No. 108 - 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, as they work

in unison to carefully peel away the paper from the newly

applied the 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.

     This blog is all about the Portland-Lewiston Interurban, No. 14, Narcissus.....which was built in 1912 by the Laconia Car Company. From time to time, a blog post will extend its coverage of related information to include electric railway topics that enhance understanding of the collection of the Seashore Trolley Museum. This post will be one, in a series, that digs deeper into the Museum's collection of Laconia Car Company-built vehicles.

     Laconia Car Company was one of the important electric railway streetcar manufacturing companies at the turn of the 20th century. 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 a 1902, double-truck, streetcar, and, a 1904, double-truck, 15-bench, open car, a 1904 postal service/express car, a 1906 wooden interurban, a 1906 wooden steeple cab locomotive, a 1912 wooden interurban, a 1914 semi-convertible, and a 1918 semi-convertible.  Not all of these vehicles have been restored yet.

     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.

     This post will focus on one of the cars acquired in 1949, by Seashore Trolley Museum, from York Utilities Company in Sanford, Maine:

1904 - No. 108 - Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway - Railway Post Office/Express

Combination Car: Railway Post Office/Express - Double/Air

Laconia Car Company - Seats:         L: 36' 8"  W: 8' 4"  Ht: 13' 0"  Wt:
Date Purchased: 1949

Laconia Car Company-built, PD & Y mail car No. 108

shown at York Beach about 1905.

Courtesy of O. R. Cummings Collection

Charles Preston, mail clerk sorting letters inside mail car 108. 

Courtesy of O. R. Cummings Collection 

     No. 108 was constructed as a Railway Post Office car, and carried the mail in closed pouches and sacks, similar to those operated on the steam railroads, with additional space provided for baggage and express. Built by Laconia in 1904 for the Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway, which was part of the Atlantic Shore system from 1906 until 1917, it was regularly operated on the York Beach-Portsmouth RPO route until 1918 when the mail contract was canceled.

     With New Bedford RPO Car 34, No. 108 was used in the first-day cover release of streetcar commemorative stamps at Seashore in 1983, officiated by then-Vice President George Bush and Postmaster General William Bolger. P D & Y No. 108 has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. 

One of the many special envelopes that were part of the 150th

Anniversary of Street Railways first day covers that were canceled

at Seashore Trolley Museum on  October 1, 1983.

Laconia Car Company-built, 1904 P D & Y No. 108 is featured here

PWM 

1904 Portsmouth Dover & York Street Railway No, 108 is portrayed in

this York County Stamp Club envelope and special cancellation stamp

September 24, 1983 - PWM

Vice-President George Prescott Bush was present at the Seashore Trolley

Museum when No. 108 was used in the first-day cover release of
streetcar commemorative stamps in 1983. PWM

     Converted to a railway maintenance line car to maintain overhead trolley wires in 1919, it was sold to the York Utilities Company in 1925. Used regularly as a line car and occasionally as a substitute locomotive by York Utilities, it was acquired by Seashore in 1949. Car 108 was used for many years as a line car at the Museum before being restored to its original configuration, mostly by volunteers.

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

No. 108 on its side in January 1918. Having read in the above text that the

U.S. Mail contract was canceled in 1918. This is probably why :) Read

the newspaper accounting below. 108 would later be converted to

an overhead line work car.

Image from O. R. Cummings' book, Atlantic Shore Line 1-1-1966

This newspaper account refers to the collapse of a small bridge. The image

above taken at the scene in January 1918 shows little of said collapse?

A typed account from the O. R. Cummings Collection

108 (left) as a line car in Sanford in 1947. Laconia Car Company-built

electric locomotive Nos. 100 (center) and 102 (far right). No. 100 also was

acquired by the Seashore Trolley Museum. 100 was completely restored

over three years 2007-2009.

Image from O. R. Cummings' book, Atlantic Shore Line 1-1-1966

Image from O. R. Cummings' book, Atlantic Shore Line 1-1-1966

The video below of No. 108 is in service at the Seashore Trolley Museum.

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

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

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

Car 38 - Seashore Trolley Museum's Laconia Car Company-built Collection

In the hands of Seashore Trolley Museum member volunteers,

Ed Dooks and his granddaughter Chelsey Pino, as they work

in unison to carefully peel away the paper from the newly

applied the 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.

     This blog is all about the Portland-Lewiston Interurban, No. 14, Narcissus.....which was built in 1912 by the Laconia Car Company. From time to time, a blog post will extend its coverage of related information to include electric railway topics that enhance understanding of the collection of the Seashore Trolley Museum. This post will be one, in a series, that digs deeper into the Museum's collection of Laconia Car Company-built vehicles.

     Laconia Car Company was one of the important electric railway streetcar manufacturing companies at the turn of the 20th century. 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 a 1902, double-truck, streetcar, a 1904, double-truck, 15-bench, open car, a 1904 postal service/express car, a 1906 wooden interurban, a 1906 wooden steeple cab locomotive, a 1912 wooden interurban, a 1914 semi-convertible, and a 1918 semi-convertible.  Not all of these vehicles have been restored yet.

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.

     This post will focus on the second car acquired by the early members of, what has become, the Seashore Trolley Museum.

1906 - No. 38 - Manchester & Nashua Street Railway

Wood Interurban (Suburban) - Double/Air

Laconia Car Company - Seats: 40   L: 41' 0"  W: 8' 5"  Ht: 12' 1"  Wt:
Date Purchased: March 21, 1940

No. 38 on Seashore Trolley Museum's mainline 9-16-2006 PWM image

     The second car ever acquired by Seashore was No. 38, built by the Laconia Car Company in 1906 for the 18-mile run between the Merrimack Valley cities of Manchester and Nashua, New Hampshire. It also saw considerable service between Manchester and Derry, and later was operated on the suburban run from Manchester to Goffstown. Car 38 has a railroad roof and double-width windows, an early forerunner of today's picture windows, and seats with green plush upholstery.

Acquired by Seashore when the rail lines in the Queen City were motorized in 1940, No. 38 has been thoroughly restored with polished cherry woodwork and new upholstery. The rather poorly designed and desperately battered Laconia 9B trucks have been extensively rebuilt, thanks to a generous grant from the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, which also supports historic preservation. Worn surfaces were built up, oval bolt holes were filled in and redrilled, and new bolts and other fasteners were installed, though most of the original fabric was faithfully retained. Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich. 

     The video below is a short clip of No. 38 operating on Seashore Trolley Museum's mainline on September 25, 2009.

     From a 1987 interview conducted by Edward Dooks, see and hear the founder of Seashore Trolley Museum, Theodore Santarelli de Brasch, talk about how No. 38 was acquired and brought to Seashore Trolley Museum in 1940. The first minute of the video below is an intro then he tells the story of acquiring No. 38.
To watch the full interview of the beginning of Seashore Trolley Museum by Theodore Santarelli de Brasch - Click Here

     Edward Dooks, a long-time Seashore Trolley Museum member/volunteer, conducted, recorded, and transcribed, recollections of  Seashore Trolley Museum members' experiences involving the Museum. In addition, Ed recorded, collected, and transcribed recollections of local neighbors to the Seashore Trolley Museum. Here are some of those transcriptions, as they relate to the acquisition of No. 38 in 1940.

Transcripts from 1988 interviews conducted by Ed Dooks. Interviewees:

A = John Amlaw, one of Seashore's original members

B = Henry Brainerd, one of Seashore's earliest members

A: We were on a fan trip over to Manchester and everybody liked those "rapid cars".  There were 2 sets of them. There were 12 altogether: 6 long ones and 6 short ones, and the long ones had been retired. They were up at Lake Massabesic as summer camps.

38 was originally numbered No. 4. It was renumbered in the '30s as 32. 38 had had a bad accident. The newspaper up in Manchester came out with quite an editorial about the miserable conditions of the cars and the terrific damage that had been done to this car. The MSR had 32 in the shops at the time being overhauled. They renumbered it to 38 and put it out in the street and said, "Now the newspaper is telling about all the damage that was done. How come if it was the car out in the street today?" It was a different car, and if you opened the inside panel on the left side of the doors on 38, in the body itself (bulkhead), you'll see the old number 4, the new number 32, and nothing about 38.

No. 32 disguised as No. 38

Fan trip 1939

Seashore Trolley Museum Collection

Dooks: How did you get 38?

There was another trolley fan trip and several people had seen what we had done with 31 and they said, "Well, suppose we buy 38. Can you take it over with 31?" And we said, "Sure."  That originally started as a separate group led by Gordon Pilkington (from Danbury, CT, and Roger Borrup) who came to us and said, "It hardly seems worthwhile to have two competing groups when we could pool our assets and thereby have twice as much track and wire and other supplies for the same amount of money instead of having two separate locations." (They also found how much was entailed in paying for it, moving it, and finding a place to keep it and all the details involved.), some of his people were members of Seashore, so everyone agreed it was a much better idea if we made it a cooperative effort and just had one group. (The other group was mostly from NH and CT)

Gordon Pilkington had not at that time even gone to the Manchester people to buy the car or to arrange for buying it, so we took over that end of it and went up to see Roger Moscroft who was the Executive Assistant of the Manchester Street Railway, or the Power Company which owned the Street Railway.

Dooks: To get to Manchester Public Service my understanding from Ted (Santarelli de Brasch) was that you had a big problem trying to get the people to talk to you. They kept putting you off and he mentioned a way that they were able to get to the President of the company.

A: All I remember is that Roger Moscroft was sympathetic to us and I think he was the one who interceded. Their offices were up at (I think) 1000 Elm Street and they were in the same building, the same set of offices and a different floor as the power company up there, and the manager, as I recall was probably 70 years old at the time, wouldn't see anybody, but as I said, Roger Moscroft saw him for us and arranged for an interview for us to go up and talk to him.

We agreed we would buy one of the cars. The only drawback was they were afraid that if there were a bad accident or fire and the car was destroyed we would then hold them liable and want them to replace the car. So I told them that we would take in order either car No. 38, or 36 or 42, or 44, or if by any

ill fortune, none of them were available, simply return our deposit. Under those conditions, the company gave us the contract and the price was $75 for the car body plus trucks and $50 for each of the (4) motors. We were not able to raise money enough to buy the motors, so we agreed to buy the car itself and the two trucks.

(When questioned about some difference in figures for the cost of 38 he said, "That was 48 years ago, and the original books I think were lost when Eliot Sterling took them out to his house because we had a nice dairy. It was a beautiful book, about 'that thick" and about 'so big' with plush covers on it and leather bindings, but he lost that completely and that gave all the story of the first days of Seashore; who went up there and what they did on those trips. It would have been worth its weight in gold today.")

At the time the company went out of the streetcar business and went to buses, Goodman, the junkman (later A said ran a second-hand place and junk shop in Manchester) who bought the cars (to break them up), was at the carbarn. Roger Moscroft came down and said, "You've got everything in this building and the ones across the street except car 38." And Goodman asked him, "Now how about this car? Isn't this the one I don't get?" And Moscroft said, "That's right, This car and everything in it was bought by these people and they're going to take it over to Maine to preserve it, so don't touch anything on it." (later A says Moscroft said, "That car is theirs, everything just the way it stands." So he gave us the motors.) There were 3 or 4 of us there at the time looking over 38 to see what needed doing to it.

A: Incidentally, he offered us car 18 for nothing if we wanted to take it. It was a work car and he was just saying that it was so well built and maintained so well that he hated to burn it up, but we couldn't afford to move it at that time.

We used to go over there occasionally and work on the car even before they did away with the streetcars. They put the car on the track at the back of the barn where we could get to it and wouldn't interfere with anything and we would clean it and paint it and repair it. At the time 36 was going to be scrapped so we transferred the better stuff from it over to 38, such as cracked windows we replaced or torn seat cushions or broken panes of glass and things like this, and afterward, someone bought 36 and took it down to Bedford, NH.

B: I think I heard he wanted to buy all three of them and make them into one long dinner or something and he was a bit unhappy that we got one of them.

Dooks: When 38 was moved, we turned on the power and you say whoever was the operating man or power man when he threw the switch in to energize the trolley wire, he hoped that people that might be stealing the trolley wire would be on it and get the jolt. (His name was McFarland) 

A: Yes, they had stolen quite a bit of the wire, apparently for 5 or 6 nights and the police were unable to catch them, at least they didn't, and they didn't want to leave the power on. I remember there was a big switch up on the pole and that switch was off. McFarland came over to us and said, "We'll turn the power on so you can run 38 down to the railroad station." So on this particular occasion, he said, "I just hope they're up there right now!!" They weren't and we didn't read anything about a fellow being hit by electricity and killed. Dan Twomey and Ted Santarelli were on board.

38 on the siding in Manchester 1940

Seashore Trolley Museum Collection

B: He ran the car down from the barn, down to the railroad crossing in the freight yards, derailed it, then rerailed it on the railroad. In other words, rode down the pavement and derailed it and rerailed it on the railroad, ran it about a few hundred feet to where he had the flatcar, and then jacked it up and ran the flatcar under it/ It was unloaded in Kennebunk on a siding. (The body was moved to Seashore but) the trucks remained in Manchester. Chase Transfer supplied a little bit of a trailer and moved it from the railroad to Seashore and set it on blocks more or less over the end of the track but partly blocking the road on the ASL roadbed. As it went by the Kennebunk Inn, two ladies from Manchester were sitting on the front porch and one of them said to the other, "Oh, there's one of our Manchester trolley cars coming by.

38 being jacked up for placement on the flat car in Manchester 1940

Seashore Trolley Museum Collection

No. 38 on the rails - destination Kennebunk, Maine station, then a trip to

Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport. 1940 image from the

collection of Seashore Trolley Museum

Loaded at the Kennebunk railroad station siding, 38 traveling

to its new home, Seashore Trolley Museum 1940

Seashore Trolley Museum Collection

We got to the Log Cabin Crossing. (It was called Biddeford Road but was renamed Log Cabin Road later because there were one or two other streets called Biddeford Road or Old Biddeford Road and it was confusing. There was a tourist cabin with fake log cabins that was called "The Log Cabin" and so the road was named for that."

(I wasn't there) And then we got to the railroad crossing. At the time, the only protection was the train's whistling and someone had checked with the B & M dispatcher and found no trains were expected and we got over the crossing. It barely cleared the crossing when a freight train came by and then I think they had to use something to lift the telephone cable to get the car under it.

The next time I got back to Seashore, the car was standing on blocks, lined up over the end of the track and it stayed there a year too, I think it was the 4th of July weekend of '41. I remember I found sleeping in that was much more comfortable than sleeping on the bench of 31 and I found you could take a seat cushion, and prop it up in the aisle on a wooden soapbox. It was much more comfortable sleeping than out in the chill of 31.

That summer of '40, there was a forest fire and I think the fire engines cut slightly, having to detour around where 38 stuck out over the roadway. The right-of-way belonged to the power company, then Cumberland County Power and Light before it became part of Central Maine Power. Sometime in '41, they said, "We damn well had to stop blocking the roadway any longer."

I think I remember that I was in on negotiating the trucks brought over and we had to make a deal with somebody and had to enroll him temporarily as a member to make it legal for him to bring them. We got them over there and they were placed right way round, lined up at either end, one on the track out on the roadway. I was there. Well, the day we actually did it, we had barely enough blocking (materials) and we first jacked up the end that was over the track and we had to get it damn high and we didn't really have enough blocking to follow up the jack, so we had it way up in the air and just on the jack with no protective blocking. The jack was pretty well extended and we could just about get the truck under the low platforms. (They stepped lower than the main body.) We got it under and let it down and put the kingpin in.....We got it down on July 4, 1941. I remember I was crawling under the car and the car not actually swaying but up pretty precariously on an extended jack, and I remember sort of thinking, "Well if anything happens, I'm a goner." Nothing happened, thank goodness...We got it up on the permanent track and took up the temporary rail that we laid then we had it on our land, clear of the roadway.

No. 38 at Seashore Electric Railway (Seashore Trolley

Museum) - top image circa 1946. lower image-probably

earlier. Images from the collection of Seashore Trolley

Museum

No. 38 outside of Shop #1. Circa 1956

Collection of Seashore Trolley Museum

No. 38 on the Town House Restoration shop lead at Seashore Trolley

Museum 3-29-2003 - Donald Curry image

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 - 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

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

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

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!

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

2017 Teddy Roosevelt Days at Seashore Trolley Museum - July 21, 22, & 23 Schedule

A Fundraising Event to benefit the 1912 Portland-Lewiston Interurban - Narcissus

To read more on Theodore Roosevelt's connection to the Narcissus Click Here

Follow the activities of the Narcissus project and the restoration of this

National Register of Historic Places gem, Narcissus, at www.narcissus1912.blogspot.com

2017 Teddy Roosevelt Days

a three-day event being held

at

Seashore Trolley Museum

Kennebunkport, Maine

July 21, 22, & 23
A Benefit Event For the Narcissus Project!

Featuring:

Wade Zahares - Maine Artist & Illustrator of Children's Books

Roberto Rodriguez - Curatorial Affairs, Seal Cove Auto Museum

Suzanne Buzby Hersey - Author of Children's Books

The Mount Katahdin Expedition

Friday Opening, July 21st, 2017 - 3pm-8pm

Tickets to the Expedition are $30 and may be purchased online soon in May

(Each ticket includes; an all-day Friday (July 21, 2017), a general admission ticket to Seashore Trolley Museum, a 2017 one-day family pass to Seal Cove Auto Museum on Mount Desert Island, ME, access to meet & greet reception with light refreshments, two drink tickets (beer/wine), one raffle ticket, and a silent auction bidder #)

Friday Opening Schedule - Prepaid tickets required for this opening activity:

3 pm         Guest arrival, check-in, silent auction preview

4 pm         Vintage Trolley Ride to Riverside Barn and walk to Town House Shop for Tour of 

                  Narcissus (currently under renovation) with Project Sponsor Phil Morse

5:30 pm    Reception at Exhibit Gallery, Visitor's Center with light refreshments (beer & wine) and                       silent auction bidding ongoing

6 pm
* Introduction: Mr. Phil Morse, Narcissus Project Manager, Seashore Trolley Museum -
The Narcissus, Theodore Roosevelt, and W. S. Libbey: "A Winning Combination"     

* Presentation: Mr. Roberto Rodriguez, Director of Curatorial Affairs, Seal Cove Auto Museum, Mount Desert Island, ME - History of the Stanley Brothers and their Stanley Steamer, in particular, their world record land speed holder and the very rare W. S. Libbey K 30-hp Semi-Racer

* Presentation: Mr. Wade Zahares, Maine Artist & Children's Book Illustrator - The Narcissus, an original work of art.

7:30 pm    Official unveiling of original work of Art, by Wade Zahares, The Narcissus
7:45 pm    Raffle, Silent Auction closes

8 pm         Vintage Historic Trolley Car exclusive ride along Seashore Trolley Museum's Heritage                         Main Line

Tickets for the Mount Katahdin Expedition are $30 and may be purchased online soon in May

Seating is limited to the Friday opening, so reserve your tickets soon!

FMI contact p.morse31@gmail.com

Saturday, July 22nd, 2017 - 10 am - 3:30 pm

Regular Museum Visitor Admission Tickets to attend the Event
* Wade Zahares - Maine Artist & Illustrator of Children's Books
Watch this amazing artist as he is creating his artwork of an operating trolley! Ask questions while you see his work come to life as you look on!
* Roberto Rodriguez - Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Seal Cove Auto Museum on Mount Desert Island, wants you to bring in that old family photo album or an individual photograph that has an unidentified automobile pictured in it. Perhaps you were always curious about just what make, model, and year that auto might be? Mr. Rodriguez is up for the challenge, and will ID that classic car for you :) 
* Suzanne Buzby Hersey - Author of Children's Books, will be selling/signing her books, including her book, My Maine!

* Vintage Trolley Ride to Riverside Barn and walk to Town House Shop for Tour of Narcissus (currently under renovation) with Project Sponsor Phil Morse

* Raffle and Sale of Special Theodore Roosevelt-related Items - Sale of Wade Zahares artwork (that he will sign), including items of his newest work, The Narcissus!
* Proceeds from the raffles and sale of special items are for the Benefit of the Narcissus Project

Sunday, July 23rd, 2017 - 10 am - 3 pm

Regular Museum Visitor Admission Tickets to attend the Event

* Wade Zahares - Maine Artist & Illustrator of Children's Books
Watch this amazing artist as he is creating his artwork of an operating trolley! Ask questions while you see his work come to life as you look on!

* Vintage Trolley Ride to Riverside Barn and walk to Town House Shop for Tour of Narcissus (currently under renovation) with Project Sponsor Phil Morse

* Raffle and Sale of Special Theodore Roosevelt-related Items - Sale of Wade Zahares artwork (that he will sign), including items of his newest work, The Narcissus!
* Proceeds from the raffles and sale of special items are for the Benefit of the Narcissus Project

More About Maine Artist Wade Zahares:

Wade Zahares sharing his extraordinary skills with a large group of young
readers and their families at the fourth, Southern Maine Library District
Summer Reading Celebration, at Seashore Trolley Museum on
August 20, 2004. PWM image

Strong lines. Bold colors. Dazzling perspectives.

All three distinguish Wade Zahares' larger-than-life pastel painting. Wade's magical scenes pull readers in with their sweeping curves and unexpected angles, like an insect's view of a garden or a bird's-eye view of the Statue of Liberty. "I love creating a whole little world that doesn't exist in everyday life," he says.

Both a fine artist and a children's book illustrator, Wade has always loved to draw. But it wasn't something that came easily. "In high school, I spent a lot of time in the art room," he says. "Other students would just sit down and draw people or horses really beautifully. I would struggle to draw." But Wade had passion, and the persistence to back it up. Recognizing this, his high school art teacher suggested he make a career in his art. The idea quickly took hold, and before Wade knew it, he was applying to art schools.

Since graduating from the Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, Wade has been a full-time, professional artist. He got his start doing corporate commissions; his captivating pastel paintings, sometimes as large as 3 1/2 by 6 feet, have been commissioned by Boston Duck Tours, Bank of America, McDonald's, HBO, Cinemax, Family Circle, and Sesame Street magazines. his work is also in the permanent collection of the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

But, it's children's books that really nudge Wade out of his artistic comfort zone. Before Wade did books, he preferred drawing landscapes, cityscapes, and buildings. His first book, Window Music, pushed him to paint people and animals. Critics liked the result. Both Time Magazine and The New York Times cited Window Music as among the best picture books of 1998. Since then, Wade has illustrated five additional picture books, each of which challenged him in different ways. He enjoys sharing the creative processes, challenges, and all when he speaks and conducts workshops at galleries and schools.

Wade works exclusively in pastels; he is drawn to the intimacy of the chalk and the ease with which he can lend colors. The magic happens in his studio, a converted shed just off his main house. The studio, equipped with 15-foot ceilings and a house gutter to catch all the pastel dust, is set on 5 1/2 acres of farmland in Lyman, Maine, just a few miles from the Kennebunk farm on which he grew up. When Wade needs a break, he goes for a drive to soak up the New England landscape- his biggest inspiration tends to his flowers, gardens, and fruit trees. Then he returns to his studio, refreshed and ready to make more magic.

More About Roberto Rodriguez:

Roberto Rodriguez was the Executive Director of the Seal Cove Auto Museum from 2009 until his retirement in 2012. He came out of retirement in 2013 to help the Natick Historical Society as its Executive Director, and in 2014 returned to Seal Cove as its Director of Curatorial Affairs.

His career spans forty years of serving the non-profit sector as a museum professional. Before the Seal Cove Auto Museum, he was the Executive Director of the Revelstoke Railway Museum in Revelstoke, British Columbia, and before that, the Manager of the Precision Valley Corvette Museum in Springfield, Vermont.

He has also served as the Executive Director of the Fort at No. 4 Living History Museum in Charlestown New Hampshire, Executive Director of Park-McCullough House in North Bennington Vermont, and Executive Director of the American Precision Museum in Windsor Vermont.

Mr. Rodriguez started his museum career in Canada, first as an exhibition designer with the National Museums of Canada, and finally as Deputy Director of Installations at the Canadian Museum of History during its design and construction. As Deputy Director, Mr. Rodriguez managed a $17,000,000 budget and a staff of 80 professionals.

Before specializing in museum management, Mr. Rodriguez was a product and exhibition designer having received his Associate's Degree in Industrial Design from the Ontario College of Art in 1970.  He was Chief of Design and Technical Services for the National Museums of Canada and was responsible for designing hundreds of permanent, special, and traveling exhibitions.  While with the American Precision Museum, he designed several exhibitions including: “Maxfield Parish: Machinist, Artisan, Artist”, “Pedal Power: the Bicycle in Industry and Society”, and “Carriage Wheels to Cadillacs: Henry Leland and the Quest for Precision.”  While at the Seal Cove Auto Museum, he curated “The Brass Era Auto: Motoring into the Twentieth Century,” and is currently researching and developing the storyline for Seal Cove’s next exhibition, “Automobile Art and Advertising” opening in 2018.

He has won numerous exhibition and graphic design awards including; first place New England Museum Association Publications Design Award for Exhibition Catalogs; joint second place New England Museum Association Publications Design Award for Fundraising; and second prize by the American Association of Museums, Publication Design Competition.

Born in Santiago Chile to Mario Altamirano Rodriguez and Marjorie Talman de Rodriguez, his father was a Chilean career diplomat, and his mother, an American from Washington, DC.  Roberto holds both American and Canadian citizenship having become a Canadian citizen following his father’s posting to Canada from 1959 to 1967. He claims his US citizenship through his mother and traces his American ancestry back to 1630.

More About Suzanne Buzby Hersey:

Suzanne Buzby Hersey grew up spending her summers in Maine’s midcoast region and fulfilled her childhood dream of living here full-time back in 2006. Her love for Maine inspired her to write her first children’s book called “My Maine.” Suzanne is a member of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance as well as the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She has worked with children in several capacities and attributes much of her inspiration to them. She is now a mom of two and enjoys exploring the state of Maine with her family.

Teddy Roosevelt Days is a Fundraising Event

To Benefit the

Narcissus Project!!

Mark your calendars (purchase your Friday-opening tickets in advance) and plan to attend the 2017 Teddy Roosevelt Days Event on July 21-23, 2017

A Benefit Event For the Narcissus Project!

Click Here: First Post on 2017 Teddy Roosevelt Days - W. S. Libbey's 1908 Stanley Steamer

Click Here: Second Post on 2017 Teddy Roosevelt Days - Suzanne Buzby Hersey - "My Maine"

Click Here: Third Post on 2017 Teddy Roosevelt Days - Wade Zahares - Artist

More details on the celebration will be announced soon.

The Friday activity requires a ticket to be purchased in

advance. There is limited seating for the Friday

 gala opening activity. Saturday and Sunday are

general admission public offerings at

SeashoreTrolley Museum.

The Narcissus Project Blog was created in April 2015 to reach out to a large number of folks through the power of social media to introduce them to Narcissus. The Narcissus is a luxury, high-speed, wooden electric interurban. The Narcissus was built in 1912 in Laconia, NH, and operated on the Portland-Lewiston Interurban, in Maine, between Portland and Lewiston, from 1914 into 1933. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914. The blog posts appeal to folks with an interest in Theodore Roosevelt's connection to Maine, to folks generally interested in regional/local history, as well as those folks within the greater railway family. Hopefully, these posts will endear many of the readers to help support the Narcissus financially, as it undergoes a complete restoration over the next few years at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. 

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

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