WATERVILLE MAINE! Exploring the Heart of the Maine Central, Pan Am Power Galore!

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Oh yeah and by the way MEC 619 was in there towards the beginning 😎

[@WHJeffB]

Excellent!!! Love those wide/"safety" cabbed GP's!

[@andreasmith747]

Really enjoying this one! Watching it a bit at a time...more full comment will follow...wanted to say that I just heard that Jim Lafayette passed away last night. I am so sorry. What a loss and what a gift he was and still is. I know he is smiling down on you and your dedication to documenting all things rail and train. ❤🚉🚄🚋🚈🚆🚅❤

[@andreasmith747]

Excellent video! Love that night train. Those Pan Am/Guilford locomotives were awesome. Great shots of your driver's head too, lol!... Cool box car action at 13:45+...that was some nice graffiti on that first one...plus great shade of blue on those Pan Am locos...(this is what I notice because I'm such a Railfan expert, haha!) Lastly, never knew that Poland Springs H20 is carried by train! Very cool.

[@drc930]

Awesome video! Great shots of the switching action.

[@HinckleyBranchRailfan]

Great catches! 25:13 is a great one. And the SAPPI actually goes 10 mph and since the Hinckey Branch is 9 miles long, and takes less than hour to go between the Mill and Waterville.

[@geraldcates7785]

The boxcars going to the South African Pulp and Paper Industry (SAPPI) mill are normally empty, for loading with paper for shipping. The tanks and hoppers are usually loaded with chemicals of one kind or another for use in the making of paper.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

Gonna miss this one Harrison, but I'll definately catch the "re-run!" I'm doing a train show this weekend and leaving a day early to help with the set-up. In case anyone's interested, it's Saturday the 28th from 9:00 to 3:00 at the East Rivanna Fire Hall, 3501 Steamer Drive, Keswick, Va 22947. Keswick's in the Charlottesville area, about an hour and a half west of Richmond. Admission $5 for adults and children under 12 free. At last count there'll be 70-80 tables of toy and model trains and ralroadiana for sale. If you're a fan of Harrison's stop by my tables and say "Hello!"

[@MrCTCuban26]

Was curious as to what those blue containers carried, never crossed my mind about the Poland spring water. Thanks for the information. Loved the video. Good Job.

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Thank you!!

[@StephenKoferl]

Nice catches, have family and friends up there.

[@Enjoyer.762]

Always guaranteed power variety bonus points when railfanning Pan Am.

[@NorthCountryTrains]

I saw a lashup on Pan Am today that’s sure to get some extra points lol. Thanks

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

Worth the wait! Nice catches Harrison! And I didn't think there were any Guilford-painted locomotives around anymore. And "Bless you!" on the sneezes! I have seen Poland Springs water for sale here in VA, so at least it makes it down here. And let me add my condolances to Andrea's on the loss of your friend Jim Lafayette. At least he had the satifaction of having someone like you to "carry the torch" into the future for him.

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Thank you Wayne. Glad you caught the sneezes 😪

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

@@NorthCountryTrains You're welcome Harrison! You know, I blurted out "Bless you!" as soon as I heard 'em! A reflex, don't ya know?

[@geraldcates7785]

When I started working for the Maine Central Railroad in 1974, the main eastbound and westbound trains were designated "RB 1 and RB 3, running from Rigby Yard in So. Portland to Bangor Yard (you can guess its endpoint), and the return trips BR 2 and BR 4! They would set off cars where needed, and a major setoff point was Waterville! Back then, a given train might then go from Waterville to Portland either via the "Back Road" through Oakland - and Lewiston/Auburn, or via the "Lower Road" through Augusta - Brunswick! That all changed after 1981 with the Maine Central's purchase by Timothy Mellon, signaling what many consider the death of the Maine Central!

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Thank you so much for your insight Gerald! Neat information, crazy it’s just a single mainline between Portland and Waterville now.

[@geraldcates7785]

@@NorthCountryTrains -- Yes! That is the track we used to call the "Back Road"! And, even I used to call it Portland, although, technically, the train doesn't actually end its journey until it reaches "Rigby Yard" in So. Portland. If you haven't yet seen Rigby Yard, there is a spot on Route 1 in South Portland where you pass over the railroad tracks at the very north end of Rigby Yard. Going South, as you pass over that overpass, looking leftward. you get a pretty decent view of the bulk of Rigby Yard.

[@NorthCountryTrains]

@@geraldcates7785 I’ve been there! Check out my railfanning in Maine playlist to see a couple of videos filmed there, from 2020 and 2021.

[@Joe-d7m6k]

Mellon === absolute. Crap.

[@BranchlineGeepProductions]

Nice shots!

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Thanks!

[@Maine_Railfan]

Nice catches!

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Thanks, and thanks for all your help and advice on this trip. I hope I did your territory some justice! The final (and in my opinion the best) part of the trip will come out next Friday.

[@chunkpowers]

Gonna be hilarious when CSX buys up Pan Am and they get their crap back. lol

[@NorthCountryTrains]

I know right, strange twist of fate.

[@geraldcates7785]

Also! Have you ever heard about the Wiscasset, Waterville, and Farmington "Railway. They are a "two-footer", historical Steam Locomotive railway done near Wiscasset, in Alna, Maine! I won't say any more, but you can find out more at their website. I am not affiliated with them, however, I have donated to them a couple of times. They are a tax-deductible charity!

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Yes I have! I visited once when I was little, and I hope to return in the next couple years.

[@geraldcates7785]

By the way! "Skow" in the name Skowhegan is pronounced just like the class of boats: (scow)! Thanks for questioning that, so someone might correct you (hopefully gently)! 😎

[@mainecoastrailfan]

Some Pan Am action isn't a bad way to round off the night before heading to work on the trains in the morning!

[@ColbyTD]

Do you happen to have a record of what time that SAPPI train was heading north? The SAPPI to Waterville run happens daily like clockwork, but me and the kids have never been able to figure out when it heads back north.

[@NorthCountryTrains]

I wasn’t recording with my phone so I don’t know for sure but I can tell you it was late that day, around 12:30 or later.

[@Enjoyer.762]

Heard CSX was supposedly trying to purchase Pan Am. Seems rather odd since back in 2018 CSX wanted to sell their B&A mainline from Selkirk NY to Worcester MA and get out of New England entirely. NS and Pan Am has the joint venture on the old B&M from Albany NY to Boston MA. Not sure how that complicates things.

[@NorthCountryTrains]

I think CSX will get District 1 and 2, and NS will end up getting District 3 one way or another. But only time will tell

[@mainecoastrailfan]

@@NorthCountryTrains CSX wants the Maine Central not the Boston & Maine. The DOJ just proposed that if CSX buys Pan Am they have to sell off Pan Am Southern to avoid a monopoly with them controlling the 2 major West-East rail lines into Boston, and to avoid Genesee & Wyoming having a complete monopoly over rail traffic heading north into Southern Vermont. I think long term CSX is going to fight CP over the New Brunswick Southern for control of the port of St. John, so that they can compete against CN being the only Class 1 railroad serving Maritime Canada, that being at the port of Halifax in Nova Scotia.

[@Enjoyer.762]

@@NorthCountryTrains I think NS is getting screwed in this merger deal. What CSX has proposed reroutes the majority of rail traffic on to the B&A line. Supposedly, Genesee & Wyoming will be contracted to operate the B&M from Ayer MA to Rotterdam NY. I guess Pan Am employees will get absorbed between CSX and Genesee & Wyoming. I bet CSX tries to layoff as many as they can get away with.

[@elias560]

Is this one of those trains that go super slow because i'm tryna catch out.

[@RDC2003]

I’m going to waterville

[@alcobufff]

Hi I'm putting together a KZbin video on the Gilford D&H merger. Would it be ok if I used some of this footage?

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Absolutely, please email me and let me know which clips you would like.

[@williaml8474]

How do you know they might be in Notch 8? Where did the name Guilford come from?

[@NorthCountryTrains]

Now that I think about it it was more likely notch 6 or 7. And I don’t actually know about where Guilford came from, good question!

[@Joe-d7m6k]

Guilford was/is the town where Mellonhead lives.

[@colinthepanamerican]

GE C40-8 Rolling Coal Here Lol

[@jamesburnside3023]

Great video invest in tripod make it that much better

[@NorthCountryTrains]

I do have a tripod and I was using it most of the video. It is time for an upgrade though... one of the legs tends to fall of mine LOL

[@dodge-ut6ti]

To bad about the getto paint scheme on the box cars.