Train rides evoke nostalgia, create new memories

FORT KENT, Maine — Gone are the days when the rail lines in the St. John Valley carried passengers. On Saturday that changed, at least for a day, when the iron rails played host to the Fort Kent Lions Club’s Fish River Passenger Train Ride fundraiser.

Approximately 600 people rode in three passenger cars supplied by Maine Northern Railway, which also provided the locomotive engines and crew, at no cost.

Maine Northern and Maine Southern Railroads, which are subsidiaries of J.D. Irving Ltd., have done similar fundraising train rides in the past for The Aroostook Medical Center and for local groups such as parent-teacher associations, Lions Club member Roy Bernard said.

Other than the driver, Bernard said the railroad employees taking part were volunteering their time.

“Most of them don’t even live in this community,” he added.

The passenger cars made three trips throughout the day, from Fort Kent to Wallagrass and back.

Bernard said Saturday morning that feedback about the event was very positive.

“I had one person say, ‘I can check this off my bucket list now’,” he said. “The kids have been getting very excited. They are just vibrating to get on.”

For some, working on the railway, whether for Bangor & Aroostook Railroad or Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway, is part of their family history.

Bernard had a friend traveling up from Waterville to take part in Saturday’s train rides whose grandfather once worked on the rail line on Fort Kent.

Fort Kent resident Don Lebel and his siblings gathered Saturday to take a ride on the train in honor of their late father, Albert, who had worked for Bangor and Aroostook Railroad for 44 years.

“I did the same commemorative ride 25 years ago, with my son,” Lebel said, who added that was likely the last time he was on a train.

Lebel’s father, originally from Van Buren, started off as a bike messenger with the railway. After teaching himself Morse code, he got a job in the Van Buren railway station and eventually worked his way up to Station Agent in Fort Kent.

In addition to his work with B&A, the elder Lebel and his wife Muriel would work for the Railway Express Agency, delivering packages to local residents.

Lebel and his two sisters, brother and their families joined him for Saturday’s ride.

“They were very impressed. They enjoyed it,” he said. “You get to see lots of scenery you don’t see driving on Route 11.”

Many younger passengers may not have had a family connection to the railway, but were excited to have an opportunity to ride the train.  

Eight year-old Nate Taggart was waiting for his ride Saturday on the noon train.

“I want to take a ride!,” he said. “I think the train will go slow.”

Mitchell Harvey, 11, and his brother Collin, 7, had a good time on their morning ride along the Fish River.

“It was pretty fun,” he said.

When asked what his favorite part was, the younger Harvey replied, “All of it!”

“I loved it, loved it, loved it!” said an excited Amos Stedt, 4.

For older residents the train rides were not so much a novelty as they were a nostalgic event.

“I thought it was wonderful,” said Albertine O’Leary of St. Francis, who rode with her daughter, Colleen McBreairty of Allagash. “It brought back memories.”

O’Leary said she recalls taking a train ride when she was 16 years old from the St. John Valley to Pittsfield, a journey of more than 200 miles.

All three rides were fully booked on Saturday, club members said, with some people stopping by to see if extra tickets could be purchased at the last minute.

Bernard said Monday the club is still calculating the total amount of money raised. “It was a great fundraiser for the club,” he added.