This is the oldest surviving American type (4-4-0) locomotive in the US. #494 was built in 1892 by the Manchester Locomotive Works in Manchester, NH, for the Eastern Railroad Company. The Eastern was built in 1836 and for many years was the main competitor to the Boston & Maine between Boston, MA, and Portland, ME. It was leased by the B&M in 1884 and incorporated into its system.
#494 was built to haul passenger services and light freight. Modernisations over its lifetime included a steel cab to replace the wooden cab, an electric headlight to replace the oil headlamp, and the installation of a steam-powered electric generator. Towards the end of its active life, the locomotive hauled coal from Fabyan Station to Marshfield Station to supply the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire.
#494 weighs 104,000 lbs, 79,000 lbs on its 67” drivers, with Stephenson valve gear and 18” x 24” cylinders. The engine wheelbase is 23’ 7” and driver wheelbase 9’. The grate measures 19 sq ft and the firebox 136.5 sq ft. Operating at a boiler pressure of 150 psi, it delivered 14,789 lbs tractive effort.
Following its retirement in 1938, #494 was retrofitted back to its original equipment, except for the steam-powered electric generator, at the Boston & Maine Railroad shop in Billerica, MA, to appear at the 1939-40 World’s Fair in New York
City.
After the World’s Fair, #494 went into storage at the Fitchburg and Lowell yard in Massachusetts for many years. Then, in 1955, a Boston-based group, The Railroad Enthusiasts, Inc., bought the locomotive and began searching for a permanent resting place.
The tender has a capacity of 3,100 gallons of water and 6 tons of coal.
In 1957, ownership of the locomotive was transferred to the Town of Hartford, VT. It was placed on display at the downtown White River Junction Railroad depot along with B&M Wooden Cupola Caboose #104610, which was constructed by the Laconia Car Works in Laconia, NH, in 1921. In the early 1990s, the engine was cosmetically restored, and a permanent structure built between 2004 and 2006 to help protect it from the
elements.
