Central Vermont Steam Locomotives: History, Roster & Photos

Published: September 17, 2026

Central Vermont’s biggest locomotives—and the heaviest in New England—were ten 2-10-4s built in 1928. The last of them was scrapped in 1959. George H. Drury, in Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, is the book for how that fleet sat on one roster. The company that ran them is Central Vermont. Diesels are the diesel roster. This page is the steam.

The railroad was the last in New England to dieselize. Steam was still at work in early 1957, when the New Haven and the Boston & Maine were already replacing first-generation diesels. The last Central Vermont steam run was April 4, 1957: 4-8-2 no. 602 on a freight. On May 20 that year two Canadian National 4-8-4s took extra sections of the Montrealer from White River Junction to Montreal. The table below is Drury’s post-1900 class grid. Pre-1900 4-4-0s and early Ten-Wheelers are the opening paragraphs, not a second builder list. Parent Canadian National steam keeps its own numbers; Central Vermont’s T-3-a 700s are not the CN T-3-a 4200s.

Central Vermont 4-8-2 #601, class U-1-a, being serviced at White River Junction, Vermont, on October 31, 1953. Photographer unknown. Four of these Mountains arrived in 1927 for the Montrealer and the Ambassador.

On this page: At a glance · Feedwater heaters · Consolidations and the 2-10-4s · Pacifics, Ten-Wheelers, Mountains · Switchers · April 4, 1957 · All-time roster (built since 1900)

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Central Vermont Railway. Mark CV. Parent Grand Trunk from 1898, Canadian National from January 20, 1923
This roster	Classes built since 1900, after Drury, page 103. Pre-1900 in the narrative
Standard freight to 1928	2-8-0. Six Alco 1915–16; sixteen more in 1923, owned by CN and leased to CV
2-10-4s	T-3-a 700–709. Ten, Alco Schenectady, 1928. 419,000 lb. Lightest 2-10-4s built. Restricted north of Brattleboro
Mountains	U-1-a 600–603. Four, Schenectady, 1927. Montrealer and Ambassador. Photo: #601 White River Junction
Pacifics	K-3-b 230–232, Baldwin, 1912. Five leased ex-Grand Trunk 4-6-2s, April 1925–July 1927
Last steam run	April 4, 1957, 4-8-2 no. 602, freight. Last steam scrapped 1959
Shops	St. Albans, Vermont
Survivor	I-7-a 4-6-0 #220, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne, Vermont

Class table follows Drury, Guide to North American Steam Locomotives (revised edition), page 103. Information compiled September 17, 2026.

Feedwater heaters, and a horse-collar smokebox

In 1898, after decades of financial ups and downs, the Central Vermont came under Grand Trunk control. The main ran from the north end of Lake Champlain southeast across Vermont to the Connecticut River at White River Junction, south along the river to the Massachusetts line (partly on the Boston & Maine), then southeast again to tidewater and the steamship connection at New London. A few branches, and a Boston interchange with the Boston & Maine at White River Junction, completed the map. South of East Northfield, Massachusetts, the Connecticut River line was branch-line in character.

Most Central Vermont engines carried feedwater heaters. The 2-10-4s had Elesco units; the 4-8-2s had Coffin heaters, some of them concealed in the smokebox. Smaller locomotives were usually 2-8-0s, many of them rebuilt with feedwater heaters on their smokebox fronts. A few 4-4-0s carried theirs over the smokebox like a horse collar.

Consolidations, then ten Texas types

The railroad’s standard freight engine until 1928 was the 2-8-0. Six were delivered by Alco in 1915 and 1916, class M-3-a, later numbered 450–455 (they had been 420–425). In 1923, the year the Grand Trunk became part of Canadian National, sixteen more arrived, class N-5-a 460–475, all owned by CN and leased to Central Vermont. Earlier Schenectady Consolidations of 1905 and 1906, M-2-a and N-4-h, had already sent four engines each to Canadian National in 1928. A 2-8-0 on the company page works a northbound at Smith Cove on the Thames, near Quaker Hill, Connecticut, about 1952. #465 at Amherst, below, is an N-5-a on the Brattleboro–New London local in 1945.

Railfan watching Central Vermont 2-8-0 465 at Amherst Massachusetts with train 2 Brattleboro to New London fall 1945

A railfan looks on as Central Vermont 2-8-0 #465 simmers at Amherst, Massachusetts, with train #2, the southbound Brattleboro–New London run, fall 1945. American-Rails.com collection. Class N-5-a, Schenectady, 1923.

Central Vermont is best known for ten 2-10-4s, class T-3-a 700–709, built by Alco at Schenectady in 1928. At 419,000 pounds they were the lightest 2-10-4s built. Even so they were restricted to the main line north of Brattleboro. Sixty-inch drivers limited them to 55 mph. The grate was a modest 84.4 square feet; a Pennsylvania J1 had 121.7. They were drag-freight engines, really 2-10-2s with another axle to spread the weight. They looked impressive, and they survived into the mid-1950s. Last scrapped, 1959. They are not the CN T-3-a 4200s, which were ex-Boston & Albany engines; those stay on the Canadian National steam page.

Three Pacifics, four Ten-Wheelers, four Mountains

The first modern passenger locomotives were three Pacifics, class K-3-b 230–232, Baldwin, 1912. In 1915 and 1916 the railroad received four Ten-Wheelers, class I-7-a 218–221—a regression of a sort. From April 1925 to July 1927 it leased five ex-Grand Trunk 4-6-2s from parent Canadian National until the 1927 delivery of four racy 4-8-2s intended for Central Vermont’s leg of the Boston–Montreal and New York–Montreal trains, the Ambassador and the Montrealer. Class U-1-a 600–603. Like the 1923 locomotives, they were owned by CN and leased to Central Vermont. They were about the same size as Florida East Coast’s 400-series 4-8-2s. #601 at White River Junction in 1953 is that quartet, six years from the last steam run.

Three earlier Ten-Wheelers, class I-6, were Schenectady engines of 1904 and 1906, numbered in the 211–217 series. Drury counts three locomotives, not a sequential seven. I-7-a 220, a 1915 Schenectady engine, is the one that survives: on display at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont.

Lima 0-6-0s and Schenectady 0-8-0s

In 1912 Central Vermont took delivery of three 0-6-0s from Lima, class O-9-a 387–389. In 1923 Alco at Schenectady built eight 0-8-0s, class P-1-a 500–507. Like the 1923 Consolidations they were owned by Canadian National and leased to Central Vermont. Four of the 0-8-0s went to CN in 1942.

April 4, 1957

Steam remained active into early 1957. The last Central Vermont steam run was April 4: 4-8-2 no. 602 on a freight. On May 20 two CN 4-8-4s handled extra Montrealer sections from White River Junction to Montreal. The last of the 2-10-4s and Mountains were cut up in 1959. Diesels from the parent—Alco switchers from 1942, then RS-3s, RS-11s, and Electro-Motive GP9s—are the diesel roster.

All-time roster (built since 1900)

Drury’s grid is classes built from 1900 on. Quantities are his. Retirement years are the span he prints. Notes are his transfer and renumber lines. Builder “Schenectady” is Alco’s Schenectady Works. Pre-1900 4-4-0s are the horse-collar feedwater engines in the narrative, not a second list.

Type	Class	Numbers	Qty	Builder	Built	Scrapped	Notes
0-6-0	O-9-a	387–389	3	Lima	1912	1952–1954
0-8-0	P-1-a	500–507	8	Schenectady	1923	1956–1959	4 to Canadian National, 1942
2-8-0	M-2-a	400–408	9	Schenectady	1905	1944–1954	4 to Canadian National, 1928
2-8-0	N-4-h	409–418	10	Schenectady	1906	1941–1957	4 to Canadian National, 1928
2-8-0	M-3-a	450–455	6	Schenectady	1916	1955–1960	Ex-420–425
2-8-0	N-5-a	460–475	16	Schenectady	1923	1955–1960	Owned by CN, leased to CV. Photo: #465 Amherst
2-10-4	T-3-a	700–709	10	Schenectady	1928	1954–1959	Lightest 2-10-4s built; north of Brattleboro only
4-6-0	I-6	211–217	3	Schenectady	1904, 1906	1928–1941	Three engines; numbers not sequential
4-6-0	I-7-a	218–221	4	Schenectady	1915–1916	1943–1955	#220 preserved, Shelburne Museum
4-6-2	K-3-b	230–232	3	Baldwin	1912	1952–1954	First modern CV passenger power
4-8-2	U-1-a	600–603	4	Schenectady	1927	1956–1959	Owned by CN, leased to CV. Photo: #601 White River Junction. Last steam run: #602, April 4, 1957

Drury prints N-4-h retirement as two years, 1941 and 1957; the table lists them in chronological order. I-6 quantity is three, not a full 211–217 sequence.

Sources

Drury, George H. Guide to North American Steam Locomotives, revised edition, p. 103. Post-1900 class table; 2-10-4 weight and grate; last steam April 4, 1957; May 20, 1957 4-8-4 extras
Clegg, Anthony, and Ray Corley. Canadian National Steam Power. 1969. Class book Drury recommends
Railroad magazine. Published CV rosters: December 1935, p. 88; August 1947, p. 117
Central Vermont Railway Historical Society. cvrhs.com
American-Rails.com: Central Vermont company; Canadian National steam (T-3-a 4200s are not CV 700s); 2-10-4 type; 4-8-2 type

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