No. 108 - Seashore Trolley Museum's Laconia Car Company-built Collection

In the hands of Seashore Trolley Museum members/volunteers,

Ed Dooks and his granddaughter Chelsey Pino, as they work

in unison to carefully peel away the paper from the newly

applied the Laconia Car Company decal on the side sill of the

Laconia Car Company-built, and then newly restored,

1906 electric locomotive from the Atlantic Shore Line Railways,

No. 100. Image by PWM 6-30-2009

The Laconia Car Company was located in the center of

Laconia, NH. Over the years, it expanded and took up 7 acres

of land. There were woodworking shops, foundries, set-up

shops, storehouses, and paint shops. The extensive

four-story brick building was dedicated to the iron foundry, which was

connected with the car fabrication business.

     This blog is all about the Portland-Lewiston Interurban, No. 14, Narcissus.....which was built in 1912 by the Laconia Car Company. From time to time, a blog post will extend its coverage of related information to include electric railway topics that enhance understanding of the collection of the Seashore Trolley Museum. This post will be one, in a series, that digs deeper into the Museum's collection of Laconia Car Company-built vehicles.

     Laconia Car Company was one of the important electric railway streetcar manufacturing companies at the turn of the 20th century. Seashore Trolley Museum has ten accessioned electric railway representatives from the Laconia Car Company among its collections. The Laconia collection at Seashore Trolley Museum is diverse. Starting with two early single-truck models from 1895, with a 1902, double-truck, streetcar, and, a 1904, double-truck, 15-bench, open car, a 1904 postal service/express car, a 1906 wooden interurban, a 1906 wooden steeple cab locomotive, a 1912 wooden interurban, a 1914 semi-convertible, and a 1918 semi-convertible.  Not all of these vehicles have been restored yet.

     Three of these Laconia vehicles in Seashore's collection are listed in the National Register of Historic Places; 1904 Portsmouth Dover & York Street Railway, No. 108, wooden Railway Post Office/Express, 1906 Atlantic Shore Line, No. 100, wooden Steeple Cab Locomotive, and 1912 Portland-Lewiston Interurban, No. 14 - Narcissus, wooden Interurban Coach.

     This post will focus on one of the cars acquired in 1949, by Seashore Trolley Museum, from York Utilities Company in Sanford, Maine:

1904 - No. 108 - Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway - Railway Post Office/Express

Combination Car: Railway Post Office/Express - Double/Air

Laconia Car Company - Seats:         L: 36' 8"  W: 8' 4"  Ht: 13' 0"  Wt:
Date Purchased: 1949

Laconia Car Company-built, PD & Y mail car No. 108

shown at York Beach about 1905.

Courtesy of O. R. Cummings Collection

Charles Preston, mail clerk sorting letters inside mail car 108. 

Courtesy of O. R. Cummings Collection 

     No. 108 was constructed as a Railway Post Office car, and carried the mail in closed pouches and sacks, similar to those operated on the steam railroads, with additional space provided for baggage and express. Built by Laconia in 1904 for the Portsmouth, Dover & York Street Railway, which was part of the Atlantic Shore system from 1906 until 1917, it was regularly operated on the York Beach-Portsmouth RPO route until 1918 when the mail contract was canceled.

     With New Bedford RPO Car 34, No. 108 was used in the first-day cover release of streetcar commemorative stamps at Seashore in 1983, officiated by then-Vice President George Bush and Postmaster General William Bolger. P D & Y No. 108 has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. 

One of the many special envelopes that were part of the 150th

Anniversary of Street Railways first day covers that were canceled

at Seashore Trolley Museum on  October 1, 1983.

Laconia Car Company-built, 1904 P D & Y No. 108 is featured here

PWM 

1904 Portsmouth Dover & York Street Railway No, 108 is portrayed in

this York County Stamp Club envelope and special cancellation stamp

September 24, 1983 - PWM

Vice-President George Prescott Bush was present at the Seashore Trolley

Museum when No. 108 was used in the first-day cover release of
streetcar commemorative stamps in 1983. PWM

     Converted to a railway maintenance line car to maintain overhead trolley wires in 1919, it was sold to the York Utilities Company in 1925. Used regularly as a line car and occasionally as a substitute locomotive by York Utilities, it was acquired by Seashore in 1949. Car 108 was used for many years as a line car at the Museum before being restored to its original configuration, mostly by volunteers.

Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich

No. 108 on its side in January 1918. Having read in the above text that the

U.S. Mail contract was canceled in 1918. This is probably why :) Read

the newspaper accounting below. 108 would later be converted to

an overhead line work car.

Image from O. R. Cummings' book, Atlantic Shore Line 1-1-1966

This newspaper account refers to the collapse of a small bridge. The image

above taken at the scene in January 1918 shows little of said collapse?

A typed account from the O. R. Cummings Collection

108 (left) as a line car in Sanford in 1947. Laconia Car Company-built

electric locomotive Nos. 100 (center) and 102 (far right). No. 100 also was

acquired by the Seashore Trolley Museum. 100 was completely restored

over three years 2007-2009.

Image from O. R. Cummings' book, Atlantic Shore Line 1-1-1966

Image from O. R. Cummings' book, Atlantic Shore Line 1-1-1966

The video below of No. 108 is in service at the Seashore Trolley Museum.

Click Here: Video of Theodore Santarelli de Brasch explaining the "Birth" of Seashore Trolley - 1939

Additional blog posts on Seashore Trolley Museum's Laconia Car Company-built Collection:
Click Here: No. 14 - 1912 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 38 - 1907 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 60 - 1895 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 100 - 1906 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 108 - 1904 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 235 & No. 50 - 1895 & 1902 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 4175 - 1914 Laconia Car Company-built Collection
Click Here: No. 4387 - 1918 Laconia Car Company-built Collection

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Gold Book Award Winner plaque for

 Middle Reader category for The Eric

Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to

award-winning Maine author,

Jean M. Flahive

Narcissus Restoration Update - 4-21-2017

Laconia Car Company Works Builder Order #661 shows the order for the

Narcissus and its three family interurbans were created on April 24, 1912.

The Seashore Trolley Museum has ten accessioned vehicles on campus that were

built by Laconia. This writer and Donald Curry will be visiting the Laconia

Historical and Museum Society in mid-August and will be searching for

additional information on the Laconia vehicles in the Museum's collection.

Order page courtesy of the Laconia Historical and Museum Society

Had to recognize the 105th anniversary of the order being placed to build the Narcissus and its three sister interurbans before I gave the Narcissus Restoration Update :)

The Laconia Historical and Museum Society archives, in Laconia, NH, where some Laconia Car Company Works records reside. The LHMS has in its collection a list showing that in April 1912, the Laconia Car Company Works received the order to build four interurbans for the Portland, Gray, and Lewiston Railroad. This is the same month that, Titanic set sail on its maiden and final voyage, as well as the month that Red Sox rookie Ted Williams hit his first major league home run (April 23) out of the new home field, Fenway Park, which first opened on April 20th. The PGLRR became the Portland-Lewiston Interurban in 1914.

April 11, 2017, was just warm enough for Donald Curry,

lead restoration technician, to sand the mahogany clerestory

window openings on the left side of the interior of the

Narcissus. Left side? Yes. Left and right are determined when

facing the number one end. This image has us facing

the number two end, hence, Donald is working on the left

side of the Narcissus :) PWM

The sanded mahogany clerestory arched window openings on the left side of

the interior of the Narcissus. All twenty-four arches failed, as seen here.

Thankfully, most of the pieces of the broken arches were split, but remained

in place and could be glued back into place. Those arches with missing,

broken pieces had replacement mahogany pieces made and glued into place.

In this image, some of the various wiring. There is a mixture of

household wiring that was added by Mr. Vallee when the Narcissus

was the Vallee family summer camp at Sabattus Pond/Lake. This

household wire will be removed. PWM

Seen here is one of the split mahogany

arches of the mahogany sash of the

clerestory window opening. The

mahogany board below, with the brass

screws, is the board that covers the

wiring. The "lines" seen in the

mahogany board are a series of inlaid

Holly (white), then Ebony (black)

followed by another row of Holly (white).

This beautiful inlay is used throughout

the interior of the Narcissus. PWM

Donald Curry works on restoring the

mahogany boards that cover the wiring.

The process is to carefully use denatured

alcohol to remove the old shellac coating

without causing damage or swelling inlay of Holly and Ebony.

April 20, 2017, PWM

After the old shellac and or varnish is

removed, the boards are wiped dry and

then softly sanded smooth. And be

Careful of the inlay of Holley and Ebony boards.

Next, the first of three coats of new

shellac is applied. The holes are seen in

the other mahogany boards that were

originally where the additional light bulb

sockets were to be. However, during

the original build at Laconia, a change

was made to not have these additional

lights after the mahogany boards

had their holes drilled for the sockets.

So, rather than waste the mahogany,

each hole is covered with an ornate

circular mahogany "button". PWM

Mahogany boards with inlay of Holly and

Ebony awaits their turn at being

restored. PWM

Some of the ornate circular mahogany

"buttons" are still in place on some of

these boards from the Narcissus. PWM

One of the "buttons" - PWM

The exterior of the left side of the clerestory arched window openings of

the Narcissus are made from poplar, and they all experienced the same sad

fate as their interior mahogany counterparts, broken/missing arched pieces.

The right side has had all of its exterior poplar arches repaired with vintage

poplar. As the weather warms up, the left side pieces will all be repaired as

well. PWM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Gold Book Award Winner plaque for

Middle Reader category for The Eric

Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to

award-winning Maine author,

Jean M. Flahive

Narcissus Restoration Update - March 27, 2017

A different perspective of the interior of the Narcissus as seen from the center

of its passenger compartment using a 360-degree lens.

A still from a new 360-degree camera, Insta360-air that easily attaches to

my Samsung 5. The camera will also record up to 15 minutes of 360 video. I experimented

with the camera, with various light conditions in the Town House

Restoration Shop...inside and outside of several cars. One plan is to use it to

catalog the interiors and perhaps the undercarriages of the railway

collection?

A different perspective of the Narcissus from the smoking compartment.

Donald Curry is the lead restoration technician for the Narcissus restoration. Donald released an update today describing some of the smaller interior components of the Narcissus project:

27 March 2017

Narcissus roof and clerestory components.

To use our time effectively and relatively warmly, we have been working on projects that can be done in heated areas as well as less warm ones.

Part of this has been to collect smaller parts of those areas, inventorying how many there are as well as their condition.

       Roof ribs

·       Two of these have had their ends restored, and the other three are the pattern for that. We have milled out several pieces of ‘green’ ash to use as stock for missing or damaged ribs. These will be steam-bent when time and staff are available. The number needed is ____ TBD (Ernie has the ones needed for the No. 1 end at home and all are reusable.

·       One steel (“Norway Iron”) rib was straightened by DGC & Ernie by the use of the larger pipe bender and painted with POR, black topcoat. It bent surprisingly easily, so Ernie also did a minor bending of one other. All the compound carlines (wood-iron-wood) can now be carriage-bolted together.

Ernie Eaton straightened one of the bent iron roof ribs. This rib was

supporting the weight of the heavy trolley pole base assembly.

·       Clerestory joint rib covers (“curved triangles”). These are solid mahogany and are used as anchors for the laminated curved joint strips at each light socket and corner. According to what we found, there should be 24 pieces (12 each left and right. Overall dimensions: 7/8 in. mahogany, 8 ¼ in. long, and 4 ¼ in. at the top. The headlining is nailed into the edge with 5 or 6 brads. (In the middle of some of the box nails with heads were used in the arches. They were extremely difficult to get out, causing damage to the strips.)

The photos show how many of these pieces could be found: 4 lefts and 6 rights. The remaining 14 pcs. were not found in the ‘steel’ container, where the rest were found. Possibly, they are still nailed to some pieces that are still together.

All need some small ‘grafts’.

·       Roof rib upper headlining (clerestory corner curved spacers

Soft pine, 1 ¼ in. thick, 1 ½ inches high, and 4 3/8 inches long. The corner, at the bottom, is held on by 1 ¼ in. box nails. Only 5 pieces have been found out of 24 needed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Gold Book Award Winner plaque for

 Middle Reader category for The Eric

Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to

award-winning Maine author,

Jean M. Flahive