Starting in 1863, Monument Square was the hub for the
Portland Railroad Company's far-reaching public
transportation system. Image circa 1910 Print courtesy-PWM
A resource for educators
Maine Historical Society has created companion lesson plans inspired by Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride - These State-standard-based lesson plans are for classroom use in grades 6, 7, and 8. The lesson plans and companion vocabulary and reading activities are available as free downloads through the Seashore Trolley Museum's website at www.trolleymuseum.org/eleganttide or Click Here.
The eight Social Studies/ELA units were also uploaded to the Maine Memory Network and are available with other statewide lesson plans for grades K-12.
The audiobook is now available Click HERE to go to the Audible page. The eBook is available Here
This blog post was created specifically to support the new lesson plan titled:
* "Clang, Clang, Clang, Went the Trolley..."
Objectives:
* Students will practice the skills involved in researching and analyzing primary sources.
* Students will be able to identify different modes of transportation historically used in Maine and why the use of the trolley system was innovative and efficient.
* Students will be able to identify different types of trolley cars and how they were used historically in Maine.
This post is to provide supplemental information, images, and descriptions; of trolley destinations, distances between those points, both within Maine and some that are points outside of Maine; and the travel time between a variety of those destinations served by Trolleys.
Procedures #3 & #4 in part, consider various modes of transportation used in Maine in the past and consider those modes and the time it might take to travel between various destinations within Maine and also to travel from Maine to various destinations outside of Maine.
Procedure #5: in part, students research electric railways in Maine and how the trolley may have been a useful tool for travel. In addition, the distances traveled by trolley and the amount of time to travel between the destinations.
Procedure #8: This post will be useful for filling out the "Trolley Car Note Catcher" using other historical records that provide useful information on types of cars.
Here we go...
Here we go...
Here are links to posts on all the electric railways that operated in Maine
Click Here: History of the Portland Railroad - 1860-1941
Click Here: Calais Street Railway - 1894-1929
Click Here: Aroostook Valley Railroad - 1909-1946
Click Here: Fryeburg Horse Railroad (never electrified) - 1887-1913
Click Here: Norway & Paris Street Railway - 1894-1918
Click Here: Skowhegan & Norrigewock Railway - 1894-1903
Click Here: Benton & Fairfield Railway 1898-1928
Click Here: Somerset Traction Company - 1895-1928
Click Here: Fairfield & Shawmy Railway 1903-1927
Click Here: Waterville, Fairfield & Oakland Railway 1887-1937
Click Here: Trolleys to Augusta, Maine - 1889-1932
Click Here: Rockland, South Thomaston & St. George Railway - 1902-1918
Click Here: Biddeford & Saco Railroad - 1888-1939
Click Here: Mousam River Railroad - 1892-1899
Click Here: Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway 1899-1904
Click Here: Portsmouth, Kittery & York Street Railway 1897-1903
Click Here: Bangor Street Railway - 1889-1905
Click Here: Bangor Railway & Electric Company - 1905-1925
Click Here: Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway - 1895-1905
Click Here: Bangor, Hampden & Winterport Railway - 1896-1905
Click Here: Penobscot Central Railway - 1898-1906
Click Here: Bangor Hydroelectric Company - 1925-1945
Click Here: Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway - 1989-1907
Click Here: Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Street Railway - 1907 - 1919
Click Here: Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway 1919-1941
Click Here: Portland & Brunswick Street Railway - 1902-1911
Click Here: Auburn & Turner Railroad - 1905-1928
Click Here: Auburn, Mechanic Falls & Norway Street Railway - 1902-1907
Click Here: Portsmouth, Dove & York Street Railway - 1903-1906
Click Here: Atlantic Shore Line Railway - 1900-1910
Click Here: Atlantic Shore Railway - 1911 - 1923
Click Here: York Utilities - 1923-1949
Click Here: Beginning of a Classic Interurban - July 2, 1914 - The Portland, Gray & Lewiston Railroad
Click Here: The End of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban June 29, 1933
Click Here: 57 Million Passengers Carried on Electric Railways in Maine 1915!
Click Here: Ninty Communities in Maine had Electric Railway Service!
Below are Some Distances and fares -
Costs and Travel Time in:
Lewiston, Maine to Portland, Maine
The heart of the Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Street Railway system
was Hulett Square, at the intersection of Main and Lisbon Streets in
Lewiston. A Waterville-bound car is shown turning into
Lisbon Street (left), while a car from Bath stands in front of the
waiting room. Currently, J. Dostie Jewelers occupy the street-level
space of the building on the left, formally known as the "Journal" building.
PWM postcard
From O. R. Cummings' "Maine's Fastest Electric Railroad"
Trolley service between Portland and the Twin Cities of Lewiston and Auburn had its beginnings on August 8, 1902, when the Portland & Brunswick Street Railway, incorporated the previous year, opened its 15.4-mile line from the college town of Brunswick southerly through Freeport and South Freeport to Yarmouth. At Brunswick, the Portland & Brunswick had a physical connection with the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway, constructed in 1898, and at Yarmouth, the Portland & Brunswick tracks dead-ended just a few feet from the rails of the Portland Railroad Company's Yarmouth Division, that was built in 1898 as the Portland & Yarmouth Electric Railway.
Cover photo of O. R. Cummings' 1966 publication
The roundabout route between the Forest City (Portland) and Lewiston created by the opening of the Portland & Brunswick was 42 miles long, with a running time of more than three hours, and with two changes of trolley cars - one change at Yarmouth and one at Brunswick - initially being necessary. The service was frequent, however, and the combined fares of the three railways involved in the Portland-Lewiston trip were only 65 cents. (There would be a time between 1906 and 1919 that there was a joint operation between railways that eliminated one change of cars at Yarmouth).
A trolley on the Portland line to Yarmouth, Maine, where riders could then
board a trolley to Brunswick, change to a third trolley, and then be
on the way to Lewiston. PWM postcard
Of course, there were steam railroad lines between Portland and Lewiston - the Maine Central Railroad and the Grand Trunk Railway - but there were few trains on either line on weekdays and even poorer service on Sundays.
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, the cost was $7,000.
Photo courtesy of Seashore Trolley Museum's Library. Text from
O. R. Cummings 1959 publication, "Trolley Parlor Cars of New England"
The traveler between Lewiston and Portland with that round-a-bout route and three-hour travel time at the cost of $.065 between the two cities was provided an optional 90-minute travel time (35 miles) once the high-speed, luxury electric coach cars of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban began service in 1914. The cost was...$0.75...for a one-way ticket between the two major cities.
The Portland-Lewiston Interurban (PLI) provided "express"
service with limited stops during an approximately
90-minute, one-way trip, between the two major cities. The
cost in the early years was $0.75 one-way. The PLI provided
a "local" service beginning in 1915, with many more stops.
1914 schedule of stops and fares (costs).
1921 schedule of local and express service.
The Androscoggin Electric Company was the owner of the
Portland-Lewiston Interurban. In 1921, Central Maine
Power (CMP) purchased the Androscoggin Electric Company.
Below is a short video with the oral history audio of Clyde Walker Pierce, Jr. talking about trolleys early in the 20th century and how he would race the high-speed Portland-Lewiston Interubans with his car in the early 1930s.
Below is a short Clip recorded the April 19, 1938, excursion trip, of the Portland (ME) Chapter of the Electric Railroader Association over the various lines of the Androscoggin and Kennebec Railway that ran in the Lewiston & Auburn area. This short clip happens to pass by the Narcissus in Sabattus, Maine when it was a summer camp. The footage is from the O. R. Cummings Collection at Northeast Historic Film
How long did it take (and cost) to:
Travel by Trolley car from Portland, Maine to Boston, Massachusetts - and on to New York City, NY.
Reported in the Biddeford Daily Journal Friday Morning, July 28, 1905
"Some Trolley Fares on Trolley Trip to Boston" "From Boston to New York"
The trolley trip from Portland to Boston is outlined by the Journal - it is nearly 120 miles long and takes about 10 hours from Portland. The cost is about $2.20.
Some of the expenses of the trip are as follows:
From: Portland
to Biddeford - 17 miles - 25 cents
to Kennebunk - 10 miles - 15 cents
to York Beach - - 60 cents
to Portsmouth - 16 miles - 20-cents
to Newburyport - 26 miles - 25 cents
to Dummer Academy - 6 miles - 10 cents
to Ipswich - 6 miles - 10 cents
to Ipswich Junction - 6 miles - 6 cents
to Beverly - - 15 cents
to Salem - - 5 cents
to Lynn - - 10 cents
to Boston - - 10 cents
Portland to New York a distance of 387 miles, $4.95
Boston to New York is a distance of 256.5 miles, $2.75, total running time is 20.5 hours
Yarmouth (Maine) Division of the Portland Railroad: Mileage
Monument Square to:
Wages - 1900
Electric Railways in Maine employed 941 (up from 1899) with a total payroll of $423,500.
Portland Railroad - Daily Wage - Motorman $1.60, Machinist $1.82, Other Shop $2.25, Other Employee $1.50 (1900 $1 = $30 2018)
Schedules in 1900 for the Union Station-Munjoy Hill route called for...10-minute headway on the Congress Street run...and 12-minutes on the Spring Street-Grand Trunk Station route and a 30-minute service to Stroudwater. Later the headway time on the Union Station-Munjoy Hill route was dropped to six minutes during the greater part of the day and eight minutes the rest of the day. Spring Street went to 10-minutes.
Reported in the Biddeford Daily Journal Friday Morning, July 28, 1905
"Some Trolley Fares on Trolley Trip to Boston" "From Boston to New York"
The trolley trip from Portland to Boston is outlined by the Journal - it is nearly 120 miles long and takes about 10 hours from Portland. The cost is about $2.20.
Some of the expenses of the trip are as follows:
From: Portland
to Biddeford - 17 miles - 25 cents
to Kennebunk - 10 miles - 15 cents
to York Beach - - 60 cents
to Portsmouth - 16 miles - 20-cents
to Newburyport - 26 miles - 25 cents
to Dummer Academy - 6 miles - 10 cents
to Ipswich - 6 miles - 10 cents
to Ipswich Junction - 6 miles - 6 cents
to Beverly - - 15 cents
to Salem - - 5 cents
to Lynn - - 10 cents
to Boston - - 10 cents
Portland to New York a distance of 387 miles, $4.95
Boston to New York is a distance of 256.5 miles, $2.75, total running time is 20.5 hours
Yarmouth (Maine) Division of the Portland Railroad: Mileage
Monument Square to:
Washington Avenue Carbarn 1.25
Veranda Street Siding 2.14
Marine Hospital Siding 2.55
Martin's Point Siding 3.25
Cemetery Siding 4.60
Foreside 5.97
Underwood 7.08
Spear's Hill 8.78
Russel's Siding 9.50
York Siding 10.36
Moxey's Siding 11.40
Yarmouth Carbarn 12.11
Terminus - Yarmouth 12.44
Wages - 1900
Electric Railways in Maine employed 941 (up from 1899) with a total payroll of $423,500.
Portland Railroad - Daily Wage - Motorman $1.60, Machinist $1.82, Other Shop $2.25, Other Employee $1.50 (1900 $1 = $30 2018)
Schedules in 1900 for the Union Station-Munjoy Hill route called for...10-minute headway on the Congress Street run...and 12-minutes on the Spring Street-Grand Trunk Station route and a 30-minute service to Stroudwater. Later the headway time on the Union Station-Munjoy Hill route was dropped to six minutes during the greater part of the day and eight minutes the rest of the day. Spring Street went to 10-minutes.
1903 - The Portland Railroad System
Following the opening of the extension to Saco-Old Orchard Beach, the PRR operated 77.82 miles of route and 93.75 track miles, employed more than 500 persons; including 133 motormen and 133 conductors, and owned a total of 217 passenger trolley cars, while serving the communities of:
* Portland
* South Portland
* Cape Elizabeth
* Scarborough
* Saco
* Old Orchard Beach
* Westbrook
* Gorham
* South Windham
* Falmouth
* Cumberland
* Yarmouth
In 1910, only about 10% of the population had electricity in their homes - Early Electric Power companies’ major revenue was from lighting Main Streets, larger mills/manufacturing, & Electric Railways.
Middle Street, Portland, Maine.
A postcard postmarked November 5, 1909, from PWM
Costs and Travel Time in Greater Portland, Maine area: 1910
Costs and Travel Time in Greater Portland, Maine area: 1910
In Maine, in 1915, ninety communities had electric railway service, operating on about 520 miles of tracks. That year, more than fifty-seven million passengers were carried on those railways in Maine. The Portland Railroad system carried a little more than twenty-four million of those passengers (1916 would be a little more than 25 million). More than 4 million miles traveled in 1915. Grossing more than $1 million ($25.6 million in 2020) in revenues with a net of a little more than a quarter-million (more than $6.4 million in 2020). (PRR statistics from Public Utilities Reports). Clearly, the Portland Railroad in particular, and in general, the electric railways in Maine, were vital to the local economies for many years.
Costs and Travel Time in Greater Portland, Maine area: 1916
1916, one-way rates. From O. R. Cummings
1957 book, Part 1, "Portland Railroad."
1918
Fifteen-minute service was provided two times an hour between Portland and Westbrook via Woodfords (35 mins), and two times an hour via Brighton Avenue. One Brighton Avenue car going on to South Windham (one hour) and one from Woodfords going on to Gorham (55 minutes).
Calais Street Railway (St. Stephen, NB)
With the completion of a new (and presently-used) steel bridge at this location in January 1895, tracks were laid across it to give Calais St. Ry and its leased line a total of a little more than 7 miles of track, forming a loop and two stub-ends which taken altogether could give a passenger quite a ride for the 5 cents-4 miles in the United States and 3 in Canada.
In addition to the Calais Street Railway, only three trolley lines ever physically connected the United States and neighboring countries. One of these joined Niagra Falls, NY, with Niagra Falls, Ontario, and nearby points with a scenic belt line till in the early 1930s. The other two connected Laredo, Texas, and Neuvo, Laredo, Mexico, (abandoned several years ago), and joined El Paso, Texas, and Juares, Mexico (still running).
Costs and Travel Time in:
With the completion of a new (and presently-used) steel bridge at this location in January 1895, tracks were laid across it to give Calais St. Ry and its leased line a total of a little more than 7 miles of track, forming a loop and two stub-ends which taken altogether could give a passenger quite a ride for the 5 cents-4 miles in the United States and 3 in Canada.
In addition to the Calais Street Railway, only three trolley lines ever physically connected the United States and neighboring countries. One of these joined Niagra Falls, NY, with Niagra Falls, Ontario, and nearby points with a scenic belt line till in the early 1930s. The other two connected Laredo, Texas, and Neuvo, Laredo, Mexico, (abandoned several years ago), and joined El Paso, Texas, and Juares, Mexico (still running).
Costs and Travel Time in:
Fryeburg Horse Railroad - 1889-1913 (the last Horse Railroad in Maine)
From Maine Central Railroad station, past the fairgrounds to a resort known as Martha's Grove.
Summer season operation only - only 3 miles - 5-cents - unknown schedule
Wages: 1889: Only one horsecar - only one horse used at a time - only one driver, no conductor - the driver was paid $25 a year. (the cost was more per year to maintain the horse)
Costs and Travel Time in:
From Maine Central Railroad station, past the fairgrounds to a resort known as Martha's Grove.
Summer season operation only - only 3 miles - 5-cents - unknown schedule
Wages: 1889: Only one horsecar - only one horse used at a time - only one driver, no conductor - the driver was paid $25 a year. (the cost was more per year to maintain the horse)
Costs and Travel Time in:
Norway and Paris Street Railway (electric) 1895-1918 (the shortest electric railway in ME)
1918 Main & Pleasant Streets, Norway to High Street, South Paris - 2 miles - 5 cents - 15 mins
Wages: 1903: Motormen and Conductors $1.50 per day (10-hour workday, seven days a week)
1918 Main & Pleasant Streets, Norway to High Street, South Paris - 2 miles - 5 cents - 15 mins
Wages: 1903: Motormen and Conductors $1.50 per day (10-hour workday, seven days a week)
Trackmen were paid $1.25 a day with similar hours, with the shopman at $1.75 a day with similar hours.
Costs and Travel Time in:
Costs and Travel Time in:
Rockland, Thomaston & Camden Street Railay - 1892-1932
up until 1918: Fare Zones 5 cents each - 6 zones between Camden and Warren
1918: 6 cents for each zone
1919-1924 - 7 cents for each zone
1924-1931 - 10 cents for each zone
Presque Isle to Caribou 1912 - Aroostook Valey Railroad
Four trips daily each way between West Presque Isle and West Caribou - 25 miles - 1 hour - $?
up until 1918: Fare Zones 5 cents each - 6 zones between Camden and Warren
1918: 6 cents for each zone
1919-1924 - 7 cents for each zone
1924-1931 - 10 cents for each zone
Presque Isle to Caribou 1912 - Aroostook Valey Railroad
Four trips daily each way between West Presque Isle and West Caribou - 25 miles - 1 hour - $?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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!
Click Here: Donation Options
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
