Downeaster pulling into the Portland station, 2016.

The inauguration of the Downeaster on December 15, 2001 was the result of two decades of work by passenger rail advocates; the service was the first to operate between Maine and Boston since 1965. The Downeaster is financed primarily through funds made available by the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, which was created in 1995 by the Maine legislature to develop and provide passenger rail service between Maine and Boston and points within Maine.

Here the train pulls into the intermodal Portland Transportation Center near the Fore River. Portland was the northern terminus of the Downeaster until the route was extended to Freeport and Brunswick in November 2012. The service, which offers multiple daily frequencies, generally employs Amfleet I cars first introduced in 1975. They are noted for their tubular bodies and ridged stainless steel fluting. Leading the train is P-42 locomotive No. 78, one of approximately 200 of this type built for Amtrak by General Electric in the late 1990s. Used in long-distance and corridor services, the P-42 has 4250 horsepower and can reach a top speed of 110 mph.

Photographer: Chuck Gomez for Amtrak. From the Amtrak Corporate Collection.