The Downeaster at Portland. Callboy file photo

Downeaster Adventure to Portland and Beyond

August 11, 2007

Photos by Vic Campbell

It was certainly not the Boston & Maine concourse of old, but still a distinct improvement over the former "North Station hallway." Mass Bay RRE's first 'official' use of the new (since spring) North Station waiting room impressed those who had checked in for any of our previous Downeaster Adventures (four in summer, three in winter). Still lacking, however, is the friendly ambience of the original 1927 space: the new ceiling is black with huge HV AC ducts, the lighting is on the "cool blue" side, and the train announcements are still unintelligible or spotty, depending on the person making them.

More than half of our 60 "Adventurers" boarded Amtrak #691 here (though we were not pre-boarded, as usual). Almost 30 riders joined us at Woburn (assisted by RRE platform agent Dave Brown), and two more came on at Exeter, NH.

Enroute, on our sunny Saturday sojourn, the only delays were at Wells, ME. First, a southbound freight needed to get its tail off the main line; then, we endured a "security hold" as the French President's motorcade crossed the railroad on the way to lunch in Kennebunkport with the Bush clan. Our lunch aboard #691 was available from the booth-equipped Amcafe operated by Epicur­ean Feast caterers. After a ten-minute-late arrival at Portland, most of the group made a quick transfer to the VIP Tours motorcoach and a fast escape to Wiscasset. Five "Adventurers" stayed in Portland to explore this interesting seaport on their own, using our handout recommendation list as a guide.

At Montsweag, a few miles west of Wiscasset, Allan Fisher, president of the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, met us in his pickup truck. Alan guided us to the museum at Sheepscot Station on an over-hill, down-dale approach to avoid the creep-and-crawl summer-weekend traffic on US 1. The WW&F Museum was abuzz with activity for the Annual Picnic.