Interurban. Electric railways advertising quite often promoted the
"clean and comfortable ride". This image is an original porcelain
advertising piece from the O. R. Cummings collection at
I'm deep in researching materials involving electric streetcars, trolleys, and interurbans in Maine. The information will be used in part for a large grant application to help with the restoration of the 1912 Narcissus that operated on the Portland-Lewiston Interurban from 1914 till 1933. I'm feeling compelled to dig deep for the broader impact of electric railways' influences on Maine's economic growth and its implications on Maine's societal development. This blog post is the second that shares some of the early findings. The first post is titled, 57 Million Passengers Carried on Electric Railways in Maine in 1915!! The third post will speak more about the railways' recreation and commercial destinations and the handful of parlor cars in Maine.
Please consider making a donation to the Narcissus Project. Funds are still needed to complete the restoration of the National Register of Historic Places member, Narcissus. Scroll to the end of this post to find all donation options, including an online donation link. All donations are currently matched, dollar-for-dollar, as part of a $40,000 matching grant challenge, thanks to the generous offer from the 20th Century Electric Railway Foundation!
Thank You :)
The vast majority of the materials I will share have come from several books released by Seashore Trolley Museum's long-time historian, O. R. Cummings. Also books by Charles D. Heseltine.
In total, more than 90 cities, towns, and villages in Maine had electric railways servicing their communities. Eleven of Maine's sixteen counties had communities with trolley services. The total trackage of the electric railways in Maine extended nearly 520 miles. To put that in perspective, the length of trackage is about the same distance that one would travel by automobile today when taking U.S. Route One from Kittery, all the way to Fort Kent....527 miles.
Many of the Maine communities served by electric railways were in rural
areas. Dirt roads were the norm outside of the downtown areas of the cities.
Cities like Bangor, Lewiston, and Portland were "hubs" for the railways that
connected people and products to the outer communities. Above, Aroostook
Valley Railroad No. 70. AVR 70 is a combination car, which carries passengers
and light freight/express. AVR 70 is one of thirteen Maine electric railway
vehicles at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME.
Image from postcard PWM
Here is a list of communities throughout Maine served by electric railways during the era:
Alfred, Arundel, Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, Bath, Benton, Biddeford, Brewer, Brunswick, Calais, Camden, Cape Elizabeth, Cape Porpoise, Caribou, Charleston, Chelsea, Corinth, Crouseville, Cumberland, East Vassalboro, Eliot, Fairfield, Falmouth, Farmingdale, Freeport, Gardiner, Glenburn, Gorham, Gray, Greene, Hampden, Hallowell, Kenduskeag, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, Kittery, Lewiston, Lisbon Falls, Litchfield, Lyman, Madison, Manchester, Mechanic Falls, Minot, New Gloucester, New Sweden, North Vassalboro, Norway, Oakland, Ogunquit, Old Orchard Beach, Old Town, Orono, Owl's Head, Portland, Presque Isle, Rockland, Rockport, Sabattus, Saco, Sanford, Scarborough, Shawmut, Skowhegan, South Berwick, South Monmouth, South Paris, South Portland, South Thomaston, South Windham, Springvale, St. George, Thomaston, Topsham, Turner, Van Buren, Veazie, Wales, Warren, Washburn, Waterville, Webster, Wells, West Gardiner, Westbrook, West Kennebunk, Winslow, Winterport, Winthrop, Woodland, Yarmouth, York, and York Beach. Notes: Calais, ME to St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada - South Berwick, ME to Dover, New Hampshire - Kittery, ME to Portsmouth, New Hampshire via ASL ferry, Fryeburg Horse Railroad was Never Electrified
Maine counties served by Electric Railways included: Androscoggin, Aroostook, Cumberland, Kennebec, Knox, Oxford, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Washington, and York.
A typical image of service outside of the downtown area.
From postcard PWM
Dirt roads were the norm and difficult for wagons horses and early
automobiles to navigate in muddy conditions as well as in the snow during
the winter months. The electric railways were the most dependable form
of transportation. Image of River Road in Arundel, Maine approaching
Merrill's Farm is on the far left. Image from the collection of
Seashore Trolley Museum
Electric Railways of Maine - 1915
Click Here for the post: "Electric Railway King" of the Pine Tree State - Amos Fitz Gerald
Androscoggin Electric Company (Portland-Lewiston Interurban) - 29.80 Miles
(Portland, Falmouth, Cumberland, Gray, New Gloucester, Auburn, and Lewiston)
Aroostook Valley Railroad - 31.99 Miles
(Presque Isle, Van Buren, Washburn, New Sweden, Caribou, and Woodland)
Atlantic Shore Railway - 90.40 Miles
Biddeford, Kennebunkport (Arundel), Kennebunk, West Kennebunk, (Lyman), Cape Porpoise, Alfred, Sanford, Springvale, Wells, Ogunquit, York, York Beach, Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick, ME and Dover, NH)
Bangor Railway and Electric Company - 57.10 Miles
Bangor, Brewer, Old Town, Orono, Hampden, Charleston, Winterport, Kenduskeag, Glenburn, and Corinth.
Benton and Fairfield Railway - 4.12 Miles
Benton and Fairfield
Biddeford and Saco Railroad - 7.61 Miles
Biddeford, Saco, and Old Orchard Beach
Calais Street Railway - 7.00 Miles
Calais, ME and St. Stephen, N.B. Canada
Cumberland County Power and Light Company (Portland Railroad) - 82.88 Miles
Portland, South Portland, Scarborough, Old Orchard Beach, Saco, Westbrook, Gorham, South Windham, Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, Cumberland, and Yarmouth
Fairfield and Shawmut Railway - 3.10 Miles
Fairfield Village to Shawmut
Fryeburg Horse Railroad (Abandoned 1914) - 3.00 Miles (Never Electrified)
Fryeburg Village to Chautauqua Grounds
Lewiston, Augusta, and Waterville Street Railway - 152.90 Miles
Lewiston, Auburn, Augusta, Waterville, Bath, Brunswick, Freeport, Yarmouth, Topsham, Lisbon, Minot, Mechanic Falls, Turner, Greene, Sabattus, Webster, Litchfield, Wales, South Monmouth, Gardiner, West Gardiner, Farmingdale, Hallowell, Manchester, Winthrop, Chelsea (Togus), Vassalboro, East and West Vassalboro, and Winslow
Norway and Paris Street Railway - 2.13 miles
Norway, Paris, and South Paris
Rockland, South Thomaston, and St. George Railway - 5.71 Miles
Rockland, St. George, Thomaston, South Thomaston (Crescent Beach-Owls'Head)
Rockland, Thomaston, and Camden Street Railway - 21.47 Miles
Rockland, Rockport, Camden, Thomaston, and Warren
Skowhegan and Norridgewock Railway (Abd. 1904) - 5.75 Miles
Skowhegan and Norridgewock
Somerset Traction Company - 12.20 Miles
Skowhegan and Madison
Waterville, Fairfield, and Oakland Railway - 10.24 Miles
Waterville, Fairfield, and Oakland
Total Street Railway Mileage - 1915 - 518.63
Total Passengers Carried - 1915 - 57,422,739
Total Operating Revenue - 1915 - $3,066,924 (equivalent to about $70 million today)
Somerset Traction Company - 12.20 Miles
Skowhegan and Madison
Waterville, Fairfield, and Oakland Railway - 10.24 Miles
Waterville, Fairfield, and Oakland
Total Street Railway Mileage - 1915 - 518.63
Total Passengers Carried - 1915 - 57,422,739
Total Operating Revenue - 1915 - $3,066,924 (equivalent to about $70 million today)
Togus waiting station at Togus, Maine - Postcard from PWM
Click on the railways that have a hotlink below for more on that particular line
Railways that operated in Maine during the Trolley Era
Atlantic Shore Line Railway (ASL)
Atlantic Shore Railway (ASL)
Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway (A&K)
Atlantic Shore Railway (ASL)
Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway (A&K)
Bangor, Orono, & Old Town Railway (BSR)
Bangor & Northern Railroad (BSR)
Bangor & Northern Railroad (BSR)
Bangor Railway and Electric Company (BSR)
Bangor Street Railway (BSR)
Benton & Fairfield Railway
Berwick & Eliot Street Railway (ASL)
Berwick, Eliot & York Street Railway (ASL)
Berwick & Eliot Street Railway (ASL)
Berwick, Eliot & York Street Railway (ASL)
Fryeburg Horse Railroad - Never Electrified
Mousam River Railroad (S&CP)(ASL)
Rockland, South Thomaston & St. George Railway (RTC)
Rockland, South Thomaston, and Owls' Head Railway
York Utilities Company (ASL)Rockland, South Thomaston, and Owls' Head Railway
One of the interurbans of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban westbound on
the S-curve at Morrison Hill in Cumberland, Maine.
Image from Seashore Trolley Museum collection of O. R. Cummings
- Auburn, Durham & Yarmouth Street Railway - 1907
- Augusta, Oakland & Waterville Street Railway - 1906
- Augusta & Togus Electric Railroad Company - 1900
- Belfast Street Railway -1891
- Biddeford Pool Electric Railroad -1902
- Cherryfield and Milbridge Electric Railway - 1895
- Eastern Traction Company - 1903
- Kineo Street Railway - 1902
- Lewiston, Winthrop & Augusta Street Railway - 1901
- Lincoln County Street Railway - 1902
- Lisbon, Durham & Freeport Street Railway - 1907
- Maine and New Hampshire Railway - 1902
- Mount Desert Transit Company - 1906
- Oxford Central Electric Railroad - 1897
- Peaks Island Electric Railway - 1900
- Peaks Island Railroad - 1890
- Portland & Brunswick Extension Railway - 1907(?)
- Portland and Northern Railroad Company - 1907
- Rumford Falls and Bethel Street Railway - 1907
- Saco River Electric Railroad - 1897
- York County Central Electric Railroad - 1900
- York County Electric Railroad - 1899
- York and Oxford Railway - 1907
- Zig-Zag Railroad (Peaks Island) - 1891
We are still in need of funds for creating the interpretation programs that will tell this fascinating 100+-year-old story of the Narcissus. For information on donation options, scroll down this post and find the one that best fits your position. Fund 816 to help with the restoration and Fund 817 (PLI Education-Interpretation programs ) should be noted when making a donation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Click Here for the post that has the short virtual 3-D video of the digital model of the Narcissus, with components added to the file from earlier this year (the gold leaf file had not been added yet).
Restoration work continues on the Narcissus. The Narcissus is more than 110 years old now and has so many incredible stories to share. The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one of those incredible stories.
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.
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
Seashore Trolley Museum Promo Video
The paperback edition of Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride can be purchased online through the Seashore Trolley Museum's store website. Books purchased through the Museum's website directly benefit the Museum and the Narcissus project.
Click Here to go to the Museum Store web page to order online
Click Here to go to the Amazon page to order the ebook or audiobook online
Paperback books are available at these local bookstores in Maine:
Center for Maine Crafts, West Gardiner Service Plaza
The Book Review, Falmouth
The Bookworm, Gorham
Letterpress Books, Portland
Maine Historical Society Store, Portland
Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad, Portland
Morph Gallery & Emporium, Kennebunk
New Gloucester Historical Society, New Gloucester
Nonesuch Books and More, South Portland
Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport
Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shops, All Locations
Thompson's Orchard, New Gloucester
Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride
by Jean M. Flahive
Illustrations by Amy J. Gagnon
Listen to a 2-minute, 30-second, Retail Audio Sample of the Audiobook
Millie Thayer is a headstrong farmer's daughter who chases her dreams in a way you would expect a little girl nicknamed "Spitfire" would run full tilt and with her eyes on the stars. Dreaming of leaving the farm life, working in the city, and fighting for women's right to vote, Millie imagines flying away on a magic carpet. One day, that flying carpet shows up in the form of an electric trolley that cuts across her farm. A fortune-teller predicts that Millie's path will cross that of someone famous. Suddenly, she finds herself caught up in events that shake the nation, Maine, and her family. Despairing that her dreams may be shattered, Millie learns, in an unexpected way, that dreams can be shared.
A resource for teachers
Companion curriculum State-standard-based units,
vocabulary, and reading activities for use in grades 3-8
are available online as downloadable resources through
Seashore Trolley Museum's website
www.trolleymuseum.org/elegantride/
Maine Historical Society has created eight companion lesson units in Social Studies and ELA that were inspired by Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride - These State-standard-based lesson plans for use in grades 6, 7, and 8 are easily adapted for use in grades 3-5. Vocabulary and Reading activities for grades 3-8 along with the eight lesson plan units are available free and may be downloaded through Seashore Trolley Museum's website www.trolleymuseum.org/elegantride/
Go to the Teacher Resource Page in the pull-down for more details.
A 60-second intro to Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride by author, Jean Flahive
Click Here to watch the video on YouTube
Award-winning author, Jean M. Flahive
Please Consider a Donation to the Narcissus Project to help us tell the incredible story of the Narcissus through the interpretation portion of the Narcissus Project.
Here is an example of how donations to the Narcissus Project now will help with the interpretation portion of the project. The interpretation programming will include exhibits, displays, and education programming. In 2019, through generous donations to the Narcissus Project, we were able to conserve, replicate, and have high resolutions digital image files made of the original, 1910, 28.5-foot long, surveyor map of the elevation and grade of the 30-mile private right-of-way of the Portland, Gray, and Lewiston Railroad (Portland-Lewiston Interurban) Click Here
Thank You!
the crowd gathered in Gray, Maine on August 18, 1914.
Image courtesy of Gray Historical Society
The Narcissus as the Sabattus Lake Diner in Sabattus, Maine,
circa 1940. Photo by John Coughlin in the Kevin Farrell
Collection at Seashore Trolley Museum
L. Henri Vallee (right) and family members in the
Narcissus, when it was Vallee's summer camp in
Sabattus, Maine circa 1958. Photo courtesy Daniel Vallee
Inside the Donald G. Curry Town House Restoration Shop, the Narcissus is in the midst of major work as we strive to complete its restoration. We are now planning the interpretation portion of the Narcissus Project. Donations to the Narcissus Project may be used in the future to help tell the incredible 100-plus-year-old story of the Narcissus. Your donation to the Narcissus is helping to make the dream of the project's success, a reality.
See below for Donation options -
It starts with YOU
Your Donation Matters
Make a Donation TODAY
Please Help the Narcissus.
Donation Options to Help the Narcissus Project:
The New England Electric Railway Historical Society
is the 501c3 organization that owns and operates the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME, and the National Streetcar
Museum in Lowell (MA).
The New England Electric Railway Historical Society registered with the IRS (EIN# 01-0244457) and was incorporated in Maine in 1941.
Check or Money Order ***** should be made payable to:
New England Electric Railway Historical Society
In the memo: for a donation to the Interpretation programming
please write: PLI Education Fund 817
For a donation to help with the restoration write: Narcissus Fund 816
Mail to: Seashore Trolley Museum
P. O. Box A
Kennebunkport, ME 04046
Credit Card ***** donations can be one-time donations or you
may choose to have a specific amount charged to your card
automatically monthly. Please contact the Museum bookkeeper, via email at finance@trolleymuseum.org or by phone, at 207-967-2800 ext. 3.
Online Donations - may be made by using a Credit Card:
Click Here to make an online donation through the Museum's website - When at the Donation page: Fill in donor info, etc., when at "To which fund are you donating? Scroll down to "Other" and type in 816 Narcissus, then continue filling in the required information.
Click Here for PayPal - to make an online donation: you can use email: finance@trolleymuseum.org and in the message box write:
For "Narcissus Fund 816" - if supporting the restoration
For "PLI Education Fund 817" - if supporting Interpretation programs
Donation of Securities ***** We also accept donations of
securities. You can contact the Museum bookkeeper, via email at finance@trolleymuseum.org or by phone, at 207-967-2800 ext. 3,
for brokerage account information for accepting donated securities.
BONUS ***** If you work for a company/corporation that will
"match" an employee's donation to an approved 501c3 non-profit
educational organization, please be sure to complete the necessary paperwork with your employer so that your donation is matched :)
Questions? ***** Please contact Narcissus project sponsor:
Phil Morse, narcissus@gmail.org or call 207-985-9723 - cell.
Thank You :)
Thank You for our Current Funding Partners
* 20th Century Electric Railway Foundation - 2020/2018 - Major Gift, 2017/2014 Matching Grants
* Renaissance Charitable Foundation (LPCT) by Fiduciary Trust Charitable Giving Fund
* Renaissance Charitable Foundation (LPCT) by Fiduciary Trust Charitable Giving Fund
* Mass Bay RRE - 2018 Railroad Preservation Grant
* Thornton Academy (Saco, ME) - Staff & Alumni - Matching Grant Challenge 2014
* New England Electric Railway Historical Society (Kennebunkport, ME) - Member Donations
* Amherst Railway Society - 2015 Heritage Grant
* National Railway Historical Society - 2016 & 2015 Heritage Preservation Grants
* Enterprise Holding Foundation - 2015 Community Grant
* Theodore Roosevelt Association - Member Donations
* John Libby Family Association and Member Donations
* The Conley Family - In Memory of Scott Libbey 2018/2017/2016/2015
* The W. S. Libbey Family - Awalt, Conley, Graf, Holman, Libbey, McAvoy, McLaughlin, Meldrum, O'Halloran, Salto, - 2018/2017
* The Hughes Family 2017/2016/2010
* New Gloucester Historical Society and Member Donations
* Gray Historical Society and Member Donations
* Gray Public Library Association - Pat Barter Speaker Series
* Scarborough Historical Society - PRR/PLI
* LogMein - Matching Employee Donation
* IBM - Matching Employee/Retiree Donations
* Fidelity Charitable Grant - Matching Employee Donations
* Richard E. Erwin Grant - 2017/2016
The Narcissus, with interior back-lit, stained glass windows is majestic.
Make a donation today to help restore the interior of this Maine gem.
Help Theodore Roosevelt's Maine Ride get back on track! Once restored,
you will be able to ride in luxury on this National Register Treasure at
Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.
PWM photo
Please Consider Making a Donation to the project of the National Register of Historic Places member, Narcissus. We are currently raising funds to advance the restoration and to tell the incredible story of this Maine gem.
Various News stories during the summer of 2015 about the
Narcissus and its connection to Theodore Roosevelt. TR
was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914.
photo by Patricia Pierce Erikson
The Narcissus - July 31, 2015. Make a donation today.
Help Theodore Roosevelt's Maine Ride get back on track!
Once restored, you will be able to ride in luxury on this
National Historic Treasure at
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