#SEASHORE TROLLEY MUSEUM GENERATOR#

Seashore owns the right of way to Biddeford, which is about 5 mi (8.0 km) from the Visitor Center. Since the line was abandoned in the 1920s, museum volunteers have rebuilt one and a half miles (2.4 km) from scratch. Restored trolleys are used on the museum's demonstration railway, which follows the route of the Atlantic Shore Line, a trolley line that ran on the current museum property and connected Kennebunkport to York Beach. The museum relies on mostly volunteers for daily operations. The Seashore Trolley Museum continues to acquire new vehicles for the collection. The bus was donated to the museum by the bus company. One of the motor buses the museum owns is Biddeford and Saco #31, the bus that replaced trolley #31 in 1939. While most are from New England and other areas of the United States, trolleys from Canada, Australia, Japan, Germany, Hungary, England, Scotland, Italy, and several other countries are also in the collection. Īs of 2010, the museum had over 260 vehicles. Two cars of the Aroostook Valley Railroad, and two built by the York Utilities Company of Sanford are included in this collection. These include trolley #31 and other vehicles either built or operated in Maine. In 1980, ten of the museum's trolley and railroad cars were listed on the National Register of Historic Places (as ' Maine Trolley Cars'). In the summer of 1956, the Seashore Electric Railway began passenger operations on weekends over its 1⁄ 4 mile (0.40 km) of track. The first major expansion occurred in late 1955 and early 1956, when the Society purchased land near the Biddeford city line along U.S. Car 31 was moved into a small building so that it could be repaired and restored.

#SEASHORE TROLLEY MUSEUM GENERATOR#

In the 1950s, a diesel-powered electric generator was used to allow the cars to move under their own power. Street RailwayĪfter the war, conversion of trolley lines to buses resumed, and created a period of rapid growth for the museum's collection. This also brought about a temporary revival of trolley services in many cities, as rubber and gasoline were rationed for the war effort.Ī 1918-built car of the Eastern Mass. World War II caused the museum to be put on hold, as many members served in the armed forces for the duration. The group of founders formally incorporated in 1941 as the New England Electric Railway Historical Society. The two groups merged, and the Nashua trolley was brought to the Log Cabin Road site. Īt about the same time, another group of rail fans purchased a trolley from the Manchester and Nashua Street Railway. However, it would have to be moved to another location due to local ordinances that prohibited retired trolleys from being used as houses, even though this was not the rail fans' intention.Ī portion of farmland was rented on Log Cabin Road in Kennebunkport, adjacent to the right-of-way for the Atlantic Shore Line Railway's Kennebunk-Biddeford route, and the trolley was moved to it. The railroad was willing to sell them a car (#31, a 12 bench open trolley) for $150. The rail fans decided to find out if they could purchase a trolley to preserve it for posterity. More and more trolley companies were doing this as the technology of buses had developed to the point that they were reliable and economical. The events that led to the formation of the museum started in 1939 when a group of railfans learned that the Biddeford and Saco Railroad were purchasing motor buses to replace its fleet of trolley cars. He graduated from Harvard University and led the museum until he died in 1987. Santarelli de Brasch was one of the founders of the museum, which was initially operated as the Seashore Electric Railway. The Morrison Hill Station at the Seashore Trolley Museum Of the museum's collection of more than 350 vehicles, ten trolley, and railroad cars that historically operated in Maine were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, as Maine Trolley Cars. The Seashore Trolley Museum is owned and operated by the New England Electric Railway Historical Society (NEERHS). While the main focus of the collection is trolley cars (trams), it also includes rapid transit trains, Interurban cars, trolley buses, and motor buses. Seashore Trolley Museum, located in Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, is the world's first and largest museum of mass transit vehicles.

New England Electric Railway Historical Society Biddeford & Saco car 31 is the first trolley ever preserved in the world.

Seashore trolley museum