Maine Bicentennial Series - Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway 1895-1905

Open car No. 3, one of eight original open cars of the Bangor,
Orono & Old Town Railway in 1895.
Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection

     Here is the newest release in the Maine Bicentennial series of electric railways in Maine. This blog post features the Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway 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.

• 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

Another of the early open cars of the Bangor, Orono &

Old Town Street Railway (BO&OT) is seen here as No. 53 of

the Bangor Street Railway. Like several other railways, the

BO&OT merged with the Bangor Street Railway in 1905.

BSR No. 53, was used on the Hampden line.

Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection

Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway

     First, some background information describing the creation of railways that led up to the formation of the Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway system.

     About two years after Bangor Street Railway was chartered, the Old Town Street Railway was incorporated by the state legislature on March 9, 1889, and was authorized to build a line from the center of Old Town to Upper Stillwater Villiage and to Great Works Villiage. 

Covered bridge over the Stillwater River at Orono through

which the trolley cars on the Old Town line ran.

Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection

     $100,000 of capital stock was issued. The line was empowered to suspend operations during winter months or at any time when the wants of the public did not require its operation. The company was authorized to operate omnibuses in place of streetcars and for a short time before the opening of the line, a horse-drawn omnibus line served outer State Street, but whether it was affiliated with the proposed electric line or not research could not determine.

     An amendment to the Old Town Street Railway's charter provided that it might also build from Old Town through Milford and Bradley. This was approved by the legislature on February 27, 1891, but the line was never built through these places. The corporate life of the company was extended until February 9, 1895.

     The Old Town, Orono & Veazie Railway (OTOV) was chartered by the legislature on February 26, 1891, with permission to build from a connection with the Old Town Street Railway, through Orono to Main and Olive Streets in the town of Veazie. Here it was to connect with a proposed extension of the Bangor Street Railway. Capitalization was set at $500,000, and, like the Old Town Street Railway, it could suspend operations during the winter months if it saw fit.

    The company was permitted to lease all of its property and franchises to another company if it so desired, or it might acquire by lease or purchase the property and franchises of any other street railway whose line was constructed or chartered to form a connecting or continuing line with it.

     Acting upon this proviso, the (OTOV) took the Old Town Street Railway under a lease on June 15, 1892. Neither line, at that time, had started construction. OTOV then received permission to change its name to the Bangor, Orono & Old Town Street Railway, with permission to build from Veazie into Bangor with stipulations of streets determined.

    Nothing was done toward the construction of this railway until the entrance of Amos F. Gerald into the picture in late 1894. Amos F. Gerald was one of the foremost street railway promoters in Maine and was the backer of the Portsmouth, Kittery & York Street Railway, the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway, the Skowhegan & Norregwock Railway, the Bath Street Railway, and the Waterville system and several others.

     A resident of Fairfield, Maine, Gerald in association with Isaac C. Libby secured control of the Bangor, Orono & Old Town Street Railway charter and arranged for financing. A similar financial exchange with Thomson-Houston-General Electric was made as had been made with Bangor Street Railway, with a block of securities exchange as a major payment for power source equipment services. 

     Construction began and on July 9, 1895, a certificate of safety was granted. Cars began operating on the line on July 17, 1895, though some services had commenced earlier to Veazie. Trackage rights in downtown Bangor through state and Otis Streets. The new line was 13.25 miles in length.

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 line opened with six closed cars with enclosed vestibules, eight single-truck, 10-bench, open cars, and one single-truck snowplow. A second plow was added a short time later.

The early snow-fighting equipment struggled with keeping

the Old Town line open during heavy snow events. The

addition of a rotary plow in 1901 helped.

Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection

Early snow-fighting equipment for the Old Town line

Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection

     The main carbarn was a State and Otis Streets in Bangor and a small, one-stall barn on Stillwater Avenue near the hospital in Old Town. Power was provided from the Veazie hydro-station. A storage battery bank was provided at Old Town to help maintain power in that area, fed from a small generating station across the river in Milford.

The rotary plow was purchased in 1901 to cope with heavy snow on

the Old Town line. Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection

      The track was extended into Bangor in 1897 making the total length of 16.7 miles of line in operation with rights to use an additional 1.2 miles of the Bangor Street Railway tracks.

Express car "A" was purchased in 1897 from the West End

Street Railway of Boston for freight service use

on the Bangor, Orono, & Old Town Railway.

Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection

     There were many complaints over the years from Great Works Village of the original single-truck closed cars being behind schedule or not arriving at all. The continued use of these cars culminated in a midnight visit to the one-car storage barn at Old Town by nocturnal callers - students from the State College, legend has it - loaded with combustibles of all kinds, along with a few sticks of dynamite. The resulting conflagration obliterated both the car and the carhouse! The carbarn was not rebuilt, although the company retained the land until 1920.

     Apparently, the company "got the message." In 1902, six new, double-truck, semi-convertible cars built by the J. G. Brill Company, Philadelphia, PA, arrived and started providing service to Old Town and Great Works Villiage with regularity. 

No. 76, one of the double-truck, Brill semi-convertibles

bought for the Old Town line in 1902 at the end of the line.

Image from Charles D. Heseltine Collection

     Many of the bodies of the replaced cars were hauled to various sites along the Penobscot River for use by company officials as summer camps and, indeed, several may be found (1973) there today.

     At the time of consolidation with the Bangor Railway & Electric Company on June 30, 1905, the Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway was operating a total of 17.6 miles of mainline track. The high water mark for passengers carried in one year and passenger revenues was in 1897, with 1,268,642 passengers carried, generating $64,474 in revenues.

Restoration work continues on the Narcissus. The Narcissus is more than 100 years old now and has so many incredible stories to share. The restoration is but one.

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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.

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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