Madrid Railroad

Owners of the Phillips and Rangeley Railroad (P&R) were most interested in a means of transporting lumber to markets from the aboriginal spruce forests of Redington township. Redington Lumber Company owned 375 of the 400 shares of P&R stock sold. Construction began where the Sandy River Railroad ended in Phillips; and the first train reached Redington on 11 October 1890. After leaving Reeds Mills, the railroad climbed 800 feet up nine roadless miles of Orbeton Stream canyon between Saddleback Mountain and Mount Abraham. Redington sawmill was built near the summit of what came to be called Sluice Hill. Although no station buildings had been constructed, the P&R commenced regular train service to Redington a few days before the mill started producing lumber on 21 February 1891. Frozen ground halted construction for the winter, but spring weather brought rails to Rangeley on 10 June 1891. On 1 July 1891, scheduled train service commenced from Rangeley to the Maine Central Railroad in Farmington via the Sandy River Railroad from Phillips.

P&R locomotive #1 was the first 2 ft (610 mm) gauge locomotive built by the Portland Company. It was the largest 2 ft (610 mm) gauge locomotive in Maine when delivered. P&R #2 locomotive was purchased from the Sandy River Railroad and kept the Sandy River number although it was available for construction work before #1 was delivered. P&R #3 locomotive was even larger than #1, and was the first locomotive with a separate tender on Maine's 2 ft (610 mm) gauge railroads. Initial P&R purchases of 16 box cars, 3 coaches, and one combination car matched Sandy River Railroad inventories of those car types for joint service; but P&R had seventy flat cars to ship lumber from Redington and from Sanders sawmill. P&R #1 and identical Sandy River engine #4 generally pulled passenger trains between Farmington and Rangeley, while P&R #3 pulled freight trains from the sawmills. For the third time, P&R ordered the heaviest 2 ft (610 mm) gauge locomotive in Maine to replace #2 in 1893. The old Hinkley locomotive was too small to provide satisfactory service on Sluice Hill when the larger locomotives needed repairs, but it was renumbered #4, renamed Bo-Peep, and remained on the roster for less demanding work. P&R received a baggage-RPO car from Portland in 1892; and the Sandy River Railroad put a similar car into service the following year.

The Redington sawmill closed briefly in 1895. Although the P&R grade up Sluice Hill was well positioned to receive logs sluiced off the flank of Mount Abraham, there was a limited supply of timber left within easy reach of the railroad. Workers began to move away from the boom town of Redington. P&R made no further rolling stock purchases. A box car and 3 flat cars were destroyed when Sanders sawmill burned in 1900. Redington was virtually deserted by that time. Rangeley Lakes trout fishing was legendary, and the population of deer increased as wild berry bushes grew on cutover timberland. The Rangeley Lake House, a large wooden hotel on the lakeshore near Rangeley, offered luxury accommodation for tourists interested in fishing and hunting; but their summer and autumn business did not cover the cost of railroad maintenance through the winter and spring.

Trainloads of logs moved from the branches to Madrid Junction for the next few years, and trainloads of lumber moved south through Phillips and the Sandy River Railroad. In 1906, end-of-track at Rangeley was extended 1700 feet to serve Rangeley Lake House guests from a small stone lake-shore station on the hotel grounds.

Sandy River Railroad management began buying defaulted bonds of the P&R, Madrid, and Eustis railroads; and put the P&R into receivership in 1905. The Madrid Junction sawmill closed in 1908 when Franklin County's aboriginal spruce forests were virtually gone. Passenger service on the Eustis Railroad ended that year. Sandy River Railroad management forced auction of P&R properties to satisfy the defaulted bonds, purchased the P&R and Madrid railroads at that auction, and merged the P&R into their Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad in 1908.

The SR&RL had more difficulty obtaining title to the Eustis Railroad, but the receiver leased the Eustis Railroad to SR&RL when they purchased the P&R. Eustis Railroad was merged into the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad (SR&RL) in 1911. The Eustis locomotives became SR&RL #20-22 and the Eustis flat cars became SR&RL #363-387.