Seashore Trolley Museum geared up for a year of fun

The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport has a host of activities planned for the year, from Moxie Day to the Ghost Trolley to the North Pole Electric Express.

Events planned for this year are:

June 20: Father’s Day on the Trolleys, dads get to ride the old time electric trolleys for free. There will be a drawing for “Motorman of the Hour” where a dad can demonstrate his driving skill.

July 1: Canada Day, see and ride the trams from the largest collection outside Canada, including the 1906 “Golden Chariot.”

July 2 – Sept. 3 (Friday evenings): Sunset Rides on the Olde Time Trolleys, “air-conditioned rides on old open `breezers.”‘

July 3 – Sept. 4 (Saturday evenings): Olde Time Movie Singalongs, sing your favorite songs from the “good ole days” to the accompaniment of a theater organ. See Laurel & Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and other trolley-era stars in one of their old flicks, then ride under the stars.

July 10: Parade of the Trolleys, the museum showcases gems from its collection.

July 11: Moxie Day, where you’ll find Moxie souvenirs, Moxie congress, Moxie Junction Model Railroad, and rides on the orange trolleys.

July 17-18: Antique Power Equipment Days, on display will be restored, operating one-lung gas engines and other machinery from the early part of the century; antique electric trolley rides.

Aug. 15: Olde Tyme Family Circus at the Trolley Museum, 2 shows, 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Aug. 21: New Orleans Cajun Festival and Trolley Parade, where you can ride “Streetcar Named Desire” and other restored trolleys in the trolley parade (2 to 3:15 p.m.), Cajun Feast is set for 6 p.m.

Oct. 9-10: Open House, see and ride some of the more unusual pieces from the “national collection.”

Oct. 22, 23, 29 and 30: Ghost Trolley Celebration, ride the “Ghost Trolley” and the “Terror Train,” 6-8:30 p.m.

Dec. 4, 5: Christmas Prelude Celebration, ride the “North Pole Electric Express” or heated car, see Santa and the Mrs., Saturday noon to 7 p.m., Sunday noon to 4 p.m.

Dec. 31: Whistle in the New Year, celebrate New Year’s Eve aboard an old fashioned electric trolley, 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

The museum got its start in 1939 when a group of trolley enthusiasts got together to save car 31 of the Biddeford & Saco line after its last run. That car now forms the nucleus of the museum’s collection of more than 200 vehicles from around the world, about 50 of which have been restored by staff and volunteer craftsmen, who often make parts from scratch. Visitors can watch the work in progress from the gallery in the Restoration Shop.

The collection includes not just trolleys, but a sheriff’s bus (which carried prisoners from jail to court), a horsecar (a trolley pulled by a horse), a San Francisco cable car, a parlor car, a “Golden Chariot” (a tour trolley from Montreal), an elevated train and a commuter train, as well as work cars, from a trolley crane to a mail trolley to a snow sweeper.

The museum is situated on 300 acres, including a section of the original route of the old Atlantic Shoreline Railway. About 3 1/2 miles of track have been reset, over which the trolleys run.

The Seashore Trolley Museum is run by the New England Electric Railway Historical Society, a nonprofit, educational institution. For more information, contact the museum at P.O. Box A, Kennebunkport 04046-1690, telephone 967-2800.

To get there: From Biddeford going south on Route 1 for about three miles, turn left on Log Cabin Road for another 1.7 miles to the museum. In Kennebunkport, at the west end of Maine Street, turn right on North Street, which runs into Log Cabin Road and the entrance to the museum.