New England Electric Railway Historical Society Seashore Trolley Museum 2009 Annual Report The National Collection of American Streetcars New England Electric Railway Historical Society Founded in 1939 by Theodore F. Santarelli de Brasch About the Society The New England Electric Railway Historical Society is a nonprofit educational organization which owns and operates the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine and the National Streetcar Museum at Lowell. The Seashore Trolley Museum is the oldest and largest in the world dedicated to the preservation and operation of urban and interurban transit vehicles from the United States and abroad. It has a large volunteer membership and small full-time staff devoted to preserving and restoring the collection, conducting educational programs, and interpreting and exhibiting the collection for the public. Donations are tax deductible under chapter 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Service code. Front Cover Upper: Atlantic Shore Line locomotive 100 carries a full load of guests and donors on one of its inaugural trips out the main line. Completion of the locomotive’s restoration plus the accompanying educational and exhibit programs was noteworthy in 2009. PM Lower: Wheeling (WV) Curved-side car 639 was also completed and dedicated in 2009. This restoration project, underwritten by member donors, stretched over an incredible period of 35 years, and is one of the most thorough rebuild- ings of a preserved streetcar ever undertaken. The car is now the only operational example of the classic “rubber stamp” model produced by the Cincinnati Car Company as a light weight, inexpensive to operate car purchased by dozens of predominately Midwest properties. JS Contents 2009 Annual Report Letter to Members 1 EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHS James D. Schantz Bradley H. Clarke (BC) ASL 100 — The Second Hundred Years 6 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Donald G. Curry (DC) Frederick J. Maloney Patricia Erikson (PE) Library Report 13 CONTRIBUTORS Judy Harris (JH) Marketing Report 14 Donald G. Curry Philip W. Morse (PM) Kevin Nicol (KN) Chistmas Prelude 15 Randy LeClair John L. Middleton, Jr. William A. Pollman (WP) Conservation Report 16 Philip W. Morse Edward L. Ramsdell (ER) Edward L. Ramsdell Thomas O. Santarelli de Brasch (TS) Bus Department Report 20 Thomas O. Santarelli de Brasch James D. Schantz (JS) Rochester Community Foundation Support 23 Jeffrey N. Sisson Roger E. Somers (RS) Seashore Library collection (SL) Corporate Information 24 Administrative Management 25 Museum Contributors 26 Museum Volunteers 28 Financial Report 29 Trustee Recognition Awards Inside Rear Cover 2009 Annual Report Letter to Members 70th Anniversary The year 2009 represented the 70th an- niversary of the founding of the Seashore Trolley Museum, and, as the pioneering museum, the anniversary of the entire volunteer rail preservation movement. Fittingly, in 2009 the museum marked the completion of two of the more sig- nificant restoration projects in the seven decade history of the museum. Wheeling 639 Dedicated Wheeling, WV “Curved-side” streetcar No. 639 was dedicated on August 22, after a restoration process that spanned Left: Project Sponsor Jim Schantz unveils the plaque (right) dedicating the restoration of Wheeling half of the museum’s history—35 years. 639 to the late Ben Minnich and Fred Perry who contributed heavily to its acquisition and rebuilding. Representing Ben is Lester Stephenson, Jr., brought the car to Maine with Ben. Fred’s sons Eric and The car received one of the most thor- Chris are at the right, both of whom followed the car’s restoration as they grew up. JH, JS ough restorations ever given a streetcar anywhere, necessitated by the fact that amount is difficult to compute given portation bills and awarded to the states the car arrived in 1957 as a severely cor- inflation over the three decade duration on a block-grant basis. Critical support to roded shell, devoid of all electrical and of the project. the project was given by our friends and mechanical components. neighbors in the community including Atlantic Shore Line 100 elected representatives. Curved-side cars like this were built by Completed the hundreds by the Cincinnati Car Com- The other major restoration was one of After several rounds of application to pany and operated in more than 40 dif- much shorter duration and much broader Augusta for funding, Seashore succeeded, ferent cities, principally in the Midwest. sources of financial support. The restora- and was awarded funding in excess No. 639 is now the only preserved and tion of Atlantic Shore Line locomotive of $132,000 from the Transportation fully operational car of the so-called “rub- 100 was completed in under four years Enhancement pool. The museum then ber stamp” curved-side design, making it and included a major interpretive and raised an additional $50,000 from other an important member of the museum’s educational program as part of the proj- community sources and museum mem- National Collection of American Streetcars. ect. bers. Our restoration staff worked almost continuously on the car for the four The restoration was almost completely Most significantly, this was the first proj- years it was in the shop, resulting in the underwritten by museum members, with ect at Seashore to benefit from Federal project’s completion on time and within the work performed by volunteers and Transportation Enhancement funds which budget. our shop crew. The total cost was well for some years have been included in the in excess of $200,000, though the exact multi-year Federal highway and trans- The project’s success was marked with a ceremony attended by representatives Below: Lifelong members Donald Stephenson and his father Lester pose next to Wheeling 639 at Tal- from Augusta, from the local community, bott Park on the car’s initial journey out the line during the dedication. Lester was given the honor of serving as motorman on the first run as he had driven the rig bringing the car to Seashore in 1957. BC and from the museum on September 25. Plans are advancing rapidly for subse- quent projects to solicit funds from this program both to restore other significant collection vehicles from the State of Maine and for facilities that will protect the collection and host educational and interpretation activities. See the full report on ASL 100 by Project Manager Phil Morse on page 6. Strategic Planning Another imitative coincident with the 70th anniversary was the beginning of a strategic planning program by the board. Past efforts at a facilitated planning pro- cess have faltered due to the difficulty of engaging an outside facilitator with ad- equate understanding of the workings of a volunteer-founded rail museum. 1 New England Electric Railway Historical Society undertaking cooperative ventures with Completely restored Cleveland center other groups, and upgrading Internet entrance motor car 1227 is a key compo- capabilities and infrastructure. nent of that collection, but to represent the city’s operation properly needs a Highwood Repairs matching trailer. One such trailer unex- An important though unglamorous infra- pectedly became available this year and structure project undertaken in 2009 was was acquired. the funding and completion of repairs to the framing of our principal exhibit build- The source was the dissolution of the ing, Highwood Barn. As part of the first Lake Shore Electric museum of Cleve- major structural work since the building’s land. This collection, formerly at the construction in 1965, the deteriorated Gerald E. Brookins Museum of Electric bases of 50 wooden vertical frame mem- Railways outside of Cleveland, was relo- bers were replaced with dual heavy steel cated after the founder passed away and columns set in concrete. his heirs asked for the collection to be removed from the property. The hope had Subsequently, visitor walkways both been that a waterfront trolley operation, inside and outside of the building were similar to those in several other cities, repaved. Our thanks to project manager could be established in Cleveland, but and President Dann Chamberlin for guid- despite years of diligent work, that effort ing the job and to John LaFlamme who was unsuccessful. Consequently, the col- successfully sought and obtained contri- lection was auctioned. Seashore bid on butions from the community to pay for and won two cars, plus a large selection Above: Repairs to Highwood Barn consisted of of spare parts. heavy steel beams set in concrete to reinforce the the work. bases of deteriorated original wooden poles. JS Vehicle Collections Center entrance trailer 2365 of 1918 was However, as a result of our participation This year was a particularly active year the more significant of the two, as it is in the Association of Railroad Museums for the Society’s vehicle collections with a an almost completely restored mate to and its strategic planning process, we number of important additions and sev- Seashore’s recently-completed center en- found a very knowledgeable professional eral dispositions. trance motor car 1227. This replaces the in the person of Don Evans, who is not deteriorated and incomplete sister trailer only a planning professional but is also From the standpoint of Seashore’s Nation- 2318 obtained some years ago and which the CEO of the very rapidly developing al Collection of American Streetcars the was slated for a prolonged, costly resto- West Coast Railway Association located most important acquisition was the ar- ration similar to that of 1227. Number north of Vancouver, British Columbia. rival of Cleveland center entrance trailer 2318 has since been donated by Seashore Under Don’s guidance Seashore’s board 2365. The thrust of the National Collec- to the Northern Ohio Railway Museum and interested active members spent a tion has been to acquire representatives to be ultimately restored to match their two day session identifying 10 very ambi- of all of the cities in the United States center entrance motor car.