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Atlantic Shore Line's electric locomotive No. 100 is the single remaining original piece of rolling stock from the Atlantic Shore Line Railway system. As such, it represents an important component in the development of the textile industry in the Sanford-Springvale area and the resort industry in the Kennebunks.
This locomotive provided an essential connection between the Boston & Maine Railroad and the growing population of these areas. The Atlantic Shore Line (ASL) moved coal from Cape Porpoise to power the looms of the Sanford mills and carried passengers between Kennebunkport and other coastal resort towns. The location of the Cape Porpoise Casino near the coal trestle provided a tourist/industrial terminus for the line and an additional revenue-generating source.
The restoration of this important piece of Maine history will serve as a visible means to explain and teach the importance of infrastructure in the economic and social development of this historically significant region of New England.
Watch a video about the Service Learning Project done by local school children
While it is interesting to note when the locomotive was built and by whom, this artifact is more valuable to explain the impact that the electric trolley system had on the economic growth and social lives of people living and visiting York County. Maine has long been known as a vacation spot or resort: a place for "rustication"; this unpretentious electric locomotive provides a starting point for connecting the present to the rich historical past of the York County region.
This social and industrial history has been included in a publication by Madge Baker, Woven Together in York County, Maine A History 1865-1990, Wilson Printers, 1999.
Before the automobile was “king”, most people living at the turn of the twentieth century traveled locally on foot, horseback, or by carriage/wagon. With the conditions of dirt roads in “mud season” or a heavy snowfall in winter, travel was quite limited at times. Trolley service made it significantly easier for people and goods to travel reliably and affordably.
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