Kennebunkport, from Town House Junction circa 1907. In the
background to the left is the large brick ASLRwy carbarn/
offices. The waiting station in the center of the photo had
a creamery. The combination car on the right could carry
express freight and passengers. That section of the line would
lead to Kennebunk, Cape Porpoise, or Biddeford.
O. R. Cummings Collection
Here is the newest release in the Maine Bicentennial series of electric railways in Maine. This blog post features the Atlantic Shore Line 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 at Bangor Public Library here
The Atlantic Shore Line car station at Wells Corner was
situated for many years in the Moulton store. This building
was Wells House of Pizza and was razed in recent years.
O. R. Cummings Collection
Click Here for the post: Ninety Communities in Maine with Electric Railway Service!
Click Here for the post: 57 Million Passengers Carried on Electric Railways in Maine in 1915!
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - History of the Portland Railroad 1860-1941
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - History of the Calais Street Railway 1894-1929
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - History of Aroostook Valley Railroad 1909-1946
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Fryeburg Horse Railroad 1887-1913
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - The Norway and Paris Street Railway 1894-1918
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Skowhegan & Norridgewock Railway 1894-1903
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Benton and Fairfield Railway 1898-1928
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - The Somerset Traction Company 1895-1928
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - The Fairfield and Shawmut Railway 1903-1927
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Waterville, Fairfield, & Oakland Rwy 1887-1937
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Trolleys to Augusta, Maine 1889-1932
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Rockland, South Thomaston, & St. George Rwy
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Biddeford and Saco Railroad Co. 1888-1939
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Mousam River Railroad - 1892-1899
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway 1899-1904
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portsmouth, Kittery & York St Rwy 1897-1903
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor Street Railway 1889-1905
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor Railway & Electric Company 1905-1925
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor, Orono & Old Town Railway 1895-1905
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor, Hampden & Winterport Rwy 1896-1905
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Penobscot Central Railway 1898-1906
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Bangor Hydro-Electric Company 1925-1945
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath St Rwy 1898-1907
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville St Rwy 1907-19
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway 1919-1941
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portland & Brunswick Street Railway 1902-1911
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Auburn & Turner Railroad 1905-1928
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Auburn, Mechanic Falls & NorwayStRwy1902-7
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portsmouth, Dover & York St Rwy 1903-1906
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Atlantic Shore Railway 1911-1923
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - York Utilities Company 1923-1949
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portland-Lewiston Interurban - It Begins 1914
Click Here for the post: Maine Bicentennial series - Portland-Lewiston Interurban - The End 1933
Atlantic Shore Line Railway
Even before the Mousam River Railroad commenced operations, plans for an electric railway from Biddeford to York Beach were in the process of formation. On March 28, 1893, the Maine legislature granted a charter to the Atlantic Shore Line Electric Railroad which proposed to build "from some point on the Saco River, in the city of Biddeford, through the towns of Kennebunk and Wells, and to a point near the depot of the York Harbor & York Beach Railroad at York Beach." The act of incorporation was extended for two years in 1895 and again in 1897.
On October 18, 1899, having acquired the charter of the Atlantic Shore Line Electric Railroad, members of the board of directors of the Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway and the Mousam River Railroad, filed articles of association for the Atlantic Shore Line Railway (ASLRwy) with the State RR Commissioners. This new company proposed basically the same route as the electric railroad six years earlier. The new charter was approved on February 9, 1900, for the Atlantic Shore Line Railway.
The first trackage built by the new company was a 1.57-mile line from Dock Square in the village of Kennebunkport to Town House Junction where it connected to the Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway.
The Cape Porpoise trestle with the coal-loading mechanism.
The ASLRwy Casino is on the right.
O. R. Cummings Collection
The next step in the order of events was the merging of the Sanford & Cape Porpoise Railway, the Mousam River Railroad, and the Sanford Power Company with the Atlantic Shore Line Railway. The Maine Legislature authorized the consolidation, which officially took place on April 1, 1904.
Kennebunkport-Arundel-Biddeford Map
from the 2015 NEERHS book,
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street
& Electric Railways 1863-1946"
Stringing the trolley wire "alive" between York Beach and
Ogunquit in the late spring of 1907.
O. R. Cummings Collection
York Beach-Wells-Kennebunk Map from
2015 NEERHS book,
"The Illustrated Atlas of Maine's Street
& Electric Railways 1863-1946"
A large brick carhouse was built at Town House and later, construction began on the line from Town House to Biddeford, using rails and line materials purchased from the New Hampshire Traction Company's proposed, but never built, Exeter-Newmarket line.
The original Town House carhouse, shop, and main offices
for the Atlantic Shore Line Railway circa 1904. This building
suffered from a major fire early in 1909 and was rebuilt.
O. R. Cummings Collection
The new extension from Town House to Biddeford opened on August 8, 1904, where it connected to the Biddeford & Saco Railroad. Another legislative act, this one during 1905, enabled the ASLRwy to secure control of the Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway on February 1, 1906. Later in 1906, construction began to connect the ASLRwy from Main Street in Kennebunk with the PD&Y trackage in York Beach.
The Ogunquit carbarn and power substation is shown here
shortly after the completion of the Kennebunk-York Beach in 1907.
The carbarn was razed in 1924 but the substation was used for
many years thereafter as a Central Maine Power Company
storage building. The Viking restaurant occupied this site.
O. R. Cummings Collection
The new connection between Kennebunk and York Beach opened on Sunday, July 20, 1907. With this stretch of trackage completed, an electric railway passage was opened from New York City to Lewiston, Maine. And in a couple years, from Lewiston to Augusta and Waterville would be completed as well. Total trackage of the ASLRwy in 1907; owned: 87.627 miles, leased: 2.783, siding, etc. owned:4.644, and leased: .110 = 95.164 total miles. Making the ASLRwy the second-longest electric railway system in Maine.
The conductor of the York Beach-bound No. 48 emerges from
the telephone booth at the Elms turnout on Post Road (Route
One), Wells. O. R. Cummings Collection
The Atlantic Shore Line Railway earned the name; "Sea View Route."
Looking north along the Post Road (Route One) from Wells
Corner. O. R. Cummings Collection
For operating convenience, the system was divided into three divisions; Central, Western, and Eastern. The Western Division, formerly the Portsmouth, Dover & York Railway, connects Portsmouth, Dover, and Salmon Falls, NH, Eliot, South Berwick, Kittery, York, York Beach, ME; the Central Division, constituting the latest addition, connects York Beach, Ogunquit, Moody, Webhannet, Wells, The Elms, and Kennebunk; the Western Division includes the Sanford-Springvale-Cape Porpoise route and is the one doing the heaviest freight business. On the ASLRwy, there were eighteen intersections with steam railroads, only one of which was at grade. This was at South Berwick which was changed to an under-grade crossing.
Another view at the terminus of the South Berwick line
at the Boston & Maine crossing. O. R. Cummings Collection
Waiting station at the intersection of Post Road (Route One)
and Eldrige Road in Wells. O. R. Cummings Collection
In general, the fares for passengers were based on about 2 cents a mile, except on the new line between Kennebunk and York Beach, where the 16-mile trip cost 40 cents. There were several discounted ticket programs available.
Crews were being changed at Bald Head Cliff turnout in York
as No. 50 was about to make a northbound trip towards
Kennebunk. O. R. Cummings Collection
Express and Mail services generated additional revenues for the line, and freight service was substantial. During the summer the coal used by the mills in Sanford came by way of Cape Porpoise, where the company had barge-unloading equipment and a coal pocket near Town House. Winter coal was hauled from the Boston & Maine Railroad connections. About 125 tons of coal a day was the average amount shipped on this division of the line.
The Bald Head Cliff Waiting Station of the Atlantic Shore
Line Railway in August 1909. This was near the famous
Cliff House, which was built in 1872. O. R. Cummings Coll.
The high water mark for passengers carried in a single year was the year ending June 30, 1908, when 5,881,581 passengers rode the cars of the ASLRwy. With other revenues, the line ended the year with a surplus of $51,759.
One of three identical electric locomotives was built
by the Laconia Car Company Works in 1906 for the
Atlantic Shore Line Railway. Here is No. 102 in its original
configuration. Nos. 101 and 102 were reconfigured early in
their careers. Only No. 100 stayed in its original configuration
until it was retired in 1949 to the Seashore Trolley Museum.
No. 100 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2009, No. 100 celebrated its complete restoration.
O. R. Cummings Collection
The best gross revenue year was the year ending June 30, 1909, when the passenger revenues were $284,715, Freight: $34,016, Express: $10,493, and Mail: $ 4,951 all added up to $354,250 of total revenues. However, this year began the steady year-after-year of deficits, with a deficit of [$34,378], that would continue for the Atlantic Shore Railway when it took over the ASLRwy in 1911.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
