Brunswick, ME
Industry, recreation and
education are important pursuits in Brunswick, the chief city of
the eastern Casco Bay area. Industry began in the 1620s when an
English trader's success with exporting sturgeon and salmon from
the falls of the lower Androscoggin River induced his company to
establish a post. From that time until about 1730 the settlement
of Pejepscot rose and fell as warring Native Americans destroyed
it in 1690 and again in 1722.
Our reason for being in Brunswick today was
for Chris to ride Amtrak Downeaster southbound from Brunswick to
Portland. He needed this leg to help finish his complete trip
over all Amtrak routes. The Downeaster leaves Brunswick at 7:05
am, stops in Freeport at 7:20 am and Portland at 7:50 am. So
Chris boarded the train and then I drove down to Portland and
meet him.
End of line stop.
As far as we can go.
Although the scenic values were
good, the length of ride was not good. We could only travel to
the bridge. It is closed to traffic because of a fire damage in
the truss and because the railroad was being relocated, there
was no reason to repair the damage.
Stretching at the end of the line stop.
Closed bridge.
Some of the fire damage.
After our rest stop we reboard
for the ride back to the museum. Once there Chris and I left for
our next stop. We headed south on US 1 to
Kennebunkport, ME
Welcome to the Seashore Trolley Museum.
After picking up our tickets,
we had about 20 minutes to explore before the next ride
departed.
Northampton Station.
Tower C.
Burton B. Shaw, South Boston Car House.
State of the Art Cars Riverside Car Barn.
Arundel Station. I wonder if the name is related to the Anne
Arundel County in Maryland?
State of the Art Cars, Riverside Car Barn.
Car 303 our first trolley to ride.
Waiting area and boarding platform.
We boarded Car 303 and took the front seat to get good photos.
Our track will be the one on the right side of the parked cars.
Old time signs.
1.6 Mile Track to Talbott Park
From 1904 to 1921 the trolley serviced the dairy farms that
saturated this area before the trees started to grow.
We will now board car 5821 to ride it.
Chris and the conductor talking shop.
Other end of car 5821.
Our ride ended at the station and then we went
back to exploring the rest of the campus.
Chris is standing next to the open air trolley.
Car was used in the winter for a open sleigh ride. Bundle up and
drink hot cocoa and see the winter wonderland.
Used to sweep snow off the tracks.
Inside the Town House Restoration Shop Observation Gallery.
Highwood Exhibit Barn.
Trackless or electric buses.
While in high school I rode
many of these electric buses to my part time job. I would walk
from home to the bus stop and board a diesel bus. This bus would
take me to the end of the electric bus line where I would
transfer and continue my journey to downtown on the big quiet
bus. I remember that the steering wheel as extra big, maybe a
meter in diameter. I don't think they had power steering on
these buses. An other thing were the foot pedalss for the
operator. There were two big pedals, one to go and the other to
stop. They looked like small paddle boards. These buses pulled
away from the curb quietly and left no exhaust behind. Would
like to see the LA Metro install some of these electric buses on
the streets of Los Angeles.
Trolley coupler
Tower C.
Maine Turnpike I-95 heading south to Boston. Once we arrive in
Massachusetts, we take I-495 to our nest stop.
Lowell, MA
Lowell National Historical
Park was the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution,
thanks to the potent combination of abundant water power and an
early bit of industrial espionage - mill founders stole
technologies in England.
As the National Park Service puts it "Lowell
was the Silicon Valley of the early 19th century."
But the most interesting part
of this urban national park isn't Lowell's economic success (or
its later decline) but the Lowell "mill girls." They were young,
recruited from all over New England for jobs in the burgeoning
textile mills along the Pawtucket Canal. Tempted by decent
wages, lodged in boarding homes, the girls moved out of a farm
economy and into a developing industrial society.
Their choices altered the communities they
left and the aspirations of girls who follow them. By 1850 they
had helped make Lowell the second-largest city in Massachusetts
as more workers flooded in from other parts of America and from
Europe.
Lowell's mills operated
well into the 20th century, but modern industries gradually
located elsewhere, the factories closed and Lowell went into
decline, leaving huge brick factories and warehouses
virtually empty. In 1978 the National Park Service stepped
in, tacking on the enormous task of interpreting an
industry and the lives of people who worked there.
Lowell High School.
This display was at the end of our trolley ride.
Boston and Maine 410.
End of line for today's ride.
Our trolley ride today, Car 1602.
Lowell High School.
I've seen a few
Desires in several cities.
Sidewalks in Lowell.
After our great visit in
Lowell, we head for Chelmsford, MA for tonight's stop. Why this
location? Because it is close to the Alewife Station and our
ride to Boston tomorrow. Tonight was laundry night and our Best
Western had no laundry facilities. As I was exploring the
property I stopped by the pool area and chatted with the pool
manger. He gave me direction to a local laundromat. I told him
that Chris and I had been traveling for three weeks in New
England and tomorrow we were headed to Boston and I was going to
see "Old Ironsides" which I wanted to see since first learning
about it in fifth grade. When he said that the ship was in dry
dock, my heart stopped and my stomach turned over several times.
But then it took a turn for the better when he said that the dry
dock was just a couple berths from where it is docked and
displayed. So I would be able to see the ship after all and in
the dry dock where it was first built.
Map of our four days of travel in Maine.
