These rails used to ring with the sound of trains.

From the mid-19th century to the early 20th, tons and tons of freight moved along this line, from Bangor to Calais.

This was also the last stretch of track traversed by tourists on their way to Mount Desert Island. These passengers on the Bar Harbor express would ride from Boston to Hancock Point, then take a ferry across to the island. The richest among them — the Rockefellers, the Fords — had their own private, opulent rail cars, which would drop them off, then be towed back to the Bangor rail yards, to be stored in the section known as “The Flower Garden.”

But that was a long time ago. On this recent day, it’s Charlie Freeman who is the solitary figure riding the rails from Vittum Road in Ellsworth Falls — about a five-mile stretch — to the Nicolin Road in North Ellsworth.

Freeman, 46, of Ellsworth, has his own private rail car as well. You really couldn’t call it opulent. It’s more like … functional.

Freeman, who runs an auto-parts business, lovingly restored this 1957 Fairmount motorized rail car, formerly used by Maine Central Railroad for line maintenance. He invested 1 1/2 years of his life to get it running again.

“When a railroad is done with the car, they’re really done with the car,” Freeman joked. “I was lucky that this one was the system spare.”

Freeman is one of a handful of drivers who have been granted seasonal permits to run the motorized rail cars, also known as “putt-putts,” on state rail lines. Such permits are essentially liability waivers to protect the state against lawsuits in the event of accidents or injury. Alan Bartlett, who issues the permits for the state’s Office of Freight Transportation, estimates that a half-dozen such seasonal permits have been issued, with quite a few more granted on a one-time-only basis.

In exchange, the putt-putt drivers agree to perform maintenance work about 50 percent of the time they are on the track. Such work includes repairing washouts caused by beaver dams, cutting brush, building trestles, installing culverts, and even trapping and relocating beavers, Freeman said. Drivers get together for work sessions on weekends several times a year.

Bartlett said the state is grateful for such volunteer labor.

“Given our extremely tight budget, every little bit helps,” he said.

Permits can be rejected for several reasons, Barlett said, including irresponsible behavior, failure to do any maintenance work, and improper equipment.

“I like to know who I’m dealing with, so I try to get a reference from them that’s someone I know,” Bartlett explained. “That’s so I can call and ask, `Is he responsible? Does he have a decent piece of equipment?”‘

Freeman is the volunteer overseer for the Brewer-to-Calais line. He is responsible for 127 miles of track, about 85 of which is open. Other volunteers contact him when they’re going out to work, to apprise him of their plans. Freeman estimated that he puts in about 50 hours a month on the tracks.

Behind his shop, Freeman is rebuilding a second putt-putt in his workshop, a former railroad building. Also in his backyard are railroad trailers and brush cutters, to pull behind his rail car, and a high-rail pickup, now used by railroads for maintenance work.

It’s obvious that Freeman has always been a believer in the railroad.

“It’s just sensibility,” he said. “It’s the most economical form of moving heavy freight. I’ve always been impressed with how much you can roll along so easily.”

Freeman, who sometimes takes his black Labrador along with him, has been riding in his rail car for the past five years. Even before that, he would hike along the tracks, and trim the brush.

“I always figured the trains would come back,” he said.

Freeman may yet be right. John Melrose, the Maine Department of Transportation Commissioner, has proposed a six-year Strategic Passenger Transportation Plan which includes having passenger trains run from Boston to Rockland, then having tourists take high-speed ferries to Mount Desert Island and other coastal attractions.

Freeman’s home line would also benefit from this plan. Bartlett said it has been estimated that it would cost $40 million to upgrade the Brewer to Ellsworth line to Class 3 (safe for 60 mph travel) and Ellsworth to Calais to Class 2 (safe for 30 mph for passenger trains, 25 mph for freight). Money in the transportation bond package now before the Legislature would take care of the Brewer-to-Ellsworth leg.

Freeman, who sits on the Eastern Maine Rail Development Commission, seems a little dubious about emphasizing passenger over freight service on this eastern-most railroad in the United States.

“You’ve got to haul freight to pay the bills, and the tourists will be gravy,” he said. “This can be a low-cost freight alternative as well as a people mover.”

Freeman takes out his putt-putt, which can go forward or backward on the tracks, almost every weekend, as well as some nights, depending on the job to be done.

Although he hesitates to call working on the railroad a hobby, Freeman admits that he finds riding the rails to be a relaxing escape.

“Some people collect stamps, or go bowling, or go bar-hopping,” he said. “This is something I enjoy, something that gets me away from work.”

On a recent day, Freeman, wearing an engineer’s cap, hauls his rail car on a trailer, behind his red Chevy pickup. Reaching the Ellsworth Falls spot where he plans to get onto the tracks, he then tips the trailer and uses a winch to lower the putt-putt to the ground.

The aluminum rail car weighs between 650 and 700 pounds. Yet Freeman moves it by pulling out two long metal handles and rolling it along on its front wheels. Having the engine in front lets him take advantage of the “wheelbarrow effect,” he said.

After easing the car onto the rails, Freeman loads it up with tools, each fitting into slots on the vehicle. Rail sweeps located at the bottom of the car will knock spikes and rocks off the rails. He also brings along notebooks in which he jots down the work that he does. Also in them are mileage markers of bridges and culverts and marked topographical maps.

Freeman cranks the engine from the passenger side, then plays with the choke, to get the putt-putt running. Also located on the center console is the manual timing, the throttle, the brake, the clutch, the ignition and the horn.

He then points to the most important feature on the console, a small sign which reads “The best safety device known is a careful man.” Safety is most important to the rail car drivers, for while their vehicles have brakes, they don’t have steering. Rails don’t give them the option of changing their paths.

“Two people coming around the curve in opposite directions is a scary thing,” Freeman noted.

Visibility is a crucial factor when driving putt-putts. One rule of thumb is to keep speed low enough to be able to stop in half the distance that the driver can see. Also, drivers stop, look and listen at each railroad crossing for unexpected service vehicles, three-wheelers, or motorcyclists. Finally, the driver’s day generally ends at sundown, as decreasing visibility increases the risk of accident.

Originally, Freeman’s car was powered by dry cell batteries, but he installed a two-cycle, gas-powered engine, which gets about 30 miles per gallon. These cars aren’t called putt-putts just for the sound they make. It’s also an indication of the low speeds at which they travel, around 20 mph.

“Generally, you’re happy if you can make a bug splatter on the windshield,” said Freeman with a laugh. “These can go 40, but not on this railroad.”

Early on, Freeman has to stop, to shovel and sweep dirt off the rails and to level the railroad bed at a crossing. Later on, he stops, gets out a pair of branch cutters, and trims up an overhanging alder, one of the banes of his existence.

In cooler weather, Freeman installs a windshield and a roof onto his rail car, but not during the summer. This makes it especially susceptible to weather, as an unwelcome, bone-drenching downpour soon makes obvious. Freeman finds a good patch of overhanging spruce, then stops and jumps off to have a soggy smoke. He explains that one benefit of riding the rails is seeing a lot of wildlife. Among the fauna he’s seen are a bear, moose, fox, porcupine, wild turkey, beaver, eagle, osprey and plenty of deer.

Freeman’s point is soon proven, as a young deer stands, well camouflaged, in a clearing, seemingly unperturbed by the sound of the rail car. It stays there observing until one of Freeman’s passengers rises, at which point it bolts up a hill.

What touring the tracks on a putt-putt offers is a glimpse at a long-ago world, where fallen telegraph lines mingle with beaver dams and stands of evergreens. Charlie Freeman feels at home in this place.

“You get to see a lot of unchanged things, and get away from the hustle and bustle,” he said. “You don’t see the fronts of buildings; you see the backs, and that gives you a different perspective on the world.”