Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Passenger Equipment

Copyright 2020 - 2021 by James B. Van Bokkelen . This document may be duplicated and distributed for non-commercial purposes only, all other rights reserved.

My primary sources are a reprint of a 20-Dec-1956 Passenger Car Diagram Book and the January 1951 Official Register of Passenger Train Equipment. I will extend it as I find other sources.

• Roster of Bangor & Aroostook Heavyweight and Wood/SUF Passenger Equipment
• BAR Pre-WWII Osgood Bradley Lightweights
• BAR Post-WWII Pullman-Standard Stainless Sheathed Lightweights

The Bangor & Aroostook was never a particularly passenger-oriented railroad. Still expanding as late as 1915, for a decade or two it revolutionized transport north of the CPR/MEC route through Mattawamkeag and Vanceboro. But traffic declined after World War I as roads were improved. Demand for local and branch line services fell off rapidly. But driving from Aroostook County points to Bangor, Augusta or Boston remained a major project even as the Maine Turnpike was extended to Augusta in 1955. Accordingly, the through Boston - Houlton cars operated jointly with the Maine Central and Boston & Maine were upgraded with new lightweight sleepers that year.

Bangor & Aroostook Passenger Equipment

NOTE: The 1928 replica of an 1860 arch roof coach at the Henry Ford Museum is lettered as Bangor & Aroostook #6. I haven't found an explanation, but the BAR wasn't incorporated until 1891 and its earliest predecessor, the Bangor & Picataquis, was only chartered in 1861.

NOTE: A 2020 Strasburg RR roster shows two Bangor & Aroostook coaches arrived there in 1999. Both were built in 1904, but no builder is given.

Bangor & Aroostook Osgood-Bradley Lightweights

These cars were built at the O-B plant in Worcester, MA after O-B was acquired by Pullman but before the business were functionally merged. All shared the type of construction often referred to as American Flyer for that manufacturer's S-Gauge models. The roofs were arched with downward curves at the ends, and the sides curved outward from the floor and roofline. Trucks were type 41-E. The BAR's four RPO/Baggage cars were the only head-end equipment built with this body style.

Bangor & Aroostook Pullman-Standard Lightweights

These cars were built at the former Osgood-Bradley plant in Worcester, MA. Except for name and number plate layout, the BAR 6-4-6 sleepers were identical to the NH and B&M cars ordered at the same time.

Bibliography

The Official Pullman Standard Library Vol. 10 has rough plans and builder's photos of Bangor & Aroostook lightweight cars delivered in 1937-8 (American Flyer style), 1949 (stainless-sheathed coaches) and 1955 (stainless-sheathed 6-4-6 sleepers).

The Bangor & Aroostook by Angier & Cleaves has many photos of BAR passenger trains, but little detail about the non-lightweight equipment.