Terry Harper's presentation on "Ghost Train of the Allagash" February 21, 2024

Today they are known as the “Ghost Train” of the Allagash-two standard gauge steam locomotives rusting away since 1933 in a small clearing in the heart of Maine’s Allagash Wilderness Waterway. Situated fifty miles from the nearest railhead, surrounded by a sea of spruce, the 13-mile-long Eagle Lake & West Branch Railroad is truly a railroad from nowhere with a fascinating story to tell. Drawing on over 30 years of research of primary source material including corporate documents, first person accounts, period photographs, and boots on the ground, Historian Terry Harper will guide us on a journey exploring the remarkable story of the Eagle Lake & West Branch Railroad, the people who built and worked on it and herculean efforts to preserve the locomotives and their place in the mechanization of Maine’s early lumber industry. Terry has a deep interest in the early mechanization of Maine’s logging industry. He is a member of the Board of Directors and a volunteer at the Maine Forest & Logging Museum in Bradley, Maine and particularly enjoys maintaining and demonstrating the Museum’s collection of steam and gasoline powered Lombard Log Haulers and Tractor-Trucks.