MADRID – Backwoods trail riders take note. The official opening of the Perham Stream Bridge on the multi-use trail in Madrid is taking place at noon on Saturday, Aug. 27. The bridge is at the confluence of Perham and Orbeton Streams in Madrid Township and is a major crossing on the ITS 84/89 snowmobile trails and the Moose Loop ATV trail. This long-awaited, much needed, single-span steel girder bridge replaces a previous bridge which had been damaged during Hurricane Irene.
A ribbon cutting ceremony, complete with free hot dogs and burgers, is the final stage of a three-year collaborative process between the High Peaks Alliance, North Franklin Snowmobile Club, Narrow Gauge Riders ATV club, landowner Mark Beauregard and others. Funding for the bridge included grants from Maine’s Recreational Trails Program, the Franklin County TIF program and the Betterment Fund. The contractor for the project was N.F. Luce under the direction of Brian Luce. The trail only needed to be closed for one week while the old bridge was removed and the new one was installed.
The bridge is now open for public motorized and non-motorized recreation with a vehicle width restriction of 60 inches (exceptions being made for snowmobile trail groomers). Food and supplies for the event have been donated by local businesses, The White Elephant in Strong, Edmunds’ Market in Phillips, and the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Distributor of Farmington.
Maine’s multi-use ITS 84/89 trail crosses the Orbeton Stream parcel, an area of working forest conserved through a conservation easement in 2015 secured by the Trust for Public Lands with funding from the Forest Legacy and Land for Maine’s Future programs and many generous donors. The High Peaks Alliance served as a local partner for the Trust for Public Land in establishing the easement which preserves public access to this beautiful trail for riders, bikers, and hikers.
The celebration will be happening at the site of the Perham Stream Bridge. Parking for the event will be on Reeds Mill Road near the intersection with ITS 84/89. Additional parking is available near the Madrid Trail Head of the Fly Rod Crosby Trail
Those attending can walk, or take an ATV to the bridge from Reeds Mill Road. A truck will also be available to shuttle people to and from the bridge.
Take Route 4 to Madrid and turn onto Reeds Mill Road. Continue for just under five miles. You will pass the Star Yoga Barn on the left, the ITS 84/89 intersection is at the bottom of the hill and across the bridge.
For more information about the bridge, call 416-4952, or visit www.highpeaksalliance.org.
Nice!
This project represents what happens when groups work together for the good of the community . The funding is from grants and putting TIF money to good use . The High Peaks Alliance is a non-profit whose mission is to preserve land in Franklin County for traditional use , including logging , hunting ,fishing, access by snowmobiles and ATVs
Is there some reason for avoiding mention of the fact that this is a railroad trail?
It was a two footer railroad rack YEARS ago. There is a book called, appropriately, The Two Footer, which should give dates, etc.
I’m not sure what “farmington native”‘s point is, but it’s true that the railroad grade in Madrid hasn’t had trains on it in about 80 years. It is still a railroad trail because it was put there by a railroad for railroad use. It puzzles me that in news articles I see (in 3 newspapers now) about this new Perham Stream bridge there seems to be a deliberate avoidance of mentioning the railroad, and I don’t know why. That trail through the woods of Madrid didn’t come down from heaven, and it wasn’t put there by Fly Rod Crosby or by a snowmobile club. It was put there by the Phillips & Rangeley Railroad in 1890-91. The P&R RR was formed when a lumber baron who owned vast numbers of trees in Redington approached some Phillips businessmen who had been involved with the earlier Sandy River RR about his need for a railroad to transport his lumber to market. They proceeded to build a line from Phillips to Rangeley, running through Madrid, Redington, and Dallas Plantation; and most of that line still survives as trails.
It is indeed a beautiful site, and I have become especially enamored of the site of Sanders station, which is about 2/3 mile north of the Perham Stream bridge. But I would never have seen it if I hadn’t been looking for railroad stations. I was delighted to find that the Sanders Access Road is still there, snaking through the woods from East Madrid Road to Sanders, though it is no longer drivable due to there being fallen trees on it.
“farmington native” is right that there are books about the history of that railroad, though I don’t recognize the name he gives. Perhaps he was thinking of Linwood Moody’s “The Maine Two-Footers” or Robert C. Jones’s “Two Feet Between the Rails.” The latter is a set of two very readable large volumes of detailed history with many photographs and excellent indexes.
They probably didn’t mention it in the article because that’s not important right now. It’s no longer a rail road, it’s an atv trail. I’m sure a majority of the people who know the trail know it as just that- an atv trail.
And Farmington native’s point may have been similar to what I just said. It’s not a railroad anymore. It’s an atv trail.
It sounds like a really neat history and you clearly take the local railroads VERY seriously. Like I said, it’s just not important right now…
Although you are probably correct in your statement that, “It’s just not important right now”, it’s also interesting to note that although it hasn’t seen rail traffic in more than 80 years, we natives, whether recreational users or not, still proudly refer to this stretch of roadbed as the “Perham track”. I hope we always will, as all history is important. Maybe it’s just a nod of respect and reverence to those who built, and rode the line all those years ago. Enjoy!