From Stagecoach to Iron Horse

Boston & Maine engine in York 1887 / SeacoastNH.com

Strawbery Banke Presents
HISTORIC PORTSMOUTH #239

This photograph commemorates the opening of the York Harbor and Beach Railroad on August 8, 1887. The rail work was completed from Kittery in little more than two months but had not yet hit the beach by the summer peak season.. (Continued with bonus photos below)

The North Wind chugs into York Beach

North Wind B&M Engine #167 a Sea Cottage stagecoach in York Maine 1877

The photo shows "The North Wind" (locomotive #157) followed by a coach and baggage car loaded in Boston and possibly switched off in Portsmouth station. The train is met here by the stagecoach from the Sea Cottage. Construction had apparently slowed here on its way to "Union Bluffs", now York Beach, due to swampy summer conditions. A sophisticated network of trains and trolleys allowed visitors to conveniently reach a growing number of summer resorts, boosting the seacoast tourism trade that continues today.

BONUS CLOSE-UPS
from SeacaostNH.com

Detail 01

Detail 02

Detail 03

News about Portsmouth from Fosters.com