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37-542: The Kennebec Central Railroad was a 2 ft ( 610 mm ) narrow gauge railroad operating between Randolph and Togus, Maine . The railroad was built to offer transportation for American Civil War veterans living at Togus to the nearby City of Gardiner . Tracks of 25-pound steel rails ran five miles from Randolph, Maine (across the Kennebec River from Gardiner) to the veterans home at Togus. Train service began on 23 July 1890. The Randolph terminal included

74-534: A rate of 9,111 cubic feet per second (258.0 m /s). The United States government maintains three river flow gauges on the Kennebec river. The first is at Indian Pond ( 45°30′40″N 69°48′39″W  /  45.51114°N 69.81080°W  / 45.51114; -69.81080  ( Indian Pond, Maine ) ) where the rivershed is 1,590 square miles (4,100 km ). Flow here has ranged from 161 to 32,900 cubic feet per second (4.6 to 931.6  m /s ). The second

111-487: A small, Queen Anne style station and a long set of stairs up to the covered bridge passengers used to reach Gardiner. Initial rolling stock was six flat cars and two box cars built by W.H.Dyer of Strong, Maine , two passenger coaches and a combination passenger-baggage car built by Jackson & Sharpe , and a 16-ton 0-4-4 Forney locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works . Operational experience during

148-599: Is a 170-mile-long (270 km) river within the U.S. state of Maine . It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine . The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river flows southward. Harris Station Dam , the largest hydroelectric dam in the state, was constructed near that confluence. The river is joined at The Forks by its tributary the Dead River , also called the West Branch. It continues south past

185-488: Is at Bingham ( 45°3′6″N 69°53′12″W  /  45.05167°N 69.88667°W  / 45.05167; -69.88667  ( Bingham, Maine ) ) where the rivershed is 2,715 square miles (7,030 km ). Flow here has ranged from 110 to 65,200 cu ft/s (3.1 to 1,846.3 m /s). The third is at North Sidney ( 44°28′21″N 69°41′09″W  /  44.47250°N 69.68583°W  / 44.47250; -69.68583  ( Bingham, Maine ) ) where

222-768: The 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge. The Otavi Mining and Railway Company in South West Africa (now Namibia ) were transferred to the 2 ft gauge railways in South Africa and currently some surviving locomotives reside in Wales on the 1 ft  11 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ( 597 mm ) gauge Welsh Highland Railway and the 1 ft  11 + 3 ⁄ 4  in ( 603 mm ) gauge Brecon Mountain Railway . Kennebec River The Kennebec River ( Abenaki : Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ )

259-517: The Bridgton and Saco River Railroad when their first engine wore out in 1922 and purchased another used 18-ton Portland Company 0-4-4 T Forney from the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad to replace their second engine in 1926. Operations were suspended abruptly on 29 June 1929 after the federal government awarded the coal-haul contract to a trucking firm. The locomotives were closed up in

296-459: The West Indies and the southern United States for ice. In 1826, Rufus Page built the first large ice house near Gardiner, in order to supply Tudor. The ice was harvested during the winter from the river by farmers and others who were otherwise relatively inactive. They cut it by hand, floated the huge chunks to an ice house on the bank, and stored it until spring. Then, packed in sawdust, the ice

333-529: The fall line and does not have rapids. As a consequence, ocean tides and saltwater fish species, such as the endangered Atlantic Sturgeon , can go upriver affecting the ecology as far north as Waterville, a small city located more than 35 miles inland. Tributaries of the Kennebec include the Carrabassett River , Sandy River , and Sebasticook River . Segments of the East Coast Greenway run along

370-439: The passenger equipment. The railroad settled into a profitable routine of four round trips per day from Randolph to Togus and return with a couple of coal gondolas between the engine and the combination car . One of the excursion cars was rebuilt into a second combination car after availability of automobiles reduced the number of passengers. The railroad purchased a used 19-ton Portland Company 0-4-4 T Forney from

407-573: The "City of Ships". The Wyoming , one of the largest wooden schooners ever built, was constructed here. For parts of the 17th century, the Kennebec was the western boundary of Cornwall County, Province of New York . Following the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, the US enjoyed a lengthy period of expansion of international trade, which increased the demand for shipbuilding and stimulated

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444-730: The 1600s the Abenaki village of Norridgewock was located along the Kennebec. The English founded the Popham Colony along the Kennebec in 1607. The settlers built the Virginia of Sagadahoc , the first oceangoing vessel built in the New World by English-speaking shipwrights. An English trading post, Cushnoc , was established on the Kennebec in 1628. Bath and other cities along the Kennebec were developed, and artisans founded shipyards that produced hundreds of wooden and steel vessels. Bath became known as

481-627: The Abenaki Indian mission village at Norridgewock in August 1724 crippled the Abenaki resistance, as they killed as many as 40 inhabitants, including women and children. They also killed and scalped Fr. Sebastien Rasle, the 67-year old Jesuit priest, and scalped 26 of the dead Abenaki. Having plundered and torched the tribal village, the Yankee raiders destroyed the surrounding corn fields; they were paid bounties for

518-595: The Edwards Dam was built across the Kennebec River, just shy of the limit of tidal influence. Made of timber and concrete, it extended 917 feet (280 m) across the river and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. Its reservoir stretched 17 miles (27 km) upstream, and covered 1,143 acres (4.63 km ). In 1999, the dam was removed, after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) determined that

555-476: The Kennebec gorge just below Harris Station Dam . Acknowledging the desire of young people for a space solely dedicated to kids, absent of adult gatherings and limiting constraints, in 1998 Northern Outdoors opened Adventure Bound - Maine's only youth focused whitewater rafting company for kids and families. In the early 21st century, Northern Outdoors and 22 other rafting companies in The Forks conduct rafting on

592-521: The Kennebec. The name "Kennebec" comes from the Eastern Abenaki /kínipekʷ/ , meaning "large body of still water, large bay". In 1605, French explorer Samuel de Champlain navigated the coast of what is now Maine , charting the land and rivers of what was then called New France , L'Acadie , including the Kennebec as far upriver as present-day Bath , as well as the St. Croix , and Penobscot rivers. In

629-524: The Togus steam heating plant. Portland Company built two lowside gondolas in 1904 and three more in 1907 to help the railroad carry increasing quantities of coal needed to heat the expanding facility. These lowside gondolas had side gates to facilitate unloading on the coal trestle. Kennebec Central rebuilt three of the original flat cars with similar side gates in 1908. The two box cars handled small quantities of freight and were painted coach green to match

666-592: The box car and passenger car bodies were sold as sheds, and the remainder floated down the Kennebec River in the 1936 flood . 2 ft and 600 mm gauge railways Most of these lines are tourist lines, which are often heritage railways or industrial lines, such as the Ffestiniog Railway in Wales and the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado . World War I trench railways produced

703-461: The coaches and excursion cars with local civilians enjoying a Sunday afternoon on the spacious grounds including a herd of deer. The Kennebec Central had no rail connection with the outside world at Randolph. Coal was delivered by barges and schooners to a large government-owned coal shed between the Randolph yard and the Kennebec River. Coal was loaded onto flat cars for transport to a trestle feeding

740-522: The coastal areas of Queensland , which carry more than 30 million tonnes of sugar cane a year. Many 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge and 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge railways are used in amusement parks and theme parks worldwide. The interchange of rolling stock between these similar track gauges occasionally occurred; for example, the South African Class NG15 2-8-2 locomotives started their career on

777-429: The ecological benefits of removing it outweighed the value of the electricity it produced, and refused the renewal of the dam license. Despite several negative visual and environmental factors at first, the ecosystem is healing itself. Initially after the removal of the dam, barren riverbanks and muddy water were evident along the lower 17 miles (27 km) of the Kennebec. Introduced smallmouth bass will suffer from

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814-614: The few yards still building warships for the United States Navy . The USCGC Kennebec was named after this river. With waterways the most accessible travel routes, the Kennebec River served as an early trade corridor to interior Maine from the Atlantic coast. Ocean ships could navigate upstream as far as Augusta. The cities of Bath, Gardiner , Hallowell and Augusta, and the towns of Woolwich , Richmond and Randolph , all developed along this transportation corridor. Upstream of Augusta,

851-422: The first summer encouraged purchase of two open, arch-roofed excursion cars from Jackson & Sharp to handle the crowds traveling during fair weather. Portland Company built a spare 18-ton 0-4-4 Forney to provide reliable service when one engine required repairs. The veterans at Togus gave a band concert on summer Sundays while other veterans played baseball games. Sunday and holiday passenger service filled all

888-422: The flatlands along the river through these towns and cities. England's 1710 conquest of Acadia brought mainland Nova Scotia under English control, but New France still claimed present-day New Brunswick and present-day Maine east of the Kennebec River. (The Kennebec River was also a border for the indigenous Native Americans and First Nations. ) To secure its claim, New France established Catholic missions in

925-475: The flood's peak, the flow topped out at an estimated 232,000 cubic feet per second (6,600 m /s). It caused damage of about $ 100,000,000 (equivalent to about $ 268,000,000 in 2023), flooding 2,100 homes, destroying 215, and damaging 240 others. Signs of the flood can still be found in the towns and cities that line the river. In 1976 Suzanne and Wayne Hockmeyer, of Kennebec Whitewater Expeditions (now Northern Outdoors), pioneered whitewater rafting through

962-521: The greatest concentration of 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge railways to date. In preparation for World War II , the French Maginot Line and Alpine Line also used 600 mm ( 1 ft  11 + 5 ⁄ 8  in ) gauge railways for supply routes to the fixed border defenses. Australia has over 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) of 2 ft ( 610 mm ) gauge sugar cane railway networks in

999-506: The growth of maritime fleets. Many of those ships were built in Bath. In 1854, at the peak of this boom period, at least nineteen major firms were building ships in Bath. Changes in the industry since the mid-20th century have resulted in the decline in US shipbuilding, as jobs moved offshore. The sole remaining shipyard in Bath is the Bath Iron Works , owned by General Dynamics ; this is one of

1036-598: The re-introduced striped bass, which tend to feed on young smallmouth bass. An increase in raptor populations, such as ospreys , bald eagles , herons , cormorants , and kingfishers , is evident. Human activities also benefited from the dam removal. The exposure of rapids and the return of native fish species allows many recreational activities, including canoeing , kayaking , whitewater rafting , and fishing . The river drains 5,869 square miles (15,200 km ), and on average discharges 5.893 billion US gallons (22,310,000 m ) per day into Merrymeeting Bay at

1073-495: The region reduced the runs of such fish. The removal of dams on the river has been a controversial local issue in recent years. The removal of the Edwards Dam in 1999 has led to increased anadromous activity on the river. The following is a list of hydroelectric power stations on the Kennebec River. The Kennebec River before the construction of Edwards Dam was extremely important as a spawning ground for Atlantic fish. In 1837,

1110-562: The river daily from May through October. Four times per rafting season, Brookfield Power tests their generating turbines by releasing the maximum amount of water possible from Harris Station Dam. At 8000 cubic feet per second, these Kennebec River Turbine Tests are the biggest whitewater releases in Maine. Prior to the industrial era, the river contained many anadromous fish , in particular the Atlantic salmon . The exploiting of hydroelectric power in

1147-631: The rivershed is 5,403 square miles (13,990 km ). Flow here has ranged from 1,160 to 232,000 cu ft/s (33 to 6,570 m /s). Two additional river stage gauges (no flow data) are in Augusta ( 44°19′06″N 69°46′17″W  /  44.31833°N 69.77139°W  / 44.31833; -69.77139  ( Augusta, Maine ) ) and Gardiner ( 44°13′50″N 69°46′16″W  /  44.23056°N 69.77111°W  / 44.23056; -69.77111  ( Gardiner, Maine ) ); both of these gauge heights are affected by ocean tides. Before

Kennebec Central Railroad - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-639: The scalps. Some Abenaki survivors returned to the Upper Kennebec, but others took refuge with Penobscot allies or in Abenaki mission villages in French Canada. Some 1,110 American Revolutionary War soldiers followed the route of the Kennebec during Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec in 1775. During the War of 1812 , United States and British Canadian forces fought at the Battle of Hampden in Maine. In 1814, Frederic Tudor began to establish markets in

1221-516: The three largest native villages in the region: one on the Kennebec River ( Norridgewock ); one further north on the Penobscot River ( Penobscot ), and one on the Saint John River ( Medoctec ). Abenaki warriors along the Kennebec resisted English encroachment by armed confrontations, in what American historians sometimes refer to as Father Rale's War (1722–1725). A Yankee militia raid on

1258-435: The timber industry used the river for log driving , to transport wooden logs and pulpwood from interior forests to sawmills and paper mills built along the river to use its water power . The city of Waterville and the towns of Winslow , Skowhegan, Norridgewock , Madison, Anson , and Bingham were all related to the lumber trade. The Maine Central Railroad and U.S. Route 201 were later constructed to make use of

1295-586: The towns of Madison , Skowhegan , the city of Waterville , and the state capital Augusta . At Richmond , it flows into Merrymeeting Bay , a 16-mile-long (26 km) freshwater tidal bay into which also flow the Androscoggin River and five smaller rivers. The Kennebec runs past the shipbuilding center of Bath , and has its mouth at the Gulf of Maine in the Atlantic Ocean . The Southern Kennebec flows below

1332-637: The two-stall Randolph enginehouse; and the cars waited on sidings for three years. Then a December 1931 enginehouse fire in Wiscasset damaged the locomotives of the nearby Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway . The owner of the Wiscasset railroad bought the whole Kennebec Central Railroad for less than it would have cost to repair his burned locomotives. Kennebec Central engines #3 and #4 were trucked to Wiscasset, repainted, and renumbered 8 and 9. Kennebec Central rails and car hardware became scrap metal. Some of

1369-519: Was loaded aboard ships and sent to the South. On April 1, 1987, a combination of more than 6 feet (1.8 m) of melting snow and 4 to 6 inches (100 to 150 mm) of rain in the mountains forced the river to flood its banks. By April 2, 1987, the river had crested at the North Sidney, Maine USGS gage at 39.31 ft (11.98 m), 13.3 ft (4.1 m) higher than the previous record flood stage. At

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