In the late 1950s, the Central Vermont Railway offered its home city of St. Albans, Vermont the choice of a 600 series 4-8-2 or 700 series 2-10-4 to place in Taylor Park downtown. It would have been a relatively easy move, as there was already a stub siding off the Richford Branch beside North Main Street, to which panel tracks could have been connected, snap tracking it down to the park on Main Street. Alas, city fathers deemed it too difficult a move, and all the engines went to scrap, leaving 4-6-0 220 (previously donated to the Shelburne Museum in 1956) the only CV steam survivor.

Interestingly, until the trolley tracks were removed in the 1920s, the CV regularly ran a little 0-4-0 on the same route down Main Street, pulling a decorated flatcar in parades.


CV 707
ryarger@rypn.org