when Charles Duncan snapped this view on June 29, 1936.
This track, which tied together with the Highlands line
(Ohio Street) and the Hammond Street line in a big loop
did not become part of the Bangor trolley system until
1922. In 1940, this locale became the site of Bangor's
Dow Air Force Base and warplanes took the place of the
trolley cars. Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
Here is the newest release in the Maine Bicentennial series of electric railways in Maine. This is the 6th, and final blog post on Bangor, Maine, electric railway systems. This post features the Bangor Hydro-Electric Company summary/images from the book, "Bangor Street Railway" by Charles D. Heseltine, published as Transportation Bulletin No. 81 January -December 1974 through Connecticut Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society copyright 1976 Roger Borrup and Charles D. Heseltine. Some text/images may be from the NEERHS 2015 publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946. Additional images will be credited.
Bangor local lines
Map by Charles D. Heseltine in the NEERHS 2015
publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street & Electric
Railways 1863-1946.
Winter 1920 - Trolley lines all over New England experienced
the worst winter operating conditions. Photo of State Street
in Bangor with crews using pickaxes to break up the ice.
Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
- 3.15.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - York Utilities Company 1923-1949
- 3.14.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Atlantic Shore Railway 1911-1923
- 3.11.2020-Maine Bicentennial Series - Portsmouth, Dover & York St Rwy 1903-1906
- 3.9.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Auburn, Mechanic Falls & NorwayStRwy1902-3
- 3.7.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Portland & Brunswick Electric Railway 1902-1911
- 3.7.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway Co. 1919-1941
- 3.7.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville St Rwy 1907-1919
- 3.6.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath St Rwy 1898-1907
- 3.4.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Bangor Hydro-Electric Company 1925-1945
- 3.4.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Penobscot Central Railway 1898-1906
- 3.3.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Bangor. Hampden & Winterport Rwy 1896-1905
- 3.2.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway 1895-1905
- 3.2.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Bangor Railway & Electric Company 1905-1925
- 3.1.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Bangor Street Railway 1889-1905
- 2.23.2020 -Maine Bicentennial Series - Portsmouth, Kittery & York St. Rwy 1897-1903
- 2.22.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway 1899-1904
- 2.21.2020 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Mousam River Railroad 1892-1899
- 1.31.2019 - Maine Bicentennial Series - The Norway and Paris Street Railway 1894-1918
- 1.27.2019 - Maine Bicentennial Series - Aroostook Valley Railroad 1909-1946
- 10.17.2018 - Maine Bicentennial - Portland Railroad History 1860-1941
Single-truck Birney safety cars proved their mettle in the snow
the first winter in Bangor. Here is No. 56 on Outer State Street
in March 1920. Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
Bangor Hydro-Electric Company
Certain reorganizations in the financial structure of the Bangor Railway & Electric Company resulted when the General Electric Company divested itself of its subsidiary, the Electric Bond & Share Company, in 1924. As a result, the Bangor Hydro-Electric Company was organized, on June 9, 1924. Stock in this company was exchanged on an equal basis for stock in the Bangor Railway & Electric Company. The new company formally took over operations on March 1, 1925.
The overhead wire maintenance crew using the tower-truck in
the carbarn yard in Bangor on November 4, 1935.
Image from Edwin "Bill" Robertson Collection - PWM
At that time the Bangor trolley system was operating on a total of 58.73 miles of mainline track, including the lengthy Charleston line. No new railway vehicles were ever purchased by the Bangor Hydro-Electric Company. The line utilized reliable semi-convertible cars for the long suburban runs, double-truck safety cars for the Hampden and Brewer lines, and single-truck safety cars for servicing the local Bangor city routes. The last track extension was in 1930, a 700-foot extension to the Hampden line was built to serve the plant of the Hughes Brothers Company near the "Tin Bridge."
Bangor, Hampden & Winterport Railway
(Never did reach Winterport...btw)
Map by Charles D. Heseltine in the NEERHS 2015
publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street & Electric
Railways 1863-1946.
Boarding No. 10 on Main Street in Bangor, heading for
Hampden. Circa 1935 Image from O. R. Cummings
Collection in the NEERHS 2015 publication, "The Illustrated
Atlas of Maine's Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946.
The 1920s were marked by the movement to build better highways and farmers were acquiring their own trucks to haul their produce to market. Trucking firms were also springing up as the highway system improved and expanded, offering door-to-door service. This service...forecast...the end of the trolley freight service.
Kenduskeag to Charleston map
Map by Charles D. Heseltine in the
2015 publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of
Maine's Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946.
J. G. Brill Co. builder's photo of combination car No. 32
in Philadelphia, PA in 1906 before being shipped to Bangor.
A combine or combination car was designed to handle express
or light freight and also carry passengers. Generally,
one-third of the car compartment was for freight, usually
with a sliding door on one or both sides of the body, and
two-thirds of the car compartment had seats for carrying
passengers. Combines were commonly used on rural lines
like the Charleston Division.
Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
The Charleston Division was sustained by its freight service without comparable passenger revenues, fell victim to the changing times, and was abandoned on April 30, 1931. A private bus service took over to handle the few passengers and the mail over the Charleston route. In 1940, Bangor Hydro-Electric took back this route when it inaugurated the Penobscot Transportation Company in the gradual changeover to bus operation.
Combine No. 34 crossing the Kenduskeag Stream. Notice the
harvested logs in the stream. Image from O. R. Cummings
Collection in the NEERHS 2015 publication, "The Illustrated
Atlas of Maine's Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946.
Bangor - Kenduskeag map
Map by Charles D. Heseltine in the
2015 publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of
Maine's Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946.
Following the practice of many street railways of the period, Bangor elected to brighten up its rolling stock in 1934. As the cars rolled out of the paint shop following their annual overhaul, they sported a yellow hue rather than the dark green and cream of former days. They had come full circle, as the first electric cars in Bangor had likewise been painted yellow with cream trim.
Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway
Map by Charles D. Heseltine in the
2015 publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of
Maine's Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946.
The Old Town line - photo by H. T. Crittenden, July 15, 1938,
from the collection of Edward Bond. No. 86 a 1913, Wason Car
Company semi-convertible.
It might be recorded that in 1935 the street railway was indirectly influential in bringing about the complete modernization of the fire department of the City of Old Town. In responding to an alarm of fire, the horse drawing the city's last horse-drawn hose rig slipped on the trolley car rails, breaking its leg, which led to the city replacing the hose wagon with a motorized truck.
No. 20 was Bangor's first single-truck Birney safety car.
Here it is on Main Street, opposite the carbarn in 1935.
Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
In 1939, the Federal government began to develop Dow Air Field, and the Westland Avenue track of the trolley line had to be abandoned. This trackage had ties connecting the Hammond Street and the Highlands lines. This caused the line to make adjustments, resulting in some sections of the trackage being terminated.
No. 52, one of the many single-truck, Birney safety cars
on the Hammond Street-Western Avenue loop. Here on a
turnout in the open country, which would become the site
of the Dow Airfielf of the U. S. Air Force. The man wearing
the white shirt is Linwood Moody, the historian, for the Maine
Narrow Gauge. Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
Operations over the remainder of the Hampden line came to a close on July 27, 1940. With the abandonment of the Hampden line, the Penobscot Transportation Company, a newly organized subsidiary of the Bangor Hydro-Electric Company, commenced operations of three White Company-built buses the following morning between Market Square and Hampden. The paint schemes of electric cars soon changed to match the paint scheme of the new buses.
1939 brought reductions to the lines serving Hammond Street.
See where the tracks have been removed where they used
to turn the corner onto Westland Avenue.
S. D. Maguire image, May 1944.
The waiting shelter at Dorothea Dix Park as seen
in Hampden in 1970, many, many years after the last trolley
car made a stop. Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
The final run of the electrics in Old Town came at 1:42 a.m. on the morning of March 30, 1941.
It had been the intention of the company to phase out the remaining trolley operations by the end of 1943, but the acute shortages brought on by WWll held up this plan, with the faithful Birney safety cars providing service on the local lines. The double-truck semi-convertibles were scrapped in 1942.
Weekly passes were in use by the successor
Penobscot Transportation Company during
wartime years of 1940-1945 when it
operated Bangor's city trolley lines.
Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
Snow and ice-packed in the flangeways had sent No. 54 off
the rails on the State Street bridge in the wartime 1940s image.
Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
The seven double-truck safety cars no longer required, were sold to the Johnstown (PA) Traction Company in 1942, where they were renumbered 305-311. All but No. 311 were scrapped by that company in 1947, but No. 311 remained in service to make one of the final runs of that company in 1960 - the last small city street railway operations in the United States.
One-of-seven, 8-wheel (double-truck), light-weight, safety
cars built in 1921, that arrived in Bangor from the Wason
Company in Springfield, MA, in 1922. It would become
Johnstown Traction Company No. 311 and be saved
and sold to the Rockhill Trolley Museum (PA). It is
Bangor's only surviving trolley operates today at its
happy home in Rockhill Furnace, PA.
Photo courtesy of Joel Salomon
No. 311 was acquired from the Johnstown Traction Company by the Rockhill Trolley Museum. No. 311, formerly No. 14 of the Bangor Railway & Electric Company/Bangor Hydro-Electric Company, was the first trolley acquired by the Rockhill Trolley Museum. No. 311 was restored and today lives a very happy life PA, giving passengers trolley rides at Rockhill Trolley Museum.
The end of the electric railway service in Bangor came on December 31, 1945.
Last run - President Graham of the Bangor
Hydro-Electric at the controls of No. 40.
Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
President Graham in the doorway as operator Thomas
Davis poses for the photo on State Street, Bangor, as No. 40
was making a final circuit of the city trolley lines.
Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection
The highwater mark for passengers carried and total passenger revenues in the year 1926, when the line carried 4,347,481 passengers which generated revenues of $128,304.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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!
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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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