A handful of state legislators took a field trip Downeast Nov. 5 to see
where $300,000 for maintenance on the Calais Branch Rail Line—appropriated
from surplus during the last session of the legislature—has gone.
They also wanted to understand where $2.8 million from the bond
approved by voters Nov. 2 is bound.
The $300,000, intended to clear the rail right of way and repair
washed-out rail beds, was a one-time expenditure championed by Washington
County Representatives Edward Dugay, D-Cherryfield, and Kevin Shorey,
R-Calais. They accompanied Transportation Commissioner John Melrose; House
Speaker Steven Rowe, D-Portland; Ed Povich, D-Ellsworth; Elizabeth
Townsend, D-Portland, chair of the House appropriations committee; Tom
Winsor, R-Norway, also on the appropriations committee, and Charles
Fisher, D-Brewer, of the transportation committee.
Driven in three rail-adapted trucks, the legislators got onto the
seldom-traveled rail line at Washington Junction in Hancock and rode the
distance to Cherryfield in three hours.
Along the route, two observations are unavoidable: The tracks are in
poor condition, and they lead through a wooded countryside that is nothing
short of beautiful.
Rail maintenance and construction contractor Robert Ames of R.T. Ames
& Co. of New Sharon has worked on the line sporadically over the last
few years. He said there were places where tree growth and damage from
beaver-created flooding made it almost impossible to get through.
And it doesn’t help to clear the brush, remove the dams and walk
away.
"You’ve got to put a crew on that’s on the rails every
week," he said. But that type of expenditure is hard to justify when
there’s no train running.
Another complication for rail revitalization is the encroachment of
neighbors and town roads on an unused rail line. The level crossings
between Ellsworth and Cherryfield have all been paved over. That makes the
rail trucks move even slower than the 20 mph top speed they can manage on
the line’s worn tracks and rotting ties.
"The sooner we get something on the rails the better off we’re
going to be," Ames said.
The train of three trucks stopped at intervals to look at dangerous
washouts, fatigued track and bridges and the stunning views at the foot of
Schoodic Mountain.
Melrose said $250,000 of the $300,000 appropriated last spring is
already being spent to have a New Hampshire company clear brush 15 feet
out from the tracks that run from Calais to Brewer. The remaining money
will go to repairing as many washouts and culverts as possible.
But the run from Ellsworth to Cherryfield has between 200 and 300
culverts, so costs will mount quickly.
Although Townsend said the trip was "confirmation that it was a
good idea to spend the $300,000 we did," that amount of money is
barely a beginning. An estimate from Everett Barnard, the state’s bridge
maintenance engineer, suggests $250,000 as an annual minimum to keep the
line serviceable for maintenance vehicles.
Upgrading the line from Ellsworth to Calais to Class I, the lowest
level of usable track, would cost an estimated $23.7 million. The Brewer
to Ellsworth section is expected to be brought up to Class III, the
highest track classification, to allow high-speed passenger transportation
at a cost of $13.7 million.
Melrose said the current level of maintenance and expenditures gives
the line only "an ability to not slide any further backward."
But that’s a long way from moving ahead. No one knows that better
than Dugay, who organized the trip for legislators in hopes that they will
remember the economic plight of the Downeast region and consider the rail
as part of a solution.
Melrose cited the Calais Branch Commission report that was completed
last year. It predicted there would only be enough traffic on a
revitalized line to cover the cost of operation, not reconstruction or
maintenance.
Dugay and the commissioner shared ideas on how to increase the
potential freight flow on the line. They listed blueberries, gravel and
stone, pulp, logs, garbage and passengers as possible areas of growth.
A connection to the Eastport container pier would be a selling point
but one with a considerable price tag. Getting the entire line from Brewer
to Calais up to Class II and III track would cost an estimated $38
million. A new Class I line from Ayers Junction to Eastport would add
$35.5 million to the tab.
At those prices, none of the legislators committed to more than
continued assessment of the line’s viability.
Povich said his support for the project is contingent on the bottom
line being profitable. "The numbers should be black instead of
red," he said.
But he pledged to support further investigation of the potential of the
line.
At a chowder supper after the trip, rail entrepreneur Bill McDonald of
Vermont pitched his idea for a small excursion train to open the track up
as soon as possible.
The delegation also heard from Ford Reiche of Auburn, representing Safe
Handling Inc. His company does freight management, including transfers
from rail to trucks to broaden the market of potential rail customers. He
said the company’s operation in Auburn draws businesses to the area
because they know they can get good delivery service. He expressed an
interest in handling freight and operating terminals in the Downeast
region if the Calais Branch is resurrected.
Reiche left advocates with a warning. "Development of markets is
the area that could make or break this endeavor," he said.
