No. 235, No. 50, and No. 9 - Seashore Trolley Museum's Laconia Car Company-built Collection

In the hands of Seashore Trolley Museum members/volunteers,

Ed Dooks and his granddaughter Chelsey Pino, carefully

peel away the paper from the newly applied Laconia Car

Company decal on the side sill of the Laconia Car

Company-built, and then newly restored,

1906 electric locomotive from the Atlantic Shore Line Railways,

No. 100. Image by PWM 6-30-2009

The Laconia Car Company was located in the center of

Laconia, NH. Over the years, it expanded and took up 7 acres

of land. There were woodworking shops, foundries, set-up

shops, storehouses, and paint shops. The extensive

four-story brick building was dedicated to the iron foundry, which was

connected with the car fabrication business.

     Laconia Car Company was one of the important electric railway streetcar manufacturing companies at the turn of the 20th century. This builder was the only industry in the New Hampshire town of the same name. The community problems faced by the townspeople following the company's collapse in 1928 have been the subject of several important economic studies. (1) Seashore Trolley Museum has ten accessioned electric railway representatives from the Laconia Car Company among its collections. The Laconia collection at Seashore Trolley Museum is diverse. Starting with two early single-truck models from 1895, with monitor roofs and a seating capacity of 26 passengers, up to a 1918 semi-convertible, with a seating capacity of 44. The collection includes a 1904, double-truck, 15-bench, open car with a railroad roof, wooden interurbans, a postal service car, and a wooden steeple cab locomotive.

     Three of these Laconia vehicles in Seashore's collection are listed in the National Register of Historic Places; 1904 Portsmouth Dover & York Street Railway, No. 108, wooden Railway Post Office/Express, 1906 Atlantic Shore Line, No. 100, wooden Steeple Cab Locomotive, and 1912 Portland-Lewiston Interurban, No. 14 - Narcissus, wooden Interurban Coach.

(1) p. 6, 1954 "Historic Cars of the Seashore Electric Railway, 1st edition

     Searching for details on the Laconia Car Company-built vehicles within the Museum's collection sometimes uncovers some interesting tidbits. The poem below is one:

Seashore Trolley Museum member 444, Anthony F. Tieuli had his poem published in the

July 1958, Volume 1, Number 3 issue of "The Trolley Museum Dispatch". The first year

of the Museum's newsletter was published monthly for its members. PWM

1895 - No. 235 - West End Street Railway of Boston
City & Suburban Streetcar - Single/Hand

Laconia  Car Company - Seats: 26 - L: 29' 8" - W: 7' 8" Ht: 11' 5" Wt: 19,077
Acquired in 1967

No. 235 as a rail grinder at Egleston Square, Boston, MA

5th Edition, 2nd printing of Historic Cars of Seashore Trolley Museum

pg. S-1 - Charles Duncan Photo

     With open platforms originally, the vestibules were enclosed sometime between 1901 and 1905 with the 1900 act of the Massachusetts Legislature. This required all cars regularly operated in the state during December, January, February, and March to have enclosed platform vestibules for the protection of motormen. The type of enclosure adopted by the West End was known as the "West End Front" and consisted of one small window on either side of the large center sash, fabricated with a "bay window" effect to allow for the swing of the hand brake handle. Folding doors replaced the swinging gates that were previously used. Converted to a rail maintenance car, first to a sand car, then to a rail grinder in 1935, it came to Seashore from George King, a private collector, in 1967. Cars like these inspired the late Fontaine Fox to create his famous "Toonerville Folks" comic strips and cartoons, which were widely published during the waning years of the trolley era. Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich

Operated in Dorchester, MA during its passenger-carrying days. No. 235 must be extensively restored.

1902 - No. 50 - Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway

City & Suburban Streetcar - Double/

Laconia Car Company - Seats: 32 - L: 34' 4"    W:       Ht:          Wt: 

Acquired 1957

     Operated by the Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway and its predecessors from 1902 to 1927, and ran most of the time between Haverhill and Amesbury, Massachusetts, via Plaistow and Newton, New Hampshire. It has curved panel sides and drop sash windows, but has a railroad roof instead of a rectangular monitor roof. When built, it had both transverse and longitudinal seats as it was to be used largely in suburban service, where passengers rode longer distances than in the city, and where comfort was of more importance. The body of No. 50 was purchased and donated to Seashore by Historian O. R. Cummings and it must be extensively restored. Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich

No. 50 being lowered onto trucks and heading for a carbarn at

Seashore Trolley Museum after surviving 40 years of outdoor storage.

Photo James E. Tebbetts

      An excerpt from the 1954 Annual Report of the New England Electric Railway Historical Society (Seashore Trolley Museum) states No. 50; Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway No. 50 acquired in the fall, is our first from this famous system. It is of an interesting early Laconia design, one of the first with a railroad roof.

1904 - No. 9 - Rhode Island Newport & Providence Railway

15 Bench Open Car - Double/

Laconia Car Company - Seats: 75 - L: 43' 0"   W: 8' 0"    Ht:       Wt:
Acquired in 1990

No. 9 when new. D. O'Hanley collection

     Larger open bench cars quickly became popular, and 15 benches became almost the standard. The Brill Company had a patent on the one-piece cast seat bench end. No. 9, built by Laconia in 1904 for Rhode Island's Newport & Providence Railway, uses a different bench-end configuration to avoid paying the Brill loyalty.

It survived as part of a home in Newport until it was rescued by the Fall River and Old Colony Railroad Museum in Massachusetts, which subsequently gave the car body to Seashore in 1990.

Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich

No. 9 will need extensive work to restore.

On West Main Street, Providence, two boys pause to watch

the new trolley passing as the conductor has a word with

N & P Superintendent Jones.

D. O'Hanley collection

Click Here: Video of Theodore Santarelli de Brasch explaining the "Birth" of Seashore Trolley - 1939

Additional blog posts on Seashore Trolley Museum's Laconia Car Company-built Collection:
Click Here: No. 14 - 1912 Laconia Car Company-built Collection

Click Here: No. 38 - 1907 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 60 - 1895 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 100 - 1906 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 108 - 1904 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 235 & No. 50 - 1895 & 1902 - Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 4175 - 1914 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 4387 - 1918 Laconia Car Company-built Collection

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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