The Eastern Maine Railway Company Limited (reporting markEMRY) is a 99.5 mi (160.1 km) U.S. short line railroad owned by the New Brunswick Railway Company, a holding company that is part of "Irving Transportation Services", a division within the industrial conglomerate J.D. Irving Limited.
Both EMRY and NBSR began operations on January 6, 1995 approximately 1 week after Canadian Pacific Railway abandoned operations of its Canadian Atlantic Railway (CAR) subsidiary on December 31, 1994. In addition to owning the former CPR tracks in Maine, EMRY was an operating entity for the first several months of existence and had running rights over its sister company NBSR's tracks from the International Boundary east to the yard at McAdam, New Brunswick. In spring 1995 Irving Transportation Services consolidated its railway operations as Eastern Maine Railway Company Limited came under NBSR operational control.[2]
As a portion of the Bangor and Aroostook line from Millinocket south through Brownville Junction was not part of MM&A's sale of track to the state, EMRY's track is not contiguous to Irving-operated Maine Northern Railway (MNRY). In the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway bankruptcy auction, EMRY had made a joint bid with Pan-Am's Springfield Terminal Railway for the former MM&A trackage in Maine - a move which could have re-unified the Bangor and Aroostook under Irving's banner. An initial Radio-Canada report that this bid was successful[3] was quickly contradicted by other sources (including the English-language Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Press news wire)[4][5][6] which indicate all of the former MM&A rails went to Fortress Investment Group subsidiary Railroad Acquisition Holdings. According to a statement from Wayne Power, vice president of J.D. Irving’s transportation and logistics division, "In the end, the trustee went forward with a single buyer of the entire MMA railway line. We look forward to working with Fortress Investment Group of New York as they assume operation of the MMA railway."
Operations
Today most locomotives hauling trains that operate over EMRY are owned and carry the reporting marks of NBSR. Some maintenance of way equipment is owned by EMRY but the majority of the company's assets are the physical tracks and right of way from Vanceboro to Brownville Junction, as well as the running rights in New Brunswick to McAdam.
^"La vente de la MMA approuvée par le tribunal". Jan 23, 2014. Les entreprises Eastern Maine Railway et Springfield Terminal Railway avaient quant à elles acquis la voie ferrée dans le Maine.