Chapter 2
Operations, 1897-1901
The following Sunday, July 11, more than 4,000 rode between Exeter and Hampton Beach, cars leaving in pairs from the easterly end of Great Bridge. It is recorded that the railway was plagued by derailments, caused principally by spreading rails, during the early part of the day, but tie rods were installed during the late morning and the troubles ended.
A week later, on July 18, at 2:15 p.m., the first car, with Everett P. Weeks as motorman and Jere Flynn as conductor, crossed the new Great Bridge and entered Court Square, Exeter. Regular service between Court Square and Hampton Beach began the following day, the first timetable calling for an hourly headway from 7 a.m. until 10 p. m, with a car leaving Exeter for the Hampton carhouse at 11. Two days later, because of unexpectedly heavy traffic, service was increased to provide half hourly headways from Exeter to Hampton Beach from 1 to 10 p. m. and from Hampton Beach to Exeter from 1 to 11 p. m. (midnight on Saturdays.) Extra trips from the beach were made at 7:25 and 8:15 a. m. on weekdays to connect with Boston & Maine trains at Hampton. On Sundays, half hourly service was given from 8 a.m. on.
No. 4, which had made the first trip from Hampton Village to Hampton Beach on July 4, was the first car to the Exeter depot on the morning of August 2. Regular service between the depot and the beach began the same day, cars covering the approximately 113/4 miles in one hour. Two cars were required to maintain the base hourly headway, with four cars being needed for the half hour time.
The through fare from Exeter to Hampton Beach was 15 cents, the line being divided into three five-cent zones. The first zone extended from Court Square (later from the B&M depot) to the Exeter-Hampton boundary; the second, from the town line to Whittier's Corner, and the third from Whittier's to the end of the line at Hampton Beach. Effective August 19, the boundary between the second and third zones was moved from Whittier's to the Hampton railroad crossing, particularly for the benefit of beach-bound excursionists arriving on B&M trains at Hampton depot. And there were quite a few of these for during the summers of 1897 and 1898, the Boston & Maine operated Sunday excursions to Hampton Beach, passengers changing from train to trolley at either Exeter or Hampton. For a time, in a successful effort to promote riding, zone tickets were sold in strips of 11 for 50 cents.
The building and opening of the Exeter Street Railway was deemed to be a significant and important event by residents of Exeter and Hampton and in recognition of this, the Exeter News-Letter), in its issue of September 3, 1897, devoted almost an entire page to the new trolley line, the lengthy article on the road containing a detailed description of a typical ride from Exeter to Hampton Beach, written by one Nat B. Dodge. To quote:
"Now that the new electric line between Exeter and Hampton is completed, thanks to the energetic promoters, there is no more pleasant way of spending an afternoon, or indeed a whole day if one has the time, than in a trip to the beach . . . Surely, no 12 miles could possess more that is of historical or natural interest.
"Boarding one of the elegant new cars of the Exeter Street Railway at the Boston & Maine depot, we glide rapidly down a pleasant street and through the business section of the town. Here we find evidence of Exeter's commercial importance to her rural neighbors in the rows of farmers' wagons hitched along the street. Keeping on, we pass the square, with the handsome new county building, town hall and historic First Church, while just beyond are the ruins of the Squampscott House, recently destroyed by fire, while the large cotton mills of the Exeter Manufacturing Company may be seen across the river at the left. Immediately after, we cross the new steel bridge over the Exeter River, which, meandering through the fertile farms of Stratham and Portsmouth, reaches the sea as the Piscataqua.
"As the car climbs out of the river valley, in which most of Exeter is situated, everywhere are seen the beautiful residences of prominent and wealthy residents of this charming county seat. The water tower is observed upon the crest of Prospect Hill at the left.
"We now emerge into the farming districts, with their broad and fertile acres. Off to the left is Stratham Ridge, from which a fine view may be obtained of the surrounding country, and at the same time, a white district schoolhouse is passed on the same side.
"The route from this point to Hampton abounds in scenery that is distinctly rural and in which the swiftly moving car seems almost out of place. Evidently the inhabitants along our route are hardly accustomed to the invasion of their territory by the electric chariot, if one may judge by the curious faces which we see at every farmhouse along the way.
"This old road is full of curves and tradition accounts for the crookedness of its ways by stating that it was laid out in Colonial times in the trail of a bear, which, having committed some depredation in Wigwam Row of Hampton, was tracked to Squampscott Falls, as the original settlement at Exeter was called. Crossing a small stream, called Ass Brook, we begin the ascent of a long hill, near the top of which, in a field to the right, just over the line in Hampton and towering grandly above a growth of young pines, there stands a noble elm, under which, many years ago, it is said a young couple were united in marriage, having met the parson as they were on their way to his home. Whether or not this happy tradition is true, the fact remains that all this locality has always been known by the name of 'Bride Hill' and the tree as the 'Bridal Elm.'
"At some places along here, the track leaves the highway for short cuts. Some distance before reaching the power station, one of the finest views on the ride is obtained. Stretching away toward Hampton Falls on the right are broad, luxuriant meadows and beautiful woodlands, making a charming scene which one is loath to leave behind, while on the left, behind ancient houses, some of which are more than a century old, may be seen the edge of the forest guarding the 'Old Swamp', as it is called, which lies between Hampton and North Hampton. Shortly, the substantial power station and carhouse of the street railway are passed on the right and nearby, at the junction of the road to 'Guinea', a local name for the southerly part of Hampton, stands the 'old red brick schoolhouse', long the only brick building in town, in which, although it is now deserted, several generations of children acquired much or all of their store of learning.
"Still on, over a road winding and turning like a river, a road shaded sometimes by fragrant pines, and for a distance, by overhanging elms, we swiftly sweep until, rounding a curve by another ancient homestead, the Hampton station of the Boston & Maine Railroad comes into view beyond sloping fields. Passing several village stores just beyond the railroad crossing, we turn a sharp right and find ourselves on the Newburyport-Portsmouth road.
"Continuing on our way, the railroad station is passed on the right, and nearby the new Odd Fellows building, with its recently installed clock and bell. A little farther on, we turn again, this time to the left . . . Passing the chief hotel in the place, we come successively to the Baptist Church, the grammar and high schools, the Congregational Church, the town hall, with its public library, and then the ancient cemetery where the town fathers sleep.
"Soon the causeway over the marsh is reached and the broad Atlantic comes into view; then Hampton Beach, with its long row of boarding houses and summer cottages, and then the ride is ended."
Effective September 20, with the end of the summer season, service was curtailed slightly. Under the new schedule, cars left Exeter depot for Hampton Beach at 7, 8 and 9 a.m., half hourly until 11:30, at 12:30 p.m. and half hourly until 6 o'clock and then hourly until 10. Trips from Exeter to the car barn only were made at 6:30, 7:30 and 11 p.m. Two weeks later, on October 4, the winter schedule went into effect and called for cars to leave Exeter for Hampton Beach at 6:45, 7:45, 9, 9:30, 1 0 and 11 a.m., 12 noon and hourly until 7 p.m., with additional_trips from Exeter to the East End schoolhouse on Winnacunnet Road, Hampton, at 8, 9, 9:30 and 10:30 p.m.
All service on the Exeter Street Railway came to an abrupt halt on Monday, January 31, 1898 when a blizzard, characterized by the press as "one of the worst on record," deposited some two feet of snow, which the wind whipped into huge drifts, throughout southeastern New Hampshire. The last regular car left Exeter for Hampton at 4:30 p.m. but late in the evening, about 10 o'clock, the railway's snow plow, with No. 4 as a pusher, arrived in Exeter from the Hampton carhouse. They became stalled on Great Bridge and remained there for more than a week.
Eight days later, on Thursday, February 8, after a mighty effort by a huge shoveling crew, the line was cleared between Exeter and the Hampton carhouse, the first car arriving in Exeter during the mid afternoon. In the evening, service was provided between Court Square and the railroad crossing at Hampton, and three days later, on February 11, cars began running between the Exeter depot and the so-called "Big Elm" on Winnacunnet Road, Hampton. No attempt was made to clear the tracks the rest of the way to Hampton Beach.
Service had scarcely returned to normal when on Sunday, February 20, another storm erupted and lasted four days, pelting the towns and countryside with snow, sleet and rain. Cars were tied up only on February 21, however. But it was not until March 2 that the railway started clearing the line to Hampton Beach, service to the resort being resumed two days later.
Despite these severe weather conditions, the Exeter Street Railway, in its report for the year ended June 30, 1898, noted the expenditure of only $946 for the removal of snow and ice. Possibly the road recruited a lot of free labor to clear the lines after the big storms. The passenger count for the period was 554,849 and the company reported a profit of $4,931. The income account did not show any proceeds from the sale of power to the Rockingham Electric Company but perhaps the cost of electricity listed in the railway's operating expenses was a net figure, the price of that supplied to the Rockingham concern for street lighting in Exeter being deducted from the total.
The arrangement between the Exeter Street Railway and the Rockingham Electric Company, incidentally, was severely criticized by the Railroad Commissioners in late 1897 when the street railway applied for authority to issue additional capital stock. To quote in part:
"The (Franklin) construction company has contracted with the street railway company to build and equip a railway from Exeter to Hampton Beach and to receive in payment such stocks and bonds as can be legally issued. It is arranged that the street railway company shall furnish to the electric company such light and power as the latter can sell to the towns of Exeter and Hampton and the citizens of those towns. In other words, Mr. (Wallace D.) Lovell and his associates, as the construction company, have contracted with themselves, as the street railway company, to build and equip a railroad ... and they propose, as the electric company, to take from the railway company, at a price fixed by them, such light and power as they can find a market for. All these contracts and arrangements being with themselves, it is for them to decide what kind of a railroad they will construct and what they will pay for the light and power they sell. There has been no compliance with the law that the stock of a proposed railway shall be paid into the treasury in cash, and neither the railway company nor the electric company has ever had any cash capital except a few dollars for organization purposes.
"The whole business had proceeded upon the theory that all necessary funds would be obtained by the sale of railway stock and bonds (by the construction company.) Assuming that the contracts and bargains which these men have made with themselves are binding upon the street railway, the owners of the railway securities, who furnish all the cash, will be at the mercy of the construction company until the road is completed and of the electric company afterwards.
"The charter of the street railway company does not authorize it to engage in the business of furnishing light and power to others, and Mr. Lovell's admission is that the electric company is a device to enable the railway company to do by indirection what it cannot legally do directly.
". . . We place upon record our disapproval of the arrangements by which those in control of these corporations have put themselves in a position in which, if they are so disposed, they can prey upon the property of the street railway after disposing of its securities, and we suggest to all concerned a radical modification of the plans and practices of the managers of this enterprise so as to bring them within the law."
Apparently Mr. Lovell and his associates rectified matters to the satisfaction of the Railroad Commissioners for no further criticisms appear in subsequent reports.
The summer schedule for 1898, effective June 29, called for cars to leave Exeter for Hampton beach at 6:10, 6:45, 8 and 9 a.m. and every 30 minutes until 8 p. rn. and then at 9 p.m. Trips from Exeter to the carhouse were made at 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. and a car ran from Exeter to Whittier's at 10. As in 1897, a car left Hampton Beach for Exeter at midnight on Saturdays. On Sundays, half hourly service was operated between Exeter and Hampton Beach from 8:30 a.m. until 10 p.m.
To stimulate patronage of its cars, the Exeter Street Railway presented numerous special programs, including band concerts and fireworks, at Hampton Beach during the summer months. On Sundays in particular, cars running to and from the beach would be filled to capacity and it was not unusual for every available trolley to be pressed into service to handle the large crowds.
Sunday, July 3, and Monday, July 4, 1898 were two especially busy days but the latter was marked by tragedy about 3 in the afternoon while the Exeter Brass Band was giving a concert in front of a roller skating rink at the beach. Noting the approach of what appeared to be a thunder storm, the band members and many of the audience sought shelter inside the building. As the storm hit, one gust of cyclone-like wind shook the frame structure and a second gust flattened it. Several persons were fatally injured and many others were critically hurt. The sudden storm caused some damage to the railway's overhead wires but this was quickly repaired and the freight car, No. 12, was pressed into service as an ambulance to carry the dead, dying and injured to Hampton Village and Exeter.
The following day, the curious flocked to the beach to view the ruins of the skating rink and damage to other buildings. The Manchester Union of July 6 reported that every car from Exeter to the resort was so crowded that it was almost impossible for the conductor to collect all fares.
About two weeks later, on the night of Thursday, July 21, the Exeter Street Railway had its first fatal accident. This occurred near the East End schoolhouse in Hampton when a car running from Hampton Beach to Exeter struck one Eri P. Blake of Hampton, who was lying on the track. The night being dark and foggy and the car headlight none too powerful, the motorman did not see the man until the trolley was within 15 feet of him. Although the brakes were applied with full force, the car could not be stopped in time to avoid hitting Blake, rolling him over several times and passing entirely over his body. The railway was exonerated of all blame after, at a coroner's inquest, it was brought out that the victim and several companions had been observed drinking earlier in the evening.
Some time later, on a date not reported, a 3-year-old child was run over and killed by an electric car. The accident was held to be unavoidable and again the railway was termed blameless.
An hourly headway between Exeter and Hampton Village went into effect on September 25 (only a few trips continued on to Hampton Beach) and on Saturday, October 1, the Exeter Street Railway began operating a loop car in Exeter on an hourly headway from 9:30 a. in. to 5:30 p. in. This car, leaving the B&M depot, ran down Main and Water Streets to Court Square and out High Street to its intersection with Drinkwater Road. Returning to Court Square, the car continued on to the depot via Front, Garfield and Lincoln Streets. Cars arriving in Exeter from Hampton ran to the depot via Water and Main Streets, returning to Court Square via Front Street. This gave half hourly service around the loop and between Court Square and Drinkwater Road, Hampton cars leaving the railroad station on the hour. The fare on the loop car, incidentally, was five cents.
The loop had been in operation for less than two months when a three-day shutdown of the railway was forced by the "Portland Storm." Again, huge drifts blocked the tracks. Attempts were made to clear the line immediately after the storm subsided but the original Taunton plow became disabled in Exeter and the new Smith & Wallace plow, received only a short time before, was at the Hampton carhouse without motors. A crew of 40 men was hired to shovel out the line and by November 28, the railway was open from Exeter to the Hampton carhouse. Regular operation was resumed the following day, with cars running between the Exeter depot and the intersection of Winnacunnet Road with Park Avenue in Hampton Village.
The longest suspension of service on the Exeter Street Railway followed a major blizzard on Monday, February 13, 1899, a somewhat less severe storm the previous Wednesday having seriously disrupted schedules. The last car ran at 9 a.m. and no attempt was made to clear the line for more than a week, one reason being a lack of coal at the Hampton power station. The fuel had been ordered but the severe weather had delayed its arrival at Hampton Village, from which it was to be hauled by sleigh to the power station. According to the Exeter Gazette of February 21, Col. Stephen H. Gale, a Hampton shoe manufacturer, loaned the railway sufficient coal to keep its electric lighting plant in operation but there just wasn't enough for the trolleys.
Two days later, on February 23, the Gazette reported that one Harry Brown of Hampton had made an appearance in Exeter the previous day with 12 horses hitched to a road scraper which was being used to help clear the snow and ice from the street railway tracks. However, it was not until February 28 that service was resumed between Exeter and Hampton Village (the delayed coal finally having arrived) and cars did not run to Hampton Beach until April 5, nearly two months after the storm.
Largely due to the heavy travel during the summer of 1898, the Exeter Street Railway carried 600,150 passengers in the year ended June 30, 1899 and the road reported a net income of $3,001. Although it wasn't earned, a 41/2 per cent dividend on the company's capital stock of $100,000 was declared and paid out of surplus, the $4,500 melon being sliced by 11 shareholders.
The first car ran from Hampton Village to Hampton Falls on Friday, May 12, 1899 and two days later, regular service was inaugurated between Whittier's Corner and the Seabrook post office. A single car was used, the round trip having a running time of 30 minutes, and a five cent fare was charged. The next Sunday, May 21, two cars were used to provide a 30-minute headway between Smithtown Square and Whittier's, connections being made at the latter point with Exeter-Hampton Beach trolleys. Despite a drizzle, patronage was heavy. The one-way fare was 10 cents or five cents between Whittier's and the Seabrook post office and another nickel between the post office and Smithtown.
Regular service over the Amesbury & Hampton Street Railway began at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, July 4, cars being operated on a 30-minute headway between Amesbury and Hampton Beach. According to newspaper reports, hundreds of passengers were carried on that first day and 10 cars, running in pairs, were used to handle the heavy crowds. For the remainder of the summer, 30-minute headways were maintained between both Exeter and Amesbury and Hampton Beach, the running time on each route being one hour. The fare from Amesbury to Hampton Beach was 15 cents - or five cents from Amesbury to Smithtown Square, five cents from Smithtown to Whittier's and five cents from Whittier's to the Hampton Beach Casino. Round trip tickets, good between either Exeter or Amesbury and Hampton Beach, were sold for 25 cents.
(At about this same time, the boundary of the second and third fare zones between Exeter and Hampton Beach was moved back to Whittier's but passengers for Hampton Beach boarding cars at Hampton Depot or vice versa - were assessed only five cents.)
With the end of the beach season in September 1899, through cars began running between Exeter and Amesbury, approximately 17 miles, on an hourly headway, the running time being 1 hr. 20 min. and the through fare being 20 cents. The Exeter loop service, suspended during the summer months, was revived at the same time, starting as before at High Street and Drinkwater Road and running between trips of the Amesbury- Exeter cars around the circuit.
(During the summer months, when cars between Exeter and Hampton Beach were running on a 30-minute headway, trips arriving in Exeter on the half hour ran to the depot via Front Street and those arriving on the hour proceeded to the station via Water and Main Streets, returning to Court Square via the opposite route in each case.)
While through cars were operating between Exeter and Amesbury, local cars were run between Whittier's and Hampton Beach. At first, an hourly schedule was maintained but the headway was lengthened gradually and by January 1, 1900, only two trips per day were being operated over the entire line, one running in the early forenoon and one in the late afternoon. Additional trips were operated between Whittier's and the East End schoolhouse for the benefit of Winnacunnet Road residents. Actually, more frequent service to Hampton Beach was not warranted as there were few, if any, year round residents at the resort in those years.
The operation of through routes, such as from Haverhill to Hampton Beach and from Newburyport to Hampton Beach, in cooperation with the Haverhill & Amesbury Street Railway was a goal of the EH&A management but the Haverhill & Amesbury wasn't willing to cooperate. From the point of view of its own interests, the H&A was justified in its stand for it was actively promoting Salisbury Beach as a summer resort and Hampton Beach was regarded as a dangerous competitor.
But Promoter Lovell was a determined man and he was not above a little arm twisting to attain his ends. During September 1899, he announced plans to extend the Amesbury & Hampton from Amesbury to Haverhill, the proposed route beginning in Market Square, Amesbury, and running through Main and Friend Streets to the so-called Lion's Mouth area of the town. It then was to cut across country over private land to cross the Haverhill & Amesbury and continue on to Merrimacport and Rocks Village in East Haverhill. From Rocks Village, the line was to continue along River Road and East Broadway to a connection with the Lowell, Lawrence & Haverhill Street Railway at Tilton's Corner on Groveland Street, Haverhill.
Surveying of the route was completed in November and Lovell announced that construction would begin in the spring of 1900. The Amesbury & Hampton, however, made no attempt to obtain state authorization for the extension - nor did it apply for franchises in any of the communities involved. But the mere threat of competition was enough for the Haverhill & Amesbury and early in January 1900, it joined the EH&A in inaugurating a new through service between Newburyport and Young's siding in Hampton Village. An hourly headway was maintained and each company provided one car for the route. The running time for the 11-mile trip was 55 minutes and the fare was 10 cents, or five cents between Newburyport and Smithtown on the H&A and a nickel between Smithtown and Hampton on the EH&A. The EH&A used No. 8 on the run and according to the News-Letter of February 2, 1900, the car had been the target of vandals in Newburyport the previous Friday. Windows were smashed, a seat broken and several seat cushions were cut.
It would appear that after the establishment of the Newburyport-Young's siding run, most or all through trips between Amesbury and Exeter were discontinued, cars running between Exeter and the East End schoolhouse in Hampton (with two trips daily continuing on to Hampton Beach); between Newburyport and Hampton Village and between Amesbury and Smithtown. Thus, through passengers between Amesbury and Exeter were obliged to change cars twice at Smithtown and at Whittier's.
Hourly service between Hampton Village and Hampton Beach was restored in mid April, cars leaving Whittier's on the hour, remaining at the beach for 30 minutes, and departing for the Village at a quarter of the hour. About a month later, half hourly service was established between Exeter and Hampton Village, cars leaving Exeter on the hour running through to Amesbury (connecting at Smithtown for Newburyport) and those departing on the half hour continuing on from Hampton Village to Hampton Beach. Operation of the loop car in Exeter was suspended at this time.
Early in June, the service was changed once more, a half hour headway being provided between Exeter and Whittier's and between Amesbury and Hampton Beach during the late morning hours and through the afternoon. In the evening, cars ran hourly from both Ames bury and Exeter to the beach.
It was at this time that the railway had its third fatal accident. This occurred about 9:30 on the night of ,June 8 when one John McDougall, an employe of the Gale shoe factory in Hampton, was struck and killed by an electric car near the home of Warren M. Batchelder on Exeter Road, Hampton. According to the Railroad Commissioners' report of the fatality, McDougall had fallen in the railway tracks and was lying there unconscious when the trolley came along. "The car was running at a moderate rate of speed and its motorman, Everett Button, was on the lookout, but as the man lay lengthwise between the rails and the night was dark, he did not see him until it was too late to bring the car to a stop before it struck him. No one was at fault for this accident except the victim," the commissioners said.
Still another change in the EH&A's schedule was made late in June when through service between Newburyport and Hampton Beach was established, an hourly headway being placed in effect and a 15 cent fare being charged. (Of the total levy, five cents went to the Haverhill & Amesbury.) Hourly service also was provided between Amesbury and the beach and, in addition, local cars ran hourly between Amesbury and Smithtown and between Newburyport and Smithtown. Schedules were so arranged that the Hampton Beach through cars from Amesbury and Newburyport ran alternately, as also did the locals, to give an effective half hour service between both communities and the resort. Half hour service also was operated between Exeter and the beach.
Perhaps the major achievement of the summer of 1900 was the inauguration of through service between Portsmouth and Hampton Beach, made possible, by the completion of the Portsmouth Electric Railway's main line from Portsmouth to the Hampton-North Hampton boundary. The first trip from Portsmouth to Hampton Beach was made on Sunday, June 24, and on the following day, several special cars conveyed the Sir Knights of DeWitt Clinton Commandery, Knights Templar, of Portsmouth to an outing at the beach. Regular service began the next day, a temporary hourly headway being placed in effect.
At first, through passengers were obliged to change cars at Portsmouth junction but it was not long before through service between Portsmouth and the Hampton Beach Casino was being provided on a 30-minute headway. Cars of both the EH&A and the Portsmouth Electric Railway were used, crews being changed at the "transfer" as Portsmouth junction also was called. The distance from Market Square, Portsmouth, to the Hampton Beach Casino was 13.8 miles and the running time was 1 hr. 15 min. The through fare was 20 cents, of which 15 cents was collected by the Portsmouth road, which was effectively a subsidiary of the Boston & Maine Railroad.
(The Portsmouth-Hampton Beach through service was provided during the summer only. In other seasons, Portsmouth Electric cars ran only to Portsmouth junction, connecting there with EH&A cars from Hampton Beach. A covered shelter and waiting room were provided at the junction.)
Hourly through service between Newburyport and Exeter was begun on Oct. 22, 1900, the 18.2 mile trip having a running time of 1 hr. 30 min., and schedules for the late fall, winter and early spring of 1900-01 also called for hourly service between Amesbury and Smithtown and between Hampton Village and Portsmouth junction and a 30-minute headway around the Exeter loop. Cars on the Hampton Village-Portsmouth junction route, leaving Whittier's, first ran to the casino and then continued up to the "transfer" to connect with the Portsmouth Electric. Coming back from the junction, crews changed ends at the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Winnacunnet Road and returned to Whittier's, where connections were made with Newburyport-Exeter cars.
There was a combination waiting room and lunch room in the center of Smithtown Square and in Amesbury, there was a waiting room and office on Merchants' Row in Market Square. At Seabrook, there were waiting facilities in the general store and curiosity shop of J. W. Locke and stores also were used for waiting rooms in Hampton Falls and Hampton Village. At Exeter, the waiting room was in the Folsom Block.
Service during the summer of 1901 was essentially the same as that in 1900, with through cars running from Amesbury, Newburyport, Exeter and Portsmouth to Hampton Beach, and when fall schedules became effective, Newburyport-Exeter through trips and the Exeter loop service were resumed and local cars ran between Amesbury and Smithtown and between Whittier's and Portsmouth junction. As might be supposed, the EH&A-A&H system carried its heaviest traffic in summer, when a starter was stationed at Hampton Beach daily. It also was customary to station a starter at Portsmouth junction on Sundays and holidays when regular trips between Hampton Beach and Portsmouth would be supplemented by numerous extras on both the EH&A and the Portsmouth Electric. As a general rule, these extras were run only to the junction, necessitating a change for any passengers who wished to continue on.
As reported earlier, the EH&A-A&H system connected at Amesbury with the Haverhill & Amesbury and the Citizens' Electric Street Railways and on May 11, 1901, the selectmen of the town ordered the exchange of free transfers by the three roads. The transfer arrangement became effective June 20 and allowed passengers on the Amesbury & Hampton to ride to Rocky Hill (on Elm Street) or St. Joseph Cemetery (on Haverhill Road) on the Haverhill & Amesbury, or to Hawkswood (on lower Main Street) on the Citizens' Electric line to Newburyport. Passengers from either the H&A or the Citizens' could ride as far as Clinton and Congress Streets on the Amesbury & Hampton.
It is not clear what transfer privileges existed on the EH&A-A&H system itself but one known to have been provided in summer allowed passengers riding from Hampton Village to Hampton Beach to change to Portsmouth junction-bound cars at Beach siding without payment of an additional fare. The same rights prevailed in the opposite direction. In the fall, winter and spring, the fare between Whittier's and Portsmouth junction was five cents.