A Field Guide to Trolley Cars

Our first photo album, A Field Guide to Trolley Cars, is up at the Maine Memory Network. It's a short slideshow of the various different types of cars, including passenger, freight, and utility cars. All of the photos are of Maine cars and several of them are currently living at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport.

Progress continues on the Virtual Trolley Tour of Maine

October already! A busy summer and fall here at the Seashore Trolley Museum Library. Our intrepid intern Chris has gone off to graduate school in archival studies. He did a great job this summer selecting destinations and scanning photographs. Thank you, Chris! We miss you!

Our total number of destinations is now fourteen - and we're having to leave some out! Can't find any photographs of The Pines in Norridgewock, just a reference on a map. Current destinations are:

York Beach and St. Aspinquid Park, York
Cape Porpoise Casino, Cape Porpoise
Riverton Park, Portland
Willard Beach, Portland
Cape Cottage Theater and Casino, Cape Elizabeth
Underwood Casino, Falmouth
Lake Grove, Auburn
Merrymeeting Park, Brunswick
New Meadows Inn, West Bath
Casco Castle, Freeport
Tacoma Inn, Litchfield
Lake Cobbosseecontee Island Park, Manchester
Lakewood Park, Madison
Oakland Park, Rockport

The greatest challenge is selecting the tastiest pictures and keeping that selection down to one or two. Or maybe three. OK, possibly four. See what I mean? Above, the Rockland, Thomaston, & Camden Street Railway's open car #9 disembarking at the trolley stop at Oakland Park. These lucky day tourists will spend the day picnicking and watching the latest motion picture.

Amber

Scanning and Discoveries

Photo selection and scanning has been completed! It took a bit longer than expected, but the best things usually do. As photo selection for the trolley tour wrapped up, I discovered postcards for a place called Lake Cobbosseecontee. Unknown to myself, Amber, and other trolley enthusiasts, Lake Cobbosseecontee had its own theater and recreation area, all accessible by trolley (go figure). This brings the destination list to twelve total, something I am pleased with.

On a side note, I am beginning to notice a trend that a number of destinations share: fire. Destinations like Casco Castle in Freeport, the Cape Porpoise Casino on Cape Porpoise, the Gay White Way in York, all met an untimely end by being razed. Maybe creepy, maybe interesting, but something worth noting for sure.

Next step: cataloging!

Research and Photos and Scanning, oh my!

Hello, my name is Chris, and I am the graduate intern working on the grant project under the velvety iron grip of Amber. For a history geek such as myself, this project has been gratifying as far as looking at and researching the history of old things is concerned. I am a fan of mechanically old things (and in this case, much older than myself), so this has been quite the learning experience. It has been a crash course in trolly cars, their terminology, destinations, and late nineteen/early twentieth century mass transit, and as a former bus driver at UMass Amherst, I am interested in how people move, specifically the history of it. Right. So, trolleys. As of now, destinations are still being researched and photos are still being selected, and I expect that this will be the toughest part of the whole project, considering the number of albums yet untouched. With this in mind, though, half of the fun is looking for that one perfect photograph to perfectly reflect the background research being dug up, right? I have my work cut out for me, but this should be fun. It has been thus far, at least.

Our new online catalog

The Seashore Trolley Museum Library is now on LibraryThing! We're still adding books, but almost 2000 books are currently searchable by author, title, and keyword. Many thanks to Mike Frost, Andrea Baldwin, Diane Dense, and Kaz Powell for all of their hard work on this project.

You can search the collection from this page: the Search the Library box is located on the right side of this page.

Getting Started on the Maine Memory Network Project

Two weeks ago, Ed and Chris and I went up to the Maine Historical Society in Portland to get our Maine Memory Network training for the new grant project. What an amazing group of people up there! We learned about what makes good history and how to tell stories online. We learned how to scan our images and how to catalog them properly. We also learned how to work with some very cool tools, including ExhibitBuilder which helps make online exhibits.

Chris and I did some brainstorming about how we wanted the online exhibit to look. We're currently planning one main exhibit page with two photo albums in the sidebar (The Virtual Trolley Tour of Maine and A Field Guide to Trolley Cars). Can't wait to get started!

The photo above was taken by Ed on his Iphone. Chris and Amber geeking out!

STM Library receives a new grant!

The Seashore Trolley Museum, in partnership with York County Community College, has received a $1250 grant from the Maine Memory Network to create an online exhibit entitled “A Virtual Trolley Tour of Maine”. YCCC alum Christopher Carney will serve as the project’s Archival Intern. After attending YCCC, Chris received his Bachelor’s degree in History and Japanese Studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and plans to pursue a graduate degree in Library and Information Science with a concentration in Archival Management this fall. The project will take place over the summer at the YCCC Library, under the supervision of Amber Tatnall, Library Director. The online exhibit will consist of digitized historical photographs from the Museum’s collection, an exhibit narrative, and hand-drawn maps from the previously unpublished Atlas of Maine Trolleys. Watch for the exhibit’s unveiling on the Maine Memory Network in Fall 2011.