Maine Bicentennial Series - Portland & Brunswick Street Railway 1902-1911

Freeport Square, circa 1902. Open car No. 11 heads four

Portland & Brunswick Street Railway opens. Photo from

Ronald Cummings Collection in O. R. Cummings Collection

Here is the newest release in the Maine Bicentennial series of electric railways in Maine. This blog post features the Portland & Brunswick 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.

Looking south on Main Street from the village center  in

Freeport circa 1910. O. R. Cummings Collection in the

2015 NEERHS book, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street

& Electric Railways 1863-1946"

• 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

Fred Mitchell standing on the ground with William Soule

in the doorway of Portland & Brunswick No. 2,

"Alice," at South Freeport.  No. 2 is a combination car.

The sliding door on the side is for loading/unloading

light freight/express, with the remaining 2/3rds of the car

with seats for passengers. Photo from Ronald Cummings

Collectin in O. R. Cummings Collection

Portland & Brunswick Street Railway

     The first public mention of a through trolley line between Portland and Brunswick was made in the late summer of 1899 when Portland newspapers noted that such a route was being proposed and stated that construction probably would begin the following spring.

     According to the press accounts, the Portland & Yarmouth Electric Railway, then already in operation, was to be extended from Yarmouth Village to the Yarmouth-Freeport boundary, there to connect with the projected branch of the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway (LB&B) from Brunswick.

     Late in the year - on December 20th, permission was granted (LB&B)  for a route to access the Freeport town line through Brunswick. There was considerable discussion over the route to be followed through Freeport. The LB&B wanted a direct route along the existing highway. Many townspeople want the line to be built through South Freeport on the shore of Casco Bay. The initial unwillingness of the line LB&B softened over several months and submitted a plan, but the plan was dismissed by the Railroad Commissioners. No further action was taken by the LB&B company, However, in 1901, several of the LB&B directors organized the new Portland & Brunswick Street Railway to build from Brunswick to Freeport, South Freeport, and Yarmouth.

    Incorporators included Amos F. Gerald and other associates of his who were involved with other electric railways in Maine. Articles were approved by the Railroad Commissioners on April 22, 1901, and a short time later the LB&B released its rights to the access granted in 1899. The state Railroad Commissioners did not agree that the LB&B could release their rights simply with a token payment. Litigation followed. Finally, on November 27, 1901, the Railroad Commissioners approved the plan.

     Construction started in the spring of 1902, starting in Brunswick at the LB&B connection at Maine and Pleasant Streets to Mill Street. Here it swung to the east side of the highway, which generally paralleled up to Kendall's Corner in Freeport. 

Brunswick-Freeport-Yarmouth Map from

2015 NEERHS book,

"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street

& Electric Railways 1863-1946"

     From Kendalls' Corner, the line ran through the center of upper Main Street to Freeport Square and continued through the middle of lower Main Street to a point just north of a grade crossing of Maine Central Railroad. Crossing the railroad, the line paralleled the east side of the highway for nearly a half-mile and then extended southeasterly over the private right-of-way to Pine Street in South Freeport. 

Heading for Brunswick is this 15-bench open car shown

at Pine Street and South Freeport Road in South Freeport.

O. R. Cummings Collection

Amos Fitz Gerald was a fan of castles. He built a castle or castle-like

structure at many of the electric railway parks he was involved with over

the years of his developing railway systems in Maine. Casco Castle Park in

Freeport is one example. Opened in 1902, the casino was like no other in

Maine. It even had a moat! The park was never profitable for the railway

company and was sold and later burned in 1914. The 100-foot-tall rower still

stands today. Some text from the 2012 NEERHS book, "The Trolley Parks of

Maine." Image from a postcard postmarked May 8, 1906, PWM

"Camillia" like its sister combination cars, "Alice", "Dorothy",

"Flora", and "Lida" carried passengers and light freight

and express (see the sliding door on the side on the left).

Seen here at the trolley stop at Casco Castle, South Freeport.

O. R. Cummings Collection

     Continuing along Pine Street to South Freeport Road, it ran beside the latter to the present Route One, which it followed to and across Todd's Brook and the Cousin's River into Yarmouth. The line entered town via Spring and East Main Streets, across the Royal River Bridge, on through Lafayette Street, and deadends at the junction of Route 88, just a short distance from the Portland & Yarmouth tracks.

Royal River Bridge, Yarmouth, showing a Portland &

Brunswick 15-bench open car crossing before 1906 when

tracks via this span were abandoned and a new route into

Yarmouth Village was constructed to permit a more 

convenient connection with the Yarmouth Division of the 

Portland Railroad. Photo by Don Welch in O. R. Collection

     The Portland & Brunswick constructed mainline track was 15.4 miles long. A certificate of safety was issued for a portion of the line on July 23, 1902, with a certificate of safety for the remaining track issued on August 8. 

Freeport carbarn  and power station of the Portland &

Brunswick is shown here on South Main Street near the

Maine Central crossing in about 1906. Photo by Don Welch

in O. R. Cummings Collection

     For some reason, the Portland Railroad was unwilling to cooperate with the Portland & Brunswick (P&B) in efforts to effect a physical connection in Yarmouth. P&B had no authority to build a line to Portland from Yarmouth, so a new company was formed, the {Portland & Brunswick Extension Railway Company. A charter was granted on December 6, 1905.

     This action brought the Portland Railroad to terms in short order; on January 24, 1906, the Portland Railroad and Portland & Brunswick signed a contract for through service that would connect with the Portland Railroad's existing track near the Grand Trunk Railroad station in Yarmouth Village. This rerouting of the track in Yarmouth resulted in P&B operating on 15.8 miles of the mainline track.

On Main Street in Freeport, two open cars heading in

opposite directions. O. R. Cummings Collection in the

2015 NEERHS book, "The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street

& Electric Railways 1863-1946"

     The Portland & Brunswick Railway was built on speculation, but, the owners were never able to dispose of its securities and needed to continue its operation. The line never made sufficient profits to permit payments of dividends. There was a deficit of nearly $11,000 at the end of the fiscal year in 1908 and lost money every year after. 

   In 1910, the Lewiston, Augusta, and Waterville Street Railway moved in and acquired most of the P&B's $300,000 in capital stocks and its$225,00 in mortgage bonds and began a rehab program on the P&B infrastructure. The P&B was then reorganized in 1911, foreclosure proceeding led to a new company being formed in November 1911, the Brunswick & Yarmouth Street Railway (B&Y), which was a part of the Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Street Railway (LA&W) and formerly merged with the LA&W on August 19, 1913. The B&Y became the LA&W Freeport Division.

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

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