is awesome

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Thanks for the compliment. Robert Hughes who provided the photographs for this video sadly passed away on 19th July. He worked on Maine Central and other railroads in his younger days. We never met face to face...

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

@@churnetvalleyliner why did it shut down?

[@TessyGamerDog]

0:22 is when you see the only train in that group operating today

[@jasonfeldman7497]

Where can we find a copy of this song to purchase?

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

Can I use this in a pan am railways compilation? I just want your permission before I do or don't.

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Sorry - only just read your note. You have my full permission to use. Let me know a bit more about the compilation. Denis

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

@@churnetvalleyliner as you know, pan am was taken over by csx. I wanted to make a tribute compilation since I'd seen a bunch before. The song is Maine Central, and many people referred to pan am as Maine central.

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Thanks for info. Do you have any outlet for your tribute? What is your intended audience? Anyway, please use the song in any way you choose.

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

@@churnetvalleyliner I don't have much of an audience, but I hope to target it toward railfans

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Sounds good - let me know how it goes. I'm sure Al Cook, a one-time employee of Maine Central who inspired the song and video, would be keenly interested in your compilation.

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

Can someone put lyrics in the comments? There's a part around the 1:38 area that I can't understand.

[@churnetvalleyliner]

Sorry - only just seen your comment. I think the lines you mean are: The new regime promised lean and mean And closed the PT and Bangor Yard

[@NorthernNewEnglandRailfan]

@@churnetvalleyliner Exactly there! Thank you very much!

[@richhood9934]

​@@churnetvalleyliner and "The PT" refers to the Portland Terminal, correct? Weren't they their own company? How'd Guilford manage to get their paws on it?

[@mec4703]

At least Pan Am still uses the MEC markings.

[@Joe-d7m6k]

Guilford is one of, if not the biggest reason,that the MEC is gone now.

[@boston_and_maine]

guilford/pan am was nothing but a railroad that tried being what it wasnt; an airline by brand, and an original beloved new england fallen flag by reporting mark.