The "Electric Road" lived up to the expectations set in 1910 :)
October 26, 1910, page 10, Lewiston Evening Journal article
on the construction of the Portland, Gray, and Lewiston
Railroad. Shortly after the opening of the high-speed
electric railroad in July 1914, the name was changed to
the Portland-Lewiston Interurban Railroad. The caption
beneath the photo reads Hon. W. Scott Libbey, his son,
Harold, and Samuel Ferguson, grading on Gray Meadow.
(This page 10, with the date of Wednesday, October 26, 1910,
is actually located between pages 9 and 11 of the Thursday,
October 27, 1910, online edition of Lewiston Evening Journal).
Mrs. Gertrude Libbey Anthony is one of W. Scott
Libbey's daughters. She and her sister, Alla, made
the suggestion to their father to consider naming
the majestic, luxury interurbans after his favorite
flowers. Gertrude contributed this newspaper
clipping to be used in the incredible PLI Employees
Scrapbook. The Scrapbook includes contents from
the four reunions held in Gray, Maine at the
New Begin Hall in 1938, '39, 40, and '41.
The newspaper clipping is seen above on the left page.
The written notes about the clipping (Lewiston Journal,
October 27, 1910), and the description of the article
mentioned was enough information to lead to finding the
article online. Scroll down this page to find the article.
The PLI Employees Reunion Scrapbook was made by
Charles Heseltine. He worked with the PLI Reunion
Committee and was thanked accordingly. Heseltine gave the
Scrapbook to his friend and electric railway history colleague,
O. R. Cummings. O. R. Cummings, is the well-known and
prolific publisher of dozens of books on the histories of
various electric railway companies. O. R. passed the
Scrapbook on to Seashore Trolley Museum's Library.
The Scrapbook, with its cover, closed, measures 30" by 24."
The contents of the 88-page Scrapbook have more than 200
photographs, dozens of newspaper clippings, poems, PLI
schedules, employee correspondence, and on and on.
The page on the left in the above photo has the list of all
employees, phone numbers, and place of residence.
Many newspaper clippings are about accidents or PLI
employees, their family members; during and after their
employment.
Memorial pages pay tribute to PLI employees.
Former employees' "life after the PLI" correspondence.
Over the years, I had heard of this scrapbook, but it wasn't until April 8, 2014, that I had the opportunity to see it and spend a few minutes looking through it. I was at York County Community College in Wells, Maine. For several years during that timeframe, the Library Committee of Seashore Trolley Museum would have their meetings in the school library. Amber Tatnall was the school librarian and served on the Museum's Library Committee. O. R. Cummings had entrusted the scrapbook to the Library Committee and Amber Tatnall.
On that day in April 2014, I used my phone to capture a video of the experience that Amber and I had while opening and turning pages of this incredible book. After seeing first-hand the contents and the condition of the contents held in the scrapbook, I knew that I needed to work toward having the scrapbook and its contents professionally conserved and digitized.
Below is the video taken on April 8, 2014. If needed, you may Click Here to access the YouTube video
As you looked at the above photos of the PLI Employees' Reunion Scrapbook, you may have noticed that the photos of the open scrapbook were each labeled at the bottom with the word; BEFORE
That is because, last Friday, November 11, 2022, I was able to pick up the newly conserved Scrapbook and the memory stick full of its professionally digitized contents!
Great Thanks to the staff at Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) in Andover, MA for the amazing work they did in cleaning, repairing, and photographing the contents during the conservation process.
The above photos were included in the memory stick that shows several "Before" and "After" images of the full pages.
Shortly, I will be putting together and releasing a blog post that will describe the work and steps in the conservation and digitizing process. Today's post is just a "grain of sand on the beach" as to how the contents in the scrapbook will be useful in the future for us to learn more about the history and the people involved in the building and operation of the "Finest and Fastest Electric Railroad in All-New England."
Back to this clipping - This info led to me being
able to find the nearly full-page story of the
early stages of the construction of the
electric railroad. Having dates and names
of the newspapers makes it so much easier to
locate stories.
This article is available online. That is not always the case.
See the link below to locate the article online. Scroll down
this page to see/read screenshots of the article.
This is a screenshot of the full page. The article includes photos and a map of the
initial right-of-way where the electric railroad would operate. In 2017,
Paul Libbey, a grandson of W. Scott Libbey, donated the original surveyor's map
of the Portland, Gray, and Lewiston Railroad
right-of-way to the Seashore Trolley Museum. We raised the $11K needed to
clean, repair, digitize, conserve, and have a 28.5-foot-long copy of the map
completed. Click Here to open that blog post.
Beginning of the article.
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
There are four images within this collage above.
The caption at the top of the image at the upper center reads-
"Making Deep Cut At North Gray"
The caption for the image on the left reads-
"Deep Cut And Location of Pass Under Grand Trunk Near Danville Junction"
The caption for the image on the right reads-
"The Big Cut Near New Gloucester Lower Cor."
The caption for the image at the bottom in the center reads-
"Stretch of Grading Near North Gray"
Click Here to see the post that compares the existing remnants of the PLI right-of-way with the original 1910 surveyors' map of the Portland, Gray, and Lewiston Railroad.
The caption for this map (rotated so that Auburn is in the north and Portland is in the south) reads-
"Map Showing Route Of Lewiston, Gray, And Portland Electric Railroad
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
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