Cover page of the May 2005, 32-page insert
printed by and inserted in the Journal Tribune
newspapers serving the greater Biddeford-Saco-
Old Orchard Beach area. The insert was created
by 6th-grade students at Mildred L. Day School
in Arundel, made possible through
a service-learning grant from the KIDSCAN
(Kids Involved In Doing Service
Action Network), awarded by KIDS
Consortium. PWM image
Car 31 on the cover was the first electric trolley car, anywhere in the world, which was saved by individuals who created a Trolley Museum. Car 31 is the "Mother" Trolley of all trolley museums in the world. It operated on the Biddeford and Saco Railroad out of the Saco Carbarn from June 1900 until early July 1939. It arrived at what is now the main entrance at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine on July 15, 1939.
2024 is the 85th anniversary of the saving of Car 31 and the birth of the Seashore Trolley Museum and electric railway museums around the world.
Click Here: the post of the 8-day home tour in 1999 of Car 31 returning to its home roots in Saco, Biddeford, and Old Orchard Beach for its 60th Anniversary celebration.
Here is the newest release in the Maine Bicentennial series of electric railways in Maine. This blog post features the Biddeford and Saco Railroad Company summary from the book, "The Biddeford and Saco Railroad" by O. R. Cummings, presented as Bulletin No. 619 by the Electric Railway Historical Society - February 1956. Additional text is also taken from an insert O. R. Cummings wrote in March 1983 for the newsletter of The 470 Club in Portland, ME. Additional photos will be credited accordingly.
To see the online version of the 1956 book by O R Cummings at Bangor Public Library here
On the cover of the newspaper insert above is seen a model of Biddeford and Saco Railroad Company open trolley car no. 31 on a series of exhibit boards with images of tracks in Saco. Car 31 is the "mother" trolley car of all trolley museums in the world. It was the first car saved by a group of private individuals to begin a collection that would become a trolley museum. The deposit to purchase car 31 was made on July 5, 1939. 2020 will mark the 81st anniversary of car 31 being saved and thus the start of the trolley preservation movement began in earnest in Kennebunkport, Maine. A "Breezer" is the term used to describe the early open trolley cars. The breeze one experienced while traveling aboard an open trolley was a relief from the heat in the summer months.
Click Here: Video of Theodore Santarelli de Brasch explaining the "Birth" of Seashore Trolley - 1939
Car 31 on Main Street in Biddeford, Maine circa 1935.
O. R. Cummings' Collection at Seashore Trolley Museum
Click Here for the post: Ninety Communities in Maine with 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 - Benton and Fairfield Railway 1898-1928
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 - 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
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - York Utilities Company 1923-1949
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portland-Lewiston Interurban - It Begins 1914
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portland-Lewiston Interurban - The End 1933
Biddeford and Saco Railroad Company
York County's first street railway was incorporated by a special act of the Maine Legislature on February 24, 1885, and formally organized as the Biddeford and Saco Horse Railroad Company on February 19, 1887. Construction had begun in the spring of 1888. 35-lb. rail on wood stringers.
[The] route began at King's Corner at the junction of South and Elm Streets in Biddeford. It continued along Elm Street and thence down Main Street and across the bridge over the Saco River onto Main Street, Saco. Then it ran on Main and Beach Streets and along Old Orchard Road to the Old Orchard Beach town line. In Old Orchard Beach it ran down Saco Avenue and turned right on Union Avenue and then left onto Washington Avenue/Street where it went back onto Saco Avenue and then took a right down Old Orchard Street, with tracks ending at Depot Square, just a stone's throw from the B & M Western Division Railroad crossing, 5.728 miles from King's Corner.
King's Corner at the corner of Elm and Main Streets
is on the lower left of this 1949 map.
Initial equipment was four 16-foot closed cars and four, 8-bench open cars purchased from J. M. Jones and Sons in West Troy, NY. A wooden carhouse, including the stable building, was erected on Beach Street in Saco. There was also a horse-drawn snowplow. Sixty horses were used.
Operations began on July 4, 1888, with regular service commencing on Jul 15. Service to Old Orchard Beach was offered only during the later spring, summer, and early fall.
The railway cost $80,000 to be built - all raised through the sale of $40,000 in capital stock (800 shares at $50 a share) and the issuance of $40,000 in six-percent, 20-year first mortgage bonds.
8-bench open car no. 1 in front of the Advent Church on Saco
Avenue, Old Orchard Beach. O R Cummings Collection
Half-hourly schedule with two 5-cent fare zones. One from the beginning to Old Orchard Beach town line and the second beyond to the railroad crossing at the bottom of Old Orchard Street.
For the year ended June 30, 1891, the Biddeford and Saco carried 226,200 passengers and its gross earnings totaled $16,371.01. Operating expenses were $13,448 and other deductions aggregated #3,880.46, producing a deficit of $957.45 for this period. The total accrued deficit as of this date was $5,952.97.
Electrification was authorized and announced in February of 1890. A new $50,000 bond issue was floated to finance the electrification. Four ten-bench open cars were ordered from J. M. Jones Company. Thompson-Houston Company of Lynn, MA supplied the generators for the brick power station that was built adjacent to the carhouse. Motors were ordered to fit the closed horse cars and several open cars. Some of the open cars would not be motorized, as they would be used as trailers when needed during peak passenger season in the summer.
The brick power station on Beach Street, Saco, was built
in 1892. It would later serve as a repair shop and substation.
Image from O.R. Cummings' 1989 book,
Street Cars to Old Orchard Beach.
Electric trolley operations started on May 30, 1892. Fifteen-minute service was introduced, still with two fare zones. Trailers were used in the summer months. In 1896, the 35-lb. rail was replaced with a 90-lb rail in Biddeford and in Saco. In 1900, the light rail in Old Orchard Beach was replaced with a 60-lb rail. The only extension ever built by the Biddeford and Saco Railroad was in 1900 when rails were laid from King's Corner southerly along Elm Street to Five Points. The Elm and Alfred Street loop was placed in service on September 8th, and with its opening, the Biddeford and Saco Railroad owned 7.61 miles of the main track. Service to Old Orchard Beach was now year-round.
Car 31 and its three sister open cars arrived in June 1900.
Image from the O. R. Cummings Collection
In March 1900, the Biddeford and Saco Railroad Company placed an order with the J. G. Brill Company of Philadelphia, PA for four 12-bench double-truck open cars. Car 31 was one of those four open cars, along with sister cars nos. 29, 33, & 35. They were delivered in early June of that year and the Biddeford Journal newspaper noted that they were painted carmine and yellow on their exteriors. The windows in the roof monitors were glazed with yellow Florentine glass; the seats and backs of the cross-benches were fabricated of cherry and oak with trimmings of solid brass. They rode on Brill "Eureka" single-motor trucks and were equipped with General Electric motors and controllers and had hand brakes. Twelve-bench cars, seating 60, were the largest open cars that could be operated on the Biddeford and Saco line because of the restricted clearance at the Boston & Maine bridge crossing over Beach Street. Pictures show that these open cars could barely squeeze under the span, which is still in existence today (2020). Car 31 is one of ten railway vehicles in the Seashore Trolley Museum's collection that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Car 31 was recognized as a Save America's Treasures Project in 2000.
In June 1999 we took Car 31 on a "Home Tour" for eight
days, having it revisit various stops it frequented for 39
years it operated on nearly 8 miles of B&SRR track. PWM
Click Here for the post: We took Car 31 on a "Home Tour" in 1999 to revisit the route of the B&SRR
Car 31 in 1939, shortly before retiring to Seashore Trolley
Museum, just squeezing under the B & M RR overpass
at Beach Street in Saco. Image from O.R. Cummings' 1989
book, Street Cars to Old Orchard Beach.
This building on the right held a Biddeford and Saco waiting
room. The closed car is turning from Alfred Street into Elm
Street at Five Corners in Biddeford. Circa 1903
Service later in 1900 was half-hourly in the fall, winter, and spring to Old Orchard Beach with 15-minute local service in Biddeford and Saco. Five cars were in operation with three running to Old Orchard Beach and two providing local service in Biddeford and Saco. Factory and shop extras were operated year-round. The through fares were still 10 cents, there being two five-cent zones, until 1927 when a third five-cent zone was added.
The Biddeford terminus was at the corner of Main and Alfred Streets. Cars ran up Alfred Street to Five Points, down Elm Street to Main Street, and then through Main Street into Saco and then onto Laurel Hill Cemetery or onto Old Orchard Beach.
The Odd Fellows Building at Main and Alfred Streets.
Circa 1936
Portland Railroad trolley cars traveled south down what is Route One to Pepperell Square at Main Street, Saco starting on July 27, 1902. This caused service delays for the Biddeford and Saco cars, so in 1924, a second track was installed on Main Street in Saco from Beach Street to the Saco Post Office. One track was used for the Portland cars to layover. A similar situation developed in Old Orchard Beach. Portland Railroad opened its Old Orchard Beach branch from West Scarborough to Depot Square in Old Orchard Beach on July 4, 1902. A second track was installed near the Depot Square end. The Portland line to Saco and Old Orchard Beach ended on April 16, 1932.
A Portland Railroad car on Main Street, Saco. Circa 1904
On August 8, 1904, the Atlantic Shore Line Railway began operation over a route extending from the Town House in Kennebunkport to Biddeford. The line entered the city of Biddeford through Granite Street Extension, Granite Street, to Hill Street, to Birch Street, to Graham Street, onto South Street, and to Adams Street to the intersection of Adams and Main Streets. The Atlantic Shore Line crossed the Biddeford and Saco tracks on Alfred Street while traveling on Birch Street. A switch, to connect the two sets of tracks was installed at this intersection in 1915.
An Atlantic Shore Line car awaits orders while sitting
at Biddeford City Hall at the intersection of Adams Street
and Main Street, Biddeford. Circa 1909
Kelley's turnout on Old Orchard Road, Saco, was a regular
meeting point for Biddeford-Old Orchard trips. Circa 1935
The colorized map of the Biddeford and Saco railroad shows
the Atlantic Shore Line tracks enter from the bottom left.
The Proctor Road Operation: The Atlantic Shore Line became the York Utilities Company in 1923. The York Utilities Company abandoned the Biddeford to Kennebunkport operations on September 15, 1927. The Biddeford and Saco Railroad leased three miles of the abandoned trackage. From City Square downtown to Proctor Road on the Granite Street Extension. Service began on September 16, 1927, with 35 trips per day. Eleven trips were run to Proctor Road and the balance terminated at the Granite and West Street intersection.
The Proctor Road operation was a total failure with only 57 fares collected in the first five days. Regular service was cut back to West Street and all public trips ended on June 28, 1928. Two trips per day were run for school children during the winter of 1928-29 and buses took over in the spring and the rail line was torn up.
It must be pointed out that the Biddeford and Saco Railroad possibly was the last in New England to maintain a basic five-cent fare and it was the very last in the six-state region to operate open trolleys in regular service in the summer. No fewer than fifteen 12-bench opens were owned by the company over the years.
Biddeford and Saco Railroad purchased several cars from
the Portland Railroad in the mid-1930s. Open car no. 246
was a former Portland Railroad car, seen here in Old
Orchard Beach. O.R. Cummings Collection
Despite being a smaller railway, the Biddeford and Saco Railroad was one of Maine's most profitable trolley lines for a long time and the company did pay regular annual dividends to its stockholders from 1903 through 1930.
Sister open car to no. 31, open car no. 29 sits at the carhouse
on Beach Street in Saco. Circa 1935
O. R. Cummings Collection
With increasing automobile competition, patronage began decreasing during the 1920s and in 1931 (the passenger count was only slightly more than half of that for 1921, an all-time company high of 1,871,154 passengers). The decline continued during the Great Depression of the 1930s. By the beginning of 1939, the decision was made to convert to motorized bus operations.
One of the several "Birney" cars that the Biddeford and
Saco Railroad purchased from the Portland Railroad in
the mid-1930s was no. 615. 615 is seen here having just been
loaded on a trailer in Thornton Heights in South Portland just
before being trucked to Saco to begin its second life. Upon
retirement in 1939. The body of 615 became a worksite
office when the tracks and overhead wire were removed. Later, the
body of 615 would be acquired and relocated to the campus
of the Seashore Trolley Museum, becoming the third piece of
railway equipment saved by the early members. As it turned
out, 615 is the only surviving original trolley car from
the Portland Railroad system. The museum acquired a
proper truck for 615, so it could be restored to
operating condition someday in the future :)
Fan trips were common in the final months of operation
of the Biddeford and Saco Railroad. Circa 1939
Here passengers during a fan trip are riding old no. 10,
from 1899. O. R. Cummings Collection
Old no. 10 at Halfway in Old Orchard Circa 1939.
O. R. Cummings Collection
The last day of full trolley operation on the Biddeford and Saco Railroad was on July 5, 1939. At that time, only eight cars were still in service. Five ACF-Brill buses were used as replacement public transportation. Many of the local passengers still refer to the buses as ACFs.
September 15, 2019, at Seashore Trolley Museum. The
1947 Biddeford and Saco ACF-Brill Bus No. 31 on the left,
destination sign reads, SACO. And peeking out of the
barn on the right is none other than 1900 Biddeford and
Saco open-car No. 31. No 31, the bus, was acquired in 1977.
PWM image
Car 31 operating at Seashore Trolley Museum
during the 80th Anniversary on 7-6-2019.
Car 31 arrived at the Museum property on
July 15, 1939. 80 years later, here it is
operating at the age of 119 years old!!
Among the original stockholders of the Biddeford and Saco Railroad in 1988, incidentally, was one Joseph Stride/ His son, J. Burton Stride, who became a Saco Railroad office clerk in 1919. He soon became assistant treasurer, was named treasurer in 1921, and was the general manager by 1926. He was named vice-president in 1929 and from 1933-on wore three hats - those of president, general manager, and treasurer, serving as such until he died in 1956. Earlier that same year, on January 1st, the Biddeford and Saco Railroad had been succeeded by the Biddeford and Saco Bus Lines, Inc., and after "Burt" Stride passed on, his son, Richard Stride, became the company president.
The timeline that 6th graders from M. L. Day School created
as the center pages of the 32-page newspaper insert in May 2005.
Timeline 1880-1939:
1880: Hot air balloonist, Mary Meyers, makes her first ascent at Little Fall, NY
1881: 1st electrical tram car (trolley) operates in Berlin
1882: Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" premiered
1883: 1st shy scraper built in Chicago, IL (ten stories high)
1884: Mark Twain writes "Huckleberry Finn"
1885: Benz builds a gasoline engine for a motorcar
1886: Canadian Pacific Railroad completed
1887: Goodwin invents celluloid film for movies
1888: Eastman perfects the Kodak box camera
Biddeford & Saco Railroad begins trolley service with horse-drawn trolleys
1889: Wallace published his book on natural selection, which he called Darwinism
1890: Eiffel Tower completed
1891: Yellowstone becomes the first National Park
1892: Ellis Island opens in New York Harbor
Electric-powered trolley service begins at B & S RR
1893: World's Fair opens in Chicago, IL
1894: Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, died
1895: The song "America The Beautiful" is introduced
1896: U. S. Supreme Court rules "separate but equal" facilities for whites and blacks are constitutional
1897: Marie Curie begins research of "Uranium Rays" that will lead to the discovery of Radioactivity
1898: USS Maine was blown up in Havana Harbor, Cuba
1899: Marconi establishes a wireless telegraph service between England and France
1900: Car 31 arrives in Saco and begins work at Biddeford & Saco Railroad Company
1901: President McKinley was assassinated. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as the 26th President of the US
1902: "Teddy" Bear was introduced
1903: Wright Brothers' first successful plane flight
1904: U. S. Construction of the Panama Canal begins
1905: Einstein proposes his Theory of Relativity
1906: World's longest railroad tunnel, the Simplon, opened under the Alps. The 12.3-mile tunnel connected Italy and Switzerland
1907: Paul Cornu flew the first successful helicopter flight. The flight lasted 20 seconds
1908: Henry Ford introduces the Model-T automobile
1909: Louis Bleriot becomes the first person to successfully fly a plane across the English Channel
1910: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in New York
1911: Incan city of Machu Picchu discovered in South America
1912: R. M. S. Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg
Oreo cookies were first introduced
1913: Personal income tax was first introduced in the US.
Henry Ford creates an assembly line for the mass production of automobiles
1914: Panama Canal completed
1915: The NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) was established. Which later became NASA
1916: Child Labor Laws passed in the US.
1917: U. S. declared war on Germany, entering World War I
1918: Red Sox win baseball World Series
1919: Oops! They missed one year :) - Let's add: The Sieur de Monts National Monument would become the first National Park east of the Mississippi, but its name was changed to Lafayette National Park, and in 1929 it was once again renamed and became Acadia National Park (Maine)
1920: Women were granted the right to vote
1921: 1,871,154 passengers ride trolleys on B & S RR
1922: King Tut's tomb was discovered
1923: Talking movies were invented
1924: The first Winter Olympic Games were held
1925: Flapper dresses were in style
1926: A. A. Milne publishes Winnie-the-Pooh
1927: The first public demonstration of television given
1928: Amelia Earhart became the first woman to successfully fly a plane across the Atlantic Ocean
1929: The stock market crashes beginning The Great Depression
1930: General Electric introduces the flashbulb for taking pictures
1931: The Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world, opens for the public in New York City
1932: Air conditioning was invented
1933: Loch Ness monster first sighted
1934: The cheeseburger was invented
1935: Social Security was enacted in the US
1936: Oil discovered under the Saudi-Arabian desert
1937: Golden State Bridge opens between San Francisco and Oakland, CA
1938: German troops invade Austria
1939: Car 31 retires to Seashore Trolley Museum
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
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