At the close of 1966 and the start of 1967, Phase I of the construction of Steamtown, U.S.A. commenced. This initial phase included the installation of storage tracks and a turntable. Further preparation of the land along with significant landscaping and infrastructure improvements rounded out the rest of Phase I, to the tune of $250,000. Phase II was to include the construction of the museum buildings, a massive 40-stall roundhouse, and a dock and terminal for the planned steamboat operations. The final phase — and the one that Blount felt would tie the entire museum together — was to be an authentic recreation of an 1890s New England village complete with stores and amenities, an electric trolley, and a classic country church. Most of these developments would never be completed.
Meanwhile, steam excursions continued with increasing patronage. Green Mountain Railroad 2-6-0 #89 and Blount’s 4-6-2 #127 often powered the trips, double-heading on foliage trips in the fall. 2-8-0 #15 also operated in 1966; it would run out its flue time in 1967, but would be fired up again in 1968. Several fan trips were run in 1966, some on the Green Mountain Railroad and the Vermont Railway to Bennington and Burlington. One March 4th fan trip saw #89 and three of the wooden coaches operate on the New Haven Railroad’s Armory Branch between Springfield, MA and East Hartford, CT for the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company.
Towards the close of the year, Blount took his personal locomotive, 4-6-2 #127, on several fan trips in Pennsylvania. On an October 16th High Iron Company excursion between Jersey City, NJ, and Jim Thorpe, PA, Blount experienced running a fast passenger locomotive at mainline speed and remarked “I’ve been dreaming all my life what it must be like to run at track speed and now I know. I just had the best experience of my life!” Less than a year later in 1967 that life would be tragically cut short.
Click the gallery below to view photos from 1966
Steamtown Historical Collective 