Maine's Aroostook Valley Railroad was a railroad that operated between Presque Isle and Caribou, Maine from 1902 to 1996. It originally was an electric railroad, operating interurban cars until 1945. It operated from Presque Isle through Washburn to both New Sweden and Caribou. Freight traffic consisted largely of potatoes, along with other farm products as well. During World War II, military freight traffic accounted for eight to ten carloads per day.
Electrification was ended in July 1945, with passenger traffic ending the next month. With the end of electrification In July 1945 the AVR purchased two GE 44 ton diesels, 10 and 11. A third, numbered 12, was added in 1949. Due to a variety of factors (a drop in freight traffic due to more trucks on the highways, and a flood in 1987 that destroyed two Canadian Pacific bridges, causing the AVR to lose its connection to the CP at Washburn Junction), the railroad ceased operations in 1996.
But on a wintery February 1983 day, AVR 44 ton diesels 12 and 10 were photographed in Presque Isle, thirteen years before the inevitable shutdown. (The AAR reporting mark AVR was then assigned to Pennsylvania's Allegheny Valley Railroad.)
(Presque Isle, Maine – February 1983) Ed Robinson photograph, Craig Walker collection
