By Tim Badgley
A Fourth of July weekend scenic round-trip train ride on the Wiscasset Flyer from Wiscasset to Newcastle was enjoyed by many over this past weekend. Among those on the inaugural trip July 4, were Mary Ellen Barnes, Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission; Gwen Torrey former Wiscasset resident, Christine Blaisdell Newcastle resident; Christopher Doherty, Newcastle Selectman; Newcastle resident Kayleigh Maloney; Allison Maloney; Greg Cowen, formerly of Wiscasset, Lynn Maloney, Newcastle Town Administrator; Cory Boucher, Maine Eastern Railroad Conductor; Mary Kate Reny, Twin Villages Alliance; Todd Fossett; and Catherine Wygant Fossett, Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce Executive Director. (Charlotte Boynton photo) |
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Regular passenger train service returned to Newcastle for the first time in 55 years when two different lines of the Maine Eastern Railroad stopped at the freshly painted depot to let off passengers throughout the day July 4.
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The Wiscasset Flyer pulls into the Newcastle depot delivering passengers at 12:15 p.m. on its first run July 4. (Tim Badgley photo) |
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The Newcastle-Damariscotta-Boothbay Harbor Trolley Service visits the Newcastle train depot on its first day of operation July 4. (Tim Badgley photo) |
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At 12:15 p.m. the Wiscasset Flyer delivered 11 passengers who embarked in Wiscasset on the train’s inaugural trip to Newcastle.
A trolley operated by Country Coach Charters out of Nobleboro met the train to transport passengers free of charge to downtown Damariscotta, funded by the Newcastle Train and Trolley Committee.
Bob Reny was on the depot platform to meet his wife Mary Kate as she stepped off the train. Reny took pleasure in the irony of the fact that he had ridden with his grandparents on the final train to stop in Newcastle when service ceased on April 4, 1959.
“I remember being scared when we went across the bridge over the water,” Reny said. “I remember my grandparents telling me it was the last train to run through Newcastle.”
The Wiscasset Flyer will offer round-trip service from Wiscasset to Newcastle every Saturday until Oct. 4, except July 12 and Aug. 2. The 45-minute round trip departs Wiscasset at noon.
Scheduled to arrive at 1:50 p.m. the Mid-Coast Limited arrived in Newcastle 40 minutes late on its first excursion from Brunswick and then continued on to Rockland.
The Mid-Coast Limited will operate Friday to Sunday through Oct. 12. The train departs Newcastle for Rockland at 1:50 p.m. and for Brunswick at 4:20 p.m.
The trolley service will transport passengers from the Twin Villages to Boothbay Harbor twice daily for a $5 round-trip fee.
When not headed to Boothbay, the trolley will drive a continuous loop from Lincoln Academy, down Main Street, to Great Salt Bay School and return. Trolley schedule brochures are readily available at many shops and restaurants in the Twin Villages as well as the town offices of Newcastle and Damariscotta.
Lynn Maloney, town administrator of Newcastle and member of the Newcastle Train and Trolley Committee rode the Wiscasset Flyer on its maiden voyage.
“It is a beautiful ride, it really is,” Maloney said. “At first you get to see all of the water going out of Wiscasset. It’s very nice inside with comfortable seats, plenty of room and big windows. Very nice.”
