Central Vermont Railway 4-6-0 No. 220
Shelburne, VT, United States 		Location: Shelburne Museum
Status: Display
Posted: Aug 4, 2006 @ 12:08:16 by Bob Yarger
Central Vermont Railway 4-6-0 No.220 has been taken better care of than most display locomotives, as it has been kept under cover for all but about 20 years of its existance since retirement. After making its last trip on an excursion in 1955, it was donated to the Shelburne Museum in 1956. They built the present structure in the 1970s, covering both the engine and private car Grand Isle, which was formerly CV No. 86. The engine has been moved a couple of times since donation. In 1988, we began working on the locomotive at the Museum, with the hopes of obtaining federal ISTEA funding to return it to steam. The Central Vermont Railway, my employer at the time, was most cooperative with the project, with the CV General Manager hoping to get it running also. Three years of applications were unfruitful, however, so we then concentrated on cosmetic restoration. All journals were polished and greased on the engine and car; the smokebox, firebox, ashpan and tender were cleaned out, and the remaining asbestos was removed from the backhead and piping. Gauges and air brake portions were rebuilt, the dynamo repaired and the air compressor removed and tested No 220 was little-used after its last overhaul in the 1940s, primarily as a backup for the gas-electric car that normally ran between St. Albans, Vermont and St. John, Quebec, over trackage that is no longer extant. The main problem with the boiler involves holes cut into the shell by unknowing workmen who replaced the boiler jacket in the 1970s. With studs for the handrails and boiler steps in the way of their sheet metal work, they simply cut them off, crudely burned out the stubs, and replaced the studs with pieces of threaded rod tack welded on The CV was sold in 1995 to Railtex, which ended company participation in the project. We former CV men did not fit in well with the new non-union company, which led me to a much better railroad job in NY State in 1999, ending my participation in Project 220. My former partners have continued slowly with the restoration, however, with help from Museum personnel, and excellent cooperation from the Museum management. In 2005, the engine and car were moved backwards one train length to allow a contractor to repair the sinking track underneath them, then pulled back in place.