Daily Kennebec journal., 1908-12-03
An Epoch in Names
Trolley History.
elimination Of Plans Of The
Graham Syndicate.
1 Glance Back at the Beginning Of
Local Trolley Development.

the Lewiston, Augusta & Watcrvillc
Street Railway was formally opened to
traffic November "a. At II o'clock
noon on that Gay, the car Maranacook.
in charge of Conductor Smith and Mo-
torman Whitney left Bridge street,
Augusta, or its way northWard. II
reached Winslow, the present terminus
of the line at 1.15 p. NJ, and the "trol-
ley gap was bridged by regular pas
senger traffic.
Such in brief, is the bare historical
statement Of d fact which means much
to the people of the Kenncbec valley.
And there are other dates in clectri.
railroad history which at the time they
were recorded, seemed equally impor-
tant
On July Is, 1890, the seven mile line
between Gardiner and Augusta was
thrown open t" traffic. To many Of the
citizens of Gardiner, Hallowell and Au-
gusta this event which occurred l.
years ago seeiIS but as yesterday. The
little seven-mile road struggled for its
very existence during that first winter,
and in recent issue Of the Journal
mention was made of the fact that
when the cars became, helplessiy stalled
on account of the great amount oi
snow, barGcs drawn by horses were
sent out over the line in order to make
good the company's agreement with
the public and to enable the company
to hold its franchise. But the little
railroad struggled on, and the patron
age of the following of summer set the
management on it's feet so that the fol
lowing winter the road was better able
to combat the clements.
Ten years passed, and the seven-milc
line thrived. Then came the demand
lVr the line to Togus. the attraction in
that direction being the National Home
for disabled veterans.
The first regular passenger car tray
ersed this route June 26, 1901. and there
was great rejoicing among the citizens
Of this locality The Winthrop line was
long time building, so it seemed. The
at many points on the line, and al
though the work was carried forward
with extreme diligence. the first car
reached Hammond's grove no earlier
than July 6, 1862. and the whole line to
winthrop was not opened to traffic un-
VI August of that year.
But now that they had the railroad
all hands were well pleased.
Hon. Herbert NJ. Heath of this city,
VINO with eX-Gov. John F. Hill. Hon.
lhomas J. Lynch and other prominent
men, was identified with the enterprise
eils many amusing anecdotes OF the
u'nculties that were met with in socur-
'is the line. The consensus of opinion.
"hen the road was first talked OF, was
'hat rate of dollar each way would
W pretty reasonable Citizens of " in
"'rop thought that If there were two
''uho trips day, perhaps 10 people
""eht be induced to come to Augusta.
'"at would make $40 for the two round
Ups and after paying for the power
'' tle wages of the conductor ana
''''oralan, the railroad would be en-
.'aeu to the rest, if there was any.
'S' citizens of Winthrop should take
N"'orage at this statement, it may be
'.'"arked in passing that Augusta peo-
''' voiced similar sentiment.
. prominent business man of Will
a""p would have nothing to do with
proposition. AS surveyed, short
"s'h OF the proposed track ran over
''n IN which he held an interest. The
''erS We're told that they would
20 go around 1t seems that a rel
Nv marriage. lady well known
throughout the State. believed that tbe
''ao ought to run just where It had
''iu out, and while the business
''ethods she used cannot ba Disclosed
;. ''iout giving away the identity of
-, p'r'ies, the sequel was that the
oau IS running today lust where il
,, p'ahned that it should go, and the
]. ess man who was once so adverse
'"e whole proceeding is one of tbe