An MP15 Takes the OT-1 to Old Town! -8/26/19
On August 26, 2019, I was lucky enough to be in Bangor just as the OT-1 was departing Hermon for Old Town. In tow were 32 empty 50 foot boxcars bound for the newly restarted mill in Old Town, eventually to be filled with wood pulp. Nearly two weeks before, an EMD MP15, (GMTX 205 on sublease from NBSR), had travelled down from Mattawamkeag (nearly 60 miles north of Hermon at the very top of the Pan Am Railways system) with wood chips from the tie chipper located there. On this day, it was leading the OT-1 as it began it's trip back up to Mattawamkeag to end it's one time round trip. This locomotive labored through Bangor and up the Veazie grade with only 1,500 horsepower (half of the standard GP40's 3000) and all 32 empties, making good sound along the way. It has a fouled Leslie S3L horn (although it sounds like a nice M3), and is equipped with flashing ditch lights not found on any PAR units. Please enjoy this rare run of the GMTX 205 on Pan Am trackage!