◀ Westbound to The Gateway | The Great Fill | Eastbound to Mount Willard Bridge ▶
The original wooden trestle of the Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad at Crawford Notch, later buried within the Great Fill. The cut leading into the Notch can be seen in the distance, with Dismal Pool lying below to the right, out of view. The fill was built up with earth and rock around the structure, which eventually rotted away beneath the present roadbed. Settling of the fill remained an ongoing maintenance issue for the Maine Central. © Raymond Willard Evans, courtesy of Robert J. Girouard
The Great Fill, just east of the Gateway to Crawford Notch, shown as the original wooden trestle was being buried beneath earth and rock. The structure, part of the Maine Central’s Mountain Division, remains entombed beneath the present roadbed. © Raymond Willard Evans, courtesy of Robert J. Girouard
A passenger train crosses the Great Fill, just east of the Gateway to Crawford Notch, heading toward Crawford’s Station and the Crawford House hotel. The fill replaced the original wooden trestle that once spanned Dismal Pool below, built up with earth and rock to the present height. © Raymond Willard Evans, courtesy of Robert J. Girouard
A Maine Central train emerges from the Great Cut at the head of Crawford Notch and moves out across the Great Fill on the Mountain Division. The massive earthwork replaced the original wooden trestle that once spanned Dismal Pool below. © Charles F. H. Allen, courtesy of Robert J. Girouard
The Great Fill viewed from the Gateway to Crawford Notch, showing the immense scale of the earthwork that replaced the original wooden trestle. The photo also captures early signal equipment associated with the automatic block semaphore signals that protected this section of the Maine Central’s Mountain Division. © Charles F. H. Allen, courtesy of Robert J. Girouard
Maine Central train RY-2 rounds the famous curve at The Great Fill on 26 July 1977, with U18B No. 409 Ethan Allen leading a striking five-unit consist of three GP38s and a second U18B, all resplendent in the railroad’s distinctive Harvest Gold paint scheme. The freight is grinding its way up the final miles of the 18-mile, 2.2% climb to Crawford Notch, with the summit just beyond the photographer. Amid the long string of freight cars, a 40-foot CP Rail Multimark boxcar provides a vivid splash of red, standing out against the deep greens of the White Mountains. By the late 1970s, heavy westbound freights like RY-2 often required helpers from Bartlett to conquer the grades, making scenes such as this an unforgettable part of Mountain Division operations. © Thomas L. Seiler
A Great Northern boxcar lies derailed at the Great Fill, just west of the Gateway to Crawford Notch, above Dismal Pool. The Fill replaced the original wooden trestle that once spanned this deep ravine. Visible at left is Raymond W. Evans’s wife, Connie Evans. © Raymond Willard Evans, courtesy of Robert J. Girouard
◀ Westbound to The Gateway | The Great Fill | Eastbound to Mount Willard Bridge ▶