Anyone know about extending the Downeaster?


Government
Waldoboro economic committee talks to railroad, Maine & Company
By Daniel Dunkle
The Herald Gazette Business/Associate Editor

WALDOBORO (June 17): Waldoboro's Economic Development Committee has met with
Maine Eastern Railroad and will meet next month with Maine & Company as the
committee puts together a plan for bringing businesses and jobs to the town,
according to Planning and Development Director Patrick Wright.

The committee met recently with Vice President and Director of Passenger
Operations Gordon Page and Vice President and General Manager Denny Mohn of
Maine Eastern Railroad.

Page said they talked about what it would take to have a passenger train stop in
Waldoboro. At present, the Maine Eastern Railroad trains do not stop in the
town, and Page said there are no immediate plans for such a stop.

Page said there was also some discussion of creating a freight business, with
the trains stopping near a Waldoboro industrial park.

Maine Eastern Railroad's primary business is freight now and it offers
excursions for its passenger service. Page said passenger service will be
increased when the Downeaster is extended to Brunswick and the railroad becomes
an Amtrak service, a change anticipated for late 2010.

At that point, Page said, there will be discussion about where stops may be
added on the rail line.

Wright said that the meeting was a learning opportunity for the committee and
that freight and passenger rail service could serve as a benefit to economic
development in the town.

Page said the railroad is pleased that the town of Waldoboro has shown such an
interest.

During the recent election Selectman Theodore Wooster said he would like to see
a fully developed railroad depot in Waldoboro. He hopes to see the town linked
by rail to Brunswick and Portland.

The committee will meet with representatives from Maine & Company Thursday, July
9 at 4 p.m. at the town office.

Maine & Company has been involved in efforts throughout the state to bring new
employers, often from out of state, into Maine communities. In many cases, the
company has helped match buildings or facilities that have been vacated with new
businesses.

In November 2007, athenahealth Inc. Chairman Jonathan Bush announced that his
firm would buy the former MBNA Phase I building in Belfast. Maine & Company was
involved in that project as well as in bringing Boston Financial Data Services
Inc. to the former MBNA complex on Rockland's waterfront.

Wright said the former Osram Sylvania site on Friendship Street and the Best
Felts building on Winslows Mills Road have been identified as potential sites of
new business development in Waldoboro.

The 70,000-square-foot Osram Sylvania plant was torn down last fall. Osram
Sylvania closed the filament production plant in 2005. At the time the company
announced the closure, the Waldoboro facility employed 134 workers who operated
approximately 395 machines, manufacturing the tiny filaments that give off light
inside light bulbs.

Best Felts was a textile business.

Wright said the town's work force has traditionally been employed in
manufacturing jobs and has skills in that area.

The Herald Gazette Business/Associate Editor Daniel Dunkle can be reached at
207-594-4401 or by e-mail at ddunkle@....

Gary R. Kazin
DL&W Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey