*Note I unfortunately didn't get to cover Midcoast Railservice's brief operation on the branch so stock footage is used instead.
Earlier in January 2025 Maine Department of Transportation chose a new operator for the now dormant Rockland Branch. Last used in June 2024 the line may see new life as a freight and tourist railroad, somewhat similar to what previous operator MidCoast Rail tried to do before the biggest freight customer on the line closed down.
For those that don’t know, the Rockland Branch is a former Maine Central line running from Brunswick Maine north to Rockland. Until recently the line served a large cement plant, a fertilizer company, a steel distributor, and a lobster bait company. The track has seen a number of operators over the past decade including Maine Eastern who provided both freight and popular excursion services on the track but they lost the lease that expired at the end of 2015. Following them the Central, Maine, and Quebec took over but they only provided freight service. CMQ was later sold to Canadian Pacific who operated the line but being a large Class 1 was seemingly not interested in operating this disconnected branch line that wasn’t attached to the rest of their system. In Summer 2022 they were relieved of their duties when the Finger Lakes Railroad took over operations as Midcoast Railservice. They had big plans of running Budd RDC excursions and passenger service connecting with Amtrak in Brunswick in addition to freight service. During their tenure freight service seemed prosperous serving the growing cement business and continuing to serve the fertilizer company. They were also able to start serving a steel distributor and bait customer while really growing outbound cement traffic. Unfortunately both the excursion and freight side of the business had issues. The Budd RDC leased for this service experienced mechanical issues and was also reportedly sold out from under them leaving them without passenger equipment. The second RDC leased for this service never even made it to Maine. As for the freight Midcoast took a massive hit when the cement plant decided to close their doors in turn eliminating most of the freight on the line. Without the regular cement traffic the smaller customers of the line turned to other means of getting their product shipped. Now nothing runs on the line.
SSomething that has been talked about for years is passenger service whether it be reviving the tourist train rides or even extending Amtrak’s Downeaster to Rockland. Currently Amtrak’s Downeaster runs from North Station in Boston, MA north to Brunswick, Maine multiple times a day. Extending the train further north would connect towns like Bath, Wiscasset, and Rockland with passenger rail for the first time since 2015. Amtrak ran an inspection train on the line years ago and there was even serious talk of a pilot service but nothing has come of either so far. It should be noted that Boston to Rockland service hasn’t operated in decades but tourist trains connected with Amtrak in Brunswick for a few years under Maine Eastern.
Not long after Midcoast pulled out of Maine the Department of transportation put out a request for proposals for a new operator. They were looking for both freight and passenger operators. They also were looking for a railroad to host Amtrak operations on the branch. Quoting the RFP “MaineDOT is seeking proposals from operators who are interested in
serving as host railroad for a proposed Amtrak pilot service over the Rockland Branch".
Seeing this it shows Maine still has Amtrak on their minds even if it isn’t going to be running in the immediate future.
Now in January 2025 MaineDOT has picked an operator, Maine Switching Services. Maine Switching Services, MSS for short, already operates in Maine switching freight and working closely with tourist railroad Belfast and Moosehead Lake. MSS plans to reactivate freight service on the line in the Spring with excursion trains running by fall. This will reopen the line and keep the track preserved for Amtrak’s Downeaster extension if or when it happens. Unfortunately MSS’s current proposal reportedly doesn’t include hosting Amtrak but we’ll see what happens as this develops.
It should be noted that Rockland has some interesting and historic facilities. This includes the freight yard, a turntable, and roundhouse. This gives MSS a location to work on equipment as well as a place to turn locomotives and rolling stock. These facilities were last used by Midcoast Railservice from 2022 until their departure in 2024. The passenger station is also nearby and is currently occupied by a restaurant. Here’s a view of the structure during my visit in Summer 2022.
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MEDOT/bulletins/3cb9d92
https://www.maine.gov/mdot/ofps/docs/Rockland%20Branch-RFP-9.20.24.pdf
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