PORTLAND — The Surface Transportation Board is allowing a railroad to end service on track serving the B&M baked beans plant in Portland.

B&M, which receives about 30 carloads of beans per year, was the only company using the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad track after several other shippers moved on.

The Portland Press Herald says the company has until March 7 to offer to subsidize the railroad service. Otherwise, the rail service on the 24-mile stretch between Auburn and Portland will end on March 27, requiring the factory to rely on more expensive trucks.

B&M has been making baked beans in its five-story brick factory on the waterfront since 1913. The business itself began as Burnham & Morrill Co. in Portland in 1867.


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