CENTRAL VERMONT STEAM

IF YOU LIKE CENTRAL VERMONT STEAM LOCOMOTIVES (OR WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THEM) TRY MY WEBSITE WHICH HAS ABOUT 175 PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE ENGINES THAT POWERED THE CENTRAL VERMONT DURING THE LAST THIRTY YEARS OF STEAM OPERATION. Ed Ozog

http://sites.google.com/site/centralver ... ocomotives

I was not able to advance to more photos but the three photos that I did see brought back memories to me as well. I rode the trip to Amherst in 1954, I still have my ticket stub from this which was my very first fantrip. I also rode behind the 467 in 1956 to Amherst but I don't remember whether it was again in the spring or in the fall, I seem to think it was probably in the spring. I also remember 450 on the New London - Palmer wayfreight. The photo of the 450 might have been on its last trip on a rainy Saturday in early April, 1957. I drove over to New London and up to Norwich where I saw this job steam its last miles south to New London. Two days later the very last Central Vermont steam locomotive no. 451 made its northbound trip from Palmer to Brattleboro to finally wrap up all Central Vermont steam locomotive operations. Yes I know a CN 4-8-4 ran from Montreal to White River Junction on extra sections of the Washingtonian/Montrealer but I would have to hunt for the details and the dates. I remember the end of 1956 and early months of 1957 very well, combined lots of ski trips and train chasing trips during these months. Thank you for posting these, I hope I can find a way to view the rest of these photos.
Noel Weaver

Noel -- you should be able to reach other pages by two methods. 1) At the bottom of the first page (Home page) go to "subpages (1): INTRODUCTION" and click INTRODUCTION which is in blue . Continue to each new page in the same way. 2) In the upper left corner of each page there is the word "sitemap". Click sitemap and when the page comes up click the box with the horizontal lines. A page will then come up with a list of all pages arranged by engine type -- click any one to bring the page up. Ed

How far south did the 2-10-4's operate? Did they ever operate through to New London? Thanks.

I've never heard of a CV 2-10-4 operating south of Brattleboro -- I believe they were too heavy for the bridges on the Southern Division.

NHRAND wrote:I've never heard of a CV 2-10-4 operating south of Brattleboro -- I believe they were too heavy for the bridges on the Southern Division.

Nothing bigger than an N-5a class 2-8-0 could operate south of East Northfield due to track, bridges and clearances. This was in effect throughout the period of steam operations. When I was involved in the three trips with 6218 (a CNR 4-8-4) on the CV we ran the first trip between White River Junction and St. Albans in August, 1965. We broke even at best and could have lost our shirt. The following year the engineering officer in St. Albans OK'd the operation of 6218 south to New London. The reason for this was that much heavier rail had been installed, critical clearances had been improved and an inspection of the bridges disclosed that 6218 could run over them at a speed restriction of 10 MPH especially since it was not going to be a regular occurance. For passenger service between Springfield and White River Junction the Centrall Vermont for at least part of the year supplied an engine and sometimes it was a 600 class (4-8-2) which ran on the Boston and Maine south of East Northfield. The 700's (2-10-4's) were way too big for the turntable at Brattleboro but the Central Vermont built a wye there for the express purpose of turning the 700's when they visited Brattleboro. So far as I know the wye is still there even though they really do not need it these days but the turntable is long gone.
Noel Weaver