Steamtown, U.S.A., was a steam locomotive museum that ran steam excursions out of North Walpole, New Hampshire, and Bellows Falls, Vermont, from the 1960s to 1983. The museum was founded by millionaire seafood industrialist F. Nelson Blount. The non-profit Steamtown Foundation took over operations following his death in 1967. Because of Vermont's air quality regulations restricting steam excursions, declining visitor attendance, and disputes over the use of track, some pieces of the collection were relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s and the rest were auctioned off. After the move, Steamtown continued to operate in Scranton but failed to attract the expected 200,000–400,000 visitors. Within two years the tourist attraction was facing bankruptcy, and more pieces of the collection were sold to pay off debt.
Meadow River Lumber Company Shay #1 on static display at Steamtown, Bellows Falls, Vermont, ca. 1974
Locomotives at the turntable at Steamtown, U.S.A., Bellows Falls, Vermont.
Bartonsville Covered Bridge could be seen on excursion trains from Riverside to Chester
Worrall Covered Bridge could be seen on excursion trains from Riverside to Chester
Bellows Falls is an incorporated village located in the town of Rockingham in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,747 at the 2020 census. Bellows Falls is home to the Green Mountain Railroad, a heritage railroad; the annual Roots on the River Festival; and the No Film Film Festival.
Bellows Falls in the early spring, viewed from Fall Mountain in New Hampshire
Rockingham Town Hall, which holds the Opera House, was built in 1926 on The Square, and is part of the Bellows Falls Downtown Historic District, designated in 1982.
Close up of the Bellows Falls Petroglyph Site (2014)
The Miss Bellows Falls Diner, with the Rockingham Town Hall in the background