This colorful bird's eye view of the New England coast from Boston Harbor to Portland, Maine shows the various kinds of train and steamship line connections for summer tourists wishing to reach their vacation destinations in Maine. The map key explains that the transit routes are for the Atlantic Shore Line Railway, a Maine electric street railway, the steam railway line of the B&M R.R. and the Southern Maine Steamship Line with connections to the Atlantic Shore Line Railway. The company was chartered in 1900. In 1905, the Maine legislature authorized the Atlantic Shore Line Railway to purchase and merge with pre-existing Maine and New Hampshire shore line street railways to extend its route. The Atlantic Shore Line thus was known as the "Sea View Route" along the Atlantic shore line carrying passengers and freight on a year round basis. In 1907, the Atlantic Shore Line Railway constructed the final link required to provide train service from New York City and Boston straight through to Lewiston, Maine.
The landscape and topography from Boston Harbor and north to other towns in Massachusetts and in Portsmouth, New Hampshire to Maine are shown in a pictorial style characteristic of bird's eye views that invite the viewer into the scene. We see some of the city buildings in Boston and the town centers of Newburyport and Amesbury, among others. Ogunquit is highlighted with its long sandy beach north to Wells, Maine. Small ships are drawn along the steamship route from Boston Harbor to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and up to Cape Porpoise in Maine. Other connecting electric lines from Hampton Beach in New Hampshire make a loop to Exeter, New Hampshire. A connecting electric line runs from Saco to Portland, Maine.
The copyright notice on this map is dated 1908 suggesting that Geo. H. Walker & Co. grasped the appeal his pictorial map would now have to a large urban population of summer travelers due to the Atlantic Shore Line Railway having in 1907 just completed the final link required to provide continuous train travel from New York City, via Boston to Lewiston, Maine. The actual publication date does not appear on the map. This example of The Atlantic Shore Line Railway and Connections map is only the second example that I have found and to date have not found others listed publicly.
For an excellent detailed discussion of the Atlantic Shore Line Railway, see O.R. Cummings, "Atlantic Shore Line Railway: its predecessors and its successors" (1957). Books and Publications. 26. Bangor Public Library, Books and Publications, Special Collections. Citation: http://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/books_pubs/26. The Atlantic Shoreline Railway's peak earnings season was during the summer tourist months, and its peak revenue was in 1907. By 1910, after two years of steep revenue decline a financial reorganization was attempted. The title of our map includes an important phrase "...And Connections." The map is thus a vivid history of public rail transit from New York to Lewiston, Maine and of a brilliant attempt at public transit for locals and for tourists with not a traffic jam in sight. The scarcity of this Geo.Walker & Co. bird's eye view is likely due to the Atlantic Shore Line Railway's shortlived success as the "Sea View Route". The map deserves our attention. The Atlantic Shore Line Railway and Connections map is road map for leaving our cars at home and visiting Maine by train.