The line also includes a spur to Eastport which joins the Calais Branch at Ayers Junction.
The Washington County Railroad was completed in 1898, and became the Calais branch in 1911 after MEC gained controlling stock interest in 1904.
Trains leaving Bangor for Calais first traveled 31.5 miles (50.7 km) over the Bar Harbor branch.
The mill originated or terminated over 6,000 carloads in 1973, while cumulative pulpwood and lumber loading at Ellsworth, Franklin, Cherryfield, Columbia Falls, Whitneyville, Machias, and Dennysville contributed less half that volume.
The Downeast Scenic Railroad leased the 30 mi (48 km) Brewer–Washington Junction segment in 2006 for operation as a heritage railway between Ellsworth and Green Lake.
Together, these operable sections of the Calais Branch and the Woodland Spur measure 11.83 mi (19.04 km) in length.