Aroostook Valley Railroad

Arthur R. Gould purchased a Presque Isle sawmill in 1889. He began to investigate log driving on the Aroostook River as the supply of local logs was exhausted. He needed a railroad to move logs from the river to his sawmill; and recognized the possibility of using the river's water power to generate electricity. The railroad was founded in 1902 and the Maine Railroad Commission granted it approval to operate on 1 July of the same year. Its survey of the planned route was approved the next year, but not until 20 June 1910 was construction completed and the safety certificate approved. The AVR's official opening was on 1 July 1910; at the time it operated 10.8 miles (17.4 km) of track between Presque Isle and Washburn, Maine. In 1911, 11.3 miles (18.2 km) of track was added, extending the line's terminus to New Sweden and in 1912 track was extended to Caribou, a further 7.13 miles (11.47 km). The line was electrified for the early part of the railroad's history.

Gould considered extending the railroad to Lac-Frontière, Quebec through additional sources of timber and electricity, but after the World Wars this plan was dropped. In 1932, the Canadian Pacific Railway acquired a controlling interest in the railroad by buying Gould's share of the company for a price of $225 a share. Passenger service to New Sweden was discontinued in the late 1930s. With the onset of World War II, Presque Isle's airport was converted to a military base for ferrying aircraft to Europe; and the railroad built a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) branch line to handle fuel and equipment shipments to the airfield.