Old BAR roundhouse and coal tower still standing at Millinocket, Maine, over 50 years after the last BAR steam departed.

http://www.abocanyon.clara.net/page61.htm
ryarger@rypn.org

Actually, there are steam edifices all over the BAR to this day. The coaling towers still stand at Millinocket, Derby, and Northern Maine Junction. The foundation of the old steam complex is still wrapped inside acres of milkweeds and pine at NMJ. Now the roundhouse at NMJ is also empty except for pigeons. It thrived as the Diesel shop until a couple of years ago, when everything was moved to Derby. The roundhouse and turntable would make an unbelievable loco restoration facility, too! It won't be long before the Montral,Maine and Atlantic (heirs to the Bangor & Aroostook) gets tired of the liability and knocks the whole thing in. Doyle, don't you need an eastern site to rebuild mainline steam and store your collection?


glueck@maine.edu

The last time I was in Northern Maine during the early '90s, the turn table was still in place near the Fort Fairfield station. It appeared to be in good condition at that point. The roundhouse came down years ago. the turn table pit foundation sat on the ground level of the mainline with a short ramp up to it. At that point only pulpwood was going out of there a few times a week.

My father would tell about Lugie Bushall, an old BAR engineer, who would let him and a friend ride an engine out of the roundhouse and onto the turntable if they helped turn it. Ol' Lugie wasn't thrilled the day my dad tested the whistle...

The station there is still standing and it is a beutiful building. There is a group operating a museum on the CP line across town next to the river. I think they we using a shoet section of the BAR line to run thier speeders on.