Cell Phone for the Narcissus Arrived Today!! - 1903 Model ;)

The image that inspired a search.
Portable magneto phone - Railroad Telephone
Image from the Maine Historical Society
Object #2004.090.0622

Image from the Maine Historical Society
Object #2004.090.0622

Image from the Maine Historical Society
Object #2004.090.0622

Thank you to Seashore Trolley Museum member/volunteer, Glen Snow, for initially sending me the live link to the Maine Historical Society's Portland-Lewiston Interurban collection page (the link is below). One of the interesting objects in that collection is this Railroad Telephone. It looks like it is in terrific condition.

These phones were placed in a register station for the conductor/motorman to use to contact the dispatcher in Lewiston for orders. Along the PLI there were two register stations; one at Deering Junction in Portland at the start of the private right-of-way of the PLI, and one at the Fairview Junction in Auburn, at the end of the PLI right-of-way.

The phone in each of the register stations and perhaps inside
each of the substations may have been a crank phone
similar to the one above that was used many years in the Town
House Restoration shop at Seashore Trolley Museum.
PWM photo

Each of the cars was also equipped with these portable phones.

Undated newspaper clipping detailing the use of these
portable emergency telephones in use at the
Portland-Lewiston Interurban.
Image from the PLI Employees Scrapbook in the
O. R. Cummings Collection

Here are excerpts of phone use, and descriptions of phone use from Portland to Lewiston on the Arbutus during the summer of 1921, from O. R. Cummings's 1967 book, Maine's Fast Electric Railroad speaking to the use of the telephones:

pg. 41
 "When necessary, train crews were given orders at the substations, the operators of which displayed flags to notify the conductors to call the dispatcher. These operators also noted the time of train arrivals and departures and forwarded the information to the dispatcher for entry on the train sheet. For emergencies, each car was equipped with a Western Electric portable telephone set and a jointed contact rod so conductors could tap the telephone wire running alongside the track and call the dispatcher."

pg. 63

"The Arbutus is brought to an easy stop alongside a wooden platform and the register station. L'Heureux (the conductor) unlocks the door of the telephone booth and steps inside to call the dispatcher for orders. We see him writing on a pad of order forms and then, through the open window, we hear him repeat slowly the instructions, "Meet Extra 40 Westbound at Forest Lake and Extra 34 Westbound at Danville." After a brief pause, the conductor hangs up the phone, writes on the pad again, and tears off two sheets, the original order and a carbon copy. "Joe Happy" then fills out a clearance card in duplicate, registers the train, and leaves the booth, closing and locking the door. Boarding the car, he gives the now familiar two bells signal and strides forward to give Mitchell (the motorman) his copies of the order and clearance card."

PLI electric locomotive No. 90 at Deering Junction. Deering Junction served
as the Register Station, Cattle run, and Freight Platform.
Photo from the O. R. Cummings Collection

Train Orders and Clearance Card forms from the PLI.
Image from O. R. Cummings's 1967 book,
Maine's Fast Electric Railroad

pg. 65

"As we continue on, we go by Interurban Heights, Arsenault Park, and Hazelhurst, and at 10:30, right on the dot, we're at Fairview. "Joe Happy" enters the phone booth to register off the line and once he is aboard the car again, the Arbutus takes the switch and enters the trackage of the Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway's Mechanic Falls line."

  

Fairview Station on June 30, 1933 - two
days after the closing of the PLI line. I'm
surprised someone hadn't removed the
horseshoe, from the upper left side of the
station, to keep as a souvenir.  Photo
from the O. R. Cummings Collection

From O. R. Cummings 1967
book, Maine's Fast Electric Railroad

Maine Historical Society description of the above telephone:

"An early portable telephone, manufactured by the Western Electric Company of Chicago, Illinois and commonly used for communicating with interurban trolleys and trains during the early decades of the twentieth century. The telephone is contained in a wooden box with a leather handle at the top, cast-metal corners and feet (one of these has been replaced with a hexagonal pipe fitting), and the remnants of a black-and-gold "Western Electric" manufacturer's painted label at the front/ Two flat steel hanging irons are attached to the top rear of the box. A hinged compartment at the front of the box contains a nickel-plated handset with a bakelite earpiece. A small bakelite push-to-talk button is located on the side of the handset; stamped into the grip is the notation "Pat in USA Aug 18, 1903". The earpiece housing is stamped "Western Electric Company 131 W70", and the microphone housing is stamped "Western Electric Company, pat in USA Aug 18 03" and "285W". A cloth-covered cable connects the handset to a modern plastic-covered four-wire cable with an alligator-clip terminal on the other side of the box. A metal housing supports the handset cradle and houses the gongs, clapper, and actuator coils of the telephone's ringer.

A steel crank with a bakelite knob located on one side of the wooden box powers an internal five-bar magneto. Also wired into the system and held by a bakelite plate are two Eveready No. 6 "Long Life Railroad and Industrial Cell" dry-cell batteries with paper labels manufactured by the Union Carbide Corporation. Painted on the center bar of the magneto is a black-and-gold "Western Electric" label."

The "Search Terms" text box of the Maine Historical Society listing of the telephone includes one term: Central Maine Power Company.

The Central Maine Power Company acquired the capital stock of the Androscoggin Electric Company on April 1, 1920, and thus, became the owner of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban as well. CMP was the owner of the PLI when the operations came to an end in 1933. If you are interested in seeing other PLI objects that were donated to the Maine Historical Society by CMP and by Gertrude Libbey Anthony (daughter of the builder of the PLI, W. S. Libbey), here is the link to the page with the objects. Objects include; a PLI employee badge, a wooden insulator, a Timetable, a bell/gong from the Arbutus, a Platform Gong from the Arbutus, a Simplex Electric Range, a Simplex Range Kettle, Photographs, a Simplex Range Saucepan, Street Railway Lamp (bulb), Lanterns, Hanger brackets from the Arbutus, and a Trolley Wheel from the Arbutus. To go to the MHS online page: Click HERE

After looking at the objects in the MHS, PLI/Arbutus collection, I shared the images of the telephone with Trolley Museum shop staff and volunteers who have worked on the Narcissus. We are always interested and generally surprised when objects of the PLI that are a hundred years old or so, seemingly "appear" for us to admire. 

Well, early last week, Ernie Eaton, a Trolley Museum shop staff member, sent me an email with a live link to an object on eBay. The link was to a Railroad telephone made by the American Electric Company. Visually, looked very much like the Western Electric telephone that MHS has. In looking the American Electric phone over, eBay had a series of images of other objects of a similar topic. There, low and behold, was an image of a Western Electric Company Telephone with a pat. date of August 18, 1903! Needless to say, it was a "Buy Now" decision :)

This phone will be a great addition to the Narcissus project story. The phone will travel with us as part of an exhibit at various speaking engagements Donald Curry and I have scheduled this summer. It will also be a regular participant in any displays or exhibits we may have set up as we attend various community gatherings in the coming months/years. I am so happy to have our new "cell" phone :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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!

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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