80th Anniversary Year - A Look Back at the 70s - Seashore Trolley Museum

1970 visitor gift shop/ticket purchase building. The Narcissus

had arrived the previous October 31st and was still on the

trailer of the highway monster in the parking area along what

is now the service road. 

Click Here for 80th Anniversary Year - Seashore Trolley Museum 1939-2019 post

Click Here for the post - 80th Anniversary Year -A Look Back at the 50s - Seashore Trolley Mu.
Click Here for the post - 80th Anniversary Year - A Look Back at the 60s  - Seashore Trolley Mus.

Click Here for The Birth of Seashore Trolley Museum Blog Post

Click Here for the 1901 Tower C Boston Elevated Railway to STM 1975

The front of the tickets used in the '70s highlighted states

and countries represented in the Museum collection. PWM

Back of the tickets used in the '70s make no mention

of the former "Terminal" passenger operation in Arundel.

PWM

The front of the tickets used in the '60s highlighted the cities

represented in the Museum collection. PWM

Back of the tickets used in '60s notes, the tickets are issued

and valid at the Northern Division from the Terminal on

U. S. Route 1 in Arundel, Maine, OR the

Southern Division from Log Cabin Road, Kennebunkport,

Maine. PWM

From the 1970 Annual Report:

The top has 1906, Los Angeles

Railway No. 521 was being prepared for 

the move to Central Carbarn. Next,

1927 MBTA steel subway No. 0719

ready to leave Kennebunk railroad

station to travel the few miles to its

new home at the Museum. Next,

1902 Mass. Northeastern No. 50

is being lowered onto trucks and then

heading to a carbarn for indoor

storage after surviving 40 years of

outdoor storage. Last, the front view

of the new "Facilities" building shortly

after completion in November 1970.

All photos by Jim Tebbetts.

Left- 1914 Rome, Italy No. 279 and 1906 Los Angeles, CA

Railway No. 521 - Courtesy of Sharon Cummins

Looking south from what is now the service road entrance 

to what is now called Log Cabin Road. I believe the

building seen center, near Log Cabin Road, was being moved 

by members in the following years, and as luck would have

it, severe winds caused the building to collapse during the

move and was destroyed.

     The '70s were a decade of tremendous growth and transformation. The collection, carbarns, track, and visitation. Can't possibly include it all in one relatively short blog post.  Will have to revisit during the year and highlight certain aspects of the decade in subsequent posts. Many of the images in this post are from a family album that Doug Carrier purchased at a garage sale or at a flea market or rail show. The photos in the album were taken throughout the campus and while on a ride on the mainline. Images not from that album will be so noted. 40,000 riders were carried during the 1970 season. Up until the 1974 season, visitors were charged on a per-ride basis. Policy changes in 1974 included charging visitors an admission fee where their ticket was good for unlimited rides that day. For many, many years, the Operation Department has tracked the number of riders per day, however, as visitors may make multiple trips throughout the day, so, from a revenue standpoint, comparing the number of tickets sold during a season more clearly indicates the financial position to visitation than the ridership numbers. The "Energy Crisis" began to ease up some as '74 unfolded and visitation to the Museum leveled off and didn't continue to decline as it had during the '73 season.

1912 Aroostook Valley Railroad No. 70 is about to head north

on the shuttle to do trackwork perhaps?

A campus shot showing the restoration shop on the right and

Riverside is in the back center. The track setup seems a bit different

from today.

Looking west is South Boston carbarn. The building in

the foreground on the right was called, "Little River". This

public outhouse was removed from service after the new

bathroom facilities were operational in 1971.

Cars in South Boston carbarn L -1906 Manchester, NH

No. 38, 1901 Connecticut Co. open car No. 303, and

is that 1894 Boston, MA No. 925? 

Courtesy of Sharon Cummins

Closeup of Riverside. The extension is seen here on the left

has the New Zealand cable car No. 105 undercover. The

northeast corner of the MG Motor set building is seen

on the left.  1927 Montreal Tramways No. 2052 (L) and 

1930 Cincinnati & Lake Erie RR No. 118 (R).  The filled-in

 area of the tracks in front of Riverside was for visitors

walking around, but also for cars/trucks to drive by, and then

cross the mainline to drive to the restoration shop.

The mainline with Riverside carbarn on the left.

Restoration Shop. The sign says, "Site of new carbarn -

Cost $12,000 - Help protect our cars - We need your help - 

Donations accepted at gift shop fare boxes." The entrance

for driving to the restoration used to be that one would

drive over the tracks that enter Riverside carbarn, then

drive over the mainline to Morrison Hill Station 

is currently, and follows to some degree what is currently

the walking pathway to the shop for a bit, then as

the photo above shows a cross-over of the shop lead tracks.

The addition to the west side for the machinery lean-to

was completed in 1970.

Donald Curry feeding a wood plank through the surface planer to

Jim Hamlin in the new machine lean-to in Restoration Shop.

James Tebbetts photo

Looking north along the mainline at McKay Crossing. The 

restoration shop will be on the right out of sight of this

image.

Look south at McKay Crossing along the mainline.

The sign reads, "Syracuse" in the shadow on the side above

the window openings. This is looking north on the mainline

past Meserve's Crossing and just north of where the old gravel

pit was. Where cars are required to stop as they travel south

on their return trip. Syracuse was the end of the mainline

for a few years before the mainline extension work took place.

Looking south from Syracuse is the stop sign and on the left,

the old gravel pit. The "Syracuse" Station can be seen

on the left (easterly side) and in the distance, also on the left,

is Syracuse Station with the northerly

corner of Meserve's Crossing in the far background.

Is this "Tower 1" looking north on the mainline?

Looking south along the mainline with "Tower 2" in the

foreground and "Tower 1" in the background further south.

1910 Connecticut Company No. 1391 at the end of the

main line. 1970 saw passenger service extend beyond

"Tower 5" on the mainline.

Highwood carbarn and the lead to the right goes onto

Central Carbarn, etc.

Highwood carbarn on the left in the background. Lead to right

goes to Central Carbarn.

1912 Boston Elevated motor flat with hoist, No. 2016 at

the north end of Riverside.

1948 8,000-gallon aluminum tank car.

1920 Oshawa, Ontario, 50-ton steel electric locomotive

No. 300 and 1948 8,000-gallon aluminum tank car.

Looking north from the "Well" the restoration shop is seen in

the background.

1915 Eastern Mass. Street Railway wooden line car

No. S-71 south of the "Well".

1926 Boston side dump car No. 3608 next to the bunkhouse.

1926 Boston side dump car No. 3608

Courtesy Sharon Cummins

1942 Pittsburgh, PA PCC air electric No. 1440 next

to "Shop 1", with the bunkhouse seen on the left. The

regauging of No. 1440 to standard gauge was completed

early in the 1970 season and became the first PCC to operate

on-campus carrying passengers.

1930 Cincinnati & Lake Erie No. 118 next to Shop 1 with

the bunkhouse in the background on the left.

Courtesy of Sharon Cummins

1911 Nagasaki, Japan No. 134

Courtesy Sharon Cummins

1912 Portland-Lewiston Interurban No. 14, Narcissus still on

the trailer of the Highway Monster, sitting next to Shop 1.

1925 Philadelphia & West Chester, PA suburban

center-entrance car No. 62 arrives on campus

on August 19. Front cover of the September

1971 Dispatch. Photo courtesy Allgemeiner

Photodienst.

Steel and roof purlins for Central Carbarn were delivered in

September '71 volunteers got to work on the final

100-foot extension. With the enlargement of Central Carbarn

to full size, undercover winter storage is now provided

for 85 percent of the electric car fleet. 1971 Annual Report.

Photo courtesy of James Tebbetts

STM Public Relations Officer, George

Sanborn (L), with Museum Director,

Michael Lennon, accept, on behalf of

Seashore, a "Silent Policeman" from

Quincy, MA, Mayor James McIntyre.

From the September 1971 Dispatch.

Photo by Doug Tatreau appeared in 

the Patriot Ledger.

Here is the "Silent Policeman" (far right) at the Museum

entrance early in 1974. The mainline track was extended

to the main entrance in 1973 and in 1901 Connecticut Car

Company (seen here) open car No. 303 was on display

at the entrance to attract attention to the Museum. The

revamped front entrance included a new sign in 1974 (seen

here) as well as landscape improvements. These were all in

place for the Association of Railway Museums convention

hosted at Seashore in September '74.

     1972 Highlights:

* Rochester, Syracuse & Eastern catenary tower #8 was erected. The final section of the track was laid, completing the mainline extension north of Syracuse station.

* Three outstanding cars entered regular passenger service early in the operating season; 

regauged Philadelphia & West Chester, PA No. 62, 1901 Connecticut Car Company open car No. 303, and 1927 Montreal, Ontario lightweight No. 2052

1972 Annual Report back cover photo of 1901 Connecticut

Car Company open car No. 303, completely restored by

Seashore shop crew poses in front of Highwood carbarn.

Photo by Howard Odinius

1927 Springfield, MA/Montreal, Ontario Lightweight

No. 2052 boarding passengers next to the Museum Gift Shop.

July/August 1975 Dispatch O. R. Cummings photo

1930 Long Island Railroad Class MP-54 Commuter Rail

Coach has a quick stop across the street from the famed,

Wedding Cake House, in Kennebunk. MP-54 was loaded at

the Kennebunk train station and was now heading to

the Museum campus. 1972 Annual Report.

Photo courtesy of Dan Cohen

Tower #8 was up by the end of 1972. End of the mainline.

1916 Boston, MA 10-ton crane setting the bridge in place.

1972 Annual Report. T. Santarelli photo

Fairview photo from the 1972 Annual Report states this photo

was taken in January 1973 by C. B. Clapp. 

1972 Annual Report photo by Bradley H.

Clarke of Boston, MA line truck No. 1377

as volunteers prepare to install span wire

for eventual use on the trackless line.

The back cover of the 1973 Annual Report shows

a newly refinished 1930 Montreal, Ontario

 lightweight No. 2652, with Fred Maloney

using the new inspection pit in Town

House Restoration Shop. Photo by

photographer Richard Brilliante

Fairview Carbarn shows covered storage being utilized

by the trackless trolleys, the UPS truck, and the San Francisco cable

car. 1973 Annual Report. Photo by photographer Richard Brilliante

1929 Berliner Verkehrs-Betriebe (Berlin, Germany) No. 3412

arrived in June of 1972. Photo view of Arundel Station with

passengers boarding. 1973 Annual Report.

Photo by photographer Richard Brilliante

     1974 Annual Report mentions Charter Bus activity: 26 buses with 1,171 visitors

Seashore on TV: First year that Radio and TV stations throughout the New England area began to air public service spot announcements publicizing the Museum and its various activities. Richard T. Lane, Jr. became the Museum Director.

I think 1974 was the 1st year that the Museum transported
Maine Made May Day Music concert-goers to
Meserve's Crossing? This was my ticket from 1974.
The concert was a fundraiser for the School Around Us
and I believe the final year in this run was 1983. There were
back-to-back reunion concerts in 2000/2001 PWM

Back of the ticket for 1974

The Mar./Apr. 1978 Dispatch mentions that 1978

Museum crews needed to be ready for the influx

of 1,800 to 2,000 people if last year's (1977) crowd is

an indicator.  PWM

The caption for this photo in 1975

Annual Report in part says: Crowds of people

attending the May Concert at Meserve's Crossing.

This has become an annual event and utilizes four

to six cars for operations during the Sunday

afternoon performance. Photographer Richard Brilliante

From the 1974 Annual Report - Fairview lead

track work. Photo by photographer Richard Brilliante

On the back cover of the 1974 Annual Report -

Central carbarn is seen through the lean-to extension steelwork

 on Fairview. Deschenes photo left - photo on the right by

photographer Richard Brilliante

1975 Annual Report: Aerial view of the Museum.

Notice the road to drive to the restoration shop from

Riverside Carbarn, crosses the mainline to approach the

shop from the south. Photo by photographer Richard Brilliante.

     1975 Highlights in the Annual Report:

* Car 31's restoration was complete. Funded in part through three, one-year, matching grants from the Maine State Commission on the Arts and Humanities

* Liberty Bell rolled out of Town House Restoration Shop with exterior restoration complete - funding made possible through the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society organized a $10,000 fundraising drive, organized by Tom Ruddell of Allentown, PA, a Seashore member. 

* The improved and expanded restoration shop facilities have proven their worth.

* Annual tie replacement program initiated.

* Completion of the final two tracks into Fairview.

* Tower "C" project - Tower "C" arrives on campus in November 1975

* Observation of visitor pattern: A marked change in the visitor pattern was observed during the 1975 season. With our newly instituted paid admission, people are spending more time on the property - up to four and five hours. Previously, the average length of stay was never more than two hours. It now appears that the visitor, having paid to enter the Museum, spends whatever time it takes to see and do everything that is offered. Two immediate needs have arisen. One is for more seating on the grounds for people to just sit and relax, and the other is for on-site food service.

* Public Relations - Public Service announcements were made on some twenty New England TV stations, a few in New York, and one in Philadelphia. These short films, shown along with commercials, were produced by Ed Dooks and Henry Brainerd and distributed by Mike Horn of Blair Radio.

Left - Right - Fairview Barn "Before" - Fairview Barn "Today"

and Central with the lean-to on the north side.

From the  1975 Annual Report. 

Photos (l-r) C. B. Clapp, Brilliante, Brilliante

1975 Annual Report.

Photos (l-r) C. B. Clapp, Brilliante, Brilliante

1930 Lehigh Valley interurban No. 1030 "Liberty Bell"

seen with a restored exterior. Photo by photographer Richard Brilliante.

1900 Biddeford & Saco RR open car No. 31. 

Restoration complete and ready for 1976  - America's

Bicentennial Celebration year. Mr. Brilliante photo

Left to Right - 1930 Cincinnati & Lake Erie RR/CRANDIC

high-speed interurban No. 118 and 1930 Indiana Railroad/Lehigh Valley

Transit high-speed interurban No. 1030 "Liberty Bell" on the cover of 1976

Annual Report - America's Bicentennial Year. Mr. Brilliante's photo.

     Some 1976 Highlights:

* 28.6% increase in admissions over 1975 - The Bicentennial Celebration year has proven to be a successful one for Seashore

* On-site food service need was partially solved, but it is seen as only a stopgap. The purchase of former Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee Diner Car No. 415 (1926) was the first step in a long-range plan to provide food service in an appropriate setting.

* 1924 Wheeling, WV curved side No. 639, and 1911 Montreal, Ontario No. 957 each have volunteer project managers leading the fundraising and the restoration, Jim Schantz and Fred Maloney, respectively.

* Exterior refinishing of 1900 West End Street Railway "Cardinal Car" No. 396 as preparations continue in advance of its filming in Boston.

* Summer of 1976 saw a crew of 12 employees, the largest yet, at work in Town House Shop. Their work was made more effective by over 60 Society members and friends who volunteered anywhere from a few hours to several weeks of their time and effort. 

* Three metalworking machines were acquired from the Boston Navy Shipyard. Two lathes and a horizontal milling machine.
* The body of a Bay State Street Railway 4100 series was acquired from its resting place in New Jersey. (It would later be identified as 1914 No. 4175)
* 1907 Boston Elevated Railway Steeple cab locomotive No. 0514 was acquired through the MBTA.
* Jim Schantz was authorized to investigate the possible acquisition of an old subway car from Budapest, Hungary. (1896 Budapest, Hungary Subway Car No. 18 would later be acquired)
* Trustees approve loaning "The City of Manchester" to the Manchester, NH Transit Authority for approximately two weeks during July 1977, in honor of the Manchester transit system's 100th anniversary.
* New Year's Eve - New Year's Eve will again be celebrated at STM this year by making numerous trips between Arundel Station and Tower 7 with M&SC 610 and 504. The former coal-burning heater will furnish plenty of warmth and refreshments will be provided. Festivities are scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 31, and will last until 1 or 1:30 a.m. on the first day of 1977. Come one, come all to Seashore to greet in the New Year.
* To the 115 members who worked either as car crew or exhibit barn guides, car cleaners, dispatchers, or a combination, we say "Thank You" for another good season! (All are listed by name)

Cover of Nov./Dec. 1976 Dispatch - Having unveiled the plaque dedicated

the restoration of Liberty Bell Limited parlor car 1030 in memory of her

late husband, Howard P. Sell, Alma Sell poses with, from left, Theodore

Santarelli de Brasch, Museum President; Tom Ruddell, Campaign Chairman,

and Gerhard Salomon, LV Chapter, NRHS, wearing an authentic uniform cap

and blazer used by Liberty Bell Route operators. Mr. Brilliante's photo.

From the 1976 Annual Report

From the 1976 Annual Report

Front cover of the 1977 Annual Report - April 27, 1977 - for the second 

time in its career, 1900 West End Street Railway 25-foot Box Car

No. 396 is on its way to assuming a movie role. The scene at Park Street

Station en route to Boston's Reservoir Carhouse for the filming of a

national public television broadcasting series - The Best of Families.

Piloting the car is retired MBTA Arborway District Supervisor, E. A.

Silloway. No. 396 again proved to be quite an asset both in publicizing

the Society and in recreating some highly significant mass transportation

history. Photo by Bradley H. Clarke

     Some 1977 Highlights:

* The loan of 1920 Eastern Mass.St. Ry.Third Ave. Ry/Toronto Transit Snow Sweeper No. S-31 to the MBTA achieved nationwide publicity early in the year.

* 1900 West End Street Railway Box Car No. 396 used in the TV series "The Best of Families".

* Substantial public awareness of our Museum's existence.

* Concrete floor area increased in Town House Shop

* Arrival of 1926 Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee Diner Car No. 415 in September.

* Admissions revenues dipped a bit after the extra busy Bicentennial year in 1976.

No./Dec/ 1977 Dispatch

1977 Annual Report 

Nov./Dec. 1977 Dispatch

Nov./Dec. 1977 Dispatch

Nov./Dec/ 1977 Dispatch

A stretch of fresh concrete in Town House Shop.

1977 Annual Report R. T. Lane photo

1977 Annual Report - 1924 Wheeling, WV curved side

No. 639. "Sponsor" on the left is Jim Schantz.

1977 Annual Report

1977 Annual Report

1977 Annual Report - 1920 Eastern Mass.St. Ry.Third

Ave. Ry/Toronto Transit Snow Sweeper No. S-31 came out of

retirement briefly in 1977 to keep MBTA's Mattapan

Ashmont line clear of snow - Bradley Clarke photo

1977 Annual Report - LRV 3411 poses with 1900 West End

Street Railway No. 396 at the approach to Haymarket Station.

No. 396 minus "West End" fronts removed for filming

sequence. Bradley Clake photo

1977 Annual Report

Jan./Feb. 1977 Dispatch

Jan./Feb. 1977 Dispatch

Jul./Aug. Dispatch - Earlier in the year, documents were

signed that would give STM a new North Terminal on

Route one in Biddeford. Almost 400 feet of frontage on

Route one and just north of the previous terminal property.

The caption: The photo is an aerial view, taken last March

('77), with the old terminal right-of-way curving to the right,

and the new terminal right-of-way swinging left from the

existing tangent track. No credit is listed for the photo

     Some 1978 Highlights:

* Revenues increased in '78 due to admission ticket price increase, though actual visitation was just below 1977 numbers. (visitor attendance 45,100 in 1978)

* Inauguration of on-site food service in our interurban dining car, former Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee No. 415, with its beautifully restored interior.

* Accreditation by the American Association of Museums - STM is the first museum of its type to be recognized.

* All four of the restored open cars returned to passenger service.

* Board establishes steps to broaden financial support:

1) Establishment of fiscal credibility, in part by engaging Price Waterhouse & Company to bring accounting practices into conformity with established nonprofit museum practice

2) Trustees authorized the establishment of an endowment fund in 1978. Income from invested principal would be utilized for general operating expenses, etc.

3) Launching of a five-year development program, the largest such effort in the Society's history. (A five-part program to raise $500,000 by the end of 1983 and is designed to improve the Museum's physical plant, and thereby the educational offering to the visiting public. The net result will provide a sound base for financial self-support of the present site, and, possible satellite operations in the years to come.

On the inside back cover of the 1978 Annual Report.

No credit is listed for the photo.

Back cover of the 1978 Annual Report.

No credit is listed for the photos

Mar./Apr 1978 Dispatch - interior work on No. 415

1926 Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee Diner Car No. 415

as it originally appeared when newly delivered by Cincinnati

Car Company in 1926. The opening day for No. 415 being used

at the Museum for its visitor food service was July 19, 1978.

The former waiting station at Portsmouth Junction trolley from

Hampton Beach, NH was acquired and placed alongside

No. 415 on the piggyback track where it was pressed into

service as the commissary building, providing housing for

an ice machine, tanks of soda, a refrigerator, and a freezer.

From the 1978 Annual Report - O. F. Lee Collection photo

Gross sales for the 1978 season: $7,578.71 

More than 1,700 "Electroburgers" were served!

From the 1978 Annual Report - Woolnough photo

The front cover of the 1979 Annual Report reads - Sen. Edmund S. Muskie

(now U. S. Secretary of State) turns the first sod, as the ground is broken

for the Seashore Trolley Museum Visitors Center on July 7, 1979.

L-R Theodore Santarelli de Brasch, John Coughlin, O. R. Cummings,

John T. Kittredge, and Richard Stride. The embedded original design

plans are in these photos. Design plans by Mark Forman.

Woolnough photo

From the 1979 Annual Report:

* 1979 was the first year of the implementation of the Five Year Development Program. The stated goal is to broaden the base of our public support through major capital improvements to the physical plant: a visitors center building, an extension of the mainline ride, completion of the central-Fairview exhibit barn complex, creation of a shuttle loop ride to serve the major points of interest in the Museum, and expansion of the existing car repair and restoration shop. 

* The lower-than-anticipated income from the past summer's operation has served to accelerate our efforts to free the Museum from its dependency on summer tourism for the bulk of its operating support. This period of transition will continue over the next several years and will require a proportionate level of support and the same stamina from the membership as did the struggle of 25 to 40 years ago just to protect the growing collection from the elements.

* The Museum has been exploring another possible satellite operation in the city of Lowell, MA. The National Park Service and Lowell Historic Preservation Commission are creating a national historic site in the old mill district. The plans include a visitor circulation system by trolley using existing railroad industrial trackage which would be electrified and extended to include operation in streets that are closed to automobile traffic. In exchange for restoration funds, the Museum would loan one or more of its Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway cars which once ran in Lowell under possible terms of an operating contract.

* The 40th Anniversary of the Museum's founding was observed on Saturday, July 7, 1979, with a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the new Visitors Center.

* The extension of the mainline track took an initial step forward during August when Central Maine Power Company relocated its 38KV transmission line further from the Atlantic Shore Line roadbed thus clearing the way for the laying of the track. 

* A special two-day open house was held on the weekend of October 13 & 14. Billed as "Community Days," the occasion offered free admission to residents of the surrounding area. The Museum's regular program of operation was supplemented with entertainment by three local music groups and bake sales by two community organizations. Over 1,200 people attended.

Inside front cover of the 1979 Annual Report - On the front platform

of 1900 Biddeford & Saco Railroad open car No. 31 are; L-R

State Representative George Carroll, Foster Leavitt (at the controls),

Alexander Hamilton, Theodore Santarelli de Brasch, and Senator

Muskie being given, along with other guests and dignitaries, an 

inspection trip of the Museum following the ground-breaking ceremony.

Woolnough photo

Inside back cover of the 1979 Annual Report - Seashore Trolley Museum's

No. 5734 in the photo taken at Riverside carbarn on July 7, 1979, is

flanked by "Picture Window" P.C.C. car No. 3295 and a type 3 snow plow.

The occasion was the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Highland

Branch as a trolley line. The P.C.C. car that had been the official first car

to run on the new line has been beautifully refurbished and repainted

in the MTA color scheme of the late '50s by a volunteer group of MBTA

employees, "The Friends of 3295". Woolnough photo

A frequently repeated scene day in and day out at the

Highwood Exhibition Barn where guided tours are given

to display many of the Museum's showpieces. On the left

in this photo is No. 610 Montreal & Southern Counties

interurban that along with several others of its class used

to hold down the Granby run, and on the right, the

beautifully restored turn-of-the-century single truck

parlor car, the City of Manchester. From 1979 

Annual Report - Woolnough photo

From the 1979 Annual Report

From the 1979 Annual 

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

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