Maine Railroad Publications

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  The Biddeford and Saco Railroad

  Osmond Richard Cummings

  Opening Paragraphs

  Small but important among the electric railways of Maine during the golden era of the trolley car was the Biddeford and Saco Railroad which motorized its seven mile system in 1939 after a half century of rail service in the twin cities of Biddeford and Saco and to the neighboring summer resort, Old Orchard Beach.

  A busy and prosperous little road for many years, the Biddeford and Saco was a key segment in the continuous electric railway route from the New Hampshire state line to the heart of Central Maine, serving as the connecting link between the Atlantic Shore Railway and the Portland Railroad Company in addition to providing terminal trackage for the latter at Saco and Old Orchard Beach. As a matter of fact, for a time the Biddeford and Saco was controlled by the Portland system through stock ownership by Portland Railroad officials.

  The Biddeford and Saco operated the last open cars in the Pine Tree State and was the last street railway in New England to run opens in regular scheduled service. It is one of the oldest New England transit properties still operating under its original corporate title but its greatest distinction lies in the fact that it continues to maintain the basic five cent fare-the same fare with which it began operation in 1888! In recent years, the B&S has been given nationwide publicity over this unusual state of affairs -- unusual in that there are very few bus lines in this country where a nickel retains its old-time dignity as the price of a ride .

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  The Trolley Museum: Seashore Electric Railway on U.S. 1, Kennebunkport, Maine

  Seashore Electric Railway and New England Electric Railway Historical Society

  Opening paragraphs:

  "Since World War II, the trolley car has been vanishing so rapidly from the American scene that few members of the younger generation have ever ridden a streetcar --this despite the fact that nearly every one of our large cities was laid out around an electric railway system. Back in 1939, when the trend to other means of transport was already becoming irrevocably established, a dolzn men in Boston undertook to preserve for posterity, a single open car from Biddeford, Maine. From this modest start has grown Maine's famous Trolley Museum, of which this is the official catalogue. Because the collection represents nearly every phase of car design and development, this booklet is also a history of the trolley from 1873 to 1931.

  In all the annals of human endeavor, never has so large an enterprise grown and disappeared so swiftly as the traction industry. Less than 70 years have passed since 1888, when the first really successful electric car was placed in service. In 1921, the elenric railway business was America's fifth industry, with 300,000 employees, a six billion dollar investment, and 15 billion riders -- twelve times the number of passengers carried by the steam railroads in the same year. Yet today, but six interurban lines remain of the hundreds which once criss-crossed the nation, and a mere dozen cities in the United States and Canada are still served by streetcars. Most of these are of the silent streamlined type designed by the industry's Presidents' Conference Committee (PCC) in 1936 to meet auto and bus competition. A rare thing indeed is the sight and sound of an old time trolley. Soon, even these remnants will be gone. Only in a museum will it be possible to see and ride what was once the world's most important and certainly most interesting transport vehicle. Here, we hope to perpetuate for future generations, an operating trolley line, with original equipment, amid the surroundings of the era during which this country grew from a rural frontier into the industrial giant and world power that it is today."

  The booklet is 44 pages. The last ten pages are the front and back of five separate postcards that were on view at the Trolley Museum circa 1958 -- and possibly remain on display there today.

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  Through Crawford Notch of the White Mountains: The White Mountains to the Sea -- Portland to Mt. Washington (Souvenir of a Trip Over the Maine Central Railroad)

  Maine Central Railroad

  Offers descriptions of sites seen by train car from Portland, Maine, to the White Mountains of New Hampshire via the Maine Centrail Railroad, White Mountain Division. The pamphlet is not dated. The date is 1916 or before, as the Bangor Public Library added this item to its collection August 4, 1916.

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  Trolleys to Brunswick, Maine -- 1896-1937

  Osmond Richard Cummings and Connecticut Valley Chapter, National Railway Historical Society

  Introduction

  The last of the long-distance cross-country trolley lines which once abounded in New Engiand was the 30-mile route between Lewiston and Bath via Brunswick in the State of Maine. Built by the Lewiston, Brunswick & Bath Street Railway Company in 1898, it was operated by the Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Street Railway Company from 1907 to 1919, and was abandoned by the LA&W's successor, the Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway Company in 1937 after a lifetime of nearly 40 years. It might have lasted even longer had it not been for highway construction!

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  Waterville, Fairfield & Oakland Railway Company

  Osmond Richard Cummings and Connecticut Valley Chapter, National Railway Historical Society

  Introduction

  One of Maine's last six electric railways was the Waterville, Fairfield & Oakland Railway which, from 1911 to 1937, connected the city of Waterville with the neighboring towns of Fairfield and Oakland. Owned by the Central Maine Power Company, it was one of three traction properties of that corporation, the others being the Portland-Lewiston Interurban and the Rockland, Thomaston & Camden Street Railway.

  Formed through a consolidation of the Waterville & Fairfield Railroad Company, which started as a horse car line in 1888, and the Waterville & Oakland Street Railway Company, which began operation in 1903, it was primarily a passenger carrier throughout its existence, although for a number of years it did provide terminal facilities for the freight and express service operated by the connecting Lewiston, Augusta & Waterville Street Railway Company and later the Androscoggin & Kennebec Railway.