USA - 'City of Manchester' at Seashore Trolley Museum (Maine), seen Sept. 2024
Posted by richard7k@reddit | WeirdWheels | View on Reddit | 5 comments
The Briggs Carriage Company (Massachusetts) built the unique parlor trolley "City of Manchester" for the Manchester Street Railway (New Hampshire), which used it from 1898 to 1935 or so. It mostly carried railway management and visiting VIPs on tours of the city, and could also be chartered for five dollars a day (almost 200 dollars in 2026). The body was found by a Seashore Trolley Museum member in 1952 and "City of Manchester" was restored in the 1960s. The liquor cabinet has not been restocked yet, but new furniture and lights have been installed. It sometimes runs at the museum and got a lot of exercise at its 85th anniversary festival. Most medium and large street railways used to have their own parlor trolleys, which were traditionally much more ornate than regular streetcars. "City of Manchester" is one of the oldest survivors of this type.
Ill_Computer_8604@reddit
It's nothing like the British Manchester at least, in that it's lovely and has places you can sit.
We do have sorta cool trams though!
richard7k@reddit (OP)
For comparison this was one of the Manchester Street Railway's regular interurban trams. Manchester and Nashua together have over 400,000 people today, and Manchester used to have New England's largest textile mill. Samuel Blodget renamed the town of Derryfield to Manchester in 1810 after the canal and first mill opened, as he wanted to give New Hampshire an industrial center equal to the original Manchester.
Ill_Computer_8604@reddit
That's exactly what I think of when I hear "Tram" in the American sense, and they're always so cool.
Manchester (Original) is the crucible of our modern world, but as a proud Manc I would say that!
Bland-fantasie@reddit
Great post, thanks op.
richard7k@reddit (OP)
Thanks for taking a look!