Robert John Davis said
"Does that erase the fact that more time and money is needed for the other stock? No. But it seems that almost 25 years down the road after the move from Vermont there is a mythical version of what Steamtown was. I remember clearly what it was. In fact, until Don Ball took over, hardly any display pieces were getting paint or sprucing up. Don changed that in small ways, and it was a BIG DEAL back then."

While Mr. Ball is always given credit for the repainting and limited restoration of the equipment during his tenure, it was Stewart Carter who spearheaded the program. By the time Mr. Ball arrived on the property in the fall of 1980, many of the projects were well underway. This is not meant to take away Mr. Ball's accomplishments while managing the Steamtown Foundation.

Romi Romano

Mr. Romano is 100% correct in saying Stuart Carter was responsible for beginning the program which saw most of the Steamtown collection repainted in the early 1980's. Carter was Steamtown interim Executive Director from the time Robert Barbera resigned in mid-1980 until Ball took over in October, 1980. Carter was responsible for getting Steamtown's insurance changed to cover volunteers; until that time, Steamtown Foundation existed mainly with a paid staff. Carter, who was also Steamtown's food service manager, regulartly praised the new volunteers for their work and offered them free food at the snack bar. Carter reasoned that a little praise and a few free hamburgers and hot dogs would go a long ways in encouraging the volunteers, and he was right. Ball actually alienated some of the volunteers shortly after his arrival on the scene when he ordered a freshly painted locomotive to be "weathered" for a night photo session; the volunteeres didn't appreciated seeing their work smeared with mud, grease, and whatever!

I had the privilege of working for all of Steamtown Foundation's Executive Directors after F. Nelson Blount's passing: Edgar T. Mead; Robert Barbera; Stuart Carter; Don Ball, Jr.; Jim Gillespie; and John Hart. When I started working for Steamtown in eartly 1971, Mead had an agenda for sprucing up the museum grounds which included painting of a limited amount of equipment (Brooks-Scanlon #l; a couple of cabooses, and the C&C wooden snowplow come to mind). However, that agenda didn't last long as Steamtown Foundation was forced to begin steam operations in August, 1971. The Green Mountain Railroad had been the excursion operator, but decided to give up steam operation at the end of the l970 season. The GMRC's diesel powered trains early in the 1971 had a profound negative effect on Museum visitors; Steamtown's Board of Trustees reasoned, correctly, that an operating steam train was needed to lure visitors to Steamtown.

When Steamtown Foundation began operating steam trains on it's own in August, 1971, It had nothing to maintain operating steam equipment with. The settlement of the Blount estate had left all the operating equipment except 4-6-2 #1278 (SF #127 at the time) in the hands of the Green Mountain RR; same goes for all the steam parts, tools and supplies that Blount had amassed. Since #1278 was on lease to the Cadillac and Lake City RR in Michigan at the time, Steamtown Foundation had to lease 4-6-2 #1246 and passenger cars from the Green Mountain RR. All that Steamtown had to maintain the steam train operation at the time was spur off the GMRC mainline at the north end of the property: no shop; no spare parts; no tools and machinery.

In 1972, #1278 was back home from the C&LC and Steamtown acquired a number of operating coaches from the GMRC. In addition, a new pole barn which would become Steamtown Foundation's shop was erected at the north end of the property and trackage was built connecting that building to the Green Mountain RR mainline. By the time that the l972 season was over, Steamtown Foundation realized that operating a steam train was expensive business. Also of note during the l972 season was the increasing apperance of one Robert Barbera on the Steamtown scene; Bob was the son of Steamtown's veteran engineer, Andy Barbera, and he helped Edgar Mead spearhead a very successful TV advertising campaign. For his efforts on behalf of Steamtown, Bob Barbera was hired as Steamtown's Executive Director.

From Day 1 of his tenure at Steamtown, Bob Barbera was of the firm belief that the operating steam train was key to Steamtown's survival. To that end, he poured all available monies into making sure the steam train was on solid ground. 4-6-2's #1246 and #1293 were acquired from the Green Mountain Railroad along with a cache of spare parts. Operating supplies were acquired as well as spare parts from a number of sources. Additional coaches were acquired to supplement and eventually replace the well-worn cars acquired from the GMRC. The entire country was scoured for shop machinery and tools, and much was purchased. By the time the 1976 season rolled around, Steamtown Foundation's steam operation was on sound footing. Three G-5 class Pacifics were in operation along with a fleet of over twenty coaches. In addition, G-3 4-6-2 #2317 was nearing completion of an overhaul, and CN 4-6-0 #1551 was torn down and next in line. Bob Barbera had seemingly achieved his goal.

1976, however, was a turning point for Steamtown's steam train operation. Two key personnel in the shop (Jerome Hebda and Chris Ahrens) left for greener pastures. Steamtown began a policy of deferred maintenance which continued throughout the
balance of Bob Barbera's directorship. Not only was the mechanical god being used up; the long neglected museum collection was becoing an eye sore.

As mentioned above, Stuart Carter and Don Ball were able to get the museum collection repainted in the early 1980's--finally giving it some much needed attention.
However, the steam operation began to suffer. 1981 was basically a steam-less season while a contractor (J. David Conrad) labored to get #1246 back in shape mechanically. 1982 and 1983 saw #1246 running excursions--and the volunteers continued their work on repainting the museum collection. That, basically, would be the last attention the museum collection would get cosmetically under direction of the Steamtown Foundation.
When Steamtown moved to Scranton, the bulk of effort was towards repairing and restoring the operating equipment. The museum collection became mostly an after thought--with only a few pieces of equipment on public display. Operating expenses consumed most of Steamtown Foundation's financing in Scranton.
That pretty much sums up the history of the Steamtown collection under the guidance of the Steamtown Foundation. Simply put: the Steamtown collection was just too big to maintain it all properly over the years. Each Executive Director has his priorities, and they all didn't necessarily mesh.

Frederick G. Bailey

Thank you for the correction and the timeline. What the fellow signing in under GJC misunderstood from my post yesterday (it wasn't mean to insult him) you have laid out in clearer terms. Certainly, my memories are through a child's eyes and my knowledge (as it is) is second hand and hindsight. It is great to read accounts from people who where there. A book is in order on the whole tale of the collection.

And now, I am going back in time... skip to the next post if you don't want to join me...

When I was a youngster, I spent summers near Sunappee, NH (we are talking roughly 1972-1984). The B&M Claremont Branch was long gone, having been cut back to the C&C's operation from Claremont Jct to Newport, so there was no railroading I could walk to see.

Mom would take me over to Claremont to see the C&C, and it seemed to retrench every year. We were all there for the last "big" fan trip in 1992, but I digress.

I learned about the B&M lines, and we would visit the young couple restoring the Potter Place depot on the Northern Main (cut back to PP and eventually gone). Mom also took me to seek out abandoned depots and rights of way. She gave a lot of time to my hobby. I was only a kid (I was 4 in 1972) but she supported my learning.

Once or twice a summer we would go over to Bellows Falls for a visit to Steamtown. Looking back, they all run together. I was there at least 15 times. The first or second, I think, was for a winter doubleheader to Rutland.

It wasn't fancy. None of what I would look for in a museum today existed there. Facilities were sparse, interpretation was minimal and the "cool stuff" like the repair areas were off limits. A lot of the stock looked like hell. But. But. BUT.

It was a total fantasy land. Most equipment was displayed with room around it to roam. You could walk through literal corridors formed by steam locomotives. Like a good model railroad, you couldn't see it all in one view.

The movie car, with its musty wood smell, was a must see everytime. Show that Big Boy movie again, please, I don't care if I am the only one here.

On slow days, especially when I was older and mom would leave for a few hours, it was like my private layout. I imagined myself at the throttle of everyone of those locomotives, though none more than NKP #759 - my first steam "love" if you will.

The older I got, the more I learned about each piece until eventually I had the steam roster memorized.

I still dream about being there, really. It was my favorite place in the whole world. A fantasy land. I had a dream not long ago that I was leading an effort to rebuild it as a better version of what it was. That's not because I think that should be done, but because that's how much it meant to me.

When the move was made to Scranton, and I went to college there, I felt like it was meant to be. I saw things I NEVER thought I would see, like the Repton run! When I volunteered with the NPS, each day I showed up for my shift I had a blast of pride. Finally, I was a part of this amazing experience, albeit in a new form.

The combination of my emotional ties to the park, a young man's sense of "knowing it all" and a partially developed sense of what a rail museum could be probably combined to limit the contributions I could make. The anti-preservation movement in the city of Scranton distracted me (I got fired as cartoonist for the college newspaper for challenging the destruction), and I left college uneasy about Steamtown - though comforted by knowing some really great people were (and still are) stewards of "my" beloved fleet.

And yes, I went through a spell where some things really rubbed me wrong. Oh well.

But then I started to understand what was and what wasn't likely to happen and I began to appreciate where Steamtown was headed. When I take my son there today (we go 3-4 times a year) I see in his eyes a similar gleam to what I am sure I had in Vermont.

The day he announced he would like to "live at Steamtown" was one of those moments when the emotion of the past connected with the reality of today. I wanted to live at Steamtown, too. If he does now, then the Steamtown we have today must be a pretty cool place.

Sometimes I write about the emotional feelings of preservation operations of my youth, but they are the seeds that I still tend today. More than once I have been accused of being an apologist. Well, I am not. I am a product of things that Blount, Atwood, Rowland, Hubbard, Moedinger and so many others set in motion.

And frankly, to bring it around to today, I don't give a damn if Steamtown, Strasburg, or any other temple of steam is imperfect. So am I. We are all human. But what you, the REAL audience of RYPN, the men and women who make today's experiences happen, give to my son's generation is experiences that touch him like I was touched 35 years ago... well... that's what it is all about.

Rob

PS: And another thing! Thanks to all who made steam in 2008. My son got to watch a steam locomotive lift a train out of Nesquahoning Junction, PA this year. I saw his smile. So did the engineer who pointed to him and waved. Blue paint on a Pacifc? Hell, if you even NOTICED the blue paint at that moment, you missed the show: the sound, the smoke and the power to move a person to an uncontrolled smile.

Thanks, Rob. I'm 6 years older than you and I too spent a ton of time wandering the "corridors" at Riverside. I'd be surprised if we didn't bump into each other... Hey, weren't you my fireman that one time?