Railfan Sites in Maine
A self-guiding railfan tour
Railfan, railfan--where do you see trains in Maine?
Mapwork: If you're going to be looking for railfan locations, you'll need an industrial strength map resource. I definitely recommend you get a DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer, study it before your trip, and copy pertinent pages for your field work. You can find information here about Railfan Maps that are available.
Cities And Sites
- Auburn -- Danville Junction
- Auburn -- SL&A Engine House
- Brownville Junction
- Northern Maine Junction
- Oakfield
- South Portland
- South Portland -- Rigby Yard
- Wells
Auburn -- Danville Junction
Take the Maine Turnpike to exit 75, Auburn. When you get off the highway, you will end up at a traffic light at US-202/Washington Street. Take a right, and at the next light (1/4 mile), take a left onto Station Road (it's Kittyhawk Avenue to the right side of US-202) and follow the tracks to the junction area. From the diamonds looking due north, the St Lawrence and Atlantic goes to the northwest, and the Pan-American Railroad goes due north and then northeast.
Frograil thanks Jerry Kelley for this contribution.
AUBURN -- SL&A Engine House (February 2008)
Take the Maine Turnpike to exit 75, Auburn. When you get off the highway, you will end up at a traffic light at US-202/Washington Street. Take a right, and at the next light (1/4 mile), take another right onto Kittyhawk Avenue (it's Station Road on the left). This will wind past the local airport, and T at Lewiston Junction Road. Turn left and park in the vicinity of the tracks. The railroad area is posted for No Trespassing, so be careful not to do so.
There is usually some switching going one here and at the transload facility in the area. Frograil thanks Jerry Kelley for this contribution.
Brownville Junction (October 1999)
In an excellent article detailing the shortline/regional railroad operations in Maine, the October, 1999 issue of TRAINS Magazine discussed the role of Brownville Junction in detail, and the town is hereby included in this railfan guide. By way of supplementing that article, here are some driving directions. Your webauthor has never been to Maine, so I can only get you to the area -- you'll have to e-mail me with the details, and then I'll upgrade this entry.
From Bangor, go north on I-95 to exit 53, and go north on ME-16 (and eventually ME-11) for 28 miles to Brownville. Brownville Junction is a small town north of Brownville about 3 miles on ME-11. There is a rather tangled mass of tracks in the area, and you might want to plan on spending some time for exploration. For a really good review of what's happening in the area railroad-wise, see the referenced TRAINS Magazine article.
*[Note: This material supplements info provided by TRAINS Magazine in October of 1999. If you don't subscribe to TRAINS, well, you should. It's an excellent publication. Get on its web site here.]
Northern Maine Junction (October 1999)
In an excellent article detailing the shortline/regional railroad operations in Maine, TRAINS Magazine discussed the role of Northern Maine Junction in detail, and the town is hereby included in this railfan guide. By way of supplementing that article, here are some driving directions. Your webauthor has never been to Maine, so I can only get you to the area -- you'll have to e-mail me with the details, and then I'll upgrade this entry.
From I-95 in Bangor, take exit 45 and go west on US-2 some 8 miles or so until you reach Northern Maine Junction. According to the little MapQuest map I brought up, there are tracks going everywhere here, so you won't miss it when you get there. US-2 goes right thru the complex. Take some time and explore.
*[Note: This material supplements info provided by TRAINS Magazine in October of 1999. If you don't subscribe to TRAINS, well, you should. It's an excellent publication. Get on its web site here.]
Oakfield (October 1999)
In an excellent article detailing the shortline/regional railroad operations in Maine, TRAINS Magazine discussed the role of Oakfield in detail, and the town is hereby included in this railfan guide. By way of supplementing that article, here are some driving directions. Your webauthor has never been to Maine, so I can only get you to the area -- you'll have to e-mail me with the details, and then I'll upgrade this entry.
From I-95, way, way up north, take exit 60, and go southeast into Oakfield. Ridge Road in town crosses the tracks. You might also consider staying on I-95 northbound and going over the track complex to get an overview of the trackage. My little MapQuest map shows a junction/wye southeast of the highway, and several yard tracks northwest of it. According to TRAINS, the role of Oakville has been greatly expanded by the current rail operators, and should prove worth a visit.
*[Note: This material supplements info provided by TRAINS Magazine in October of 1999. If you don't subscribe to TRAINS, well, you should. It's an excellent publication. Get on its web site here.]
South Portland (October 1998)
South Portland is part of the Portland metro area, and US-1 runs thru the western edge of it. This is important, because US-1 goes right over Rigby Yard, the Guilford Rail System's Portland-area yard. The October 1998 TRAINS Magazine* has a photo taken from the bridge. It looks like a great place to begin a railfan exploration of the area.
*[Note: This material was adapted from info provided by TRAINS Magazine in October of 1998. If you don't subscribe to TRAINS, well, you should. It's an excellent publication. Get on its web site here.]
South Portland -- Rigby Yard (February 2008)
From the Maine Turnpike/I-95, take exit 44 and go north. Take the first exit, exit 1, and go southeast, past Mussey Road and Scarborough Connector, to a T at US-1/Main Street. Go north on US-1 until you cross over the northern yard throat of Rigby Yard. At the next traffic light, take a right onto Rumery Street, and then your first right onto Hobson Street. Note that every map I have shows this latter as Rigby Road, but it's the same street.
This is a good ground-level fan location, and is quite popular with area fans. Be careful not to enter railroad property.
Frograil thanks Jerry Kelley for this contribution.
Wells (June 11, 2002)
The State of Maine has provided railfans with a convenient, safe spot to view Guilford freight action and the Amtrak Downeaster. It's the platform for the new passenger service, complete with an elevated handicapped area. Parking is ample and free. Food and drink are available about 5 minutes away on busy US-1. To get there, take the Maine Turnpike (I-95) to the Wells exit. (NOTE: On I-95 there are two exit 2's. Use the ME-9/ME-109 exit, NOT the Kittery exits unless you like outlet shopping!). At the bottom of the ramp go straight through the lights into the station parking area. The area is well lit and quite safe.
The Downeaster runs 4 trains each way between Boston and Portland throughout the day. Guilford runs about 3 freights each way. Note that "east" is towards Portland, and "west" is towards Boston.
This information is almost verbatim from that provided by Paul Apollo, and Frograil is most appreciative.