Main Street Kennebunk c 1920 - from Main Street; the trolleys could
head south to Wells and on to York Beach, Kittery, South
Berwick, and Dover, NH; or head west from Main St.
to West Kennebunk, Alfred, Sanford, and Springvale; or
from Main St. turn east on Summer Street and then on to Arundel,
Kennebunkport, Cape Porpoise, and Biddeford.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_034
Updated 4-23-2025
This post will focus on the West Kennebunk and Kennebunk portion of the original Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway. It will mention/refer to several of the other community connections, as the original line was used by the railways that absorbed the Sanford & Cape Porpoise beginning in 1903
Click Here - for the post that focuses on the Kennebunkport and Cape Porpoise portion of the Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway 1899-1925
Click Here - for the August 25, 1899, Sanford Tribune Newspaper, three-page article on the S&CP
Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway Company 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, "Atlantic Shore Trolleys", Bulletin No. 2, New England Electric Historical Society, January 1, 1966. Text may also be from O. R. Cummings', 1999 publication; Images of America; York County Trolleys Additional text is also taken from an insert O. R. Cummings wrote in "The Atlantic Shore Line Railway and Successors" - Historical Summary-1900-1949. O. R. Cumings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum. A few images are from the Kennebunkport Historical Society. Additional images will be credited.
To see the online version of the 1957 book, Atlantic Shore Line Railway at Bangor Public Library here
Click Here: for the post on the Mousam River Railroad 1892-1899
Click Here: for the post on the Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway 1899-1904
Click Here: for the post on the Atlantic Shore Line Railway 1900 -1910
Click Here: for the post on the Atlantic Shore Railway 1911-1923
Click Here: for the post on the York Utilities Company 1923-1949
Click Here: Walter R. Jackson (1904-1989) - Former Atlantic Shore Railway Employee Interview 1988
Click Here: Ross W. Stahl (1912-2002) - Longtime Kennebunk Resident - Interview 2001
The Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway (S&CP), was organized by the Goodalls in Sanford and chartered on October 6, 1897. It proposed to build from Central Square (Sanford), through the outlying districts of Alfred, Lyman, West Kennebunk, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Cape Porpoise, 20.3 miles away.
This is the summary of the electric railways that operated
based out of Sanford, Maine 1893-1949
2015 publication by NEERHS
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's
Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
The original photo is in the Sanford Historical Society Coll.
This copy, with the text, is in the Foster Leavitt, Sr. Collection
that his grandson, Mike Leavitt shared with me. The Sanford &
Cape Porpoise Railway was originally built to transport coal
from the Cape Porpoise Pier to the Goodall Mills in Sanford.
The electric locomotive in this photo is No. 101. It was one of three
identical locomotives that arrived in 1906.
The Seashore Trolley Museum acquired No. 100 in 1949, from
Sanford. More info on No. 100 as you scroll down.
To the tidewater terminal at Cape Porpoise, it was planned to bring coal in schooners and barges for transfer to Sanford via the new electric railway, and from interchanges (spur tracks) with the Boston & Maine Railroad at Kennebunk (Summer Street), and West Kennebunk. The S&CP intended to run a direct carload freight service to points along its route.
The cost for passengers (fare rate) in 1899/1900 to travel from Sanford/Springvale to West Kennebunk was 20 cents - one way. The fare to travel to Kennebunk was 25 cents - one way. The fare to Cape Porpoise was 35 cents - one way.
Continuing through West Kennebunk, the trolley line paralleled the old highway through Kennebunk village to the Town House Junction (Terminal) at Kennebunkport and thence again over private right-of-way to Cape Porpoise. Here a long wooden trestle, intended to serve also as a coal wharf, was built across the harbor to Bickford's Island where a large casino was erected.
Map by Charles D. Heseltine of the
Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway shows
the Old Falls Park just over the West
Kennebunk town line.
Map from the 2015 book by NEERHS
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's
Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
The scene may show part of the private right-of-way between
South Sanford and West Kennebunk.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore
Trolley Museum 2009_2_42_123
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore
Trolley Museum 2009_2_42_124
In the fall of 2016, a section of 1899
rail from the S&CP was unearthed in
West Kennebunk at Alfred Road, across
from Wisteria Lane. This section along
the right-of-way never had the rail upgraded
Image by Tom LaRoche
The rail above was donated to the Seashore
Trolley Museum by the contractor that
unearthed it, Hissong Corp. Segments were cut,
cleaned up and stamped. Larger segments
were put on the end deck of 1906 the
electric locomotive, ASL-100, that
operated on this track from 1906 til 1927.
Other larger segments were donated
to the Kennebunkport Historical Society,
the Brick Store Museum, the Arundel Historical
Society, and the Sanford Historical Society.
Smaller segments, like the one in
the image above was used to raise funds
for YUCo No. 88 PWM
Sun Journal - August 21, 1899
Open trolley car No. 13 in Sanford. The first trolley to carry
passengers on the opening day of the S&CP. It had 15 benches that
were to carry about 75 passengers. On opening day, it carried more
than 100 passengers from Sanford to Kennebunk
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore
Trolley Museum 2009_2_5_057
On August 15, 1899, the operation began on 14.6 miles between Sanford and West Kennebunk. Passenger service to B & M station in Kennebunk commenced four days later on the 19th with No. 13, a new Jackson & Sharp 15-bench open trolley, leaving Sanford at 7:30 a.m. with a little more than 100 passengers aboard and arriving at Kennebunk about an hour later. More than 1,000 people traveled on the route that first day. Initially, the tracks in Kennebunk ran through Fletcher Street to Main Street. In mid-November, the rest of the route to Cape Porpoise was complete (5.83 miles). On November 14, cars were rerouted to the newly completed track on Storer Street and on Main Street. On November 20, a local car began operating between the B & M station at Kennebunk and Cape Porpoise. It was not until the spring of 1900 after the ice was out of the harbor at Cape Porpoise, that the hauling of coal to the Sanford mills began. The service between Sanford, Kennebunk, and Kennebunkport/Cape Porpoise ended in 1927.
The first page of two pages lists the stops, turnouts, and distances
in 1908, for what was then, the Atlantic Shore Line Railway:
Springvale to Kennebunkport, and on to Biddeford.
2015 publication by NEERHS
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's
Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
The second page of two pages lists the stops, turnouts, and distances
in 1908, for what was then, the Atlantic Shore Line Railway:
Springvale to Kennebunkport, and on to Biddeford.
2015 publication by NEERHS
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's
Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
In South Sanford crossing Mousam River at Old Falls near
the border of West Kennebunk c 1902
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore
Trolley Museum 2009_2_42_132
Elmcroft Farm - West Kennebunk c 1905
The description in the next image says it's 4 miles
from the post office in Kennebunk. That would
make the location of the farm at about 421 Alfred Rd,
near where the Red Barn Inn is currently. PWM
PWM
PWM
PWM
An ad showing the Biddeford-Saco Journal was for
sale at in West Kennebunk, Kennebunk, Cape
Porpoise, and at the ASL Town House waiting station
Biddeford-Saco Journal - 2-28-1906
The Perkins Farm in West Kennebunk c 1905
This might be near the corner of Alfred Road and
Thompson Road. This may be where the Lucas family
lived back when I was young and lived in West K PWM
After a few years, there was a short track spur turnout from the main
line in West Kennebunk to the Twine Mill. PWM
Sun Journal - September 6, 1899
February 19, 1906 at the West Kennebunk, Boston & Maine
Railroad crossing. O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore
Trolley Museum 2009_2_42_127
tracks for the Boston & Maine Railroad through West Kennebunk.
Lower left bridge over Mousam River then directly through
West Kennebunk, where the tracks of the Sanford and Cape
Porpoise operated beginning in 1899 along Alfred Road, crossing
the B&M tracks. The B&M continued on to the right heading towards
Biddeford. The former ROW is now the Eastern Trail. The Atlantic
Shore Line Railway took control of the Sanford & Cape Porpoise.
This former crossing is where the trolley car derailed in 1906.
Evening Journal - October 20, 1899
West Kennebunk B & M Railroad Station photo courtesy of
Kennebunkport Historical Society via Sharon Cummins c 1920
Biddeford-Saco Journal - 9-7-1899
The map shows the Alewive Siding in the upper left.
This is where the current Maine Turnpike overpass is
located (the Alfred Road and Alewive Road intersection).
The map was drawn by Charles D. Heseltine and is in
the 2015 NEERHS book, The Illustrated Atlas of
Maine's Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
Seaside Echo - July 13, 1905 - First page
Fletcher Street looking towards West Kennebunk
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_036
Fletcher Street approaching the Storer Street spur.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_035
O. R. Cummings Collection
Tracks on the right from Storer Street to Main Street, Kennebunk.
In later years, tracks would cross Main Street to the Water Street spur
to service the various mills and manufacturing businesses. In 1907,
Main Street tracks extended south all the way to York Beach.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_030
Main Street, Kennebunk.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_033
Main Street Kennebunk. Beginning in 1907, from Main Street; the trolleys
could head south to Wells and on to York Beach, Kittery, South
Berwick, and Dover, NH; or head west from Main St.
to West Kennebunk, Alfred, Sanford, and Springvale; or
from Main St. turn east on Summer Street and then on to Arundel,
Kennebunkport, Cape Porpoise, and Biddeford.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_031
The first page of three pages lists the stops, turnouts, and distances,
for the electric railway after c 1910:
Springvale to Kennebunkport, Biddeford, and to Wells.
2015 publication by NEERHS
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's
Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
The second page of three pages lists the stops, turnouts, and distances,
for the electric railway after c 1910:
Springvale to Kennebunkport, Biddeford, and to Wells.
2015 publication by NEERHS
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's
Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
The third page of three pages lists the stops, turnouts, and distances,
for the electric railway after c 1910:
Springvale to Kennebunkport, Biddeford, and to Wells.
2015 publication by NEERHS
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's
Street & Electric Railways 1863-1946
The former Lexington Elms building is located
at the corner of Main and Dane Streets.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_040
Working with electricity was dangerous...
Sun Journal - October 16, 1899
Tracks turned from Main Street onto Summer Street as they headed to
Arundel, Kennebunkport, and Cape Porpoise c 1920
The sign with the arrow on the pole on the right points to
the Greenleaf Inn on Summer Street. My father owned the Greenleaf Inn
building in the 1960s when it was an apartment house.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_038
Summer Street, Kennebunk 1899 when the S&CP Railway tracks were
being installed.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_126
Summer Street, Kennebunk 1899 when the S&CP Railway tracks were
being installed.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_125
The entrance to the Greenleaf Inn would have been just on the left here at
the start of Summer Street. The entrance to Park Street is up on the right
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_043
Further along on Summer Street. Approaching the railroad bridge.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_039
Locomotive No. 102 is seen here on Summer Street in Kennebunk
pulling three B & M Railroad "shorty" flatcars.
In 1906, when built, No. 102's cab was originally the same
configuration as its peer locomotives, Nos. 100 and 101.
101's cab was removed and was attached to the cab of 102.
100 remained in its original configuration through its
retirement in 1949. It then came to the Seashore Trolley
Museum and was utilized extensively for many years.
100's restoration was completed in 2009.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_049
This is the Sandford & Cape Porpoise waiting station on Summer Street.
Constructed in 1902 on the northwesterly end of the bridge passing over
the B&M Railroad on Summer Street in Kennebunk. It was designated
as the electric railway's Kennebunk Station, complete with a lunch
counter and restroom facilities. It was a short walk across the
street and down the hill to the B&M Kennebunk railroad station.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_044
The B&MRR passenger station at Summer Street, Kennebunk
PWM Postcard Collection
Express motor and Freight cars No. 105 and No. 101 are equipped
with couplers so they can connect to railroad boxcars and "flats"
(trailers). These cars and the locomotives would enter the spurs of
the Boston & Maine Railroad "spurs" in Springvale, West Kennebunk,
and Summer Street in Kennebunk, to transport box cars and flats
for businesses. This photo is on Summer Street near the B & M
bridge. O. R. Cummings Collection
at the Seashore Trolley Museum 2009_2_42_048
Durrell's Bridge between Kennebunk and Arundel. In the upper
right corner is the power station that was constructed in the early years.
O. R. Cummings Collection
at the Seashore Trolley Museum 2009_2_42_051
The Durrell's Bridge Road for electric railway operation is on the right.
At the top of the hill, turn right onto what is River Road and head to
Town House Junction.
The power station on the hill on the right, on the Arundel side of
Kennebunk River. A few of the remnants of the wooden posts that held up
the bridge were visible in the river for decades. There may still be a couple
that are visible on the banks of the river. O. R. Cummings Collection
at the Seashore Trolley Museum 2009_2_42_052
The power station in Arundel near the Durrell's Bridge.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_050
River Road, Arundel near the bridge over Goff Mill Brook.
On the right, at the curve, before the house, is the current entrance to
the Cape Arundel Golf Clun Practice facility.
Donald Curry Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
Looking northwest towards Route One.
On the left, at the top of the hill, is the current entrance to
the Cape Arundel Golf Clun Practice facility.
Donald Curry Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
Town House Junction Terminal c 1904
The waiting station is at the center of the photo. In the background,
on the right, Atlantic Shore Railway offices, carbarn, and shop.
The trolley cars on the left may head to Cape Porpoise or Biddeford.
The trolley car on the right to Kennebunk. The trolley car in the
background to Dock Square, Kennebunkport.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_059
Once the remaining section of tracks from Summer Street in Kennebunk to the Cape Porpoise Pier was completed in mid-November, 1899, the S&CP released the Daily Schedule to the Trolleys.
Biddeford & Saco Journal - November 27, 1899
Click Here - for the post that focuses on the Kennebunkport and Cape Porpoise portion of the Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway 1899-1925
That summarizes the opening of the line in 1899. Next, we'll focus on Main Street, Kennebunk, where we will follow Route One, South, to Wells.
Back to where the tracks passed from Storer Street to Main Street,
Kennebunk, and beginning in 1907, extended south to York Beach.
The service between the two ended in 1924.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_030
Once the track was open between Kennebunk and York Beach
Seaside Echo - June 27, 1907
Unmarked postcard Looking north on Main Street Kennebunk.
The small building on the right in the foreground is on the
corner of Main and Water Streets and is where
tickets were sold for the trolley. This stretch of trolley track on
Main extending from Fletcher Street south all the way to
York Beach was opened on July 20, 1907. This portion of the
line was discontinued on March 31, 1924. Track down Storer
Street to Main Street and the Main Street section from Fletcher
Street to Storer Street was completed on November 14, 1899.
The spur track from Storer Street, crossing Main Street
and down Water Street, was completed in 1901. PWM
Atlantic Shore Line electric locomotive No. 100 in 1907,
one year after having arrived in Maine is seen here in the
Goodall Mill yard pulling a train of railroad boxcars. A similar
transport would take place to provide freight service to Water Street
businesses. The locomotive and the motor express freight cars
transported coal and materials for mills and factories from
the Summer Street B&M Railroad station and from the
West Kennebunk Railroad station
O. R. Cummings Collection at the SeashoreTrolley Museum
2009-2_5_071
Atlantic Shore Line electric locomotive No. 100 operating
at the Museum in July 2019. ASL-100 is in the National
Register of Historic Places. PWM
York Street where the trolley cars would travel between Main
Street, Kennebunk, and Wells.
O. R. Cummings Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum
2009_2_42_027
What is now Route One near the town line for Kennebunk and
Wells. Looking south, with what is now the Water District building
on the right. O. R. Cummings Collection at
the Seashore Trolley Museum 2009_2_42_026
Click Here - for the post that focuses on the Kennebunkport and Cape Porpoise portion of the Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway 1899-1925
.jpg)
The back cover of the January 1, 1966, O. R. Cummings
publication, Atlantic Shore Trolleys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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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