This impressive silent movie shows the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad. This line was among the first of a number of 2 foot (610mm) narrow gauge railroads to be built within the state of Maine. Dating to 1879 the railroad connected the towns of Strong, Phillips and Farmington. It was a common carrier railroad that operated approximately 112 miles (180 km) of track in Franklin County, Maine. Although abandoned in the mid 1930s a piece of the railroad has been rebuilt within the town of Phillips, 128 Bridge Street, where a museum occupies the area with a short stretch of track restored. The film was photographed in the 1930s towards the end of its operation.

Highlights include:

00:25 Railbus at Phillips

01:24 Farmington meet with the standard gauge Maine Central

02:35 Snow scenes with steam engines

05:39 Mainline trains between Farmingting and Phillips, making a connection with the Kingfield Branch train

09:00 Scenes at Strong, dismantling of track

12:41 Phillips scenes

14:09 In May 1935 the remaining portions of the railroad were sold for scrap. On May 30 the last trains operated.

14:30 Numbers 18 and 23 coming out of engine house. #23 was a Baldwin 2-6-2 built in 1913. It was the largest 2 foot gauge engine in the United States. #18 was built by MEC in 1916 and also 2-6-2. Probably the last operating SR&RL engine.

18:49 junction at South Strong

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com