With passenger rail lines on the verge of extinction with the Ontario Northland Service from Sault Ste. Marie to Hearst Ontario and VIA Rail service in the Maritimes, it may seem awkward to be writing about the big dream of restoring passenger rail service from Portland to Montreal. I do feel that updates are worthwhile. A February 26th article from the Portland Express Herald has stated that, The federal Surface Transportation Board on Tuesday granted permission to the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad to discontinue freight service on 24 miles of track between the Auburn city line and Portland. The decision – to be effective on March 27 – means B&M, the railroad’s only customer on the line, will lose the train service unless the bean plant is willing to subsidize it. Read the rest of the article HERE . B&M, which has been making baked beans in its five-story brick factory on the waterfront since 1913, currently gets nearly all of its small pea beans delivered by rail ...