Benton and Fairfield Railway Company circa 1900. One of the
original single-truck passenger cars seen here on Neck Road,
Benton, Maine
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_40_127
original single-truck passenger cars seen here on Neck Road,
Benton, Maine
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_40_127
Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library
Here is the newest release in the Maine Bicentennial series of electric railways in Maine. This blog post features the summary of the Benton and Fairfield Railway as written by O. R. Cummings in his 1955 book, Toonervilles of Maine: The Pine Tree State.
Additional photos will be credited accordingly. This material is taken from a copy of the Toonervilles of Maine book acquired by this blogger.
To see the online version of the 1955 book, Toonevilles of Maine at Bangor Public Library here
Click Here for the post: Ninety Communities in Maine and the Electric Railway Service!
Click Here for the post: 57 Million Passengers Carried on Electric Railways in Maine in 1915!
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - History of the Portland Railroad 1860-1941
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - History of the Calais Street Railway 1894-1929
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - History of Aroostook Valley Railroad 1909-1946
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Fryeburg Horse Railroad 1887-1913
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - The Norway and Paris Street Railway 1894-1918
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Skowhegan & Norridgewock Railway 1894-1903
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - The Somerset Traction Company 1895-1928
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - The Fairfield and Shawmut Railway 1903-1927
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Waterville, Fairfield, & Oakland Rwy 1887-1937
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Trolleys to Augusta, Maine 1889-1932
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Rockland, South Thomaston, & St. George Rwy
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Rockland, Thomaston, & Camden St.Rwy. '92-1931
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Biddeford and Saco Railroad Co. 1888-1939
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Mousam River Railroad 1892-1899
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway 1899-1904
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portsmouth, Kittery & York St. Rwy 1897-1903
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor Street Railway 1889-1905
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor Railway & Electric Company 1905-1925
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway 1895-1905
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor, Hampden & Winterport Rwy 1896-1905
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Penobscot Central Railway 1898-1906
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor Hydro-Electric Company 1925-1945
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath St Rwy 1898-1907
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville St Rwy 1907-19
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway 1919-1941
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portland & Brunswick Street Railway 1902-1911
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Auburn & Turner Railroad 1905-1928
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Auburn, Mechanic Falls & NorwayStRwy1902-7
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portsmouth, Dover & York St Rwy 1903-1906
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Atlantic Shore Line Railway 1900-1910
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Atlantic Shore Railway 1911-1923
Seashore Trolley Museum, the Museum of Mass Transit in Kennebunkport, Maine, is celebrating its 80th Birthday year in 2019! Many events are scheduled and many more will be scheduled before the opening of public operations on May 4, 2019.
Click Here for the post on Artifacts from the Benton & Fairfield Railway
The Benton and Fairfield Railway
The Benton and Fairfield Railway was organized on June 21, 1898, and sought a charter to build from a point near the Maine Central Railroad station in Fairfield, easterly, to Benton Falls in the town of Benton. John T. Richards of Gardiner, Charles D. Brown of Salem, Mass., Elisha Morgan of Springfield, Mass., Edward W. Heath of Waterville, and H. M. Mansfield of Fairfield were the first directors and signed the articles of association which were approved by the Railroad Commissioners on June 29.
Photo from O.R. Cummings 1955 publication,
Toonervilles of Maine: The Pine Tree State
The first portion of the road to be built extended from the Maine Central station in Benton to the Sebasticook River, near the Kennebec Fibre Company's mill, a distance of slightly more than two and a quarter miles. The route was approved by the Railroad Commissioners on August 3, and construction began immediately. The operation commenced on December 7, 1898.
A 700-foot extension - from the Maine Central depot in Benton to the bridge between the towns of Benton and Fairfield was opened on January 19, 1899, and on July 20, a second extension - across the bridges over the Kennebec River to Main and Bridge Streets in Fairfield - was completed.
Two more short extensions were built in 1900. The first, in Fairfield, extended from Bridge Street, via Island Street and the property of the Somerset Fibre Company, to an interchange with the Maine Central Railroad, a distance of .63 miles. The second, in Benton, extended from the original terminus at Benton Falls, across the Sebasticook River to the Somerset and Kennebec Companies' paper mills, a distance of .13 of a mile. In 1901, .71 miles of track was laid along Main Street in Fairfield to a connection with the Waterville and Fairfield Railway at Fairfield Village.
Map from the 2015 NEERHS book,
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street &
Electric Railways 1863-1946."
When finally completed, the railway owned 4.37 miles of track, including 4.12 miles of mainline and .25 miles in sidings and turnouts, built with 56 and 60-pound, T-rail. The carhouse was located at Benton Falls and the power station was located in Fairfield. For power equipment, there were two 250 h.p. waterwheels driving two 75 KW. Westinghouse generators.
The initial rolling stock consisted of one single-truck closed car, reportedly built by Laconia (Car Company Works); one combination snowplow and work car, one four-wheel flat car, and one tower car. A box freight motor and another snowplow were added in 1900 and as of June 30, 1902, the roster of equipment included the single-truck closed car, two freight motors, five platform freight cars, and one other car. Four additional platform freight cars were acquired in 1903-04.
The second passenger car of the Benton and Fairfield Railway
at the Benton Falls carbarn.
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_40_131
at the Benton Falls carbarn.
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_40_131
Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library
The B&F, in the course of construction, built two iron bridges, one, 100 feet in length, over the canal at the head of Island Avenue, in Fairfield, and the second, 200 feet long, across the Sebasticook River at Benton Falls. Public highway bridges crossed by the railway. The span over the east channel of the Kennebec River, from the Benton shore to the east shore of Bunker's Island; the bridge over the central channel of the Kennebec River from the west shore of Bunker's Island to the east shore of Mill Island, and the bridge over the west channel or canal of the Kennebec, leading from the west channel or canal of the Kennebec, leading from the west shore of Mill Island to the west shore of the Kennebec.
An additional .30 mile in sidings was added in 1904 and in 1907 and 1908, the track was thoroughly reconditioned and new ballast added. Fifteen hundred new ties were installed and .125 miles in additional sidings were built. The bridge at Benton Falls had new wood planks installed, and one side rerailed and the overhead was given considerable attention. The carbarn was rebuilt with a galvanized corrugated steel roof and steel sides.
Two-track carbarn at Benton Falls
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_40_131
Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library
Four of the older freight cars were scrapped in 1909 but one was replaced in 1910 and a second in 1911 - and another closed passenger car was purchased second-hand in 1914. Equipment owned by the road in 1915 included two closed passenger cars, three freight cars with electric equipment, five freight cars without electric equipment, and one combination work car and snowplow.
* * *
The Benton and Fairfield was essentially a freight carrier, its passenger business was more or less insignificant, and was owned by one of the mills which it served, the Kennebec Fibre Company, later taken over by the United Paperboard Company, Inc., of New York City. The line's primary purpose was to the paper mills in Benton and Fairfield and this traffic accounted for about five-sixths of the railway's revenue.
Benton Falls Mill - trolley car near the entrance to the yard.
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_40_128
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_40_128
Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library
In some years, the road operated at a profit: in other years, it did not. In 1904, for example, its traffic was considerably reduced when low water in the Sebasticook and Kennebec Rivers forced curtailment of the operations at the various mills. The loss for the year ended June 30, 1904, was $261.44. Conditions improved in 1905 when a profit of $2,450 was reported but there was another deficit, this one of $1,400, in 1907 - and still another of $700 in 1909.
The uncertain financial status of the railway made it nearly impossible to properly maintain the roadway, overhead, and equipment which, (less than) frequent reports of the Railroad Commissioners, were described as being in from fair to poor conditions. Only the most necessary repairs were made and in 1913, the Commissioners mentioned that the single-passenger car (apparently one had been scrapped) was in bad shape and in need of paint.
The 1915 inspection report of the Public Utilities Commission stated that one passenger car, on an hourly schedule, the railway's carbarn at Benton Falls had been destroyed by fire in April 1914 - but had been rebuilt larger and better than before.
Some power had been purchased from the Waterville and Fairfield Railway as early as 1909 and in 1911, the B&F shut down its own generating station and purchased all of its power from the Waterville, Fairfield & Oakland Railway.
Fares on the B&F were set at five cents when the road opened but were later increased to 10 cents, remaining at that figure until abandonment.
After 1916, there isn't much available information on Benton and Fairfield. The road continued operation until the trucks took away the freight business and the passenger traffic, never large, shrunk to the vanishing point. Service was discontinued in 1928 and most of the rolling stock was scrapped. One passenger car remained in the boarded-up carbarn at Benton Falls until the mid-thirties when it too was junked. The carbarn was sold and removed in the early 1940s.
One of the very few photos of a Benton and Fairfield car.
This view was snapped in the early thirties by
George King Jr., When the car was still stored inside the
carhouse. Photo from O.R. Cummings 1955 publication,
Toonervilles of Maine: The Pine Tree State
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
The paperback edition of Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride can be purchased online through the Seashore Trolley Museum's store website. Books purchased through the Museum's website directly benefit the Museum and the Narcissus project.
Click Here to go to the Museum Store web page to order online
Click Here to go to the Amazon page to order the ebook or audiobook online
Paperback books are available at these local bookstores in Maine:
Center for Maine Crafts, West Gardiner Service Plaza
The Book Review, Falmouth
The Bookworm, Gorham
Letterpress Books, Portland
Maine Historical Society Store, Portland
Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad, Portland
Morph Gallery & Emporium, Kennebunk
New Gloucester Historical Society, New Gloucester
Nonesuch Books and More, South Portland
Seashore Trolley Museum, Kennebunkport
Sherman's Maine Coast Book Shops, All Locations
Thompson's Orchard, New Gloucester
Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride
by Jean M. Flahive
Illustrations by Amy J. Gagnon
Listen to a 2-minute, 30-second, Retail Audio Sample of the Audiobook
Millie Thayer is a headstrong farmer's daughter who chases her dreams in a way you would expect a little girl nicknamed "Spitfire" would run full tilt and with her eyes on the stars. Dreaming of leaving the farm life, working in the city, and fighting for women's right to vote, Millie imagines flying away on a magic carpet. One day, that flying carpet shows up in the form of an electric trolley that cuts across her farm. A fortune-teller predicts that Millie's path will cross that of someone famous. Suddenly, she finds herself caught up in events that shake the nation, Maine, and her family. Despairing that her dreams may be shattered, Millie learns, in an unexpected way, that dreams can be shared.
A resource for teachers
Companion curriculum State-standard-based units,
vocabulary, and reading activities for use in grades 3-8
are available online as downloadable resources through
Seashore Trolley Museum's website
www.trolleymuseum.org/elegantride/
Maine Historical Society has created eight companion lesson units in Social Studies and ELA that were inspired by Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride - These State-standard-based lesson plans for use in grades 6, 7, and 8 are easily adapted for use in grades 3-5. Vocabulary and Reading activities for grades 3-8 along with the eight lesson plan units are available free and may be downloaded through Seashore Trolley Museum's website www.trolleymuseum.org/elegantride/
Go to the Teacher Resource Page in the pull-down for more details.
A 60-second intro to Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride by author, Jean Flahive
Click Here to watch the video on YouTube
Award-winning author, Jean M. Flahive
Please Consider a Donation to the Narcissus Project to help us tell the incredible story of the Narcissus through the interpretation portion of the Narcissus Project.
Here is an example of how donations to the Narcissus Project now will help with the interpretation portion of the project. The interpretation programming will include exhibits, displays, and education programming. In 2019, through generous donations to the Narcissus Project, we were able to conserve, replicate, and have high resolutions digital image files made of the original, 1910, 28.5-foot long, surveyor map of the elevation and grade of the 30-mile private right-of-way of the Portland, Gray, and Lewiston Railroad (Portland-Lewiston Interurban) Click Here
Thank You!
the crowd gathered in Gray, Maine on August 18, 1914.
Image courtesy of Gray Historical Society
The Narcissus as the Sabattus Lake Diner in Sabattus, Maine,
circa 1940. Photo by John Coughlin in the Kevin Farrell
Collection at Seashore Trolley Museum
L. Henri Vallee (right) and family members in the
Narcissus, when it was Vallee's summer camp in
Sabattus, Maine circa 1958. Photo courtesy Daniel Vallee
Inside the Donald G. Curry Town House Restoration Shop, the Narcissus is in the midst of major work as we strive to complete its restoration. We are now planning the interpretation portion of the Narcissus Project. Donations to the Narcissus Project may be used in the future to help tell the incredible 100-plus-year-old story of the Narcissus. Your donation to the Narcissus is helping to make the dream of the project's success, a reality.
See below for Donation options -
It starts with YOU
Your Donation Matters
Make a Donation TODAY
Please Help the Narcissus.
Donation Options to Help the Narcissus Project:
The New England Electric Railway Historical Society
is the 501c3 organization that owns and operates the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME, and the National Streetcar
Museum in Lowell (MA).
The New England Electric Railway Historical Society registered with the IRS (EIN# 01-0244457) and was incorporated in Maine in 1941.
Check or Money Order ***** should be made payable to:
New England Electric Railway Historical Society
In the memo: for a donation to the Interpretation programming
please write: PLI Education Fund 817
For a donation to help with the restoration write: Narcissus Fund 816
Mail to: Seashore Trolley Museum
P. O. Box A
Kennebunkport, ME 04046
Credit Card ***** donations can be one-time donations or you
may choose to have a specific amount charged to your card
automatically each month. 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: 816 Narcissus, then continue filling in the required information.
Click Here for PayPal - to make an online donation: you can use email: finance@trolleymuseum.org and in the message box write:
For "Narcissus Fund 816" - if supporting the restoration
For "PLI Education Fund 817" - if supporting Interpretation programs
Donation of Securities ***** We also accept donations of
securities. You can contact the Museum bookkeeper, via email at finance@trolleymuseum.org or by phone, at 207-967-2800 ext. 3,
for brokerage account information for accepting donated securities.
BONUS ***** If you work for a company/corporation that will
"match" an employee's donation to an approved 501c3 non-profit
educational organization, please be sure to complete the necessary paperwork with your employer so that your donation is matched :)
Questions? ***** Please contact Narcissus project sponsor:
Phil Morse, narcissus@gmail.org or call 207-985-9723 - cell.
Thank You :)
Thank You for our Current Funding Partners
* 20th Century Electric Railway Foundation - 2020/2018 - Major Gift, 2017/2014 Matching Grants
* Renaissance Charitable Foundation (LPCT) by Fiduciary Trust Charitable Giving Fund
* Renaissance Charitable Foundation (LPCT) by Fiduciary Trust Charitable Giving Fund
* Mass Bay RRE - 2018 Railroad Preservation Grant
* Thornton Academy (Saco, ME) - Staff & Alumni - Matching Grant Challenge 2014
* New England Electric Railway Historical Society (Kennebunkport, ME) - Member Donations
* Amherst Railway Society - 2015 Heritage Grant
* National Railway Historical Society - 2016 & 2015 Heritage Preservation Grants
* Enterprise Holding Foundation - 2015 Community Grant
* Theodore Roosevelt Association - Member Donations
* John Libby Family Association and Member Donations
* The Conley Family - In Memory of Scott Libbey 2018/2017/2016/2015
* The W. S. Libbey Family - Awalt, Conley, Graf, Holman, Libbey, McAvoy, McLaughlin, Meldrum, O'Halloran, Salto, - 2018/2017
* The Hughes Family 2017/2016/2010
* New Gloucester Historical Society and Member Donations
* Gray Historical Society and Member Donations
* Gray Public Library Association - Pat Barter Speaker Series
* Scarborough Historical Society - PRR/PLI
* LogMein - Matching Employee Donation
* IBM - Matching Employee/Retiree Donations
* Fidelity Charitable Grant - Matching Employee Donations
* Richard E. Erwin Grant - 2017/2016
The Narcissus, with interior back-lit, stained glass windows is majestic.
Make a donation today to help restore the interior of this Maine gem.
Help Theodore Roosevelt's Maine Ride get back on track! Once restored,
you will be able to ride in luxury on this National Register Treasure at
Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.
PWM photo
Please Consider Making a Donation to the project of the National Register of Historic Places member, Narcissus. We are currently raising funds to advance the restoration and to tell the incredible story of this Maine gem.
Various News stories during the summer of 2015 about the
Narcissus and its connection to Theodore Roosevelt. TR
was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914.
Photo by Patricia Pierce Erikson
The Narcissus - July 31, 2015. Make a donation today.
Help Theodore Roosevelt's Maine Ride get back on track!
Once restored, you will be able to ride in luxury on this
National Historic Treasure at
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