The Somerset Railroad was built to serve Kennebec River communities and later extended through timberlands to a large wooden Victorian era destination hotel on Moosehead Lake.

The reorganized company extended the line to Moosehead Lake in 1906 and built a large resort hotel called the Mount Kineo House.

Aboriginal forests had been converted to lumber and pulpwood before the last passenger train over the branch ran in September, 1933; and the line north of Bingham was dismantled that year.

Bingham became an important loading point for pulpwood floated down the Kennebec River to Wyman Dam until environmental regulations curtailed log driving in the 1970s.

On June 24, 2021, Pan Am Railways had filed with the Surface Transportation Board to formally abandon the remaining section of line from Oakland to Madison and Embden.