After the brief and unorthodox 1961 season operating on the Claremont & Concord Railway, Blount hoped that 1962 would bring a return to his original intentions; establishing a permanent tenure for his Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern to operate on the Boston & Maine’s Cheshire Branch near Keene, and the construction of Steamtown, U.S.A: the grand steam museum with which his collection would educate the world.
Blount had been in talks with the state of New Hampshire since 1960 on the goal of opening Steamtown, U.S.A. in Keene, the heart of southwestern New Hampshire. Believing that his personal funding alone could not create the museum he envisioned, Blount proposed that the state and city fund the construction of the museum two miles west of downtown Keene. In return, Blount offered his entire private collection to the state, and would provide steam excursions on the Cheshire Branch with his privately-owned Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Railroad. The city of Keene, helmed by 30-year old Mayor Robert L. Mallat., Jr., was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Initially, most of the state government was too — backed by governor Wesley Powell, Councilor Harold Weeks of Hinsdale, and state parks director Russell Tobey. An estimated cost of $605,000 was set for an 11,000 sq. foot fixed display museum building, 40,000 sq. foot roundhouse, covered entryway, ticket booth and shelter, station, destination station, coaling tower, water tower and turntable. $1,000,000 of a $9,000,000 state recreation budget was earmarked, and the state voted on June 28 to support the plan “in principle”.
While the state and Blount negotiated on the museum plans, the Boston & Maine worked out a labor and lease agreement allowing the MS&N to operate on the Cheshire Branch between Keene and Gilboa (East Westmoreland) from July 1 until November 4. As hype for Steamtown, U.S.A grew, Blount wanted to get going with excursions as soon as possible to build excitement. The MS&N selected a steam locomotive from Blount’s collection, Rahway Valley 2-8-0 #15 (originally of the Tennessee & Oneida) and fired it up in June. Their yellow coaches from 1961 returned, along with two new additions. A former Boston & Maine diner-lounge car, #84 Mountaineer, was to be used on the trains as well. The inaugural trip was made July 13, 1962, and a small ticket booth was established along Gilbo Avenue where the trains departed from. The equipment was stored on the yard tracks of the B&M.
As the trains steamed out of Keene in the summer and fall carrying a record number of passengers and bringing throngs of visitors to the area, the people of Keene wondered how the Steamtown project was progressing. Once again, it would seem that luck was not on the side of Blount and the MS&N. A major problem had arisen: the state made it clear that they would not move forward with the project unless either the state or Blount owned the excursion trackage, 22 miles of the Cheshire Branch between Keene and North Walpole. The Boston & Maine, who was still running freight on the line including a lucrative milk train from Bellows Falls to Boston, was hesitant to sell. By the time they finally worked out a draft sale agreement it was November 1962 and a state election had seen Governor Powell, Councilor Weeks, and several other supporters leave office. Fire mounted from the press around the state, mainly from William Loeb, the venomous editor of the Manchester Union Leader, who questioned the involvement of state money.
On February 16, 1963, the governor’s council voted 5-1 not to support the Steamtown project. Frustrated, Blount created a nonprofit foundation to secure the future of his collection and set about opening the Steamtown, U.S.A. museum for the first time at his locomotive facility in North Walpole.
Click the gallery below to view photos from 1962
Steamtown Historical Collective 