By Roger, age 10
I used to think history was boring – nothing but dates, dates and more dates. So, when I was asked to do a story on the history of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, I was not too happy. But I like trains, so I thought that learning more about the history of railroads could be fun.
I dug right in and found that the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, also known as BAR, was founded in 1891. Already a date!?!
It was just the beginning – more dates to remember! I learned that BAR traces their origins to 1833. You see, they took over the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad and the Bangor and Katahsin Iron Works Railway which were founded in 1833.
I was almost ready to give up when I discovered that toys can be used to teach history! You see, the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad became famous around 1950. They shipped a lot of potatoes and paper from Maine to places all over the country. They decided they needed new box cars. They bought both new and used railroad cars and painted them – nearly 2,500 cars – red, white and blue.
The high visibility cars put the small railroad in the public eye. You see BAR at its peak only operated about 800 miles of track. Yet with 2,500 boxcars to haul a seasonal potato crop, BAR had the second largest fleet of boxcars – second only to the famous Santa Fe line.
When the cars were not needed in Maine for the potatoes, the extra cars were rented out to the mid-west to haul produce around the country and all the way to California.
The cars were so nice looking, two toy makers made models. The toys ended up under Christmas trees in train sets. Soon other toy manufactures followed. The model red, white and blue boxcars are still available today more than 70 years after the original cars were made.
The red, white and blue boxcar features three big horizontal stripes: one blue across the top, the white in the middle and red across the base. Painted in big bold letters on the blue line were the words “STATE OF MAINE.” In the white stripe, across the middle part were the words, “BANGOR AND AROOSTOOK RAILROAD.” In bottom stripe, across the red was just one word, “POTATOES” in all caps.
And this is where history gets interesting: You see, after just a few cars were labeled Potatoes, the word was changed to Products. Adults argue a government law made BAR change the word to Products. Other adults claim it was a railroad association guideline, and others say it was just the cars would be used for more than potato hauling and that is why the word was changed to Products.
But, come on, I think it was the toy manufactures. What kid wants to haul potatoes around the Christmas tree, when there are Legos and matchbox cars? As for me, I prefer cookies. That way, every time the car comes around, I stop it, open the door, grab a bit of cookies and send the car around again.
And to close this history, the dates are still confusing. You see, BAR was sold in 1995 to Iron Road Railways. In 2002, the company went bankrupt (that means ran out of money), but the history people say BAR was no longer in 2003 when they were bought again this time by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway. Go figure.
As for me, I like history by toys not dates. It’s a lot more fun.
