Timetable - April 25, 1949

Note: See below the Timetable for an interesting commentary about a photo that this timetable greatly expanded your editor's understanding of! -JTK

Interestingly, this timetable contains only passenger train schedules but the actual timetable contains some buses. Given that buses have been a part of the railroad's passenger service since 1936, separating them seems a tad odd. Styling wise, this timetable is essentially a clone of the last one we saw in 1948, although with the 'Passenger Train Schedules' having replaced train and bus. The advertisement on the double inside page says that the 'compass always points North' and that 'No one ever went wrong following a compass' - implying that one should move their business and life to Northern Maine. The railroad is, again, promoting Northern Maine in general, not the railroad or any specific product. That theme is one we see time and again and is both self-serving and not. More businesses and people come to Northern Maine - more traffic for the railroad. In the schedule department, Potatoland Special passengers are once again transferring at Northern Maine Junction on the Northbound part of their journey. The times for that train and #9 which connects with it are altered as a result, running about an hour earlier, but the pattern and overall operation remains the same. 
For the first time in this collection we see the Hertz Car Rental business being promoted. An interesting choice and what must have been a paid advertisement in the timetable as several years later, the railroad would become a licensee of the Avis car rental business. Sleeping car and Pullman rates are also advertised as are fishing in Northern Maine and dining on a B&A passenger train. 

Bangor Historical Society collection

Special Commentary:

Late in January 2026 the Bangor Historical Society sent over the scans that make up the bulk of this timetable collection. About 18 months earlier, in the Summer 2024 Maine Line Magazine the following image was used on the cover. 

Purchased from railroad historians George and Kathy Melvin, we knew the location, Northern Maine Junction and the month and year, April 1949. During a conversation I had with George we also surmised that this was the Southbound Aroostook Flyer and the Westbound Maine Central train #12. What we did not know was what exactly was going on in the picture. If you look close enough, you can see a large number of people boarding the Maine Central train:

Now, under normal circumstances one would expect to see people boarding both trains, but given that the Aroostook Flyer is headed to Bangor and the Maine Central train has just come from Bangor, no one need board the Flyer. 

What was confusing to both George and I was that this was happening at all. Both of us were under the impression that all passengers were exchanged at Bangor Union Station - given that it was so close to NMJ and had vastly superior facilities it would be preferred. George came up with the quite logical theory that perhaps the Southbound Flyer had been held up and this was a backup to allow the Maine Central train to keep on its schedule. Evidently, this is not the case. 

According to the timetable on this page, the Southbound Aroostook Flyer, train #2, arrived at Northern Maine Junction at 12:45 PM and left at 12:50 PM, to arrive at Bangor at 1 PM. The connecting Maine Central train (#12 per George) left Northern Maine Junction at 12:55. Just to make the order of operations clearer: 

  • 12:45 - BAR #2 - Aroostook Flyer arrives Northern Maine Junction
  • 12:50 - BAR #2 - Aroostook Flyer leaves NMJ for Bangor
  • 12:55 - MEC #12 leaves NMJ for points West (South)
  • 1:00 - BAR #2 - Aroostook Flyer arrives Bangor Union Station

This was not a special circumstance - this was the normal operation for these two trains. it just goes to show that as much as you know, there is always more to learn. This is not the only thing I have learned from this timetable collection and I hope to only learn more! -JTK