Order 662 is listed above showing the names of the four
sister interurbans named flowers for the Portland
Gray and Lewiston Interurban Railroad in April 1912.
The Laconia Historical and Museum Society archives, in Laconia, NH where many Laconia Car Company Works records reside. The LHMS has in its collection, a list showing that in April 1912, the Laconia Car Company Works received the order to build four interurbans for the Portland, Gray, and Lewiston Railroad. This is the same month that Titanic set sail on its maiden and final voyage, as well as the month the Red Sox's new home, Fenway Park, opened. The PGLRR became the Portland Lewiston Interurban in 1914.
Click Here: For More on Laconia Car Company Works
Click Here: For More on the Laconia Historical and Museum Society in Laconia, New Hampshire
Click Here: For More on the Laconia Historical and Museum Society in Laconia, New Hampshire
W. Scott Libbey
Because of interurban promoter W. Scott Libbey’s desire for each car to have a distinct personality
and not be identified just by number, the four ordered from the Laconia Car Company Works and the two additional interurbans ordered in April 1912 from the Wason Manufacturing Company, were all named after flowers. Each of the original cars was 46 feet long overall and 8 ft. ¾ in. wide and had gray-colored steam coach roofs, dark red doors, trim gold leaf numbers and lettering, and a straight vertically sheathed exterior painted Dark Pullman green, that depending on the light, made these majestic coaches look shiny black. There were seven arch windows – six double sashes and one single sash – on each side, the sashes being arranged to lift. The arches above the passenger window sash and the windows in the roof clerestory were glazed with ornamental leaded stained glass.
No. 10, the Arbutus
No. 12, the Gladiolus
No. 14, the Narcissus
No. 16, the Clematis
No. 18, The Azalea, and No. 20, the Magnolia built in 1912, by the Wason Manufacturing Company in Springfield, MA, and were joined by a seventh coach-smoker, No. 22, from Wason in 1920, which was named Maine as a tribute to the State's Centennial.
A porcelain sign from a PLI ticket booth
(O. R. Cummings Collection at Seashore Trolley Museum)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We continue the restoration work on the 1912, Narcissus, the only surviving high-speed, luxury interurban coach of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban.
Click Here: Narcissus Restoration-Related Posts
Being more than a century old, the stately, "Elegant Ride," Narcissus, is a gem. This shimmering precious stone of Maine transportation history is brilliantly resplendent as it emanates so many elements of history, including; time, places, people, and events, that it was coupled to, that when just a smattering of its seemingly innumerable stories are shared, the contents captivates, fascinates, then generates, interest to learn more 🙋. The majestic Narcissus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Please consider joining the epic journey to complete the Narcissus Project by making a donation today!
Click Here: Donation Options
The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one in a series of captivating stories containing an abundance of incredible coalition of narratives.
Click Here: History-Related Posts - Narcissus and Portland-Lewiston Interurban
The Narcissus is featured in the national Gold Award-winning novel, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914, between Lewiston and Portland, Maine, while campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates.
Click Here: Bookstores and Businesses promoting the Narcissus Project
Independent book publisher, Phil Morse, holding
the Gold Book Award Winner plaque for
the Middle Reader category for The Eric
Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to
award-winning Maine author,
Jean M. Flahive
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.