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A vintage Cole s Express truck. (Photo: Robert Gabrick) The story of Cole’s Express is a classic American “rags to riches” tale. Allie Cole struck out on his own at the age of 10 when he was old enough to understand that his widowed mother could not support him and several sisters and brothers on what she earned as a washer-woman. After leaving Lowell, Maine, Cole supported himself through a series of jobs, including farm and stable work. In 1910, at the age of 17, he was working as a baggage and freight handler at the Enfield, Maine, railroad station. He decided to go into business for himself, rather than work dead-end jobs that did not value good customer service. He landed a contract to deliver mail between the Enfield railroad station and the nearby towns of Burlington, Grand Falls, Lowell and Saponac. Using a horse and wagon, this first contract became the foundation of Cole’s business, which he named Cole’s Express in 1917. ....