This city became a thriving railroad center complete with a roundhouse and all the equipment related to the operation of the trains.

Since the Government of the Canada ran the railroad, political considerations soon outweighed the economy of the railroad; and trade was moved from the port of Portland, Maine to the Canadian ports of Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Saint John, New Brunswick.

Island Pond began to lose its significance as a major railroad town towards the end of the 1950s due to the elimination of steam locomotives.

Around 1960 passenger service to Portland ended, and three years later, diesel locomotive repairs ceased.

[2] The station building has been reutilized by a local bank and the town's historical society.