Out Behind The Shops
The view from across the Kennebec River along the the East Kennebec Trail in Winslow affords a view into the backside of the large Pan Am Railways backshop. Established as the system car shops of the new and growing Maine Central Railroad in 1886 the facility grew to employ over 2000 people at its peak and was the second largest employer in the city. The hub of the Maine Central's operations and the largest classification yard on the railroad the Waterville complex somehow outlasted every other facility that came into the Guilford fold excepting only the smaller Boston and Maine satellite shop at East Deerfield. Colonie shop on the D&H was shuttered, Billerica shop on the B&M closed and roundhouses in Bangor and Rigby all eventually met the wrecking ball.
Today the Waterville Roundhouse is the only working one left on the Pan Am system and the old MEC shops served as the only heavy car and locomotive facility still with a long working transfer table and everything. But you'd be forgiven if you thought the place was actually abandoned given the tattered and derelict look of the building's roof and walls and the rusted hulks of railcars and vehicles of all sorts and sizes laying about in disarray. The reality is that with the pending disappearance of Pan Am into the vast CSXT system the old shops here will almost assuredly be swept clean of all this junk and then shuttered and brokered for sale. While I certainly hope that I'm wrong about that, I don't believe that I am.
While looking through my long glass I was surprised to see this stainless steel relic from Gullford's early days. MEC 392 was never owned by the old Maine Central and was actually purchased by Guilford and used in the early 1980s on public excursions before things quickly turned sour. Acquired from Amtrak the Budd built 56 seat chair car was built for the New York Central though I don't know what year or what its original name and number was. Long out of service I was surprised to still see it out here, and I certainly wonder if it will survive....
Waterville, Maine
Saturday May 14, 2022
Out Behind The Shops
The view from across the Kennebec River along the the East Kennebec Trail in Winslow affords a view into the backside of the large Pan Am Railways backshop. Established as the system car shops of the new and growing Maine Central Railroad in 1886 the facility grew to employ over 2000 people at its peak and was the second largest employer in the city. The hub of the Maine Central's operations and the largest classification yard on the railroad the Waterville complex somehow outlasted every other facility that came into the Guilford fold excepting only the smaller Boston and Maine satellite shop at East Deerfield. Colonie shop on the D&H was shuttered, Billerica shop on the B&M closed and roundhouses in Bangor and Rigby all eventually met the wrecking ball.
Today the Waterville Roundhouse is the only working one left on the Pan Am system and the old MEC shops served as the only heavy car and locomotive facility still with a long working transfer table and everything. But you'd be forgiven if you thought the place was actually abandoned given the tattered and derelict look of the building's roof and walls and the rusted hulks of railcars and vehicles of all sorts and sizes laying about in disarray. The reality is that with the pending disappearance of Pan Am into the vast CSXT system the old shops here will almost assuredly be swept clean of all this junk and then shuttered and brokered for sale. While I certainly hope that I'm wrong about that, I don't believe that I am.
While looking through my long glass I was surprised to see this stainless steel relic from Gullford's early days. MEC 392 was never owned by the old Maine Central and was actually purchased by Guilford and used in the early 1980s on public excursions before things quickly turned sour. Acquired from Amtrak the Budd built 56 seat chair car was built for the New York Central though I don't know what year or what its original name and number was. Long out of service I was surprised to still see it out here, and I certainly wonder if it will survive....
Waterville, Maine
Saturday May 14, 2022