4th Anniversary of the Narcissus Project Blog 4-22-2019

The right side of Narcissus on 4-17-2019.

Two "double" vertical ash window posts have

been installed in addition to the single posts. 

The new steel channel (seen underneath the

original) has had all the holes drilled and now

awaits the "new" vintage 37-foot southern

yellow pine side sill so that they can be attached

to the passenger compartment. PWM

     The Narcissus Project Blog released its first post on April 22, 2015. Thank you to Patricia Pierce Erikson for encouraging me, then helping me, to set up the original Narcissus project blog and post. This post will be the 195th for the blog! The blog has had more than 212,000 total page views to date.  That's an increase of 71,000 from a year ago. Originally, the statement of purpose was, "This blog will introduce readers to the Narcissus 1912 Project, the renovation of a vintage electric interurban railway car at the Seashore Trolley Museum." Since that first post, research has led to the Narcissus project blog posts to expand their scope to include many of the storylines that are inexorably intertwined with the Narcissus. These storylines include Theodore Roosevelt's connections in Maine, the Libbey family, and the communities served by the PLI. With the Narcissus being in the collection of the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, the content of some posts would include topics about the Maine Collection of railway vehicles at the Museum. In addition, this year, being the 80th Anniversary year for the Museum, some posts have been a nostalgic look back at the history of the Museum over the years. Then, it seemed only natural, that posts about other electric railway systems in Maine be included for readers to enjoy as Maine's Bicentennial approaches (2020). The expansion of the content of the posts has also broadened the base of readers drawn to the blog. This has broadened the base of support for the Narcissus :)

A "double" post on the right and a single post

on the left. The doubles each have a steel rod

that is threaded on each end and basically

helps secure the roof to the body of the coach.

     During this past year of the Narcissus Project Blog, many exciting things have transpired. The single most significant is the major gift pledged last spring to the Narcissus Project from the 20th Century Electric Railway Foundation. This major gift to the Narcissus Project, when fully implemented, combined with previous funds raised, will be the financial catalyst that will propel the restoration of this National Register of Historic Places electric railway icon to completion. Arthur Jones and Joseph Brogan, the principals and founders of the 20th Century Electric Railway Foundation, have truly honored the Narcissus with their Foundation's extraordinary gift.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completed restoration of the 1912 Portland-Lewiston Interurban, No. 14, Narcissus, will be in the fall of 2021 at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport. 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 any post until you come to the donation section or contact Phil Morse at p.morse31@gmail.com (cell-207-985-9723). Please help by making a donation today:)

Let's update you on where we are with the major interpretation resources:

A photo showing a portion of the original hand-drawn map

of the elevation and grade of the Portland, Gray and

Lewiston Railroad before being delivered to NEDCC for

conservation work. PWM photo

Through the generosity of many donors during the following months, we had the necessary funds to cover the costs to have all the work on the map completed. Currently (April 2019), work has begun in Andover to conserve, repair, and photograph the map. We are so very grateful to Mr. Paul Libbey and to all the donors.

Here is the background: On November 15, 2017, I had the honor and pleasure to meet with Mr. Paul Libbey. Mr. Libbey, a nonagenarian, is the grandson of W. S. Libbey, Sr., and nephew to Harold Libbey. Paul Libbey was very generous and made a donation to the Museum of the original map of the elevation and grade of the right-of-way of the Portland, Gray & Lewiston Railroad (which became Portland-Lewiston Interurban in 1914), that his uncle Harold had helped create. The map is 28.5 feet long and is one continuous roll of paper. The map is extraordinary and was sorely in need of conservation. An appraisal of its condition and an estimate totaling $11,000 to professionally conserve, repair, and photograph the map was provided by the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover (MA) in May 2018.

We are still in need of the funds necessary to make perhaps the single largest resource of interpretation resources available to us for creating the necessary exhibits, displays, and educational offerings. It is essential to creating these interpretation programs that the conservation, repairs, and digitizing of the incredible contents of the PLI Employees Scrapbook be completed.

Cover page of the large scrapbook created by Charles D. Heseltine,

using photos, newspaper clippings, and original ephemera from the
Portland-Lewiston Interurban (PLI); including poetry, personal
cards, notes, and notations from employees and their families.
My understanding is that Heseltine passed the scrapbook on to

O. R. Cummings, who, in turn, passed it on to the New England
Electric Railway Historical Society's (NEERHS) Library.
Seashore Trolley Museum is owned and operated

by the NEERHS in Kennebunkport, ME

The Employees of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban Scrapbook. Starting in 1938, for four consecutive years before the U.S. entered WW ll, the former PLI employees and their families attended an annual reunion in Gray (ME). All were encouraged to submit PLI-related items to share with the gathered attendees. A scrapbook was made to hold these submitted items. This scrapbook is about 28 inches by 23 inches with 112 pages. More than 200 photographs, numerous newspaper clippings, hand-written notes, poems, PLI-related ephemera, etc., are attached to pages in the scrapbook. The contents are incredible. Flipping through the pages, looking at the photos, and reading the poems, news clippings, personal notes, and cards, one can’t help but become sentimental, nostalgic, and grateful. Grateful to Charles Heseltine and those PLI employees and their family members for providing these personal keepsakes for inclusion in this amazing scrapbook. Charles Heseltine then entrusted the scrapbook to O. R. Cummings, who in turn entrusted the scrapbook to the Library at Seashore Trolley Museum. All items in the scrapbook have condition issues and need conservation. An appraisal of its contents' condition and an estimate totaling $26,000 to professionally conserve, repair, and photograph the contents was provided by the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover (MA). Due to the extremely fragile condition of the P, G, & L RR elevation map, our fundraising efforts first focused on having the conservation work done on the map. With that goal reached and the map now being conserved, we have turned our fundraising focus to raise the monies needed to repair, conserve, and photograph all the contents within this incredible scrapbook. Scroll down the page to find the options for contributing and please consider making a donation to help have this important work done.

The scrapbook has several pages dedicated to reunions of 

former PLI employees and their families. There are four

reunions specifically cataloged; June 29, 1938, June 29, 1939,
June 30, 1940, and June 28, 1941. All four of the reunions
were held in Gray, ME. 1938, and 1941 reunions were held
at the Newbegin Hall (seen above). The 1939 and 1940
reunions were held at the Pennell Institute Gymnasium.
It is noted in newspaper articles of the times, that combined,
the total of former PLI employees and their family members
that attended each of the reunions in 1939 and 1940, well
exceeded 100 in attendance. The image above is from the
final annual reunion, in 1941. Image from the Portland-Lewiston

Interurban Employees Scrapbook which is among the

collection of the NEERHS Library.

      The Narcissus "Project" from inception, has always included an interpretation portion of the project, which will include education programs, exhibits, and displays. During these years of my personal research of the PLI, Laconia Car Company, and Theodore Roosevelt's connections in Maine, it is quite clear that to create truly engaging exhibits, displays, and programs that provide educational content to a variety of age groups with various interests within the context that the Narcissus and its connections provide, the Scrapbook of the PLI Employees must have the above-mentioned work that it desperately needs to be done, completed. 

One of the 37-foot-long belt rails is set up for repairs. Repairs

were made to the right side back in the late 40s-early-50s as

noted when first removed and the "Friend or Foe"

trading cards were found to be used as shims. PWM

To hold the belt rail in place during restoration

work, special jigs were made to keep the

rail secure and straight. PWM

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

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