Steam & Excursion > Steamtown VT over 50 years ago.

As a teenager, I was a frequent visitor to Steamtown, Vermont. I was there during the summers of 1964,1967 and 1968, and took pictures of everything. In 1966, my parents got me a decent Konica rangefinder 35mm camera. These are some of the images. The collection has changed much over the years. The founder of Steamtown, F.Nelson Blount was killed in a plane crash in 1967, so these images were taken when the collection was at its biggest and most diverse.

A short excursion run from Riverside station at Steamtown to Chester VT. was a long time feature of the Steamtown experience, and a variety of steam locomotives pulled the excursions over the years.

Initially, Rahway Valley 2-8-0 #15 was the locomotive which hauled the excursion trains,later it suffered a boiler flue failure which injured the engineer and ended 15's excursion service. 

MN 15 is shown in storage at North Walpole NH in 1966, while MN 127 is shown departing Riverside station at Steamtown with an excursion train, also in 1966,lettered Monadnock, Steamtown and Northern..



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/20 15:41 by eminence_grise.

First-class set, Thanks for posting these historic views. What a difference !
Bob

#15 is an interesting engine with outside admission piston valves.  You can see the branch pipe coming from the superheater splitting in two directions over the steam chest.

Thanks for posting.  Great to see the origins of the collection.

Some CN locomotives in the Steamtown collection in 1967. CN 1395 is a 4-6-0 built for the Canadian Northern. Sister 1392 is operable at the Alberta Railway Museum. 1395 is currently on the Coopersville and Marne RR and in derelict condition.

CN 96 is a 2-6-0 built for the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada. It was acquired by an individual in Ontario, Canada where it became derelict and was later acquired by the Ohio Central.

CN 3377 is a 2-8-2 built by CLC in 1919 for the Canadian Government Railway (a precursor to the CNR). It was delivered lettered for the GTR. It is in the current Steamtown collection awaiting possible restoration.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/20 19:55 by eminence_grise.

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A couple more CN steam engines at Steamtown VT in 1967 and 68. CN 5288 is a `1919 MLW product, so it was likely ordered by the Canadian Government Railways.
During WW1, several railways failed financially , and the CGR was formed to operate these railways until the War was over. During a time when there was a great increase in rail traffic due to the war effort, there was a pressing need for motive power to augment and replace the locomotives of the failed railways. CN 5288 was a heavy Pacific designed to help.

The Tennessee Valley Railroad had been seeking a heavy Pacific, ideally a USRA locomotive and acquired this locomotive from Steamtown.. CN 5288 was built by MLW which was an Alco subsidiary. It could be that the MLW Pacifics built for the CGR may have shared some features with USRA locomotives. Note the rarer circular CN marking on the tender.

CN 47 is a 4-6-4T built for the Grand Trunk in 1914. Along with several similar locomotive, it spent its entire career hauling commuters between Montreal and Ste.Anne de Bellevue QC. CN 47 was Steamtown's first excursion locomotive, however its career was short due to lack of documentation. It remains in the Steamtown collection in Scranton.

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Three Eastern US locomotives in the Steamtown, VT collection in 1967/68

Maine Central 2-8-0 519 was built by Alco, and has an interesting path to preservation.  The European & North American was an early railway serving New Brunswick, Canada. It was later absorbed into the Intercolonial and later Canadian National. Apparently , the Maine Central had a long term lease on some E&NA trackage. MEC 501 and 519 were E&NA locomotives on paper. When the lease expired in 1955, the two E&NA locomotives were "presented to railfans". MEC 519 was present at Steamtown in 1968. Did it survive?

Boston & Maine 3713 is a Lima built 4-6-2 once named "Constitution" and is in the current Steamtown collection.

Norwood & St.Lawrence 210 was one of a pair used on a upstate New York shortline. It occasionally visited Vermont when in service as it was maintained at the Rutland shops. It is in the current Steamtown collection.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/20 17:10 by eminence_grise.

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I notice eccentric rods missing on all engines.  I wonder if all the parts at still will the collection?

tomstp Wrote:
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> I notice eccentric rods missing on all engines.

More importantly, the main rods are all missing. Most likely preparing for the move to Scranton?

>  I wonder if all the parts at still will the
> collection?

Are there any photos of the same locomotives today with the main rods re-installed?

Typo?

Loco MEC #519 is a 2-8-0, not a 2-8-2..

W.

wcamp1472 Wrote:
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> Typo?
>
> Loco MEC #519 is a 2-8-0, not a 2-8-2..
>
> W.

Corrected

When, was the move? That sounds kind of early for the move to Scranton.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com


Hotwater Wrote:tomstp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I notice eccentric rods missing on all engines.

More importantly, the main rods are all missing. Most likely preparing for the move to Scranton?

>  I wonder if all the parts at still will the
> collection?

Are there any photos of the same locomotives today with the main rods re-installed?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/23/20 17:27 by wabash2800.

UP 4-4-0 737 was built by Baldwin in 1887, and was transferred to SP, receiving many modifications over the years. In 1967 it was missing various parts after being trucked to Steamtown. This locomotive was initially restored with a diamond stack and bright paint. It was later restored with a straight stack. For awhile it was transferred to the Nevada Southern and is now a tourist attraction in California.

The 4-6-0 is a bit of a mystery., apart from the fact that it was built by Cooke in 1903. The number boards would suggest SP ancestry.

At the North Walpole NH location was a narrow guage 2-6-2 #1, my notes from 1967 say it was from South America.

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The 4-6-0 is ex T&NO #314 now in Galveston Texas. It and the 4-4-0 mentioned both came from the Vermilion Sugar Co in Louisiana on flat cars which is why they were crop tops.

Posted from Android

eminence_grise Wrote:
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> Some CN locomotives in the Steamtown collection in
> 1967. CN 1395 is a 4-6-0 built for the Canadian
> Northern. Sister 1392 is operable at the Alberta
> Railway Museum. 1395 is currently on the
> Coopersville and Marne RR and in derelict
> condition.
>
> CN 96 is a 2-6-0 built for the Grand Trunk Railway
> of Canada. It was acquired by an individual in
> Ontario, Canada where it became derelict and was
> later acquired by the Ohio Central.
>
> CN 3377 is a 4-6-2 built by CLC in 1919 for the
> Canadian Government Railway (a precursor to the
> CNR). It was delivered lettered for the GTR. It is
> in the current Steamtown collection awaiting
> possible restoration.
>  

CN 3377 is actually a 2-8-2. NOT a 4-6-2.

Posted from Android

CP 2317 was later restored to service for many years at the Scranton location.

Canadian National was fond of large 4-8-4's and 4-8-2's and this carried over to their US subsidiary. GTW 6039 was built by Baldwin in 1925

Finally, 790 is an Illinois Central 2-8-0 built by Alco in 1903.

 

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Lowville & Beaver River 1923 is a 2-8-0 built by Alco in 1920 for a sugar mill in Cuba but never delivered.

Meadow River #1 was built in 1910.

Finally, an ancient oddity, a vertical boilered Belgian quarry locomotive built in the 1860's, shown at the North Walpole location.

These images were taken during family vacations and visits to friends in Vermont. My dad was only mildly interested in trains, but indulged my fascination with trains. My mum simply sat in the car and knitted. I always "photo bombed" train locations so as not unduly delay our travels.

I'm glad many of these locomotives have survived in preservation. At the time the Steamtown VT was created, many remaining steam locomotives were facing immanent destruction.

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