Take yourself back to the heyday of trolley travel on the seacoast, when passengers could ride the electric railway the 21 miles from Sanford to Cape Porpoise in 90 minutes for just 35 cents. This exhibition explored the progression of the area’s trolley system from 1899 until the 1930s. A series of historical vignettes introduced visitors to students who took the trolley to school, a tourist on a trolley excursion, a conductor who saw the trolley’s evolution over his 46 years of service, and even a romance on the rails. Through archival photographs and postcard images, guests learned about the various routes and their construction, the sights promoted by the trolley companies, and, ultimately, why the system did not last.

Pennies to Ride was a companion to the History in Motion exhibition at Kennebunkport’s Seashore Trolley Museum and was part of that institution’s larger initiative involving the restoration of the Atlantic Shore Line locomotive #100 and collaboration among area organizations in telling various aspects of Maine’s trolley history.

Exhibition made possible by Historic Transportation Enhancement Funds through the Federal Highway Administration and the Maine Department of Transportation; and Members of the New England Electric Railway Historical Society.

Click here to see more through the collaborative online trolley exhibition via Maine Memory Network! >

>\