I'm sorry. That was intended simply as a reminder that the thread was about Millinocket so that it didn't become a thread about everywhere in Maine except Millinocket. I didn't mean to make a big deal about it. There's no need to delete anything. Most of Rockville sits a little ways off from the coast, but you do briefly cross into the Rockville town limits while traveling the coastal route (US 1) between Rockland and Rockport. Rockville is 139.1 miles from Millinocket.
Our power went out, all of Millinocket and the next town over, at least. It is awfully windy and it has been been sleeting. I am here on my phone but I don't care to do forums on a smart phone so I won't be here long.
What a beautiful little town Millinocket in Maine is! When someone speaks of Maine I remember quickly Murder She Wrote and seafood of Maine. image from http://www.feistees.com/murder-she-wrote-cabot-cove-t-shirt/. image from http://belfastbayinn.com/mainehotel...airs-trade-shows/maine-lobster-festival-2011/.
I was just looking at the weather forecasters for up there in Maine, and telling Bobby that it looked like you were only getting lots of rain, and all of the snow was missing you. But if the power is all out up there, then you must be really getting a nasty storm, snow or not. Be safe, and hope your power comes back soon, @Ken Anderson .
We didn't get our power back until about 1:00 am. We had very heavy winds with a mixture of heavy rains and sleet.
Here's a little history of Millinocket, the Magic City! "The Town magically grew over an amazingly short period of about two years. Construction of the Town started in the pristine, unsettled North Maine Woods in late 1898 with what was then the largest paper mill in the world; Great Northern Paper. The Town was nicknamed, "The Magic City" because it appeared in the wilderness "overnight". The mill was built by hundreds of immigrants, mostly of Italian and French Canadian descent. There has always been a very close relationship between the mill and the Town, especially since the Town's sole reason for being was the Paper Mill. One of the favorite stories is that during the Great Depression of the 1930's, no one at the mill lost their jobs. Although the workers reduced their hours to keep everyone working, all were able to support their families during that bleak period in American history".
In July of 2006, I wrote a profile of Millinocket for All Maine Matters, a state-wide monthly that my wife and I published. You can find the all-text version here, although it is badly formatted, a problem that occurred when it was converted from PDF to text. The PDF version shows the paper much as it looked in print. Most of the photos that you can see throughout the issue were taken by me, and are from around Millinocket. Plus, I was running for state congress at the time, as a Republican, so you might also find one of my campaign ads. The Millinocket profile is on page eight.
That is a great story about the history of Millinocket, @Ken Anderson ! I enjoyed the pictures, too, especially the round house built by the man from the train company. Was the Great Northern Paper Company in any way connected with the Great Northern Railroad ? I remember seeing that from the time I was little, and it used to have the emblem of the mountain goat on the side of all of the cars. I think that they later may have merged with the Northern Pacific; but I am not sure about that part, and is now BNSF. You look awesome in a suit ! Not at all like the unforgettable picture of the Creature From the Crawlspace...... I am pretty sure that my daughter-in-law told me that her parents lived in Millinocket when she was little. I would have to ask her again to be sure. Her family name was Stevenson, and her father was an Episcopalian minister. I am guessing that it would have been sometime in the 1960's.
No, the Great Northern Railroad went from Minnesota to Washington. It was, however, the only privately funded, transcontinental railroad in US history. Unlike nearly every other railroad, Great Northern took no federal funds. It was built, in part, from the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, and was largely responsible for the European American settlement of the Dakotas. Later, it merged with several other railroads to form the Burlington Northern Railroad, the Northern Pacific being one of them. Millinocket was once the second wealthiest town in Maine and had, I think, nine churches. We have seven now.
Very late last night, or early in the morning (after I had gone to bed anyhow), a train went through. We have a train track behind our house but we haven't had a train go by here since the mill closed a few years ago. People have been using the tracks as a walking trail, an ATV trail, and a snowmobile trail in the winter. There have been talks about what to do with it once the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad (which is in bankruptcy) formally abandoned it. Sometimes the land reverts to the landowners on each side of the track but, more often lately, they make it an official hiking trail, ATV trail, or snowmobile trail, which is what it's been used for lately. While I wouldn't mind having another little sliver of land, I don't really care. But it was strange that a train went through. Maybe they are dismantling some other mill along the way.
Maybe you were dreaming. Did your wife hear it also? If it hasn't been used by trains, is it kept up? Meaning weeds and anything on the track removed. Where would the train be coming from? Are there train stations still along the tracks? Need more information, Ken....I like trains and find this interesting. Also, did you live in that house when the train was in use? If so, was it annoying?
Yeah. the train woke her up too. While the tracks were in use, we didn't even notice the trains after the first few months because we got used to them. While the mill was in operation, there were trains coming and going all the time. I had always been under the impression that the tracks ended at the mill, a few blocks from our house, but it's possible that they continue on to somewhere else. It's also possible that they are salvaging metal or something from the mill, as several of the buildings are still up, although others have been demolished.
When I lived in Elsa, Texas, the train that went through there had been abandoned. The tracks had even been removed. Yet, the signal was still in operation and every now and then the railroad crossing lights would come on and the audible warning would sound. Everyone referred to that as a ghost train.