
No. 220 on static display.
(John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
CENTRAL VERMONT LOCOMOTIVE NO. 220
Central Vermont 220 is a preserved 4-6-0 "Ten-Wheeler" type steam locomotive, built in February 1915 by the American Locomotive Company's Schenectady Works for the Central Vermont Railway. It is preserved inside an exhibition building at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont on static display.
Background
In February 1915, the American Locomotive Company's Schenectady Works of Schenectady, New York, built No. 220, the last coal-burning, ten-wheeler steam engine used on the Central Vermont Railway. Because it possessed a medium-sized 4-6-0 engine (4 leading wheels, 6 driving wheels, and 0 trailing small wheels), the No. 220 served double duty pulling both freight and passenger trains. No. 220 became known as the "Locomotive of the Presidents", because of its use on special trains carrying Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The steam engine persisted as the only type of locomotive operating in the United States until the introduction of the electric train in 1895 and, even then, steam engines continued to dominate the rails until the 1950s when diesel came into wide use. The inscription "28%" on the coal tender indicates that the engine had the potential to lift or drag up to twenty-eight thousand pounds of dead weight. The Central Vermont Railway retired No. 220 from service in 1956 and presented it to the Shelburne Museum for preservation. The museum built the surrounding shed soon afterward to protect the locomotive and the private car (Grand Isle) from the elements.
Overview
Type and origin
Power type: Steam
Builder: American Locomotive Company (Schenectady Works)
Serial number: 55018
Build date: February 1915
Specifications
Configuration:
• Whyte 4-6-0
• UIC 2’C
Gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver diameter: 69 in (1,800 mm)
Wheelbase: 58.79 ft (17.92 m)
• Engine 27.33 ft (8.33 m)
• Drivers 15.50 ft (4.72 m)
Adhesive weight: 141,000 lb (64,000 kg)
Locomotive weight: 189,000 lb (86,000 kg)
Tender weight: 139,000 lb (63,000 kg)
Total weight: 328,000 lb (149,000 kg)
Fuel type: Coal
Fuel capacity: 12 tons (10.9 tonnes)
Water capacity: 7,000 US gal (26,000 L; 5,800 imp gal)
Firebox:
• Grate area: 53.40 sq ft (4.961 m2)
Boiler pressure: 200 psi (1,400 kPa)
Heating surface:
• Firebox: 184 sq ft (17.1 m2)
Cylinders: Two, outside
Cylinder size: 20 in × 28 in (510 mm × 710 mm)
Performance figures
Tractive effort: 27,594 lb (12,516 kg)
Factor of adhesion: 5.11
Career
Operators: Central Vermont Railway
Power: class I-7-a
Number in class: 3 of 4
Numbers: CV 220
Retired: 1956
Preserved: 1960
Current owner: Shelburne Museum
Disposition: On static display