Photo provided by Rick Kfoury.
Steamtown National Historic Site is well known today, but what led to its creation? Who was F. Nelson Blount, and what exactly was his vision? Rick Kfoury, author of “Steam Trains of Yesteryear: The Monadnock, Steamtown & Northern Story”, shares this unique history with us, debunks myths, and draws parallels between rail preservation then and now.
You can buy the book from here.
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Steamtown National Historic Site
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Rick and Nick;
I was a kid during the the F. Nelson Blount and Steamtown story and aware of it because he was known in my church circles (check out the old “Power for Living” church non denominational circular of the era which had an article with photo(s)).
I was born just a few years too late for SP steam though one was in the park in my hometown. But for the kid in the car who at four cried when the last car of the train passed the road crossing, and in a family with no other having railroad interest, Blount as an influential adult actually buying, preserving and running steam was amazing and inspiring. Maybe I wasn’t weird afterall, I remember thinking. People I knew had met him. His death caused ripples way out.
I have seen the “What’s My Line” episode and couldn’t have seen it when originally aired, so it must have been in the rerun circuit at one time or posted up in the early days of the web from some bootleg copy. Maybe when I joined the broader railfan community at my university. Don’t give up on locating it!
Appreciate your efforts,
Timothy
Trainorders subscriber
The Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad, 1869 – 1969, by Roy C. Beaver
Thanks Timothy. It’s good to hear that the What’s My Line episode may still be out there.