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Thank you to Reece Saunders for recreating this colorful digital version from
the original photo taken on July 15, 1939, of the "Parade" of Car 31
chained-together vehicles. The length of the combined pieces is said to
have been 90-100 feet long. Left to right: Old rear end from a junked
Mack dump truck with two rails from the end of Car 31 attached for
use as the rear wheels. Car 31's other end is held up by a chain held
by the crane of the Mack Truck wrecker. To keep the front wheels of
the wrecker on the ground, the front end of the wrecker is chained to the
back end of the truck to the far right - "Designs by Reece" Reece Saunders
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Description of the "Parade" of chained-together vehicles as told by
one of the original eight founders of what we know now as the
Seashore Trolley Museum, John Amlaw. From his write-up in the September
1960 issue of The Trolley Museum Dispatch. Car 31's two truck assemblies
had been removed to transport the body to Kennebunkport. The last sentence
mentions ..."two rails sticking out beyond it...," - two rails were attached to
the underneath end of 31 so that the extended ends could be secured to the
top of a separate rear end from a junked old Mack dump truck. The overall
height of Car 31 had to be such that it could safely pass underneath a
railroad overpass in Saco.
A difficult-to-acquire, brass model of a Brill, 12-bench open car, and
a pair of Brill 22-E trucks. The car, and separately, the two trucks, were
acquired from England. Found by Tom Tello, with help from Tony Tieuli,
both are longtime members of the Seashore Trolley Museum. Working
together, they accepted my request to consider the possibility of creating
a model diorama reproduction of the incredible "Parade of Car 31" and
the chained vehicles that transported Car 31 to Kennebunkport on
July 15, 1939. - Photo courtesy of Tom Tello
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A "teaser" for the work that Tom has done. Stay tuned for the
announcement of the completed "Parade of Car 31" diorama creation!
Edited photo courtesy of Tom Tello
A copy of the original photo taken on July 15, 1939 - The "parade" is pulled over
to the side of the Biddeford Road as it approaches what is now the main entrance
to the Seashore Trolley Museum. The crew needed to take a look at the
entrance to the former right-of-way (ROW) of the Atlantic Shore Railway and
plan the approach to backing this 90- to 100-foot-long parade into the ROW
to access the property where Car 31 was to be unloaded. It was challenging!
The story is below.
Image courtesy of the Seashore Trolley Museum.
Happy 85th Anniversary!!
Eighty-five years ago today, on July 15, 1939, open car No. 31 of the Biddeford and Saco Railroad was delivered to the original ten-acre property in Kennebunkport that is now close to the main entrance to the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine.
There will be many special events at the Seashore Trolley Museum during this 85th Anniversary season.
This blog post will focus on the activities of the founding members of the Seashore Trolley Museum following their Farewell Fan Trip at the Biddeford and Saco Railroad on June 18, 1939.
Click Here: Read about Car 31 and the Biddeford and Saco Railroad during the year that Car 31 arrived in
the Biddeford-Saco area, 124 years ago, on June 6, 1900.
the Biddeford-Saco area, 124 years ago, on June 6, 1900.
Car 31 has the unique distinction of being the first trolley car (anywhere in the world) to be saved by a group of individuals to start a trolley museum. Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, ME, was founded in 1939 with the acquisition of Car 31. Car 31 is recognized as the "Mother Car" of all trolley museums worldwide. Car 31 is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is also a member of Save America's Treasures.
Click Here: Ted Santarelli tells the story of how Car 31 was saved. Santarelli was one of the young men who saved Car 31 in 1939, and in doing so, became one of the founders of the Seashore Trolley Museum. Think about this...Ted was twenty years old and was the leader of the group. Amazing...
Click Here: to read and view many photos of Car 31 when it returned home to Biddeford, Saco, and OOB in 1999 - 60th Anniversary Home Tour
Theodore "Ted" Santarelli, John Amlaw, and Gerald "Gerry" Cunningham were electric railway fans living in the Boston area in 1939. Ted in Boston, John in Somerville, and Gerry from Haverhill. During their trip to the electric railway fan trip in Lewiston, Maine, on May 30, 1939, they discussed the announcement that buses would replace trolleys on the Biddeford and Saco Railroad by about June 20, 1939.
After returning to MA, they each wrote letters to friends to invite them to join a group that would try to save a trolley from the Biddeford and Saco Railroad (B&S). Gerry, with his family, had spent several summers in Ocean Park in Maine. Ocean Park is a village in Old Orchard Beach. The trolleys of the B&S
operated into Old Orchard Beach. Over the years, Gerry rode the B&S trolley often and got to know many of the motormen, conductors, shop personnel, and the general manager/president of B&S, J. Burton Stride. Gerry wrote a letter to Mr. Stride that this new group would like to save one of the trolleys by purchasing a complete car.
Ted had sent a letter off to Charles "Charlie" Brown in Hyde Park, MA. With Charlie joining the group, they decided to create a "Farewell" Fan Trip event. Hopefully, to raise money and interest to fund the purchase of a trolley. Charlie organized the trip for June 18, 1939, a day or two before the buses were scheduled to replace the trolleys.
Gerry didn't receive a reply from Mr. Stride. So, the day before the June 18 fan trip, Gerry stopped by Mr. Stride's office at the B&S carbarn on Beach Street in Saco. Mr. Stride happened to be in his office and welcomed Gerry in. Gerry listened to Mr. Stride's response to the request he had mentioned in the letter, saying the group was attempting a task that wasn't really doable. Stride went on to say he already had a contract to scrap all the trolley cars. In addition, as a member of the local Rotary Club, he promised not to sell any trolley bodies that would be relocated to any property in the Biddeford, Saco, or Old Orchard Beach communities. Gerry replied on behalf of the new group that he could promise that if they purchased a complete car, they would relocate it outside of the three communities. Gerry continued by stating the group was to save a complete car for future operations. Mr. Stride replied with a price of $300.
The Biddeford and Saco Carbarn on Beach Street in Saco.
The entrance to the office of the general manager/president,
J. Burton Stride is to the right of the automotive vehicle.
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_14_161
Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum
Gerry communicated the price to Ted, John, and others in the new group. They were initially struck by how challenging it would be to raise that amount of money. So little time to do so. In addition, there would be funds needed to relocate the car. The costs associated with prepping it for transportation. The costs of transporting the car. It was during an economic downturn that one might have a job for $15 to $20 a week. After a day or two, they decided to approach Mr. Stride again to see if he would reduce the price.
This time, Ted and John went to the Beach Street car barn to see Mr. Stride. They were told Mr. Stride was at his home at Graham Street in Biddeford. They went to Mr. Stride's home. Mr. Stride was mowing his lawn. He mentioned he was busy and couldn't chat with them at that time. Ted offered to take over mowing the lawn so he could chat with them. Mr. Stride agreed. John thanked Mr. Stride for offering to sell the group a trolley. John then restated the group's desire to save a trolley and that they would comply with Mr. Stride's promise to the Rotary Club to have the trolley be located outside of the three communities; however, they were struggling with the price. They asked Mr. Stride to consider a lower price. This approach must have made a positive impression on Mr. Stride. He took a moment, then he replied that the price would be $150.
(Reading the transcripts from various interviews of many early members/founders of Seashore, conducted by longtime member, Edward "Ed" Dooks, during the late 1980s, it's unclear whether Ted and John began the search for a location and transportation sources, before the June 18 fan trip, or after the June 18 fan trip. For this post, I'll write the process that took place before the June 18 fan trip occurred)
Once the group felt they could acquire a trolley, they next had to find and secure a location outside of the Biddeford, Saco, and OOB communities, and sources provided transportation of the trolley and its trucks to the location.
The former car barn of the Atlantic Shore Line/York Utilities Railway
was located at Town House Junction in Kennebunkport. After the YUCo
ended service, the building and some of its vehicles had been sold to
Everett Greenleaf of Kennebunk.
No. 104, built in 1907, is at the Atlantic Shore Line Carbarn.
This photo was taken c. 1915. The car barn was one of the stops
the ERA members made and found some nuggets to keep.
Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:
O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_7_099
When asked for suggestions, a source to talk to about a location outside of the three communities, one of the Beach Street car barn staff members suggested that Ted and John seek Everett Greenleaf. He was the owner of the former car barn of the York Utilities/Atlantic Shore Line Railways in Kennebunkport.
Ted and John traveled to the former car barn and met up with Mr. Greenleaf. Upon hearing the story
of the need for a location for a saved trolley in the coming weeks, Mr. Greenleaf suggested to Ted and John to seek a piece of property owned by a local farmer up the road. Mr. Greenleaf also offered to help with the transportation. He also referred Ted and John to a fella who had a wrecker.
To keep the story short, through Mr. Greenleaf, Ted and John met Fred and Mabel Clough. They owned a farm near the former right-of-way of the Atlantic Shore Railway. Mr. Clough was a former motorman for the railway. Mr. Clough told Ted and John that there was a neighbor farmer, George Hill, who owned a ten-acre strip of landlocked property that ran parallel between the Clough farm and the former right-of-way of the electric railway.
Ted and John next visited George Hill. Mr. Hill was interested in hearing the plan for saving a trolley, and yes, he would lease/sell the ten acres to the group.
The original ten acres where Car 31 would be placed,
July 15, 1939. Shaped like a 22-degree acute triangle,
due to the length of Car 31, it would need to be unloaded
where the width of the property was wide enough
for the complete car. That meant backing into the
right-of-way a few hundred feet before reaching a
wide enough piece for 31.
Next up was following up on Mr. Greenleaf's referral for a wrecker. Bob Smart had owned a wrecker, but he had sold it to Tom Scott. Mr. Smart wanted to help transport the trolley. Ted and John visited Mr. Scott, and he, too, wanted to help. He and his wrecker were available to move the trolley when needed.
The group started thinking that more friends were needed to achieve the goal of raising $150, plus dollars for the transportation-related costs. But, first things first. $150 to secure the purchase of a trolley. Ten people at $15 each was the goal for the June 18th Farewell Fan Trip.
Copy of a ticket for the Farewell fan trip
on June 18, 1939.
It was during the Farewell Fan Trip, while riding on Car 31, that Car 31 would be the one to save.
The fan trip was noted in the newspaper.
Biddeford Daily Journal - June 18, 1939
With only about 35 attending the Farewell FanTrip and the need to pay the B&SRR for the trip, the group didn't gain much from the Farewell trip event. They did have a handful of friends pledge, or commit to helping financially, but more money was needed.
Fortunately, the delivery of the buses was delayed. That led to a date change for buses replacing the trolleys to July 6.
July 5 was the final day of trolley operations on the B&SRR before buses took over on July 6. It was also the day that the $150 payment was due for purchasing Car 31. The group only had $108.
On July 5, Ted had the $108 and tracked down Mr. Stride to negotiate for a $108 deposit to save Car 31. Ted waited at the Old Orchard Beach train station, where the train with Mr. Stride, a passenger who would disembark at OOB. The train arrived. Ted met Mr. Stride, Ted talked about the finances, Mr. Stride accepted the $108 as a deposit, and required the balance of $42 to be paid by July 14 to the representative of the Salzberg Company that was under contract to scrap all the trolleys of the B&S. Mr. Stride and Ted shook hands on the negotiated deal.
Postcard of the Old Orchard Beach train station PWM
During the next few days, the group raised the remaining $42 for purchasing Car 31, as well as a few more dollars to pay for the wrecker and secure the rental of a used rear end from a junked Mack dump truck. The rear end would be used to secure one end of Car 31 during transportation to Kennebunkport.
On Friday morning, July 14, Ted was in Biddeford. He didn't have the $42 with him. John Amlaw sent it to Ted via Western Union shortly after lunchtime. Ted met up with the rep from Salzberg Company and paid the balance due for Car 31. Ted then went to the Beach Street Carbarn to start prepping Car 31 for transporting to Kennebunkport.
The backyard of Beach Street Carbarn. Car 31 would use one
of those two tracks extending from the center bays to rest on a track
while awaiting being prepped for leaving.
Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:
O. R. Cummings Collection
Car 31 was waiting in the backyard of the Beach Street car barn. It was on a piece of track that extended through one of the bays into the backyard. Ted, with no experience in removing trucks from under a trolley car, borrowed a jack and the many, many wooden blocks from the Beach Street car barn to jack up one end of Car 31 and remove each truck.
Ready for the wrecker to arrive and hook up.
Car 31 with both of its trucks removed. The body is resting
on wooden saw horses. The end of Car 31, opposite the
carbarn, has two rails secured to the underside of the body.
Those two rails extend out from the body and are secured
to the top of the rear end of a Mack dump truck.
Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum
John Amlaw arrived after Ted got started, and he helped with the process. Each end of 31 was jacked up 6 feet or higher so the trucks could be rolled out from underneath the body. The first end was lowered back down onto wooden sawhorses. Before the back end was lowered all the way down, to the used rear end of a junked Mack dump truck, a pair of rails had to be secured to the underside of the body and to the top of the rear axle of the Mack dump truck. This was like a trailer for the rear end of Car 31 during the transportation to Kennebunkport.
The next morning, July 15, Ted was the only one from the group who was at the Beach Street car barn when Bob Smart and Tom Scott arrived with the wrecker, and Everett Greenleaf arrived with his truck to transport each truck separately to Kennebunkport. In addition to transporting Car 31, the wrecker would be used to load/unload each of Car 31's trucks into and out of Everett's truck.
With how Car 31 was positioned behind the carbarn, it was going to be challenging to hook up the front end of Car 31 to the wrecker and have the wrecker drive through the carbarn, exit through the front of the bay doorway, out to Beach Street, en route to Kennebunkport.
The car barn was going to be totally razed within a couple of weeks. The process had already begun with some sections. A new storage and repair shop for the buses was going to be built.
The wrecker backed up to the end of Car 31, held up by the wrecker's crane. After the sawhorses were removed and the full weight of Car 31 was on the crane, the front wheels of the wrecker lifted up, then away from the ground level. Of course, the driver was not able to steer the wrecker with the front wheels in the air. The team reset 31 so that the front tires returned to the ground.
Ted came up with an idea. Chain the end of Mr. Greenleaf's truck to the front end of the wrecker. Thinking that the added weight of the truck on the front end of the wrecker would keep the wheels on the ground when Car 31 was lifted by the crane. It worked.
However, now they had the 90-100-foot-long parade of chained-together vehicles to try and maneuver through the car barn bay. In Ted's transcript of his interview, he mentions that crew members from the company dismantled part of the car barn, stepped in, and removed portions of the building that were blocking the parade from exiting. Then the long parade maneuvered through and exited the car barn. Then it was off to Kennebunkport.
Seashore Trolley Museum. The roads you see at the entrance to the museum were
not there in 1939. You can still see where the old right-of-way extended
from the top right of the photo, heading south, passing over the Clough
Farm driveway, and continuing just in front of their son, Carl's, house, and
on running parallel with the east side of Biddeford Road (now Log Cabin Road).
Using the photo above as a reference. You can get a sense of the challenge the drivers of the wrecker and lead truck chained to the wrecker were presented with as they contemplated the approach needed to back the 90-100-foot-long Car 31 parade up the right-of-way several hundred feet before they could reach the property where it was wide enough to place Car 31. Where they needed to place Car 31 is further up along the right-of-way than is visible in this photo.
They had to drive toward Kennebunkport until the very end of Car 31, resting on the rails, where the rear end of the Mack dump truck was in line with backing straight into the right-of-way. Coordinating the backing up of these chained-together vehicles must have been very tough.
Ted mentions in his transcript that the Clough Farm driveway was torn up and damaged by the vehicles backing over it. This was the first direct experience of Car 31 being next door to the Cloughs. They were not happy about the damage done to their driveway. Ted, being Ted, apologized to the Cloughs and told them he would return to repair the damaged gravel driveway. Ted was staying with friends on Peaks Island, off the coast of Portland. The next morning, Ted took the ferry from Peaks Island to Portland. Walked to the Customs House. Took a trolley to Monument Square. Boarded a Portland bus to Old Orchard Beach. Board a Biddeford-Saco bus to Five Points. Walked to Granite Street Extension. Entered the old right-of-way of the YUCo/ASL Railway and walked the four miles to the Clough Farm. Borrowed the shovel needed to repair the gravel driveway. Fixed the driveway. Ted thanks the
Clough family, and he returned to Peaks Island later in the day.
Clough family, and he returned to Peaks Island later in the day.
The Cloughs were impressed and became longtime, dear, caring volunteers, overseeing the collection of cars over many years while the early members were serving during WWII and on the weekdays, were not able to be with the collection on the property. Mr. Clough, as a former ASL motorman, with help from his three sons, all of whom were very helpful in providing guidance as to track work, pole placement, overhead wire, working on the cars, etc.
Car 31 as it looked when it was first unloaded at its new home.
You can see the right-of-way parallel with the electric poles.
You see the end of Car 31 is resting on a portion
of the right-of-way. That was a problem. The Electric
Company: Cumberland County Power and Electric began to
complain about this predicament. They required that Car 31
be totally removed from the right-of-way before winter fell.
On November 11, Armistice Day, the task was accomplished!
Below is a link to an interview with Ted Santarelli and his first-hand accounting of how things unfolded and how the first couple of streetcars were acquired (1900 open car No. 31 from the Biddeford
& Saco Railroad and 1906 interurban No. 38 from Manchester & Nashua Street Railway.)
Thank you to Ed Dooks for recording the interview and digitizing the original VHS tape.
"This is the way we started, with one car, with no great thought that we were going to have more cars or that we would develop into a museum of this size."
Ted Santarelli, October 10, 1987
Click Here for the post - "The Birth of Seashore Trolley Museum - An Interview with the Founder".
Click Here for the post - "80th Anniversary Year-Seashore Trolley Museum - A Look Back at the 50s
Click Here for the post - "80th Anniversary Year-Seashore Trolley Museum-A Look Back at the 60s
Click Here for the post - "80th Anniversary Year-Seashore Trolley Museum-A Look Back at the 70s
Click Here for the post - "1901 Tower C Boston Elevated Railway to STM 1975"
Click Here for the post - "80th Anniversary Year-Seashore Trolley Museum-A Look Back at the 60s
Click Here for the post - "80th Anniversary Year-Seashore Trolley Museum-A Look Back at the 70s
Click Here for the post - "1901 Tower C Boston Elevated Railway to STM 1975"
Click Here for the post - The Saga of Northampton Station Coming to Maine 1990
Click Here for the post - 50 Years Ago on Halloween - Narcissus Arrived at Seashore Trolley Museum
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Click Here: For the list of links to Theodore Roosevelt Maine Heritage Trail Posts in Easy Order to View
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
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 first captivate, fascinate, then generate 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 donating 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 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
Gold Book Award Winner plaque for
Middle Reader category for The Eric
Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to
award-winning Maine author,
Jean M. Flahive
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