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 for the purpose 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 of $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
prior to being trucked to Saco to begin its second life. Upon
retirement in 1939. the body of 615 would become a worksite
office as the tracks and overhead wire was 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 U. S.
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 Worl 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 cheesburger was invented
1935: Social Security was enacted in the U. S.
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 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 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 educators
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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