1964

The year that was 1964 opened with storm clouds. John F. Kennedy had been assassinated the previous November and word of military escalation in Vietnam brewed. Clouds of a different sort had descended upon the Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern, Steamtown, U.S.A., and F. Nelson Blount in the final days of 1963.

Talks were progressing with the state of Vermont. However, the Boston & Maine Railroad took up legal exception with the creation of the Green Mountain Railroad, particularly with Vermont offering Blount rights for freight service on the old Rutland Railroad line. The B&M wanted the former Rutland Railroad freight customers in Bellows Falls and also had an interest in the line to Rutland. Meanwhile, union advocates on the B&M raised an issue with the non-union nature of Blount’s operations. As such, the B&M refused to allow any of Blount’s equipment to use their tracks to cross the Connecticut River into Bellows Falls to reach the Rutland line. Faced with a fast-approaching excursion season in Vermont and no way to get the necessary equipment the short distance, Blount fretted.

Then, the old Rutland Railroad came to the rescue. With barely more than a board of directors and one locomotive left, a solution was hatched. The Rutland had been allowed to operate freely on B&M tracks in the Bellows Falls area, and so could enter North Walpole unannounced. At 4:00 a.m. on May 24, the Rutland sent its last locomotive, ALCo RS-1 diesel #405, across the Connecticut River into North Walpole. There it retrieved 2-8-0 #15, a number of coaches, and a caboose and dragged them up to Riverside in Vermont to begin the steam excursions the following day. Blount would later purchase the #405 from the Rutland Railroad to become the very first locomotive of the new Green Mountain Railroad.

Despite the rocky start, the rest of 1964 was actually quite positive. Work progressed on creating the Green Mountain Railroad to restore freight service to the area. Tensions with the B&M cooled and they allowed Blount’s equipment back and forth between Riverside and North Walpole. The non-profit status of the Steamtown Foundation allowed new pieces to trickle in to the collection, including a Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 “Big Boy” #4012, which arrived via the B&M Cheshire Branch on September 23. Canadian Pacific G5 4-6-2 #1293, purchased by Blount the previous winter, was fired up in September and operated until the end of the season, allowing for the first time two active excursion steam locomotives on the MS&N. Over 60,000 visitors attended the two attractions in 1964, with approximately 37,000 riding the trains in Vermont and 23,000 visiting Steamtown, U.S.A. in North Walpole. Perhaps best of all was the fact that after several misfires, Blount and the Foundation had finally secured a permanent place to operate and to begin to construct Steamtown, U.S.A.

Click the gallery below to view photos from 1964