No. 235, No. 50, and No. 9 - 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, carefully

peel away the paper from the newly applied 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.

     Laconia Car Company was one of the important electric railway streetcar manufacturing companies at the turn of the 20th century. This builder was the only industry in the New Hampshire town of the same name. The community problems faced by the townspeople following the company's collapse in 1928 have been the subject of several important economic studies. (1) 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 monitor roofs and a seating capacity of 26 passengers, up to a 1918 semi-convertible, with a seating capacity of 44. The collection includes a 1904, double-truck, 15-bench, open car with a railroad roof, wooden interurbans, a postal service car, and a wooden steeple cab locomotive.

     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.

(1) p. 6, 1954 "Historic Cars of the Seashore Electric Railway, 1st edition

     Searching for details on the Laconia Car Company-built vehicles within the Museum's collection sometimes uncovers some interesting tidbits. The poem below is one:

Seashore Trolley Museum member 444, Anthony F. Tieuli had his poem published in the

July 1958, Volume 1, Number 3 issue of "The Trolley Museum Dispatch". The first year

of the Museum's newsletter was published monthly for its members. PWM

1895 - No. 235 - West End Street Railway of Boston
City & Suburban Streetcar - Single/Hand

Laconia  Car Company - Seats: 26 - L: 29' 8" - W: 7' 8" Ht: 11' 5" Wt: 19,077
Acquired in 1967

No. 235 as a rail grinder at Egleston Square, Boston, MA

5th Edition, 2nd printing of Historic Cars of Seashore Trolley Museum

pg. S-1 - Charles Duncan Photo

     With open platforms originally, the vestibules were enclosed sometime between 1901 and 1905 with the 1900 act of the Massachusetts Legislature. This required all cars regularly operated in the state during December, January, February, and March to have enclosed platform vestibules for the protection of motormen. The type of enclosure adopted by the West End was known as the "West End Front" and consisted of one small window on either side of the large center sash, fabricated with a "bay window" effect to allow for the swing of the hand brake handle. Folding doors replaced the swinging gates that were previously used. Converted to a rail maintenance car, first to a sand car, then to a rail grinder in 1935, it came to Seashore from George King, a private collector, in 1967. Cars like these inspired the late Fontaine Fox to create his famous "Toonerville Folks" comic strips and cartoons, which were widely published during the waning years of the trolley era. Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich

Operated in Dorchester, MA during its passenger-carrying days. No. 235 must be extensively restored.

1902 - No. 50 - Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway

City & Suburban Streetcar - Double/

Laconia Car Company - Seats: 32 - L: 34' 4"    W:       Ht:          Wt: 

Acquired 1957

     Operated by the Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway and its predecessors from 1902 to 1927, and ran most of the time between Haverhill and Amesbury, Massachusetts, via Plaistow and Newton, New Hampshire. It has curved panel sides and drop sash windows, but has a railroad roof instead of a rectangular monitor roof. When built, it had both transverse and longitudinal seats as it was to be used largely in suburban service, where passengers rode longer distances than in the city, and where comfort was of more importance. The body of No. 50 was purchased and donated to Seashore by Historian O. R. Cummings and it must be extensively restored. Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich

No. 50 being lowered onto trucks and heading for a carbarn at

Seashore Trolley Museum after surviving 40 years of outdoor storage.

Photo James E. Tebbetts

      An excerpt from the 1954 Annual Report of the New England Electric Railway Historical Society (Seashore Trolley Museum) states No. 50; Massachusetts Northeastern Street Railway No. 50 acquired in the fall, is our first from this famous system. It is of an interesting early Laconia design, one of the first with a railroad roof.

1904 - No. 9 - Rhode Island Newport & Providence Railway

15 Bench Open Car - Double/

Laconia Car Company - Seats: 75 - L: 43' 0"   W: 8' 0"    Ht:       Wt:
Acquired in 1990

No. 9 when new. D. O'Hanley collection

     Larger open bench cars quickly became popular, and 15 benches became almost the standard. The Brill Company had a patent on the one-piece cast seat bench end. No. 9, built by Laconia in 1904 for Rhode Island's Newport & Providence Railway, uses a different bench-end configuration to avoid paying the Brill loyalty.

It survived as part of a home in Newport until it was rescued by the Fall River and Old Colony Railroad Museum in Massachusetts, which subsequently gave the car body to Seashore in 1990.

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

No. 9 will need extensive work to restore.

On West Main Street, Providence, two boys pause to watch

the new trolley passing as the conductor has a word with

N & P Superintendent Jones.

D. O'Hanley collection

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

No. 60 - 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, carefully

peel away the paper from the newly applied 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.

     Laconia Car Company was one of the important electric railway streetcar manufacturing companies at the turn of the 20th century. This builder was the only industry in the New Hampshire town of the same name. The community problems faced by the townspeople following the company's collapse in 1928 have been the subject of several important economic studies. (1) 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 monitor roofs and a seating capacity of 26 passengers, up to a 1918 semi-convertible, with a seating capacity of 44. The collection includes a 1904, double-truck, 15-bench, open car with a railroad roof, wooden interurbans, a postal service car, and a wooden steeple cab locomotive.

     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.

(1) p. 6, 1954 "Historic Cars of the Seashore Electric Railway, 1st edition

     This post will focus on the 1941 acquisition of the fourth car (body) acquired by the founders of the fledgling Seashore Trolley Museum:

1895 - No. 60 - Manchester Street Railway

City & Suburban Streetcar - Single motor/Handbrake

Laconia Car Company - Seats: 26 - L: 29' 6"   W:        Ht:              Wt:
Date Purchased: April 11, 1941

Seashore Trolley Museum's, 1895 Laconia Car Company-built,

Manchester Street Railway No. 60 enclosed vestibules.

     One of the first trolleys in New Hampshire, it had a twenty-foot body and it originally had longitudinal plush upholstered seats and open platforms; vestibules were enclosed in 1899. After being withdrawn from passenger service, No. 60 was kept as a railway maintenance car to sand rails for many years and its body was acquired by Seashore in 1941. Historic Cars: The National Collection at the Seashore Trolley Museum by Ben Minnich. 

A truck for No. 60 was acquired from a scrapped Portland Railroad car. See and hear the founder of Seashore Trolley Museum, Ted Santarelli, talk briefly about how No. 60 was transported to Maine and the process of acquiring its truck. The opening is a brief account of how the Seashore Trolley Museum was started.

A drawing on No. 60 in its original configuration with the open vestibules.

Image from the book, Historic Cars of the

Seashore Electric Railway, 1st Edition, 1954.

     The cars of the 1890s were very much like the earlier horse cars but were larger and heavier. They had monitor roofs (without the eyebrow-style ends), yellow-belly sides, and open platforms (vestibules). (1)

June 1941 report of the fledgling

Seashore Electric Railway makes no mention

of acquiring No. 60 earlier that year.

The deadline for printing may have been the reason?

PWM

The 1945 report was in this

February 1946 NEERHS - Seashore Electric Railway Annual Report.

Notice the W. F. Goddard drawing of No. 60 is

prominent at the top. PWM

Page 2 of the February 1946 Annual Report

has a photo of the Brill 21E trucks being

"acquired" from the Portland Railroad car.

See the story below. PWM

Page 3 of the February 1946 annual Report

has images of No. 60 with and without its

trucks. 1940 having some paint applied and 1944, a

couple of images of it on the rails :) PWM

     Edward Dooks, a long-time Seashore Trolley Museum member/volunteer, conducted, recorded, and transcribed, recollections of  Seashore Trolley Museum members' experiences involving the Museum. In addition, Ed recorded, collected, and transcribed recollections of local neighbors for the Seashore Trolley Museum. Here are some of those transcriptions, as they relate to the acquisition of No. 60 in 1941.

Transcripts from 1988 interviews conducted by Ed Dooks. Interviewees:

A = John Amlaw, one of Seashore's original members

B = Henry Brainerd, one of Seashore's earliest members

No. 60

A: We talked to Mr. Goodman (the junk man) for the better part of an hour and I asked him how much he wanted for the car. He was trying to get me to name a price and I said, "Well, Mr. Goodman, it's your property. So, how can I name a price for your property?" He finally said, "$100."

It was at this point that I told him that as far as I was concerned, it was worth nothing; that I'd give him $5 just to pay him for putting it on the books, but that the car was all wood; the only metal in it were the screws and nuts and bolts which was practically nothing as far as junk value was concerned. He would have to move it out of Manchester, down to Bedford.

In fact, he would have to move it down to Bedford to scrap it because he couldn't do it under Manchester City limits and it would cost him more to move that car down there and time, effort, and wages that he would never get back from scrapping it. So, we finally got down to the point where he said $25 and that was as low as he would go. Well, I had a $10 bill wrapped up, folded up in my (wallet) and I said, "Well, I guess I'll put this away." So, as soon as I started to unfold the $10, he reached out and grabbed my hand and he said, "Wait a minute. We're not done talking yet." So we kept on, and he said $10, well, all right. that's fairly close to $25." So we told him there were some things wrong with no. 60. Some things missing, but there was another car there, 58, which was the same kind of car, and if we could have the parts from 58 to fix up 60, then I would pay him the $10. so he agreed to this.

So we paid him the money for it and got the car and he subsequently came over to the barn when we were working on the cars and he came in and looked at it and he said, "Oh, I didn't know this was the car, I'm sorry I charged you the $10 for it. I didn't realize what it was. Look, come down here." So, we went down to another car that had new upholstery and new curtains in it and I don't know how it came about, because Manchester wasn't noted for putting new equipment in the cars, but maybe it was in the stock room and they figured they'd use it before they went out of business. "Take anything out of this car. These are nice new curtains, new seats. Take them to fix up the other car and anything else you want. Just don't take any brass." So, I said, "Mr. Goodman, if we need something and it's brass, would it be all right with you if we take it and show it to you and set a price on it?" "Yes, yes, that'll be fine," he said. So we did get one or two of the window bars on the bulkhead, not the outside window gratings which were iron. When he saw them he said, "Oh, that doesn't amount to anything, just take them."

So, we got 60 fixed up, and the way we had it was to hire a couple of fellows in Manchester. They got a pair of wagon wheels about 4 ft. in diameter on a long axle and put it under the middle of the car, just back of the middle, but the front end of it onto the back of a Model A Ford coupe, and drove the 80 miles from Manchester to Seashore in that manner.

D: Do you remember the guys' names?

A: No, I don't. Unfortunately, they were typical French names, and I can't for the life of me remember them.

B: It seems to me that we did something like enrolling them as members so they could say they were members doing some volunteer. We did pay them something but that was off the record and, if anyone tried to stop them for commercial trucking without proper permits, or anything, they could show something to prove they were members.

You didn't say anything about going up and painting 60 before we moved it. that's the day I was with you, so I remember. We were in a Model A Ford coupe with a rumble seat that was one of Earl Bacon's better buys, you know, "Better buy it before it falls apart." and you were driving. I was in the middle of the front seat, and we synchronized our actions so when you put the clutch down, I'd shift the gear to whatever was needed. I think Ted, Horton, and Lou Phinney, were with us. They had gallon cans of paint around their feet and we painted it red on the upper side panel and yellow on the lower. I think we painted some numbers so that they looked something like they should have. I remember I went around picking up all the old mica washers for the resistor grids and everyone else thought I was foolish, but it struck me they'd be very valuable if we ever had to change resistor grids.
We spent the full day and so when the car was moved, it had reasonably good-looking paint.

60 was on a truck that John and some others got from a work car in Portland and couldn't afford motors.

A: As I recall it, when Portland went out, we were just about broke and just barely managing to keep up with the firms we owed and we just didn't want to try it (getting a car from Portland). What we did get from (Portland) was a (Brill 21E) truck. I guess it was from the Deering Carbarn. They had a little

single-truck car.--- One thing about Portland--they kept the same design for many of their cars. So, these little single-truck box cars, the last of them were all steel, but they were still built to exactly the same standards as the wooden ones were in the beginning. That's where we got the truck for no. 60. We took the body off and dumped it down in that little ravine beside the barn. I remember Ted was saying at the time that was too bad that we had to junk this car because it was a beautiful little car but we just couldn't afford it. So, we didn't dare take a chance.

A: I remember 60 was painted white during the War. We painted it with white lead prime. A group of hunters came down one night just to gossip and they thought they were getting a little too much nose paint when they came through the woods and saw a white streetcar facing them. The colors were almost identical to those used by First National Stores. So we used to joke that it was the First National's Auxiliary car.

Transcripts from July 4, 1989, interviews conducted by Ed Dooks. Interviewees:

B = Charlie Brown, one of Seashore's original members

C = Jerry Cunningham, one of Seashore's original members
P = Lucien Phinney, one of Seashore's original members

P: What I want to know is, when did we go to Portland to strip the truck from the Portland car, the Portland Railroad car that was being dismantled? Because I was there and I remember what a bombastic thing it was when we cut the last bolt loose and the truck fell loose from the car, which was on its side. That was preparation for having the truck moved to Kennebunk for, they tell me now, the City of Manchester.

B: The body from Manchester, of number 60 came over here on two big wagon wheels pulled by a pickup truck. Had had no truck. Had no steel streetcar truck. To obtain a suitable truck steel streetcar truck, for that car body we went to Portland and dismantled a work car, I think 316 or 318, which had an identical truck in good condition, and that was placed under Manchester 60 and so we had a composite car if you will. but I believe that is what happened. We have a photograph of the car body from a Portland car being tipped off its truck. And the body was scrapped; it was in such bad shape. The truck, I think is a Brill 21E, fit perfectly under the Manchester car. So we had one good car.

1895 Manchester Street Railway Car No. 60 is awaiting a project manager to lead its full restoration.

Click Here: Complete Video of Theodore Santarelli 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

No. 100 - 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, 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:

1906 - No. 100 - Atlantic Shore Line Railway

Steeple Cab Locomotive - Double/Air

Laconia Car Company - Seats:       L: 34' 0"    W:      Ht:     Wt: 45,000
Date purchased: 1949

No. 100 on Seashore Trolley Museum's Town House Restoration Shop lead.

Fresh from a complete restoration in September 2009. PWM

     Three identical double-truck freight locomotives of wood construction, Nos. 100-102, were ordered by the Atlantic Shore Line Railway from the Laconia (NH) Car Company Works in 1906 and all were on hand by the end of the year. Of the so-called "cab-on-raft" variety, each was 34 feet long overall and was mounted on what was described in a 1908 ASLRy roster as Laconia "Special" trucks with a wheelbase of 5 ft. 6 in.. Other initial equipment of each locomotive included four General Electric 80 (40-hp) motors, K-28F platform controllers, and General Electric automatic air brakes. There were knuckle couplers of the MCB type, and, wooden bar pilots at the ends, and single trolley poles on the cab roofs.

No. 100 in its original configuration in Sanford at the Goodall Mills in 1907

Seashore Trolley Museum collection

     An early picture suggests they were painted green with white trim and carried the company name on their side sills. No. 101 was rebuilt into a box express car in 1908 and at about the same time the cab on No. 102 was enlarged to almost double its original size. No. 100, however, remained in its original configuration and became the property of the Atlantic Shore Railway on Jan. 1, 1911, and of the York Utilities Company on Feb. 1, 1923.

Coal Pier at Bickford's Island, Cape Porpoise, ME

Schooners would have their coal cargo unloaded into coal

gondolas and 100 would haul the train of coal to the coal

pocket in Kennebunkport or to the mills in Sanford.

Postcard PWM

Coal pocket in Kennebunkport.

Seashore Trolley Museum Collection

     Geared for power rather than for speed, Nos. 100 and 102 were used primarily to haul standard steam railroad freight cars to and from physical connections with the Boston and Maine RR at Springvale Village in Sanford, West Kennebunk, and Kennebunk. Beginning about 1913, one of them also moved carload lots of cordwood from Harris siding, near the present entrance to the Seashore Trolley Museum, to the Kennebunk interchange for forwarding to destinations via the B&M. (The wood was harvested on both sides of the ASLRy-ASRy-YUCo private right-of-way between Log Cabin Road, Kennebunkport, and Granite Street Extension, Biddeford.)

     After the York Utilities Company abandoned its trackage between Sanford and Biddeford via Kennebunk and Kennebunkport on Sept. 15, 1927, Nos. 100 and 102 were based in Sanford and the former was active until the end of trolley freight service between the Springvale interchange and various industries in Sanford village in June 1949. It was acquired by the Seashore Trolley Museum later the same year but received little attention there during the ensuing half-century. ASL-100 was fully restored, to operating condition, over the years 2006-2009. 

     The only known serious accident involving No. 100 occurred Friday, June 11, 1915, when it collided with the 15-bench open passenger car No. 47 in Sanford. The force of the impact was so great that the roof supports of No. 47 were snapped off and the roof came crashing down on the passengers, injuring a number of them. (The most seriously hurt was Morris Gampert, 25, of Sanford, who had his left foot amputated after suffering multiple fractures when he jumped from the open car.) No. 47 was scrapped but minor damage to the locomotive was quickly repaired and No. 100 soldiered on for another 34 years. ASL-100 has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1980.

History by O. R. Cummings, Historian, New England Electric Railway Historical Society

1949, No. 100 travels to its new home,

Seashore Trolley Museum.

Seashore Trolley Museum Collection

The Video below features ASL-100 before restoration and after.

The video below of ASL-100 receiving one of its Laconia Car Company Decals in 2009.

No. 100, very tired, but operating under its own power - September 17, 2005

as it makes its way to Town House Restoration Shop.

Initial restoration would begin late in the year. PWM

No. 100 on September 1, 2009. The first trip out of the Seashore Trolley

Museum's Town House Restoration Shop to check clearances, brakes, etc.,

through switches and around the visitor center loop. The $135K restoration

 was a combination of Federal and State Funds through

the TEA-21program, local matching funds, including major grants through Massachusetts

Bay Railroad Enthusiasts, H. Albert Webb Memorial Railroad Award and

Amherst Railway Society Heritage Awards. Many thousands of hours

of restoration work were provided by many volunteers. PWM

     This full restoration was my first as the volunteer project manager. Initially, in 1999, a group of us identified the Portland-Lewiston Interurban, No. 14, Narcissus, as a prospect for possible TEA-21 funding. We had second thoughts on having our first TEA-21 application be for such a complicated, multi-year restoration, as Narcissus, so, it was determined that we should choose a less complicated complete restoration as our "practice" applicant to TEA-21. The 1906 wooden electric locomotive, No. 100, with a total of $55(!) in its restoration fund, was our choice. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, our research led us to believe that 100 was one of only two in all of North America to be of this type and in its original configuration. The first application was made in 2000 and was not approved. The 2002 application was not approved either. Persistency and more than 40 letters of support for the 2004 application tipped the scales in our favor and the project was approved. Contracts, public hearings, state project manager assignments, etc., took some time before restoration work began in earnest in November 2006. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completion of the project was held in September 2009. The $185,000 project included the complete restoration of 100, a beautiful 40' x 40' exhibit in the Museum's display room, and an online curriculum. Many videos of the restoration work were posted on YouTube. Search ASL-100 and any number of clips will present themselves. Below is the very first video on September 17, 2005.

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

Next Stop: Mount Katahdin, then The Oxbow, Aroostook River, Munsungan Lake, and more...

Joe Banavige trekked an estimated 200 or more miles by canoe and on

foot to retrace the steps of Theodore Roosevelt through the North Dakota 

Wilderness, eventually concluding his journey at the Stark County

Courthouse Thursday morning. Photo by Ellie Porter/The Dickinson Press

Read the entire Dickinson Press Story Here

How appropriate, that I should receive this email of introduction from Sharon Kilzer, project manager at the Theodore Roosevelt Center, on Friday that kicks off the Memorial Day Weekend. 

"Phil Morse, meet Joe Banavige. via a copy of this email, I am introducing the two of you. Phil, Joe has undertaken a new project to reproduce many of Theodore Roosevelt's adventures. You can read about his journey down the Little Missouri River and overland to Dickinson, retracing the capture of the boat thieves, in today's Dickinson Press: http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/news/local/4273427-beautiful-brutal-badlands-man-retraces-roosevelts-journey. 

Joe's next adventure will be in Maine, canoeing the Aroostook River and Munsungan Lake. Joe has already connected with Bill Sewall's descendants, and I thought you might be helpful to him, based on your research on TR's journeys in that region."

Best regards to you both,

Sharon

I clicked on the newspaper story link. Read the story and then click on the link to learn Joe's Story.

I did a reply-all email to Sharon and shared my eagerness to help Joe in any way he might need my help making contacts for his trek here in Maine. Joe responded to my email on Monday. We hit it off right from the start:) When he told me that his brother-in-law, a retired Maine State Trooper from Palermo, ME, would be joining him on the trek here in Maine, I checked in with ThorntonAcademy's Chief of Campus Safety, Jim Trask (a retired Maine State Trooper). I asked Jim if he happened to know Gerard Madden, also a retired MST? Jim's response was, "Hi Phil, I know Gerry very well, we were classmates in the SP Academy of 1984. He is a friend. You will like him, he has a great sense of humor. Give him my best. Jim" Through Joe, I have passed on Jim's salutation. Here is more info and some links to what Joe is about. I hope you will consider making a donation to help Joe and the Semper Fi Fund he is dedicating his heroic efforts to support:

It was quite a strenuous adventure, and I really characterize it

as brutal. I've confirmed three of my upcoming events 

(Lake Wanonia half-marathon (June 3) Tough Mudder (July)

and World's Toughest Mudder (August).

See the full schedule of 2017 events here

Joe is retracing "The Terrain of Theodore Roosevelt" and redoing many of TR's lifelong adventures. "I started a little while back and have recently completed activities in the White Mountains and also just completed a 200-mile Dakota Territory trek that focused on following the story where TR chased thieves over the Little Missouri River, caught them, and then drove them overland back down to Dickinson, North Dakota. An overview of my project, as well as a press article on the Dakota Territory piece, are below":

Click Here: For an overview of my project 

Click Here: For Dakota Territory News Story

Click Here: For My Facebook Page which is somewhat of a blog for the overall effort

Click Here: Semper Fi Fund and Joe's Story

"I am now turning to Maine in mid-June and will be retracing many of TR's steps in the area around Mount Katahdin and Island Falls. I'll be focused on TR's August/September 1879 adventures and will summit Katahdin, canoe from Oxbow to Munsungan Lake, and will also do some canoeing around Island Falls. One interesting point of note is that TR was guided by William Sewall on these trips and Sewall went to Dakota with TR and was one of the men on the Dakota boat chase adventure. Sewall was basically a mentor to TR and a lifelong friend. I'm also getting assistance in Maine (Phil Morse is a great example and is a member of the Maine Theodore Roosevelt Association) and I'll be completing the adventures with my brother-in-law, who is a retired Maine State Trooper. I've also been coordinating with Bart DeWolfe (Maine Woods Forever), Donna Davidge (Island Falls, Sewall House) as well as others. Our family is also an owner of a house in Maine (Palermo), so we have had long ties to the area."

Joe Banavige

For those Narcissus Project Blog followers, you may recall, I have released several posts on Theodore Roosevelt and his connections here in Maine, including those that Joe will be retracing. For more on those particular posts, here are the links:

This first link probably summarizes TR's Maine visits and connections to Maine most comprehensively.

Click Here: - Theodore Roosevelt and the Narcissus - Connecting Maine Communities

Click Here: - Theodore Roosevelt First Visited Maine as a young teenager

Click Here: - Two Accomplished Writers and a National Park Service Ranger from Sagamore Hill

Click Here: - Longfellow Square is Where the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway Begins

Click Here: - Theodore Roosevelt Artifacts Here in Maine

Click Here: - Bible Point - Island Falls, Maine & Theodore Roosevelt

Click Here: - Theodore Roosevelt Grieved in Dark Harbor on Islesboro, Maine

Click Here: - Theodore Roosevelt Maine Conservation Award - Maine Woods Forever 4-15-2016

Click Here: - Teddy Roosevelt Days 2016 - Michael Canfield: "Theodore Roosevelt Field Notes"

Click Here: - Teddy Roosevelt Days 2016 - TR Artifacts and a Successful Event

Click Here: - A President Has Ridden in My House!

Click Here: - A Previously Unknown Image of Theodore Roosevelt in Maine - Resolved:)

Click Here: - 2017 Theodore Roosevelt Maine Conservation Award - Maine Woods Forever 4-7-2017

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

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