No. 15's Steamtown Saga

The railroad’s Board of Directors was after Clark to dispose of No. 15. Clark knew a good engine when he saw one and was reluctant as anybody to see the 15 go for scrap. Clark once remarked, “We’ll probably never use it again, but I can’t bear to part with it. I know diesels are more economical; but, damn it, they don’t thrill me the way those old huffin’ and puffin’ engines used to.” At one point, Clark considered putting No. 15 on display in Kenilworth. He thought to put it across the Boulevard from the office, next to Volco Brass, as a sort of advertisement; however, land was valuable and in short supply.

Meanwhile, a movement to preserve steam locomotives gained traction throughout the United States. Cities, private individuals, and historic groups acquired locomotives to put on display in parks, museums, and elsewhere. Some railroads even donated steam locomotives to strengthen relationships in the communities they served. In fact, when the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad sent word to its corporate subsidiary, the CNJ, that they wanted a CNJ Camelback locomotive for their nascent museum in Baltimore, the CNJ cobbled back together No. 592, a retired 4-4-2 “Atlantic”-type, to send down. The locomotive passed through Aldene and Cranford, on its way to Baltimore, on May 1, 1954. Other railroads were not as receptive and demanded scrap value for their old locomotives. Meanwhile, more ambitious folks worked to keep steam locomotives in operation as part of a new phenomenon, “tourist railroads,” where patrons were treated to short “out-and-back” train rides.

F. Nelson Blount endeavored to preserve steam locomotives. Blount was a millionaire. He was a New England seafood connoisseur who had founded the Blount Seafood Corporation. Blount used part of his fortune to purchase the Edaville Railroad in South Carver, Massachusetts, a two-foot narrow gauge railroad and theme park. Blount was also in the process of building a collection of standard-gauge steam locomotives, which he had negotiated to display at the Pleasure Island Amusement Park in Wakefield, Massachusetts, as part of its “Engine City” attraction.

Blount was alerted to No. 15’s existence by Bill Young in the summer of 1956. Young had grown up in Cranford and hung around the RV throughout his youth. His time around the RV fostered a lifelong interest in short line railroads that culminated in a career of publishing railroad periodicals. Despite time with the US Army during the Korean War, and moving out of New Jersey, he still kept tabs on the RV. 

At Young’s instigation, Blount called Clark in October 1956 to inquire about No. 15’s availability. Of the conversation, Clark related, “I was not very interested nor the least bit impressed with the telephone conversation which I had with Mr. Blount as he took far too much for granted. I formed the opinion that he would like to have us donate the engine but unfortunately scrap metal brings real money on today’s market and a short line dollar comes too hard to give this feature any consideration.”

Clark related to Blount’s people that the RV could realize about $2,500 in scrapping No. 15; so, if Blount wanted it, he would have to meet that price. Otherwise, Clark posited, that “one of these days” the RV would solicit bids on the 15 from local scrap dealers. Blount agreed to Clark’s price in late-November 1956, and to inspect it in the early part of January, provided that Clark continued to store it indoors. Clark obliged.

By mid-February 1957, Clark had not heard from Blount or his people in more than eleven weeks and he was annoyed. Clark wrote to Burton Logan, one of Blount’s people, in a most perturbed tone, that the RV had “definitely decided to junk” the 15. Clark wrote to Young, “So far in our dealings it would appear as though Mr. Blount makes one ‘L’ of a lot of noise but apparently he has nothing to back it up.” 

Young frantically wrote to Blount and implored him to take action. Logan told Clark to write directly to Blount,  “if you care to have it preserved with the name of your Railroad.” 

Clark related to Young, “I am now very much convinced that Mr. Blount is a pretty good ‘Horn Tooter’ and I do not intend to contact him again . . . as there is only one way of doing business properly and that is by living up to promises made with no buck passing.” He related that No. 15 would be scheduled for the “scrap heap,” so if there was anything he wanted from it, Young had better stop by soon.

Young visited Kenilworth on Saturday, March 2, 1957, and spoke with Clark extensively about a multitude of topics; however, any discussion of No. 15 that day is unclear. Blount may have been in attendance but that is also unclear. 

While details are scarce, Clark and Blount came to an understanding and the acrimony dissipated. Evidently, Clark developed an appreciation for Blount’s efforts and continued to hold onto No. 15 for him, inside the engine house, for more than two additional years. In December 1958, Clark wrote to Blount, “I just cannot help but admire a fellow like you for the many fine things you are doing and one of these days I certainly am going to pay you a visit,” but did note that he wanted the matter concluded before June 30, 1959.

To complicate matters, in April 1959, Clark was contacted by Donald E. L. Hallock, the Vice President General Manager of the Strasburg Rail Road Company (SRC) of Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The SRC was interested in purchasing No. 15. 

The SRC, once coined as the “Methuselah of railroads,” had been first chartered in 1832. The SRC measured four miles in length and served local agricultural interests for most of its existence. A group of railfans, Hallock among them, saved the SRC from abandonment in November 1958. The group looked to operate the SRC as a tourist and freight railroad. Tourist trains started to operate on January 4, 1959, hauled by a small gasoline locomotive, but the SRC’s promoters desired a steam locomotive to make the railroad a true attraction.

The SRC was making inquiries about steam locomotives throughout the United States and Canada. Their efforts were challenged by the fact that steam locomotives were scarce by 1959. Clark would have liked to help the SRC as he believed “it would be a dandy” for their operation, but he had promised it to Blount. Clark stated, “My word is my bond and I regret very much to advise that I can do absolutely nothing for you.” Eventually, the SRC acquired an ex-Canadian National steam locomotive and commenced steam operations in September 1960.

Finally, on June 5, 1959, No. 15 was shipped out to Blount. The locomotive departed the RV via Aldene. The CNJ held the locomotive in its yard at Allentown, Pennsylvania, for a time, and handed it off to the Delaware & Hudson Railroad (D&H) at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The D&H delivered No. 15 to the Boston & Maine Railroad (B&M) at Mechanicville, New York. The B&M ferried No. 15 for the rest of its journey to Pleasure Island. A spur was built off the B&M’s Newburyport Branch and No. 15 was moved into final position at the amusement park by a bulldozer in early July 1959.

No. 15 did not spend a long time as a display piece. Blount’s equipment suffered from vandalism at Pleasure Island and the amusement park was financially unstable. Blount purchased from the B&M a roundhouse and accompanying facilities in North Walpole, New Hampshire, in late-1960. No. 15 was relocated to North Walpole in late-1961. Blount’s ambitions had grown to include “Steamtown USA,” a world-class museum and tourist attraction that would pay homage to steam locomotive power, and an accompanying excursion train ride, called the “Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Railroad” (MS&N). 

The MS&N operated its initial 1961 season over the Claremont & Concord Railway (C&C) between Bradford and Sunapee, New Hampshire, hauled by ex-Canadian National (CN) 4-6-4T No. 47, formerly used in Montreal, Quebec, in commuter service. Unfortunately, No. 47 was withdrawn from service after paperwork from the Canadian Government revealed it was overdue for a renewal of its flues. 

Robert W. Adams, MS&N Superintendent, reached out to Clark in December 1961, to inquire about any ICC paperwork that the RV still possessed for No. 15. Blount was in the process of having No. 15 returned to operation at North Walpole. Clark did “some real digging,” over the course of several weeks, to assist the MS&N folks. Clark was able to provide the last monthly and annual ICC forms for No. 15. More importantly, he confirmed that No. 15 was in service during twelve months between its last overhaul and flue renewal in March 1950 and its retirement in November 1953. In fact, in some of those months, No. 15 only operated a day or two. With this information, the MS&N was able to obtain a flue time extension from the ICC.

Clark believed that No. 15 was in “very good condition” when it was sold to Blount, whom Clark referred to as the “Cranberry King,” because of its little use after its March 1950 overhaul at Elizabethport. Clark did caution that Blount would likely have trouble with the boiler as “no doubt the flues are very badly pitted from corrosion.”

No. 15 was returned to operation at a cost of about $10,000; it was first fired up on June 13, 1962. Test runs were made at North Walpole during mid-June. The tender was lettered “MONADNOCK NORTHERN” in red-on-white “speed lettering,” reminiscent of the B&M’s similar style. No. 15 was also trimmed in white which contrasted with the red painted window frames. The operating agreement with the B&M was finalized on June 29, 1962. No. 15 departed the yard at North Walpole on July 12, 1962, with nine cars in tow for the new MS&N operation. Train rides commenced the next day between Keene and Gilboa, New Hampshire.

Support from the State of New Hampshire for the establishment of Steamtown USA at Keene fell apart in early 1963. Even so, MS&N operations continued on the Cheshire Branch with No. 15, but in 1963 trains ran between North Walpole and Westmoreland, New Hampshire. An initial incarnation of Steamtown USA opened at North Walpole that year.

No. 15 made its movie debut in the world premiere of The Cardinal on December 12, 1963, at the Saxon Theatre in Boston. That previous February and March, No. 15 and several pieces of MS&N rolling stock had been utilized in filming the movie in the Boston area. The film went on to win a Golden Globe and be nominated for six Academy Awards.

The MS&N operation (which included No. 15) was relocated to Riverside, Vermont, in May 1964. Blount had negotiated with the State of Vermont to lease and operate a segment of the former Rutland Railroad, shutdown since 1961, under the auspices of the Green Mountain Railroad Corporation (GMRC). No. 15 alternated in regular excursion service with No. 89, an ex-CN 2-6-0 “Mogul”-type, between Riverside and Chester. In 1966, the Steamtown collection migrated to Riverside where initial work to permanently establish Steamtown USA began in earnest. Transfers of equipment had begun between MS&N and the Steamtown Foundation, the non-profit corporation that would operate the museum.

Sadly, Nelson Blount died in a plane crash on August 31, 1967, at the age of forty-nine, and the financial future of his various projects became clouded. Blount had personally financed much of the collective Steamtown operation. The MS&N had transferred passenger operations to GMRC shortly before Blount’s death and ceased operating functions altogether on December 31, 1967. The last of MS&N’s assets were transferred to the Steamtown Foundation in July 1971. GMRC and the Steamtown Foundation parted company in August 1971, when GMRC turned over all steam passenger operations to the Foundation. 

No. 15’s flue time expired in early 1967. The locomotive was transferred to the Steamtown Foundation which obtained an extension on the flue time in 1968. No. 15 returned to service lettered for the Green Mountain Railroad; however, after a handful of runs, it broke a piston and limped into storage. 

The Foundation obtained another flue time extension in January 1973, machined and installed a new piston and piston rod, and modified No. 15’s appearance. The front number plate was removed and the headlight was remounted to the center of the smokebox door. The Foundation leased No. 15 for a “run to Boston” to carry a wealthy couple from their wedding to a reception a couple towns away. The Foundation fired up the locomotive again as part of its Friends of Steamtown Day, held on August 12, 1973. While leading Steamtown’s first triple-headed excursion, with a pair of Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 “Pacific”-types, No. 15 blew out a flue just north of Riverside, which badly scalded veteran engineer Andy Barbera. An inspection of the boiler indicated that a renewal of the locomotive’s flues (over twenty years old, at that time) and installation of a new front flue sheet should be completed before No. 15 operated again. The work was not completed as the Steamtown Foundation did not need No. 15’s services at that time.

The Steamtown Foundation floundered financially as the rural Vermont location could not generate enough visitors to keep the operation solvent. Moreover, the Foundation was stymied by strict Vermont laws regarding roadside signage. Operations in Vermont concluded at the end of the 1983 season. The Foundation decided to move the collection to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where local officials had promised support. The city was in need of economic redevelopment as the decline of anthracite coal decades earlier had left behind a huge void. Several pieces of Blount’s original collection were auctioned off and the balance, which included No. 15, were relocated to Scranton. No. 15 arrived in Scranton on November 8, 1984. Unfortunately, a runaway railcar collided into No. 15’s tender in May 1987, which damaged the tender frame. 

Visitation numbers at the Scranton site fell short of expectations and the Steamtown Foundation faced bankruptcy. In 1986, the United States Congress appropriated $8 million to study the Steamtown collection and the further development of the Scranton site. The Steamtown Special History Study was published in 1991. The site was subsumed by the National Park Service which took over excursion train operations in 1989. The Steamtown National Historic Site was formally opened on July 1, 1995, after a federal investment of $66 million into the site and collection.

Today, Steamtown continues to operate as part of the National Park Service. No. 15 has been returned to an appearance similar to how it appeared on the RV and is on public display. The locomotive has not operated since 1973.