Maine Bicentennial Series - Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Rwy Co 1898-1907

Bath carbarn of the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street

Railway Company with the parlor car, "Merrymeeting" in

1899. This building was razed in 1911 and a smaller barn

was constructed with the salvaged materials.

O. R. Cummings Collection

     Here is the newest release in the Maine Bicentennial series of electric railways in Maine. This blog post features the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway summary/images from the book, "Trolleys to Brunswick, Maine 1896-1937" by O. R. Cummings, presented as Transportation Volume 73 by the Connecticut Valley Chapter and the National Railway Historical Society- January-December 1966.  Additional images will be credited.

O. R. Cummings 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

Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway

     The Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway (LB&B) had its corporate beginnings on February 4, 1889, when the Brunswick Electric Railway Company, otherwise known as the Brunswick & Topsham Electric Railway, was incorporated and authorized to build and operate a street railway from Brunswick to the neighboring towns to Topsham and Harpswell.

     

     The company was authorized capitalization of $250,000 and empowered to use either animals, steam, or electricity for its motive power, and the charter called for completion of the line by 1894.

The charter was extended for two years in 1893 and another two-year extension was granted in 1895. Shortly thereafter, control of the company was acquired by Amos F. Gerald of Fairfield, ME, later known as the "Electric Railway King of Maine," and his associate, Isaac C. Libby of Waterville, ME.

     The route finally authorized began at the Sagadahoc County Fairgrounds in Topsom and extended through Winter and Main Street, across the Granny Hole Stream and Androscoggin River bridges into Brunswick, and up along Maine Street, Brunswick, to Bowdoin College. The line was to loop around the college campus via Maine Street, Longfellow Avenue, Harpswell Road, and Bath Street and was to cross the Maine Central  Railroad at the grade on Maine Street (the initial proposal with a Brunswick-Harpswell route is believed to have been abandoned at an early date).

 Brunswick-Bath Line Map by Charles D. Heseltine in

the NEERHS 2015 publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's

Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946. 

    Construction on the 3.5-mile line began on September 24, 1896, with the first car, a single-truck, four-wheel open car making the trial trips between the two towns on October 12. The Sagadahoc County Fair opened the same day and the little trolley stole the show, carrying more than 1,500 riders between the fairgrounds and Brunswick.

     Power for the line was purchased, probably from Cabot  Mills, which operated a hydroelectric plant on the Androscoggin in Brunswick.

     The building of the Brunswick Electric Railroad was only the first step in Amos F. Gerald's grand plan for the construction of an approximately 25-mile line to link Auburn and Lewiston with Brunswick and Bath.

     Gerald was interested in the Bath Street Railway, which had commenced operation in 1893, and early in 1897, he gained effective control of the Lewiston & Auburn Horse Railroad, which had come into being in 1881 and had electrified its 14-mile system in 1894-95. It is believed Gerald had also acquired the charter of the Lewiston & Brunswick Electric Railroad, which had been incorporated on May 13, 1896, to build from Brunswick through the towns of Topsham and Lisbon to Lewiston.

Shortly after gaining control of the Lewiston-Auburn lines, Gerald received authority to extend the Brunswick Electric Railroad line from Topsham into and through the town of Lisbon to the Lewiston city line, and from Brunswick to the Bath city line, and to build lines in Bath over streets not occupied by tracks of the Bath Street Railway. The authorization further allowed Gerald's Lewiston & Auburn Horse Railroad to extend its line to the Lisbon boundary and sanctioned the sale of the Horse Railroad and the Bath Street Railway to the Brunswick Electric Railway

     Once all these pieces were together, the name of the Brunswick Street Railway was changed to the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway (LB&B) on March 26, 1898, followed by the Lewiston & Auburn system merging with the new LB&B on March 30 and the Bath Street Railway being leased to the LB&B on June 1, and formally merging with the LB&B in 1901.

O. R. Cummings Collection

Lewiston & Auburn Horse Railroad

     At the time of its consolidation with the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railways, the Lewiston & Auburn Horse Railroad owned 14 miles of mainline track with four routes: Main Street, Lake Grove, New Auburn Belt, and Figure 8.

The heart of the Lewiston railway system was Hulett Square.

At the intersection of Main and Lisbon Streets (left), in

Lewiston. A Waterville-bound car is shown turning into

Lisbon Street, while a car from Bath stands in front of the

waiting room. Currently, J. Dostie Jewelers occupies the

street-level space of the building on the left, formally

known as the "Journal" building. PWM postcard

     The Main Street line, beginning at Main Street and Lisbon Streets in Lewiston, extended up Main Street to the State Fairgrounds, while the Lake Grove route, also beginning at Main and Lisbon Streets, ran down Main Street hill to and across the so-called upper bridge over the Androscoggin River to Court Street in Auburn/ Running along Court Street in Auburn, it continues through Turner Street and Lake Grove Avenue to Center Street to Lake Grove  Park, a railway-owned amusement resort on the shore of Lake Auburn in East Auburn.

Lake Grove, Auburn

Postcard Collection of PWM

     The New Auburn Belt-line, beginning at Court and Main Streets, Auburn, extended through Main and Mill Streets to Broad Street in New Auburn and thence across the lower or South Bridge over the Androscoggin River to Cedar Street in Lewiston. Continuing up Cedar Street to Lisbon Street, it ran along Lisbon Street to Main Street.

     The Figure 8 line, as its name implies, consisted of a loop through several streets in Lewiston and a similar circuit in Auburn. The Lewiston loop, beginning at Lisbon and Pine Streets, extended up Pine Street to Sabattus Street, along Sabattus Street to Skinner Street; down Skinner Street (now Campus Avenue) past Bates College to College Street; along College Street to the inner end of Sabattus Street, and on Sabattus Street to Main Street, connecting with the Fairgrounds line at Hospital Square.

The Figure Eight is seen here on the Map by

Charles D. Heseltine in the NEERHS 2015

publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's

Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946. 

     In Auburn, tracks extended from Turner Street through Dennison Street to the intersection of Goff Street and Gamage Avenue; on Goff Street to Court Street, and down Court Street to Turner.

 The original carhouse and power plant were located on

Chapel Street, Lewiston. O. R. Cummings Collection

Bath Street Railway

     The Bath Street Railway had only one line that was 4.25 miles long. It began on Washington Street near Winship Street, at the North End of the city, and extended through Washington and Linden Streets to Front Street in the heart of the business district. Running along Front Street, it continued up Center Street to Washington Street and along Washington Street to Lamont Street. Here it entered a private right-of-way extending across a field to High Street, the tracks running alongside High Street to the west end of the Winnegance Bridge in Bath's South End. The carhouse, a former factory, was located at Washington and Spring Streets, and the power station was nearby.

As seen here in 1934, the larger original carhouse in Bath was

razed and this smaller carhouse and substation were built

in 1911 using salvaged materials from the larger original

carhouse. O. R. Cummings Collection

     To create the proposed route from Lewiston to Bath, it was necessary to construct approximately 18 miles of tracks between Lewiston and Topsham and 8 miles of line between Brunswick and Bath.

The first rails and ties for the Lewiston-Topsham trackage were distributed along the line on January 19, 1898, and sleighs were used to haul the construction materials over the snow-covered ground.

Lewiston-Lisbon Map by

Charles D. Heseltine in the NEERHS 2015

publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's

Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946. 

     One Mr. Libby of Lisbon Falls was contracted to grade the right-of-way and lay the rails between Lewiston and Lisbon Falls. Other contractors were engaged to handle the grading and track-laying between Lisbon Falls and Tompson and between Brunswick and Bath.

Lisbon Fall -Topsham-Brunswick Map by

Charles D. Heseltine in the NEERHS 2015

publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's

Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946. 

     Construction started on March 12, when a crew started to drive piles for constructing the trestle across Lamont's Creek in West Bath. More than a mile of track was laid between Lewiston and Crowley's Junction in South Lewiston by May 6th. By the end of May rails extended to Lisbon Center. In addition, the railway had to move about 250 telephone poles to make way for the track.

New Meadows River pile trestle, showing car No. 38 one of

the Brigg's Carriage Company's 20-foot closed cars purchased

for the Lewiston-Bath service in 1898 by the Lewiston,

Brunswick & Bath Street Railway An image in the Lancaster

Collection among the O. R. Cummings Collection.

     By early July, the rails were to Lisbon Falls and construction had begun on two viaducts over the Maine Central Railroad's Lewiston-Brunswick line - one near Crowley's Junction and the other in Lisbon, near the boundary of Lewiston.

Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Railway open car on the

Straight Bridge over Maine Central RR in Lisbon.

O. R. Cummings Collection image in the NEERHS 2015

publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street &

Electric Railways 1863-1946."

     A certificate of safety for the Brunswick-Bath trackage was issued on July 17, 1898. But the Lewiston-Topsham section didn't receive its certificate of safety until September 3rd. The Bath trackage was approved on September 1st. The last line built was a 6-mile extension from Lewiston to Sabattus Villiage in the town of Webster. The total mainline miles of track for the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath line was 53.28 miles. In 1902 after some new local lines in Auburn were added, the mainline totaled 57.77 miles. 

Brunswick-Bath Map by Charles D. Heseltine in

the NEERHS organization's

2015 publication, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's

Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946. 

     Regular service between Brunswick and Bath was begun by the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway on July 18, 1898, with two new 14-bench, double-truck, open cars going into operation. 

14-bench open car No. 77 at Lisbon Falls en route from Bath

in 1901. Wesley A. Lancaster Collection in O. R. Cummings

Collection.

Maine Street, Brunswick, Maine, circa 1901 with a 14-bench

open car and two freight cars. O. R. Cummings Collection

     On Sunday morning, September 4th, the first car for Bath left Lisbon Street in Lewiston, a 14-bench, double-truck, open car with officials and directors of the railway, representatives of the press, and invited guests.

To quote a newspaper description of the first trip:

     "The long open car rode fast and smoothly as it passed onto the new rail on lower Lisbon Street. Through the outskirts of Lewiston, people cheered and waved as the car passed, one farmer even fired a salute from a rusty shotgun.

     The trestles over the Maine Central at Crowley's Junction and in Lisbon, which the Railroad Commissioners declared to be the finest and strongest in the state, constituted a new thrill in trolley riding. The trolley 'seemed to swoop over the Maine Central tracks with a leap.'

     At Lisbon Falls, a group of 500 persons greeted the car and after a speech by I. C. Libby, treasurer of the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway Company, crowded around the officials for interviews. Many attempts were made to obtain permission to ride to Brunswick, even at the cost of returning on foot.

     Leaving Lisbon Falls, the ride to Topsham was found to be very beautiful. Over this stretch of private right-of-way through the woods and fields, the open car was reported to have run at a speed of 30 miles per hour."

O. R. Cummings Postcard in the NEERHS 2015 publication,

"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street & Electric Railways

1863-1946."

     Initially, it appears the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath line was divided into four divisions; the First Division was the local lines in Lewiston and Auburn, the Sabattus branch, and the portion of the Lewiston-Bath line lying within the city of Lewiston. The Second Division included Lisbon and Lisbon Falls, and part of the Topsham trackage of the Lewiston-Bath line, the Third Division was located in Topsham and Brunswick, and the Fourth Division was in Bath.

Private right-of-way on the South End line in Bath.

Photo from Roger Borrup Collection in O. R. Cummings Coll.

     In 1904 or 1905, the local run was abandoned altogether. In 1907, the track from Walker's Corner to the fairgrounds in Topsham and part of the Bowdoin College loop was removed before April 30, 1907. By 1907 only three divisions were operating. There were few changes in operations in the decade after the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Railway was absorbed by the Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Street Railway Company in 1907.

     

The "Merrymeeting" at the Tacoma Inn near Lewiston.

The "Merrymeeting" was a double-truck (two sets of wheels

& motors) parlor car built by the Briggs Carriage Company

of Amesbury, MA, for the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street

Railway, for $7,000. Photo courtesy of Seashore

Trolley Museum's Library. Text from O. R. Cummings

1959 publication, "Trolley Parlor Cars of New England"

One of the sights to see at Tacoma Inn was Gorman's

handsome white horses, "King and "Queen",  jumping from

 a high platform into Sand Pond.

Litchfield Yesterday

Pleasure Resorts

     No self-respecting street railway company considered itself complete without a pleasure resort during the golden years of the trolley era, and both the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath, and the Portland & Brunswick maintained such facilities to help generate summer excursion traffic.

Click here for more on Trolley Parks in the heart of Maine by Seashore Trolley Museum.

Merrymeeting Park

Merrymeeting Park was opened to the public in the summer

of 1898, the attractions included this $30,000 casino. Casinos

of the day were not gambling establishments. 

The three-story casino had broad verandas,

a very large dining room, a dance

hall, a parlor, and smoking rooms. PWM postcard

Twenty-six miles from Lewiston. Notice the castle-like stone

attachment to the veranda. Amos F. Gerald, the builder of the

Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath line, loved castles and frequently

incorporated a castle into the trolley parks he was

associated with. PWM postcard

     Merrymeeting Park was located one and a half miles from Brunswick on a 147-acre tract along the Androscoggin River. On approach to the casino, the visitors passed through the zoological department in which there were numerous houses, cages, and pens for the fine collection of animals that formed the principal attractions. The collection included a herd of buffaloes, bears, moose, elk, deer, and foxes. Vast lawns, ponds, and groves of trees made for a relaxing atmosphere. Frequently, the attendance in the early years at the park was from 2,000 to 4,000 people on a given day. The park's popularity did decline fairly quickly though and was closed after the 1906 season.

PWM Postcard

The amphitheater had seats for up to three thousand patrons

and programs that included band concerts, vaudeville, magic

shows, minstrels, comedies, and dramas.  PWM postcard

Tacoma Inn

    The Tacoma Inn, near the intersection of Sand & Woodbury Ponds, was a favorite spot for factory and commercial outings. Only 14 miles from the Lewiston waiting station, there were many charter trips from Lewiston and Auburn to the Inn. An annual excursion was that of the Healy Asylum, a boys' orphanage in Lewiston. This yearly event was financed by a bequest in the will of W. Scott Libbey, builder of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban, Bates College, and probably Colby College classes and groups held outings and reunions at the inn.

The feature attraction at the Tacoma Inn was the "High Diving

White Horses." The handsome white horses, "King" and

"Queen" would jump into Sand Pond from a high platform

(info provided by Historical Society of Litchfield, ME)

PWM Postcard

The "Merrymeeting" parlor car was delivered in May 1899.

It could be chartered for $10 a day and was taken over by the

Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Street Railway in 1907. It

remained in service as late as 1917. It was stored until 1920

when its trucks were removed for use on a freight car and

the body was scrapped :( Photo courtesy of Seashore Trolley

Museum's Library. Text from O. R. Cummings 1959

publication, "Trolley Parlor Cars of New England"

New Meadows Inn

     Another attraction on the Lewiston-Bath line was the privately-owned New Meadows Inn, on the bank of the New Meadows River in Bath. The inn was world-renowned for the quality and abundance of its shore dinners. Because of heavy traffic to and from the famous eating place, the railway provided a passenger platform, a small waiting station, and a siding near the inn.

One of the single-end observation platform cars

in 1907 at the New Meadows Inn trolley stop platform.

The Inn was between the Merrymeeting stop (3 miles) and the

Bath carhouse (2.5 miles). O. R. Cummings collection at STM

     Amos F. Gerald and his associates had promoted and built the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway (LB&B) for the express purpose of selling the property to investors, and early in 1900, they found a purchaser. This was a syndicate in New York that acquired 5,000 shares of the railway's capital stock. At the same time, the syndicate also purchased control of the Gerald-promoted Portsmouth, Kittery & York Street Railway Company in York County, Maine.

     The LB&B was not a particularly profitable railway. It had a deficit during its second full year of operation. Dividends were only paid in two years when the railway was new.

     Control of the LB&B was sold in 1906 to the group headed by John R. Graham of the Bangor, Railway & Electric Company. The Graham group also acquired control of the Augusta, Winthrop & Gardiner Street Railway Company, connecting the Maine capital with Gardiner, Winthrop, and Togus; and the charters of the Auburn, Mechanic Falls & Norway Street Railway and the Augusta & Waterville Railway Companies, both of which proposed to connect the points named in their corporate titles.  More acquisitions occurred in the following years.

     On April 3, 1907, the name of the Auburn, Mechanic Falls & Norway Street Railway was changed to the Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Street Railway; on April 24th the new company absorbed the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath St. Rwy and the August, Winthrop & Gardiner St. Rwy. The LB&B became the Lewiston Division and the former Agusta, Winthrop & Gardiner routes became the Augusta Division. 

     The Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway, which also owned the local lines in Lewiston and Auburn, was absorbed by the Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Steet Railway in 1907, and in 1913, the former Portland & Brunswick Street Railway, which had been reorganized as the Brunswick & Yarmouth Street Railway in 1911, was merged into the Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville system. The Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville went into receivership in December 1918 and was reorganized on October 1 of the following year (1919) as the Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway.

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

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