2/8/17: Hampton without SR service for the first time in about 20 years (since Sunday night for 36 hours) due to an age disagreement between conductors, motormen and the company. MacAdams said "It is not a strike. My men simply have left." Employees have been asking for a raise from 26 cents to 30 cents per hour, but the company agreed to 28 cents. During the winter two cars had been running between Hampton and Exeter and Whittier's and the Beach, was a convenience for school children. Settled Tuesday afternoon by sides agreeing to accept ruling by State Board of Arbitration.

12/6/17: EH&A raises fares as of 12/1/17 from 6 to 7 cents and "It is hoped this increase will result in producing revenues sufficient to justify the continued operation of the road..."

5/2/18: EH&A votes to establish three zones between Exeter and Hampton Beach with ten cents charged for each zone. At present it is four zones for 7 cents, effective 5/3018.

5/23/18: Charles Francis Adams and others, petition the Public Service Commission for a hearing to protest the SR rate increases. Suggests changing zones and fares to offer less concessions to some riders and to make it less expensive to travel to the beach in the summer.

6/27/18: Report that the "......electric's are carrying but few passengers as many rebel against the ten-cent fare."

On Sept 20, 18, the EH&A applies to the Public service Commission to permanently discontinue the Exeter route, the Exeter to Hampton route and the Hampton to Smithtown route and to temporarily close the remaining lines, namely Whittier's to Hampton Beach.

11/21/18: Hampton has the largest delegation on the hearing on closure. Arthur O. Fuller, representing Hampton, said the poor financial condition of the SR was due to irregularity of running times and bad connections at transfer points. Hollis says the SR has not made a profit since the reorganization of 1907.

1/16/18: On 2/9, the PSC commissioned authorized the EH&A to discontinue service and to remove road bed, wires, poles, etc. on or after May 1 "unless forward with a proposition, to take over the property intact at a price equivalent to what it would sell for for junk." Junk value is $100,000. Paper urges people of Hampton to buy. Saus[?] property values have gone up since SR began and would go down if tracks were torn up.

1/23/18: Herbert L. Tobey has been appointed by selectmen chairman of a committee to meet with the other four towns to discuss unified action to prevent discontinuence of the SR. It is hoped legislature would pass a bill giving towns the right to protect their own interests in case all else fails.

1/30/18: On 1/16, SR announces intention to end service on 2/1. On 1/15 however, the SrR wrote to PSCV outlining suggestions for how it would continue service through Feb-April and perhaps for the summer as well. Hollis writes to Tobey that he will keep the line open until May 1 while the committee seeks solutions. Hollis will confer with committee to discuss legislation. Tobey says in letter to Hamptons Union that the problems of the line are typical of all SR lines, that abatement of taxes should not help the company enough to keep going,, that the PSC agrees it is a losing proposition, that would be unconstitutional for towns to subsidize, it seems unlikely private capital will come to the rescue, and the public ownership is the only solution. Meanwhile the Portsmouth street car railway has petitioned to end its North Hampton branch and to close the north beach branch (Portsmouth Junction) which connects with the EH&A during the winter months until April.

3/13/19: Town meeting votes to reject a motion to indefinitely postpone the article on the Sr. Selectmen Brown says it is the best paying street railroad in New England under the present conditions. Vote to form a committee to continue meeting with other towns and to readjourn the Town Meeting on May 12

5/8/19: SR Committee reports on progress. Says their value of the Sr and price the company would sell for varies by some $37,000. Because of this variation, the committee can't recent purchase to the voters. However, Tobey writes, if the voters desire to take some action, he recommends a new committee be formed with full powers similar to those in Hampton Falls and Exeter and the the Sr be offered the sum of $60,000 for the entire Sr excluding the Casino property; that the committee be able to borrow $25,000 for operating capital, that the purchase of the Smithtown to Hampton line not be mandatory, and that if Exeter fails to purchase, that Hampton purchase only that portion pf the line from the Hampton Car Barn of Hampton Depot to the beach.

Hollis is asked if there is any way to keep the Sr going and he says it will cost $23,000 to rehabilitate the track and property and it is his opinion that eventually the track will be torn up if the towns don't buy it and run it as a public enterprise. Meanwhile the Mass NE SR announces plans to eventually discontinue service between Newburyport and Smithtown.

(6/15/19): At the hearing re: closing the Smithtown branch, the Co. blames the automobile for the drop in business. Says since 1909 business has dropped 112 percent and now carrying half of the passengers as it did then. Cites one day, June 11, when out of 17 trips between Newburyport and Smithtown, 112 cars had no passengers. Seabrook people claim lines are necessary for all the workmen going to Newburyport and Amesbury. Both Ports Sr and M NE Sr say they are not interested in buying the EH&A.

Value of the Line: since the war ended, there is little if any market for used trolley cars. See this issue for more analysis of the value.

SAr agrees to sell the Casino properties for the price equivalent to the evaluation of 1919, and to sell the beach line and the main line for $97,000, offer good until July 1, 1919.

5/15/19: At the adjourned town meeting, the purchase of the Casino property was urged by was rejected as was a motion by E Warren to reject the purchase of the SR. Motion lost, and the meeting voted accept the committee report to authorize selectmen to appoint a new committee to report on Sept. 8when HF and E also plan to make reports at adjourned meeting.

9/11/19: At adjourned meeting Tobey says sentiment in E and HF is to assist Hampton financially with a subsidy so meeting votes to authorize and empower the committee to purchase the entire property, except the Casino building,, to formulate a plan to run the Sr, to make arrangements for the take over and to report to another adjourned TM on Nov 8.

11/6/19: Storm causes small turnout at TH but Tobey reports that they are still negotiating with Hollis and a financial offer has not been made to him by the town. Therefore adjourn until first Tuesday in Jan. (no mention in the paper about this meeting, presumed that the town bought the SR.

2/26/20: Portsmouth Sr receives permission to close the line between NH and the beach.

6/10/20 Hearing to be called by EH&A to remove line between Smithtown and Whittier's.

10/28/20: Apparently no meeting held last Jan. to purchase the Sr since the subject will be up at a meeting on Friday night. Edgar Warren continues opposition to purchase with letter to ed. "If a corporation cannot make the road pay I don't see how the town can." Among many questions he asks is whether or not the towns of HF, E and S have actually taken legal votes to provide a subsidy for the line and for how long.

12/9/20: On 12/3 petition by 20 men for a town meeting to act on the purchase of the SR. Among petitioners were HL Tobey, Dean B. Merrill, Ernest G Cole, Charles E. Greenman, and Joseph B.. Brown.

12/23/20: Town votes 155-118 to buy Sr for a price not exceeding $80,000. Authorize issuance of 20 year 5 percent bonds for $80,000 and for additional bonds to the sum of $20,00 for operating capital. The Sr committee headed by Tobey authorize to negotiate with the company to complete sale, issue the bonds, etc. No action taken on articles to appoint SR Commissioners.

1/27/21: Rep. Cole files bill (#73) in legislature to confirm the action of the tm which bought the Sr.

3/3/21: Selectmen Edwin L. Batchelder writes in HU that Cole's bill was "railroaded" through the house and senate and signed by the governor in one short day. Claimed he went up for the hearing and it was already over, that the hearings main speaker heard was to support for the bill by Hollis (whose company had the most to gain by its passage). Batchelder has Boston law firm review the town meeting vote and they have determined that the selectmen should not issue the bonds or purchase the Sr for technical reasons, primarily because the TM authorized buying all of the property of the EH&R but actually the beach line was not included on recommendation of the Tobey study committee. They feel the vote was to buy all including the beach line. This could result in Sr being owned jointly by private interests (owners of the beach line) and the public (the town owning the rest of the EH&A). Also felt the bonds could not be issued in the manner planned since not so authorized in the state law passed in 1919. Therefore the action to buy the Sr may be unconstitutional. Petitioners had gone to Supreme court to have the sale withheld based on the argument of imposing a tax burden on Hampton people for the benefit of people in other towns, namely those other towns on the Sr line. A deal between the Sr and the town however required the petitioner (who was perhaps Bachelder himself) to post a large bond, thus making themselves liable to a suit from the Sr if the sale fell through.

3/17/21: After Town Meeting ratifies the vote to purchase made last December, Adams writes an editorial in this issue which outlines his opposition to the purchase. He calls municipalities taking over Sr as experimental and also says that most everyone in Hampton, as well as across the state, has agreed that towns should buy SRs only as a last resort to protect a service vital to the prosperity to a town. He quotes state law ch 107 of 1919), apparently written about this time to deal with the closing of Sr's, as saying the law prohibits any town from providing funds to a Sr if stockholders will benefit and also that no purchase can be made unless the Sr has been authorized to discontinue. He says company must be in liquidation before the town can buy.

11/10/21: L. Frank Stevens named acting supt of the sr, replacing Walter A. Scott. Stevens has been employed by the Sr since it was built in 1897.

3/15/23: Difficult winter for the Sr as numerous heavy snow storms closed the line. Drifts at the beach were 15 feet deep. Finally in March a final storm closed the line, leaving the crew "practically discouraged."

Mrs. Robert Scott of Exeter called Supt. L. Frank Stevens and she said volunteers in Exeter were willing to open the line free of charge if Hampton people would do the same at the Hampton end. Result was work on March 9-11 that opened the road again.

4/24/24: Street car line raises fares again and changes to a 2-zone system with ten cents charged for each zone (Hampton Depot to Casino and Casino to Portsmouth transfer station).

7/9/25: Checker Cab company denied permission by Public Service Commission to run a daily bus line from Manchester to HB. Both B&M and SR claimed their business would be harmed by the bus line. Regarding the SR the PSC said "The town took it over in 1920 at junk sale prices. The road has never been made to pay since it was established. Since its acquisition by the town it has piled up an operating deficit of $41,883.76, there being a deficit for each of the years 1921-24, the year 1924 deficit being larger than for any of the preceding years."

10/1/25: Directors of the Sr vote Wednesday to discontinue from 10/17/25 until 6/22/26. Agree to reconsider at a meeting on Saturday.

10/8/25: Directors vote to shut down the Sr from 10/17/25 until June 1926. They will form a corporation to charter a bus line to carry mail and school children in the district served by the Sr, and provide limited service between Exeter and the Beach. In the summer, the bus line will be a feeder to a section of the Sr from Hampton village to the beach, the only portion of the SR to be operated again. Directors take this step to protect the Town from five bus companies who have petitioned to service Hampton. The employee's offer to continue to operate the Sr was not considered.

10/22/25: Sr to keep running until 11/7 to learn about the petition regarding the new bus line, so that the town will not be without public transportation.

11/5/25: Union lists reasons why directors want to discontinue the Sr. It presently looses $50, per day or $1500 per month except for July, August and September when it make a profit of $4,000 total for the three months. Two-thirds of the summer revenue comes from the route between the depot and the Casino and north along the beach to the Portsmouth connection. Operation of this section and in the summer months would be self-sustaining.

Permission was given by the PSC to start a bus line but since the directors of the SR have no money, it is expected that they will allow a private operation to provide service. One proposal has come from a group offering to provide a motorbus for winter service and not to run in competition with the Sr routes in the summer.

1/7/26: On Sunday, the bus service replaced the Sr. Saturday night, the car barn was locked up as the cars won't be used again until summer. The bus is on a similar schedule as the cars but will go only as far as Hampton Falls Post Office. New company called the Exeter, Hampton and Amesbury Transportation Company. essentially the route is Hampton depot to Exeter along the Exeter Road.

3/11/26: TM votes on Sr articles. LC Ring moves to adopt article which would discontinue the Sr forever and also to use proceeds to pay off debt and to expend $5,000 annually from taxes beginning in 1927 to pay off the debt. HL Tobey recommended to continue SR from car barn to the Beach in the summer saying it could be done at a profit, that the line be leased to the bus company for $1 per year in exchange for half the profits. Rings motion carried and the selectmen were authorized to sell off the line and equipment.

3/11/26: Robert Elliot, who wrote one of the two poems listed last week and good for use in book as part of the Sr debate, writes further in a lengthy letter "Yes, we faced a problem five years ago. Remember, auto busses has not become firmly established then; many people did not believe they ever would be practical. I do not believe they will take care of the Beach transportation problem for some years yet. What I do maintain is: the Town voted to buy the road as the only way to get out of a bad hole. That they got into a worse one during the period of experiment is unfortunate and has proven expensive. But have you who mourn the high tax rate stopped to consider what it would have cost to do without the railway?" Elliot also pointed out in the poems the fallacy of comparing the building a school and buying a snow plow as the same as buying the railroad.

6/10/26: Walter W. Davis of Medford, Ma., places ad for former street railway men to work. He attends PSC hearing on closing the SR and present a proposal for operating a section of the road. Sr has right of way over auto traffic and carries more passengers than the busses. Selectmen expect to open bids for disposal of the line June 17.

6/17/26: Selectmen open 12 bids re: the SR but keep secret under advice of counsel until Friday. Some bids were for operation. Walter Davis withdrew his bid.

6/24/26: Bid for junking the SSr awarded to Perry, Buxton and Doane company of Portland for $26,300 for the rails and copper.

7/29/26: First steps in dismantling the EH&A SR begin with the Seabrook portion of the line. The 60-foot rails are cut in half and placed on a truck for hauling away.

8/19/26: Charles Kierstead purchases street car trolley for an addition to his lunch cart and Christopher D. Moore buys the truck car barn for the SR from the town for use for automobile industry.

8/4/27: SR line still running from Salisbury Beach to Seabrook Junction but this will be the last summer. Began just 25 years ago.

TRANSPORTATION

10/21/20: With Atlantic Corporation's shipyard in Portsmouth launching its last ship, the B&M announced it was cancelling its early or Shattuck train (also named for the Shattuck shipyard in Newington), which made a early morning workingman's run from Newburyport to Portsmouth. B&M had received a subsidy from the shipyard which needed a way to get workers to the plant. (a similar train from Rochester ran without a subsidy was to continue in service) With the final ship launched, men not needed so subsidy was dropped and the B&M ended service on 10/2. Co. says it needs $150 per day as a subsidy. Mass meeting in Hampton on 10/13 passed a resolution saying stopping train caused a hardship on citizens, they were being discriminated against when compared to Rochester train, they decided to appeal to the ICC or who ever had authority. Paper says not just workingmen affected. Many people with good jobs from Hampton depended on the train and may now have to move to Portsmouth to keep their jobs and Hampton will lose the good families.

4/15/26: B&M proposes Portsmouth to Seabrook bus line. While Portsmouth C of C opposed, Ashworth and Edwin L. Batchelder, chair of B of S, gave support although they hoped train service would not be cut back.

Batchelder says the bus owned by the EH&A Transportation Co. has been bought by the town and that the B&M agreed to buy it if the petition was approved. Issue carried ad for B&M Transportation Company of Portsmouth, announced Sunday trips, beginning April 17, between Hampton Centre and Beach.

4/22/26: Legal notice by Town petitions the PSC to discontinue the SR., hearing scheduled for May 11.

4/29/26: The above B&M Co. announces via ad bus schedule for service between Hampton and Exeter and Hampton and Portsmouth.

5/6/26: The Queen Line ad offers deluxe motor coach from Tobey's Drug Store to Boston and Portland.

STREET RAILWAY MISC.

1/5/28: PSC approves petition of Mass. North Eastern Railway Co to abandon tracks in Seabrook.

5/5/32: CCS columns says on May 19, 1897, Judge Charles M. Lamprey drives first spike for the street railway. His speech says in part "This railroad will bring to Hampton increase of wealth and popularity as a summer resort. It will increase the prosperity and business importance of Exeter. And now it becomes my privilege as native and resident of Hampton to drive the first spike which binds these historic towns together." The first officers of the company were William Lee, president; George W. Terrill, treasurer; C. L. Cotton, W. D. Lovell, general managers; Charles A. Cotton, engineer, William Lee, Charles A. Cotton, J. Warren Towle, Benjamin Hammond, John D. Gilman, C. L. Cotton and W. D. Lovell, directors." An illustration representing the laying of the first spike in front of Christopher S. Toppan's house was distributed to those in attendance.

1/5/33: Legal notice from town indicates a call on the remaining SR bonds originally issued 2/1/21. Interest will cease on 2/1/33 and the bonds should be presented for payment to the First National Bank of Boston on or after 2/1/33. Similar notices placed in paper for some bonds which should be turned by 8/1/33.

RAILROAD MISC.

3/4/37: Through efforts of C of C, the B & M leaving Boston at 11:30 at night will make a stop in Hampton to leave off passengers. Should be helpful to people who want to be in Boston in the evening, but who want to get home the same night.

{End of Part II}