No. 235, No. 50, and No. 9 - 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, 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 in accordance with the 1900 act of the Massachusetts Legislature. This required all cars regularly operated in the state during the months of 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 of 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

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-running 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!

Theodore Roosevelt on the Narcissus when addressing

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

The Narcissus in the restoration shop in 2022 PWM

   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 on a monthly basis. 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

* 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

* Seal Cove Auto Museum

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.

Patricia Pierce Erikson photo

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

Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.