When Guilford abandoned the MEC’s Mountain Division in 1983, the east end was purchased by MaineDOT with the hopes of finding an operator for this woefully neglected line. The PV&T, thinking that it was possible to get back some of the shippers with better service, stepped in and set up the Portland & North Conway Railroad to operate MaineDOT’s section and the stub from the Maine border to North Conway, NH.
After going over the line to upgrade it to class 3 trackage (40mph freight) the railroad managed to claw back enough business to make it a marginally profitable operation (marginally profitable only because the ROW was owned by the state of Maine and thus wasn’t being whacked with property taxes) and survives to this day on a diet of freight and the occasional Conway Scenic excursion down to Portland.