Maine Bicentennial Series - Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway 1903-1906

Rosemary Junction in Eliot about 1903. The car on the left

has arrived from Badger's Island, while No. 20, at right, is

headed for York Beach over what was popularly called,

the "Airline," between Rosemary Junction and York Corner

Junction. Through cars were run hourly between Dover and

the resort in summer, shuttle trips being operated on a

two-hour headway between Rosemary and The Goldenrod

in other seasons.

Here is the newest release in the Maine Bicentennial series of electric railways in Maine. This blog post features the Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway summary/images from the book, "Atlantic Shore Line Railway" by O. R. Cummings, presented as Transportation Volume 4 by the Connecticut Electric Railway and the National Railway Historical Society-Connecticut Chapter - June 1950 Re-issued January 1957. And text/images are also taken from an O. R. Cummings book, "Trolleys To York Beach: The Portsmouth Dover & York Street Railway", Bulletin No. 1, New England Electric Historical Society, December 30, 1964. 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 or from O. R. Cummings Collection.

To see the online version of the 1957 book, Atlantic Shore Line Railway: Its Predecessors and its Successors at Bangor Public Library here 

• 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

O. R. Cummings Collection

Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway

     The short summary of the history of the Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway (PD&Y) requires a look back at the circumstances that led up to the establishment of the PDY, which in short order came under the control of the Atlantic Shore Line Railway in 1906.

The terminus of the South Berwick village line was at a

Boston & Maine Northern Division grade crossing on Salmon

Street near the east end of the Salmon Falls River bridge.

O. R. Cummings Collection

     The Kittery & Eliot Street Railway was chartered on March 20, 1897, and was authorized to build from Government Street, Kittery, through South Eliot to Sturgeon Creek in Eliot. the charter was revived on March 13, 1901, and later in the year, the connection to the Portsmouth, Kittery & York Street Railway at Government and New March Streets, is where the line would begin. Construction began early in July 1903. The line operated from Government Square to Greenacres, a distance of about 3.5 miles, as a branch of the PK&Y.

The original Shapleigh's bridge across the Eastern Division of

the Boston & Maine near Gould Corner in Eliot before 1907.

O. R. Cummings Collection

     During the summer of 1901, Maine Governor, John F. Hill, announced his intentions of building a cross-country trolley line from Dover, NH, through South Berwick, and his hometown of Eliot, to York Village and York Beach. At the time, Governor Hill, who had been active in the state's traction industry for several years, was a director of the Augusta, Hallowell & Gardiner Railroad  (a predecessor of the Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Street Railway) and the Norway & Paris and the Rockland, Thomaston & Camden Street Railways in association with George E. Macomber, one of the promoters of these three railways.

After the original York Beach carhouse was destroyed by fire

in 1904, a replacement was erected by the PD&Y in 1905 on

the same site on the west side of Long Beach Avenue

between Nubble Road and Church Street. Two tracks

inside the building, which also housed a 220-cell storage

battery required to ensure adequate voltage at the resort.

This building was sold after the line went out of business

in 1923. Eventually, this building became the York Beach

Casino, a popular dance hall, was destroyed by fire

on May 6, 1976. O. R. Cummings Collection

     In pursuance of his purpose, he organized two provisional corporations, the Berwick, Eliot & York Street Railway in Maine and the Dover & Eliot Street Railway in New Hampshire; purchased the controlling stock and assumed the debt of the Eliot Bridge Company, owning a toll bridge over the Salmon Falls River between Dover and South Berwick, and subsequently acquired substantial interests in the Portsmouth, Kittery & York and the Kittery & Eliot Street Railways.

Passing the Philip Furbish home in Eliot is a 13-bench open

car headed for Dover. The tracks in Dover ended in Franklin

Square on Central Avenue where they almost-but-not-quite

connected physically with those of Dover, Somersworth

& Rochester Street Railway. A Philip Furbish image in

O. R. Cummings Collection

     The Berwick, Eliot & York Street Railway was approved by the Maine Railroad commissioners on February 7, 1902, and the Dover & Eliot Street Railway was approved in NH on February 26, 1902. Late in 1902, Governor Hill, by then a director of both the Portsmouth, Kittery & York Street Railway and the Kittery & Eliot Street Railway, moved to consolidate the properties into a single operating company. On February 11, 1903, permission was authorized for the Berwick, Eliot & York to change its name to the Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway; to lease or purchase the Portsmouth, Kittery & York, the Kittery & Eliot, the Berwick & South Berwick, and the Dover & Eliot Street Railway, and the Eliot Bridge Company, and to construct a branch from some point on its mainline to connect with the Kittery & Eliot's existing trackage at Greenacre. The name change occurred on May 20, 1903.

PWM Collection

PWM Collection

     The Berwick and South Berwick Street Railway was chartered in 1901, but no steps were taken to begin construction, so the charter was allowed to lapse in 1903. The PD&Y leased the Berwick & Eliot line adsorbed the PK&Y and the Kittery & Eliot and took over on November 1, 1903.

Map of the Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway with

fare zones as of 1911. In 1911, the PD&Y was the

Western Division of the Atlantic Shore Railway.

O. R. Cummings' 1964 book, "Trolleys to York Beach."

     In all, more than 20 miles of new railway were built during 1903, including the Dover & Eliot from Dover to the Eliot Bridge; from Eliot Bridge (at the state line) to South Berwick, from South Berwick Junction to York Corner, and from Rosemary Junction to Greenacres. As of November 1, 1903, when the Portsmouth, Kittery & York was consolidated with the PD&Y, the line operated on about 40 miles of mainline trackage, 21 miles of which were over the property's private right-of-way.

The Gould Corner waiting station in Eliot in about 1903. 

Located on what is now Route 103, about one mile, northeast of

Rosemary Junction. O. R. Cummings Collection

The South Berwick carhouse is shown here shortly after its

completion in 1903. The elevated tank contained water for

an automatic sprinkler system in the barn. There were seven

tracks and a two-story ell at the right which contained offices,

a crew's lobby, a power substation, and a second-floor

dormitory. A fire on November 16, 1918, destroyed a

good portion of the building. No trace of the building

remains today. O. R. Cummings Collection

Just a short distance from the South Berwick carhouse was

South Berwick Junction, where the tracks to South Berwick

village branched from the mainline between Dover and

Rosemary Junction. Nearby was Quamphegan Park, a

privately owned resort bordering Quamphegan Brook

and the Salmon Falls River. Boating, fishing, bathing, and

a dancing pavilion were among its simple attractions.

O. R. Cummings Collection

     No special ceremonies appear to have marked the opening of the new routes constructed by Portsmouth, Dover & York. The certificate of safety was granted on June 29, and regular service between Dover and York Beach commenced on July 1. Because of a delay in the completion of the viaduct over the Boston & Maine near the Eliot depot, the extension from Rosemary Junction to Greenacre did not open until July 14. Operations for new construction were finalized on August 13, 1903, with the "Airline" route from Rosemary Junction in Eliot to York Corner mainly over the private right-of-way, opened on November 1, 1903, as a direct route from Dover to York Beach.

Open car No. 19 at the Greenacre on July 24, 1902, 

opening day of the Kittery & Eliot Railway.

O. R. Cummings Collection

     The basic fare on the PD&Y system was five cents, and each route was divided into two or more five-cent zones. 

Portsmouth-York Beach: Portsmouth and Emery's (Ferry Lane), Kittery; Emery's and Sea Point; Sea Point and Seabury, York; Seabury and Club Stables, York Harbor; Club Stables and St. Aspinquid Park, York Beach.

Portsmouth - Dover: Portsmouth and Cross Street, South Eliot; Cross Street and Rosemary Junction; Rosemary Junction and South Berwick Junction; South Berwick Junction and Dover.

Dover-York Beach: Dover and South Berwick Junction, South Berwick Junction, and Rosemary Junction; Rosemary Junction and Langley's Road, East Eliot; Langley's Road and Rice's Bridge; Rice's Bridge and Club Stables, York Harbor; Club Stables and York Beach.

Dover-South Berwick: Dover and South Berwick Junction; South Berwick Junction and South Berwick.

Dover-Eliot-Kittery Map from

2015 NEERHS book,

"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street

& Electric Railways 1863-1946"

Kittery-York Beach Map from

2015 NEERHS book,

"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street

& Electric Railways 1863-1946"

     In addition to the passenger receipts and revenue from mail and express, the PD&Y had another source of income - the tolls from the railway-owned Eliot Bridge.

A few typical tolls were as follows:

     Foot Passenger..............................................  .02

     One Person with Horse.................................  .08

     Carriage Drawn by One Horse......................  .15

     Carriage Drawn by Two Horses....................  .25

     Coach, Hack, or Sleigh Drawn by Four Horse .40

     Led Horses or Cattle, Each............................  .05

     Sheep or Swine, Each....................................  .01

     Bicycle...........................................................  .03

      In later years, the rate for bicycles was increased to five cents. The rate for automobiles with two seats was fifteen cents, with a two-cent charge added for each additional seat, occupied or unoccupied. The rate for motor trucks (limited in weight) was 25 cents.

Built by the Laconia Car Company Works for the PD&Y in

1904, U. S. Mail car No. 108 also carried Express. No. 108

is among the collection of Maine railway vehicles at

Seashore Trolley Museum is listed in the

National Register of Historic Places.

O. R. Cummings Collection

Railway Mail Service clerk Charles Preston sorts letters in

the postal compartment of No. 108 somewhere between

Badger's Island and York Beach. 

O. R. Cummings Collection

     The PD&Y utilized about 41 total miles of trackage. During its full fiscal year of operation ending June 30, 1905; the line carried 2,812,046 passengers and generated $99,482 in passenger revenues.

     Late in 1905, stock control of the Portsmouth, Dover & York was acquired by the syndicate that controlled the Atlantic Shore Line Railway (ASL), and on February 1, 1906, the PD&Y was formally consolidated with the Atlantic Shore Line and the PD&Y became the ASL's Western 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