Bangor Tram (Maine)

The district capital Bangor in the US state Maine had a streetcar operation from 1889 to 1945 . The network had a total route length of 92 kilometers in 1911 and stretched from Old Town in the north to Hampden in the south and from Brewer in the east to Charleston in the west. In addition to the overland lines, the urban area of ​​Bangor was also served by several city lines.

history

Bangor Street Railway

The Bangor Street Railway Company was founded on February 11, 1887 with the aim of building an electric tram in Bangor. At that time, the mode of transport had already proven itself in some cities in the USA and due to the steep mountains in the city, a horse-drawn tram was out of the question. The concession to build and operate the necessary facilities was granted on June 10th of that year. It included an obligation to clear snow on the roads being traveled, a maximum speed of 6 miles per hour (about 10 km / h) and a ban on getting on and off while driving for women and children. On August 16, 1888, construction began on the line, which was to run from the Tin Bridge, the bridge on the Cumberland Center – Bangor railway over the highway near the southern city limits, along Main Street and State Street. East of the bridge over the Kenduskeag River , the route swiveled into Exchange Street to get back to State Street via Washington and Oak Street, which it then followed north to the terminus on Pearl Street. The pivoting was necessary to connect the Bangor Union Station , the main train station of the city. A short branch line, which was used exclusively for freight traffic and, during the construction of the railway, also for the delivery of the tracks and vehicles, led as early as 1888 (without electricity) through Railroad Street to the old station of the Maine Central Railroad . The railway received its electricity from the Bangor Electric Light and Power Company . On May 21, 1889, the first electric tram Maine with four railcars of the Newburyport Car Company was put into operation. The route was 5.04 kilometers long, single-track standard gauge and had three turnouts.

In 1890, work began on expanding the route network. On September 1 of that year, a line went into operation in the neighboring town of Brewer. It began on State Street at the southern end of the wooden Toll Bridge (near the southern bridgehead of today's bridge) over the Penobscot River and led through Penobscot Street, Center Street, North Main Street and South Main Street in a lateral position to Stone Street in South Brewer, where a small depot was built near the terminus. Another new line branched off from the existing line in Bangor at the intersection of Washington Street / Oak Street and led through Washington Street to the northern end of the Toll Bridge (a good bit east of today's northern bridgehead). No tracks were allowed to be laid over the light, covered wooden bridge itself; passengers had to cross it on foot. The length of the new lines was 5.63 kilometers. The Birch Hill Line was opened on September 14th. It led from the Toll Bridge over the existing route through Main Street and from there over a 2.46 km long new line through Union Street, Hudson Street and Ohio Street to the Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

On June 3, 1893, the railway company put another new line into operation. It branched off the existing route at Post Office Square (State Street / Exchange Street) and led over Exchange Street, Harlow Street, Cumberland Street and Center Street to the intersection of Center Street and Congress Street. Further extensions followed in 1895. A new branch was created from Union Street through Hammond Street to 14th Street. The Center Street line ran from this year on a more direct route from Post Office Square through Park Street, the section over Cumberland Street and Harlow Street was sold to the Bangor, Orono and Old Town Railway , whose overland line was under construction. The main line has been extended a short distance at both ends, namely in Main Street to the city limits and in State Street to Otis Street. At the same time, the section from Maplewood Park through Main Street to Union Station was double-tracked. In 1902 the company extended the Center Street Line through Center Street to Poplar Street. Another extension of this line took place on August 13, 1904 via Poplar Street, Leighton Street, Congress Street, Fountain Street and Jefferson Street to Center Street, creating a ring line operated only counterclockwise.

At the end of 1901 the first bus company was opened in Bangor. The short tram line from downtown Bangor to Toll Bridge was no longer used as a line, but replaced by a bus line that ended at the Washington Street / Oak Street intersection and ran over the Toll Bridge to the terminus of the tram in Brewer. For this purpose, two buses equipped with battery motors were purchased. As early as March 1902, when part of the Toll Bridge collapsed, this bus service ended for the time being and had to be replaced by a ferry until it was repaired. The collapsed segment of the wooden bridge was replaced by a steel structure, but not the rest of the bridge, so that trams were still not allowed to run on it.

On June 30, 1905, the Bangor Street Railway merged with the rest of the city's tram companies and the Bangor Electric Light and Power Company to form the Bangor Railway and Electric Company . 14.595 kilometers of route were handed over to the new company.

Bangor, Orono and Old Town Railway

First, on March 9, 1889, the Old Town Street Railway Company was founded. She wanted to build tram lines in Old Town from the center of town to Upper Stillwater and Great Works. On February 27, 1891, the company also received approval for a route via Milford to Bradley , which, however, was never built. The day before the Old Town, Orono and Veazie Railway Company was founded, which wanted to build a line from Old Town via Orono to Veazie, where connection to an extension of the Bangor Street Railway would be made. The concession for the entire line from Bangor to Old Town was awarded to both companies if one of the two could not build their part of the line for any reason. On June 15, 1892, the Old Town, Orono & Veazie leased the Old Town Street Railway. The company was renamed Bangor, Orono and Old Town Railway Company in 1893 .

Construction work began at the beginning of 1895 and regular operations began on July 17 of that year. The line began in Bangor at the terminus of the main line at the intersection of State Street / Otis Street, where the depot of the new train was also located. It ran through Veazie, Orono, the University of Maine campus and Upper Stillwater to the center of Old Town. The terminus was on Main Street north of the level crossing on the Old Town – Greenville railway line between Middle Street and Center Street. Between State Street / Otis Street and West Market Square (Main Street / Hammond Street) in Bangor, the railways used the route of the Bangor Street Railway. In Orono, the road crossed the Stillwater River by a covered bridge. On July 18, 1896, the route through Main Street was extended south to Great Works, where the terminus was at the junction of Jameson Street. The concession granted in 1891 for a separate line to the center of Bangor was renewed and on July 5, 1897 the extension of the line through Otis Street, Garland Street, Essex Street, Cumberland Street, Harlow Street and Center Street went into operation. The section through southern Cumberland Street and Harlow Street was built by the Bangor Street Railway in 1893 and sold to Bangor, Orono & Old Town in 1895. A new link was built along Center Street between Harlow Street and West Market Square. In 1901 the level crossing over the Bangor – Vanceboro railway in Veazie was replaced by a bridge.

When the company was taken over by Bangor Railway & Electric in 1905, the route length was 28.3 kilometers.

Bangor, Hampden and Winterport Railway

In order to connect the towns of Hampden , Winterport , Frankfort and Prospect to the Bangor tram network and to provide electric light in these towns, the Hampden and Winterport Electric Railway and Light Company was founded on March 29, 1893 . In the fall of 1896, construction work began on the line. The Bangor Street Railway had meanwhile extended its main line to the city limits of Hampden and with this company agreed a right of use for both companies for the route from downtown Bangor to Hampden. On December 11, 1896, the first section from the city limits to Stearns Mill in Hampden went into operation. Vehicles and personnel were provided by the Bangor Street Railway, which is why the company did not have its own depot. The cars drove from Hampden over the tracks of the Bangor Street Railway to West Market Square in the city center. In addition to connecting the suburb of Hampden, the line also opened up the railroad's own Riverside Park on the Penobscot River , which opened on June 15, 1898 and was a popular destination until its closure in 1916. The line had several freight connections and on the city limits near the Tin Bridge also a rail connection to the Maine Central Railroad .

On February 2, 1897, the company was renamed Bangor, Hampden and Winterport Railway Company . On March 27, 1897, she received approval for the construction of further lines that should open up Newburgh , Dixmont , Monroe , Herman , Levant , Stetson and Exeter . The extension to Prospect and the construction of these routes did not take place. Only the extension to Hampden Lower Corner was opened on November 8, 1897. Along this stretch, the company built its own covered bridge over the Sourdabscook Stream . The company procured its own vehicles in 1898 and ran the operation itself, but they used the depot of the Bangor Street Railway. In 1905 the company handed over 7.27 kilometers of route to Bangor Railway & Electric.

Bangor and Northern Railroad

As early as 1891 local entrepreneurs from East Corinth were planning to connect their city with Bangor by an overland tram. After the cities of Kenduskeag and Charleston had joined the project, the Penobscot Central Railway Company was founded on December 31, 1896 . In addition to the main line from the Bangor city limits, to which the Bangor Street Railway was to build a subsequent line, via Glenburn, Kenduskeag and East Corinth to Charleston, a branch line from Kenduskeag via Exeter to Garland was also planned. Ultimately, only the line to Charleston was built. In 1897 the concession was extended so that the railway company itself was allowed to build a route from the city limits to the shipyard on Front Street in the urban area of ​​Bangor and was therefore not dependent on the cooperation of the Bangor Street Railway.

On August 3, 1897, the first section from the shipyard through Front Street and Broad Street to the central transfer station on West Market Square was opened in Bangor. At West Market Square only a rail link to Bangor, Orono & Old Town was built into Central Street. The line was leased to this company, as this connection enabled them to take up freight traffic on their route to Old Town. A track connection to the railroad was also established at the shipyard. In the spring of 1898, construction began on the line towards Charleston. The new line led from Harlow Street in Bangor, where a connection to Bangor, Orono & Old Town was also established, through the Skyway Valley, via Kenduskeag Avenue and Broadway to Kenduskeag . From here the route ran through Spears Avenue to East Corinth . In order to be able to build the route inexpensively, gradients of up to 10% and tight curves were accepted. The 33-kilometer overland route opened on June 8, 1899 with a gasoline-powered railcar and a sidecar purchased from the Bangor Street Railway. An overhead line was not initially built. The depot was at the terminus in East Corinth. In 1900 a second, smaller depot was opened in North Bangor near Six Mile Falls, but operations were suspended for the time being for the electrification that was now planned. In Glenburn, a connection to the South Lagrange – Searsport line of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad was established . On May 1, 1901, the railway went back into operation, this time with overhead lines and two electric railcars. The first timetable provided for only four journeys per weekday and direction, six journeys on Sundays. As in the times of the petrol tram, the main source of income was to remain freight traffic, but passenger trains had the right of way. On August 5, 1902, the line to Charleston was completed. Besides passengers, the main transport goods on this line were potatoes, which were grown in the towns along the route and brought to Bangor. On November 1, 1904, the company was reorganized in Penobscot Central Railroad Company and on March 15, 1905 in Bangor and Northern Railroad Company . On January 31, 1906, the Bangor Railway & Electric merged with the railway and took over 42.25 kilometers of route.

Bangor Railway and Electric Company

The Bangor Railway and Electric Company was founded on February 16, 1905 to take over the troubled streetcar companies. On April 1 of that year, the Bangor Street Railway, the Bangor, Hampden and Winterport Railway, the Bangor, Orono and Oldtown Railway as well as the Oldtown Electric Company and the Public Works Company became the property of the new company. The merger of these companies took place on June 30th. On July 29, 1905, it also acquired the majority of Bangor & Northern, with which it merged on February 1, 1906. The company controlled not only the entire tram network of the city, but also the power supply of Bangor, Brewer, Hampden, Veazie, Orono and Old Town and the water supply of Veazie, Brewer and Old Town. The company also owned shares in electricity and water utilities in Bar Harbor and Ellsworth . With the takeover, the railways to Old Town were directed over State Street and the route through Garland Street and Cumberland Street was operated as a ring line by the line that had previously ended at State Street / Otis Street. The central transfer point has been moved to Post Office Square (State Street / Exchange Street).

On June 15, 1906, a new timetable was introduced on the route to Charleston with an hourly service to Kenduskeag and now seven daily train pairs to Charleston. Additional journeys were made following trains in North Bangor, since at that time the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad was denied sharing the Maine Central Railroad to Bangor. Passengers on this train had to change to the tram in North Bangor to get to the city center. In the same year the company replaced its main depot on Main Street with a new reinforced concrete building at the same location. An Eastern Traction Company planned an overland tram from Bangor via Exeter to Dexter in 1906 , but this never got beyond the project stage. In 1907 the main line from Tin Bridge to State Street / Otis Street and the junction through Union Street to Hammond Street were double-tracked. From October 1907 to March 1908 the tram traffic to Old Town was interrupted because the wooden bridge over the Stillwater River in Orono had to be renewed.

In 1908 the first new line since the merger went into operation. The route through Hammond Street was extended from its previous terminus at 14th Street to 17th Street. A major fire in the city center on April 30, 1911 also destroyed the company's headquarters and a substation on Park Street. On November 8, 1913, the route to Hampden was also extended to Dorothea Dix Park. Finally, on September 28, 1914, the line in Brewer was connected to the rest of the network when the old Toll Bridge, which was partly made of wood, was replaced by a new one made of steel. In the same year the entire network was equipped with automatic block signals for single-track sections.

The following route network was used at the end of 1914:

• Hammond Street-Post Office Square-Center Street
• Tin Bridge – Post Office Square – Garland Street – State Street – Union Station – Post Office Square – Otis Street
• Post Office Square (Ring) –Tin Bridge – Hampden
• Post Office Square (Ring) –Kenduskeag – East Corinth – Charleston
• Post Office Square (Ring) - Union Station - Brewer - South Brewer
• Post Office Square (Ring) - State Street - Orono - Old Town - Great Works

On June 24, 1918, goods and general cargo traffic was started on the line to Old Town and a track connection to the railway in Veazie was built for this purpose. The last new line from 1922 connected the terminus of the lines on Hammond Street and Ohio Street over then vacant land along Westland Avenue. The resulting ring line was driven in both directions and tied through with the Garland / State ring line, which was also used in both directions. The line from Center Street now ran to Tin Bridge. From April 6 to December 25, 1920, traffic to Charleston was cut off when the Six Mile Falls Bridge crashed into the flooding Kenduskeag Stream .

The company was reorganized on June 9, 1924 in Bangor Hydro-Electric Company (BHEC), since the ride now only made up a small part of the income. The new company officially started operating the tram on March 1, 1925. In 1926, the Maine Central Railroad closed the freight branch in Veazie, to which the rail connection existed. The BHEC then built its own siding to a nearby quarry in order to extract the ballast previously supplied by the railway for the tracks. In 1930 a freight connection was built near the Tin Bridge to the Hughes Brothers Company factory.

On April 30, 1931, the long-distance route to Charleston was shut down after the volume of goods had dropped sharply. There was not enough passenger traffic on this route to sustain it. A private bus company took over the transport tasks and also the mail transport that was previously the responsibility of the tram. At the end of 1939 the line to Hampden had to be shortened by about half a mile (approx. 800 meters) because the road was widened. In the same year, the traffic on the connection along Westland Avenue, which was only opened in 1922, was stopped as it was in the way of an expansion of the military airfield (Dow Air Field). The Hammond Street Line and Ohio Street Line now both ended at the corner of Westland Avenue. On July 27, 1940, the entire Hampden line was shut down when other parts of the highway were to be widened. For the same reason, the lines to Brewer and Old Town fell victim on March 29, 1941. Only the city lines to Garland Street, Ohio Street, Hammond Street, Tin Bridge and Center Street were now in operation. On October 1, 1942, the Penobscot Transportation Company took over the tram. The total shutdown of the network, planned for the end of 1943, was prevented when the USA entered the war. The plan was only implemented after the end of the war and on December 31, 1945, the tram service in Bangor ended. Buses from the Penobscot Transportation Company now operated on all the disused lines. The BHEC still exists today and supplies the Bangor area with electricity.

Future planning

In January 2001, the city of Bangor applied to the federal motorway authorities for financial support for a new tram network. A connection to the airport, Bass Park, the Riverfront Conference Center, the city center, the bus station at Pickering Square, the Eastern Maine Medical Center (hospital), the Bangor Mall (shopping center), the university campus in Orono, the planned Amtrak station at the junction of the Bangor – Bucksport railway line , the planned terminal for high-speed ferries on the Penobscot River and the planned Park + Ride space at the interstate 95 and 395.

Depots

Main Street (1889-1945)

The main depot on the network was on the east side of Main Street, between Dillingham Street and the current entrance to Interstate 395 . It was the first depot in the network and should also be the last. The site had been acquired by the Bangor Street Railway from the Katahdin Ice Company. Initially, the wooden depot only had one access track. Inside the hall, a transfer platform transported the wagons to and from the other four installation tracks. Soon after the opening in 1889, however, the outer wall on the entrance side was broken open and all hall tracks were given direct access. In addition to the sidings, the depot also had maintenance facilities for the rolling stock, but major repairs were carried out by the Union Iron Works in Bangor.

In 1906, a much larger new reinforced concrete building was opened at the same location. The hall had 12 tracks and also contained the new main railway workshop. As with the previous building, all tracks led into the main track towards the city center. The depot remained in operation until the Bangor tram was shut down on December 31, 1945. The site still belongs to the Bangor Hydro-Electric Company.

South Brewer (1890-1941)

When it opened in 1890, near the terminus of the Brewer Line, a small single-track depot with a rail connection to the north was built on the west side of South Main Street. Since the line initially had no track connection to the rest of the network, it was operated as a separate part of the operation with its own fleet of two railcars. The lettering “Brewer & So. Brewer” was therefore placed on the side walls of the vehicles, where the company's name was otherwise. The depot was shut down with the Brewer Line in 1941.

State Street (1895-1941)

On the south side of State Street, east of Otis Street, there was a small depot with two tracks, which was connected to the single-track route in the direction of the city center. It was initially the main depot of the Bangor, Orono and Old Town Railway , opened in 1895 , and was mainly used for the wagons on the line to Old Town even after its takeover. The depot was closed along with the line to Old Town on March 29, 1941. The building was later demolished and the property now belongs to the Eastern Maine Medical Center.

Old Town (1895-1903)

At the hospital on Stillwater Avenue, Bangor, Orono & Old Town also opened a single-track garage in 1895, which normally only housed one overnight railcar, which was used early from Old Town. The hall track was connected to the main track in the direction of Old Town. In 1903 the depot was destroyed by arson along with the railcar inside and was not rebuilt afterwards. However, the property was not sold to private until 1920.

East Corinth (1899-1931)

At the provisional terminus of the Penobscot Central Railway in East Corinth, the railway's single-track depot and a multi-track freight station were built. The depot, which is only connected to Bangor, was used until the line to Charleston was shut down in 1931.

Six Mile Falls (1901-1931)

The second depot on the route to Charleston was built east of the bridge over the Kenduskeag Stream in 1900 and was put into operation with the reopening of the tram in 1901. The car hall had two tracks, one each in the direction of Bangor and one in the direction of Charleston was connected to the main line. This depot was also in operation until 1931.

Operational flow

When the first line along Main and State Streets opened, a 20-minute cycle was introduced. The travel time from Tin Bridge to State Street was 30 minutes, so three vehicles were enough to ensure operation. There were no break times at the terminals, the staff changed at regular intervals at the depot. Due to this regulation, a 30-minute cycle was established in the event of delays - mostly weather-related - until the journey times could be adhered to again. The other city lines were also served every 20 minutes at the beginning. The line in Brewer initially ran hourly, only with the opening of the bridge in 1914 and the simultaneous double-track expansion of the line was the 20-minute service introduced here as well. The overland lines ran every 30 minutes to Old Town, every hour to Hampden (with additional trips to Riverside Park on summer weekends) and (from 1906) to North Bangor. The section from North Bangor to Charleston was served about every two hours, with freight traffic predominating.

In the early days of the tram, conductors not only had to mark the date, time and destination on transfer tickets, but also gender, age (under 40, around 40 and over 40) as well as the type of beard growth in men (with five different types) and in women whether they wear a hat or a updo. This should prevent tickets from being passed on to other people. Both conductors and passengers did not like it and soon conventional tickets were introduced.

Later, the frequency on the Ohio Street, Hammond Street, Center Street, State Street, Garland Street and Tin Bridge lines was compressed to 15 minutes and on the Hampden Line to 30 to 45 minutes. In contrast to other companies, the Bangor tram did not thin out the timetable in the 1920s, but condensed it in 1939 in rush hour and night traffic on the city lines and all day to a 30-minute cycle to Hampden. This timetable was valid until the closure in 1945.

According to the service regulations, the railways only stopped at fixed stops. The density of stops was remarkably high, however, and it was allowed to stop at every intersection and at additional prominent locations, along country roads at almost every property entrance. In 1914, for example, there were 23 stopovers on the route from the terminus Hammond Street / Norway Road to West Market Square (2.83 km) alone. The line to Old Town had 153 stops. The stops were divided into demand stops, where people only stopped on demand, so-called “Know Nothing Stops”, where they always had to stop, and transfer points, where people also always stopped and waited for trains on other lines.

Individual evidence and further information

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Poor's Manual of Railroads, 44th Annual Number. Poor's Railroad Manual Co., New York NY, 1911. Page 2063.
2. ↑ http://www.bactsmpo.org/Files/BATCh2_3.pdf  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)  
3. ^ Heseltine 1974, title page.
4. ↑ Heseltine 1974, page 71.
5. ↑ Heseltine 1974, page 77/78.

literature

• Charles D. Heseltine: Bangor Street Railway. (Transportation Bulletin No. 81) National Railway Historical Society, Warehouse Point CT, 1974.
• George W. Hilton and John F. Due: The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA, 1960. ISBN 0-8047-4014-3
• Sarah K. Martin: "The Litte City in Itself": Middle-Class Aspirations in Bangor, Maine, 1880-1920. Master's thesis submitted in 2001 at the University of Maine. PDF (approx. 6 MB!) P. 36ff. (including a track plan on page 38)