Restoration of rail service into county proposed

An effort at restoring the Calais Branch Line for freight and excursion rail service into Washington County was the subject of a talk at the Washington County meeting of the Maine Better Transportation Association (MBTA) on June 16 at the Eastport Chowder House. Thomas Testa, president of the Downeast Rail Heritage Preservation Trust, outlined a proposal to initially operate an excursion railroad on the Green Lake to Washington Junction portion of the Calais branch, with plans to rehabilitate all of the line for freight and excursion service. "I see it as bringing tourists from Ellsworth east to Washington County and as a catalyst for restoring freight" traffic to the port of Eastport, he stated.

The trust is proposing to rehabilitate 90 miles of the Calais Branch Line from Brewer to Machias. Long-term plans include rehabilitating the remaining 36 miles to Calais and using the railroad for a mix of freight, excursion and passenger service.

Preliminary projections by Stone Consulting indicate a ridership of 70,000 on the Ellsworth to Green Lake run, with an excursion train running six times a day from Memorial Day to Columbus Day.

The first phase of the Downeast Scenic Railroad Project calls for rehabilitation of the Brewer to Ellsworth line and construction of a depot and museum in Ellsworth. The next phase would be to rehabilitate the line from Ellsworth to Tunk Lake, construct commissary facilities in Ellsworth and a maintenance and storage facility at Washington Junction. The third phase calls for rehabilitating the line from Tunk Lake to Machias and renovating the depot and chamber of commerce office in Machias. Future line rehabilitation for mixed use would be coordinated with rail freight access to the Port of Eastport. Testa said that opportunities exist for shipping aggregate, peat and biomass materials.

Funding for the project would be from a combination of grants, donations and sales revenues from excursion tickets, depot sales and museum admission. Proceeding in an incremental manner will make the risk small, he argued. He also commented that the line could have been made operable 20 years ago "if there had been the political will."

Because of custodial maintenance of the existing line, he noted that the Calais branch is known as "the most maintained abandoned line."

According to Nathan Moulton, manager of rail transportation with the Maine Department of Transportation, the Downeast Rail Heritage Preservation Trust has come forward with a preliminary proposal to the DOT and will come back when engineering costs are more definite. Although the DOT currently does not have a request for proposals for operation of the line, Moulton says, "We're always open to looking at well-developed business plans."

At the meeting, Testa took the opportunity to argue against the proposed conversion of the rail line for a multi-use trail, as the Sunrise Trail Coalition has sought. He stated the trail would have limitations, being used mostly on weekends during the middle of the summer. Testa argued that ecotourism cannot provide the greatest means for economic growth.

He also objected to the plan for removing a portion of the rail line. In 2002, the DOT had proposed removing the line from Machias to Pembroke and establishing a bicycle/pedestrian trail, and currently the department is proposing removing the track from Washington Junction east to Cherryfield, in sections, according to Moulton. DOT representatives made a presentation earlier this month to legislators from that area about the proposal. Moulton says the removal of the track for a trail would be viewed as an interim step to preserve the corridor for the future establishment of a rail line.

At the MBTA meeting, though, Testa stated, "Before there is any rail removal, our plan should be given a chance." He believes that the push to convert the rails to trails is perhaps being made by environmentalists "who don't want economic development" in this area. "A healthy regional economy needs tourism and economic development," Testa stated, noting that his plan for the Calais branch would "stimulate all economic sectors."

At the meeting, George Finch, the chairman of the Eastport Port Authority, noted that the port authority has fought for years to protect the rail corridor, believing that rail is one of the most important assets that the port has. "We are going to rise together or sink together," he observed.