Many
who explorer, hunt, snowmobile, and canoe in the Allagash area in the North Maine Woods are familiar two abandoned locomotives
sitting on tracks located between Eagle Lake and Chamberlain
Lake in an area know as Tramway. Tramway was named for mechanical tramway
that moved logs 3,000 feet across the divide between Eagle and Chamberlain
Lakes for six years in the early 1900s. While most of the visitors to
the area, accessible only by water or hiking over land, are awestruck when they come across the locomotives, few are aware
as to why they are there, what they did, or how they did it.
A
new book, titled “Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad, Meeting the Challenge of Logging in the North Maine Woods”
by Richard N. Symonds, Jr., documents the history of the little railroad including its construction, operations, abandonment,
efforts to preserve the locomotives, and importance to the logging industry in Maine. A major player in the logging industry
in the area and financial backer of the building of the railroad was the Great Northern Paper Company (GNP). GNP also had
a major influence on the development of the Maine towns of Millinocket and East
Millinocket where their mills were located.
While
the emphasis of the book is on the Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad (EL & WB RR) and its role moving logs from one
watershed to another, its history is not complete without discussing the railroad’s relationships to related logging
activity. The geography of the Allagash area results in the rivers and streams flowing north to the St. John River and Canada. The demand for timber products at American mills needed
waterways flowing south and easterly. In the 1800s dams, locks, and cuts were constructed to modify the natural free flow
direction of many of the rivers and streams. In the early 1900s, first a tramway and then a railroad accomplished the task
of moving timber from one watershed to another. Then with environmental laws of the 1970s, the transportation of timber products
by water gave way to the log trucks as the method of transportation. This provided not only a quicker method of moving product
but also provided more flexibility in destination.
The
GNP also started construction of another logging railroad prior to the EL & WB RR called the Seboomook Lake and St. John Railroad (SL &
SJ RR) which later provided equipment for use on the EL & WB RR. The SL & SJ RR; the construction and operation of
the Tramway; and the preservation of the Tramway and the Allagash River Waterway are discussed as an integral part of the
EL & WB RR history. A five-mile connecting supply railroad called the Chesuncook and Chamberlain Railroad constructed
by GNP is also discussed as an important component of the EL & WB RR history.
The
EL & WB RR was constructed by Edward (King) Lacroix’s Madawaska Company for the GNP Company as the Umbazooksus and
Eagle Lake Railroad (U & EL RR) in 1926 and 1927. It was never operated under that name as the railroad was purchased
by the Great Northern Paper Company which renamed it the EL & WB RR. The train operated over a six year seasonal time
period hauling logs 13 miles from Eagle Lake
to the head of Umbazooksus Lake
where logs were dumped into the lake from a 600 foot long trestle for the final leg of the trip to the Millinocket Mills by
water.
There
are a number of myths and discrepancies relating to the history of the railroad. Some attempts are made to resolve these issues.
Ten of the more common discrepancies are discussed with the idea of trying to resolve the inconsistencies or to provide the
reader with adequate information to draw their own conclusions.
A
few copies of the book are still available at the address below. Copies may be requested or questions or comments may be submitted
by contacting the author, Richard N. Symonds, Jr., at 92 Torry Rd,
Tolland, CT 06084,
e-mail RNSJR2@juno.com or telephone (860) 875-5002. The author is currently looking at a revision to include
new information rather than another printing. For those who would still like a copy after the book is out of print,
a list will be maintained and notification will be provided upon receipt of an additional supply.
Extract and Summary of the History of the Eagle
Lake & West Branch Railroad
From the “Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad
Meeting the Challenge of Logging in the North Maine Woods”
By
Richard N. Symonds, Jr.
Edward “King”
Lacroix of the Madawaska Company built the Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad (EL & WB RR) when he was given a contract to supply
annually 125,000 cords of wood to the Great Northern Paper Company (GNP). He engineered and constructed a railroad between
Eagle Lake and Umbazooksus Lake called the Umbazooksus and
Eagle Lake Railroad (U & EL RR). Construction commenced in April, 1926 and continued into 1927. The railroad never operated
under U & EL RR as the railroad but was sold in the spring of 1927 to the Great Northern Paper Company (GNP) which began
running the railroad on June 1, 1927. GNP changed the name and operated it as
the Eagle Lake
and West Branch Railroad.
During the winter
of 1926 and continuing into 1927, materials required to build the railroad were hauled into the area by Lombard tractors from
Lac Frontiere, Quebec. The route followed was overland to
Churchill Depot and then up near Churchill Lake and Eagle Lake
to the south shore of Eagle Lake.
The Madawaska Company purchased a used 4-6-0 Ten-wheeler, locomotive in 1926 followed by a 2-8-0 Consolidation locomotive
in 1927. Both locomotives were converted from coal to oil to minimize forest fires. The Consolidation locomotive was the preferred
locomotive having a tractive effort of 35,700 lbs. or 10,100 lbs. more than the Ten-wheeler locomotive.
With the exception
of lumber, all resources and materials had to be hauled into the area - construction materials and equipment from the north
and supplies for operations from the south. Lombard tractors were used to haul the heavy
equipment - locomotives, track, trestles, train cars as well as loaders and loading equipment.
To support construction,
communities were built at the northern terminus of the railroad, near Ellis Brook, and at the southern terminus while additional
GNP support facilities were located at the southern terminus of the Chesuncook & Chamberlain Railroad, an interconnecting
railroad from Umbazooksus Stream to the southern terminus of the EL & WB RR.
The railroad operated
over a 13-mile route from Eagle Lake, its
northern terminus, to the head of Umbazookus Lake,
its southern terminus on Umbazooksus Lake
where logs were dumped into the lake off a 600 foot trestle. From here the trip to the mills was by water using booms and
log drives. It operated for a six-year period starting in 1927 and ending in 1933. Early plans would have the operations going
18 miles from Eagle Lake
to Umbazookus Stream; however, this lower section of the railroad was only used to transport supplies.
The Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad was constructed
more in line with the standards of logging railroads – quick and dirty and using local resources. Wood cut from the
proposed right of way was used for construction of buildings and for ties. A camp located near Ellis Brook prepared the ties
that were basically placed on the ground without attention to a proper roadbed foundation and ballast to anchor the ties in
place.
The equipment included
two road locomotive, three pony engines or switch engines, a fleet of log cars, and a track maintenance car or speeder.
The switch engines were 18-ton gasoline driven Plymouth locomotives
with a 0-4-0 wheel configuration. Three switch engines operated on the line; one brought in during the initial construction
phase and the two others followed. The Plymouth locomotives, popular in switching and industrial
applications, were initially built in 1910 by the J. D. Fate Company of Plymouth,
Ohio.
The log cars used
had a capacity of about 12 cords of wood and were constructed with a 12-inch lift on one side of the car to facilitate the
unloading process. On the side of the car where the low end of the tilt was located, the side of the car was hinged at the
top and pinned at the bottom to allow for unloading.
Two trains consisting
of side dump log cars could be loaded at one time from two storage tracks parallel to Eagle Lake. The cars were loaded from two conveyor
belt systems extending into Eagle Lake.
Adjacent and parallel to the storage tracks was a two-bay engine house where the two main operating locomotives were located
when not in service. Also located at the north terminus was a so called “wye” or “Y” that allowed
for turning the direction of the locomotive and a few of the cars. Three 25,000 gallon oil tanks were located just west of
the engine house on the siding leading to the engine house
At the end of the
line at Umbazooksus, unloading would take about one hour. The road locomotive and
a pony locomotive, 0-4-0, would shuttle the cars around and onto a 600 foot trestle over Umbazooksus Lake. The trestle was elevated
six inches combined with the 12-inch lift on the dump cars provided an 18-inch lift to further facilitate the dumping of logs.
Located at the Umbazooksus terminus was another “Y” track configuration that allow for turning the train for its
trip north. (Page revised 12/14/11)
