First Road Freight to Mattawamkeag in 4+ Years! -12/4/23

On December 4, 2023, CSX ran the first mainline road freight to Mattawamkeag in 4 years and 8 months, officially reopening the interchange with Eastern Maine Railway. After a derailment in 2019, Pan Am closed the line between Hermon and Mattawamkeag to road freights, instead routing traffic via the CMQ/CP Bangor Subdivision. However, with interest in the more direct route coupled with the pressure of CP to get rid of this shorthaul traffic off their own line, CSX has done major improvements to the Keag line, basically rebuilding it from the ground up.

On this day, Waterville-based local L071 operated this train out of Waterville yard in the morning, arriving at Northern Maine Junction around midday, before picking up another power set in the yard and heading back toward Waterville. Northern Maine Junction based crew L072 went on duty in the mid-afternoon and picked up the train, leaving Hermon eastbound just after dark with 7620 and 7552 with 47 cars in tow. Here they are rolling along the Bangor waterfront, in one of the few areas on the mainline that has not been upgraded to 25. Aside from the Bangor and Old Town yards, everything else is effectively 25 mph. I hope you enjoy the first CSX road freight east of Hermon!