Downeaster207
A Mainer in the Midwest
Moved to a More Appropriate Category
Welcome to Carrabassett Valley in Northwestern Maine, home to the Carrabassett Valley Railroad (CBVR)
I have been working on this route roughly for two or three months all in my free time both at home and at work (yes my job does allow me time to work on my route, I'm blessed I know). The route originally was supposed to be a short line industrial set in possibly Pennsylvania or Virginia featuring a street running scene. The original length was to be 10 miles at the absolute maximum. But things change. I am now building a monstrous route that is set in Northwestern Maine within the Carrabassett Valley region, predominantly fictional with real locations. The route runs North to South from Eustis Maine, to Lac Mégantic Quebec stretching roughly 40 miles, and then East to West from Eustis Maine to Madison Maine stretching 43 miles. I will also be creating a section running from Eustis to Rumford Maine, and then if Im not sick of it by then recreating the journey from Rumford to Portland Maine an additional 63 miles straight shot so assume its going to be longer
I stream the construction of this route on my off days via youtube just incase any of you would like to come and watch the progress. It's my fifth Trainz Route, but first full blown project I have yet to back away from and have invested a large amount of time into. I am relatively new in terms of the Trainz community but have major ambitions. I will make one thing clear though. I am young and very new to the working world, I have a career with Southwest Airlines. My career and my family will come first and I will be sure to keep those of you who possibly follow this project informed via this thread, YouTube, and other forms of social media. I am far from completion but I want to share the process of construction as I go along. I want to be very involved in the community during this process and am open to all and any advice from anyone! Please feel free to correct me, advise me, or give me tips in suggestions on how to do something, or how to better improve my over all layout.
This line for the most part is fictional. The target goal is to model the fictional aspects of the line first before I even decide to go off and create anything else in terms of Pan American's line from Rumford to Portland. Being fictional I do have in mind what I intend the railroad to operate in terms of engines
EMD GP15-1
EMD GP38-2
EMD GP40-2w
EMD SD40-2
EMD SD40T-2
EMD SW1500
GE U18B
MLW RS18u
pretty simply and pretty old. If anyone is out there and is capable of maybe producing some reskins for me, I have a general idea of what I would like to see, so if you would like your work to be shown off every week to the world on youtube and be forever mentioned please feel free to message me and let me know, I would be greatly overjoyed!
The Backstory
In the early 50's the Maine Central Railroad expanded it's reach from Madison Maine to the Carrabassett Valley region to meet growing demands for the lumber industry. The line originally built ran exclusively from Madison to Eustis Maine, but within five years of completion a yard was built on the outskirts of the community that continued on to Rumford to further connect the Maine Central. By 1967 it was decided to extend the line to link up with Canadian Operators. This linkage would allow for Canadian freight to come down into Maine and be taken all the way to Portland to be put on ships and sent world wide. MEC would also capitalize on Maine's predominantly Tourist driven economy by operating Season passenger service from Lac Mégantic to Portland via the Carrabassett Division.
In the Late 70's during the divisions "heyday" it serviced 2 paper mills, 5 logging camps, 3 scrap yards, 14 warehouse's, 2 Saw Mill's and Maine's sole Coal Mine. Operations were kept up 24 hours of the day seven days a week except for Sunday mornings in the region. It was not until 1981 when Guilford Rail Systems acquired Maine Central, did things begin to change for the Division. The acquisition of MEC for Guilford was far from smooth on Carrabassett's end. The railroad struggles so bad that barely could turn a profit. Guilford's early history was met with Abandonments, labor unrest and strikes, and a horrible management style that would ultimately bring near death for the Carrabasett Division. Guilford began eliminating marginal low density routes. Routes like the Mountain Division, Calais Branch, and the Rockland Branch were all chopped off from Guilford's Service. Even a 16 mile stretch of track running from Lac Mégantic to Winston Maine (a fictional town) was abandoned as the railroad only ran twice a week from Lac Mégantic to Eustis. By 1991 industries along the Carrabassett Division were closing their doors due in part to the recession of 1990. In 1993 the line fell into disrepair and was limited entirely to a 10mph speed limit. This further slowed the effectiveness of shipping by railroad and most industries turned to Truck to ship their products. But being in rural Northwestern Maine proved that to be difficult for some business's. In 1995 the line itself was deemed a branch after the Salmon Lake Paper Mill Closed and was only serviced a few times a week via Rumford. A GP7 and Alco RS3 still in MEC colors were based at Carrabassett Yard just a few miles Northeast of Winston Maine. These engines serviced Sappi North Paper Mill and a local scrap dealer in Winston. The yard in Eustis was abandoned as there wasn't any need for it anymore and thus the Carrabassett hit rock bottom.
The turn of the century did not bring much to the table for the former bustling division. In 2003 the Salmon Lake Branch, the former line for the Salmon Lake Paper Mill was ripped up after the abandoned Mill burnt down. In 2006 Guilford Rebranded to Pan American Railways and sold the line to the Maine Department of Transportation. In Spring of 2007 a task force was sent out by the Maine DOT to determine the condition of their new acquisition. It was determined upon first look the line was "unfit for operation" and was closed for safety reason. Pan Am was asked to assist in the repairs that needed to be made to the line. It was agreed that Pan Am was be footing most of the bill since they were the cause of the lines poor condition. They would also be required to preform most of the repairs if they intended to continue using the line, Pan Am Agreed. It took four years, another recession, and a law suit from the Maine DOT before the restoration was complete. In 2012 a group of investors began to take a massive interest into the region. New industries were beginning to pop up within Carrabassett Valley. Despite Maine having very little in terms of Coal, a large pocket of the natural resource was discovered outside Winston Maine. A new group, the Maine Farmers and Agricultural Group was formed and based in Winston Maine. The warehouse ships locally grown blue berries and Milk from the Local Dairy, and interest to link freight from PAR to Central Maine Northern and Quebec in Lac Mégantic was shown by these investors. Even though CMQR had links to Coastal Maine this link from Eustis to Lac Mégantic was provide a quicker route from Rigby Yard to Canadian Points. In 2013 it was announced that the Carrabassett Valley Railroad would be formed and would begin operation as soon as possible.
The CBVR faced many delays in beginning operations due to the condition PAR left most of the line in despite repairs made a few years prior. The line needed to be restored to a 35mph or better operating condition to allow for great efficiency on the line. Also the yards in Eustis, Carrabassett and Lac Mégantic would need to be repaired and improved for operations. The Maine DOT and several Banks around the state approved grants to help fuel this project. As of today the CBVR has restored and renamed Eustis Yard, to Flagstaff Yard after Flagstaff Lake in Eustis. The Yard is the central operating point for all operations along the CBVR. Carrabassett Yard was refurbished and two now industries now inhabit the facility as well. Lac Mégantic's Yard sits just outside the community in Frontenac. CBVR will continue to work had in hand with CMQR and PAR in further connect Maine's rail to all of Canada.
Don't forget to look me up on youtube and you can watch the progress as it happens or over and over again
Thanks to Oknotsen for bringing to my attention about the improper placement of this topic. Screenshots after thinking about it again seems much better for this topic. Expect more screen shots to come!
Last edited:
