The Bangor Street Railway was once the most prominent form of transportation in the blossoming City of Bangor, Maine. It ran from the very early morning into the very late night-every day. In 1889, for the low price of 10 cents you could afford to take the trolley all the way down the line and back (Heseltine 8). Compared to our bus fee now of $1.50 that seems like quite a deal. Today, unless you are fortunate enough to be able to afford a decent car that will make it through our tough winters and frequently cold mornings, aside from walking, there’s no way to get home if you’re someone who works past 6 pm. It would make sense that with the change of times things would have progressed so we would have more options for our working citizens. It has actually gone the opposite direction, leaving our active members of the community to fend for themselves when it comes to transportation around Bangor and its outer limits. Could it be possible for this once thriving form of transportation to grace our still ever-expanding streets of Bangor?  

The year was 1889 and we were getting ready for the turn of a century, The Bangor Street Railway was finally ready to be tested on our newly placed tracks (Reilly, Bangor Trolley ‘Took off like a Bullet’). Imagine being able to catch a ride on your local form of public transportation as early as 4:45 am and get a ride back as late as 11:30 pm. It had been a year and a half since the idea of an electric railway was initially proposed to the City Council, and as nervous about “electric cars” as the citizens of Bangor were (with electricity still being somewhat of an unknown factor in this time period), it had finally become a reality.  

The first person to test out this new trolley system was “Captain” Joseph Wentworth (Heseltine 9). “Uncle John,” as he was affectionately known as by the local newspapers and fellow Bangoreans, was somewhat famous for being the only man in the area to have captained a steamboat and driven a trolley car (Reilly, Uncle Joe Wentworth Drove Bangor’s First Electric Car in 1889). This first trolley was tested out April 29, 1889 at just after midnight for the safety of the townsfolk (Heseltine 8). The first ride included about 20 people and would extend the 3 miles of track (Reilly, Uncle Joe Wentworth Drove Bangor’s First Electric Car in 1889). The people of Bangor were getting very excited about its new trolley system and just how it was going to work-what with horse drawn carriages (the 1880’s version of the taxi as well as some of the richer folk’s main form of transportation) and lots of pedestrians still on the streets who couldn’t afford such lavish forms of transportation. Many questions whirred around town: Would it be safe? Would it affect our pocket watches? Could the electric cars prove to be hazardous when passing carts of gunpowder?  All these questions were soon answered via posted advertisements in the local paper and/or word of mouth through the station workers and the trolley was proven to be safe-for the most part (Heseltine 9).  

Unlike today’s trains and trolleys across the country, the Bangor Street Railway wasn’t entirely equipped to deal with all the aspects of safety one would have hoped. For the greater part of the community the Bangor Street Railway was a perfectly safe and affordable form of transportation to get back and forth to work or wherever their shopping needs would take them (Reilly, Bangor Trolley ‘Took off like a Bullet’). There were, however, some accidents for the certain few unfortunate citizens of Bangor. There were the working carts, children running across the tracks and public carriages that were sometimes hit by streetcars and inevitably led to certain fatalities (Reilly, Bangor Trolley ‘Took off like a Bullet’). With the numerous safety precautions put in place now for trolleys, streetcars and trains these accidents would be undeniably less than back in the late 19^th century/early 20^th century. Through the aid of proper signals and amending certain traffic guidelines, streetcars could be highly successful in bringing our neighboring communities together again and providing adequate public transportation.  

Bangor’s current community connecter has limited hours and is lacking in “connecting the communities” in a cohesive way. The Bangor Street Railway reached all the way to Old Town, Charleston, Hamden and Veazie (and as of 1914, Brewer as well) at all hours of the morning and night with only a few hours without it being in operation in between (Reilly, Trolley Crossing United Bangor, Brewer in 1914). Currently our bus system doesn’t go much earlier than 6:45 am and drops off no later than about 6:30 pm and even sooner for both if you’re heading anywhere along Bangor’s outskirts. Even with the Bangor Street Railway not going faster than 6 mph in town and 25 mph in later years and on the way to Old Town, it got people to their destinations about as fast as it takes our modern-day buses to deliver its current clientele to theirs (an hour and a half or more). Things such as carpooling, biking and trying to reduce our carbon footprint have become common goals statewide and fixing the City of Bangor’s current transportation system would make it possible for more people to use public transit and leave their cars at home. This will save people money on gas and the many costs that come with being a car owner. Ideally, this could also help our poorer community members get a foot up by encouraging those who aren’t able to get work (due to lack of transportation, not enough money for a car, etc.) that there is a way they can get to and from a job and that it will be there rain, sleet, snow or hail to make it possible for them to provide for themselves and their families.  

Along with adding more ways to get around town expanding the hours and routes of the bus would within itself create more job opportunities. The Bangor Street Railway had 4 open car design trolleys and 5 closed car design trolleys and was operated by many conductors and motorman (Heseltine 10). This increased the ability for the Bangor community to be able to meet its traveling needs more efficiently as well as increasing jobs for those who needed them. By creating more bus lines and extending hours Bangor would increase the need for drivers while being able to transport more people to their desired locations. This would be especially useful in the winter months when cars start stalling out, not starting at all or people get snowed in. If patrons could make it to one the many spots the bus would pass by they could reach their destination no matter the inclement weather.  

The Bangor Street Railway had a hard time when it came to the winter months but it surely continued throughout. The snow removal equipment arrived in the late November of 1889 and was meant to be pushed ahead of the motor car (Heseltine 11-12). This didn’t turn out to be the easier task, as you can imagine, and was later hauled by 10 horses just to get the job done properly (Heseltine 12). At first these “plows” were equipped with a triangle looking pushing device, much like those for the front of a train, and later in 1901 were switched to a rotary plow which looks like a train cart with a huge metal fan spinning wildly to plow the snow (Heseltine 21). When there was a certain amount of snow (or less) the town would have workers out there shoveling the snow off the tracks to take care of the issue without having to get said plows out and make more of time about it than necessary. This was often the case in the downtown area because it was safer than having the towns come plowing through the middle of a busy street with people all around.  

Since the trolley’s last ride in 1945, there has been talk of the possibility of bringing the Bangor Street Railway back. Some of which was just speculation, would it, could it, make a comeback? For the most part, it was just an idea that as Fred Clancy, Assistant Transportation Director for the city in 1975, stated was “kicked around for a bit.” Other trolley-related ideas were presented to the City of Bangor, one such as the offer made in 1984 by a Florida firm “to lease with the option to buy a used, 32-passenger trolley bus” (Remsen 26).  This idea was brought to the attention of the John Flynn who shared it with the Transportation Committee and all agreed that it would be a beneficial to the City of Bangor to add this “trolley bus” to the current bus fleet for local festivities and could also be used day to day if necessary (26). Even in 1984 they were thinking of ways to cut down on the town’s usage of cars and be able to integrate public transportation into the mix more again. Not to mention, it would get rid of a large influx of cars to the downtown area for the upcoming sesquicentennial celebration and other festivals and events that would arise (26). This definitely relates to our extremely congested downtown areas during events like the Waterfront Concerts and The American Folk Festival.  

In 1985 there was a request made by the Bangor Historical Society to the Bangor City Council for the use of a trolley to provide guided tours of Bangor all throughout the year. Although it was an interesting idea seeming “that conventional buses are as not ‘catchy’ as the look of a festively outfitted trolley” for such tours, it didn’t seem worth it to the City to bring back a trolley bus they had recently gotten rid of due to costs not meeting the demand (Weber 16).  

As stated in the 1975 article of the Bangor Daily News, “Bangor Prefers to Take a Backseat in New Trolley Car Revival,” written by Ken Buckley, the price of bringing back the trolley would just prove to be too costly and too much of an extravagant undertaking for the City of Bangor’s wallet. Although many places in the country did partake in such things as “reviving” this older form of transportation, times have changed and even (most of) the trolleys have too. Places such as New Orleans, Louisiana still maintain its old-time charm with a trolley that takes you right down Canal Street through the center of the East Bank (the city portion of New Orleans) and of course the trolleys in San Francisco, California that take you up and down the hilled streets of the Bay City (Palmer 2). Newer versions of trolleys have taken over the in areas such as Portland, Oregon where they now have streetcars that are more futuristic in appearance, and take you along the North and South sides of the city. Although these are all well-functioning forms of public transportation it’s probably just not possible at this time to take on such a large task as to rip out all the streets, move parking spaces and make way for a trolley, streetcar or train to go down through the city streets of Bangor (and/or it’s outer limits).

The City of Bangor has gained quite a bit of local traffic as well as grown business-wise since the days of the trolley and even the trolley bus. The immense number of tourists we seasonally get from Canada and other areas, along with all the new events the City of Bangor is constantly coming up with it would most certainly be an asset to the city to bring in some more accessible forms of transportation for the guests to our city as well as our fellow inhabitants. Although it does seem highly unlikely that we could uproot all the cement on all our city streets and re-lay the track that was once there for a trolley, it seems that other accommodations could be made for these issues. Extending the hours and routes of the bus could prevent such issues as many citizens of Bangor face when it comes to lack of transportation. Although the trolley would be quaint and quite a sight to behold, it would be more plausible that the extension of the City of Bangor’s current bus systems lines and hours go into effect to fix our current public transportation needs.

All though bringing back the beloved Bangor Street Railway may not be an option, trolley buffs will continue to revel in its once magnificent glory and the city of Bangor shall just have to soldier on and hopefully work towards a better future for our current bus systems. In order to bring about change the City of Bangor needs we will have to focus on bettering the bus system we already have. In turn, this will help us reduce the many costs that come with owning an automobile, be much better on the environment by being able to slowly reduce our carbon footprint by choosing an eco-friendly way to work, the store or otherwise as well as make it possible for the low-income members of our community to feel like they can contribute more to their families and community as a whole.

Works Cited

Buckley, Ken. “Bangor Prefers to Take a Back Seat in New Trolley Car Travel Revival.” Bangor Daily News 16 Aug. 1975: 14. Print.

Heseltine, Charles D. Bangor Street Railway. Warehouse Point: Connecticut Valley Chapter, Inc., 1976. Print. 

Palmer, Phil and Mike Palmer. The Cable Cars of San Francisco. Berkeley 10: Howell-North, 1963. Print.

Reilly, Wayne E. “Bangor Trolley Took Off ‘Like a Bullet.’” Bangordailynews.com. Bangor Daily News, 13 May, 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Reilly, Wayne E. “Trolley Crossing United Bangor, Brewer in 1914.” Bangordailynews.com. Bangor Daily News, 28 Sept. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Reilly, Wayne E. “Uncle Joe Wentworth Drove Bangor’s First Electric Car in 1889.” Bangordailynews.com. Bangor Daily News, 4 Aug. 2013. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

Remsen, Nancy. “Trolley Replica Could Join Bus Fleet.” Bangor Daily News 12-13 May 1984: 26. Print.

Weber, Tom. “Historical Group Seeks Trolley for Bangor Tours.” Bangor Daily News 25 Apr. 1985: 16. Print.

  PHOTO:  Bangor Daily News. Article: http://bangordailynews.com/sli...