Steamtown, Green Mountain Railroad executive Robert Adams dies

Steamtown, Green Mountain Railroad executive Robert Adams dies - TRAINS Magazine
BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – Robert “Bob” Adams, 85, one of the first employees at Steamtown USA and later President of the Green Mountain Railroad, died Dec. 2 in Townshend, Vt.

Born in 1925 in Bellows Falls, he worked 18 years for the Rutland Railroad. In 1961, he was hired by the late F. Nelson Blount as his first full-time employee to assist in establishing Steamtown USA, the predecessor of today’s Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pa. When portions of the abandoned Rutland became available for lease, Adams and several others encouraged Blount to form the Green Mountain Railroad Company, which is still in business today as part of the Vermont Rail System.

Blount’s death in an airplane crash in 1967 resulted in Adams acquiring majority stock ownership in the Green Mountain later that year. He became the Green Mountain’s President in 1968 and held that position for ten years, and served on Green Mountain’s board until 1993. Adams was an avid railroad fan and became an authorized Lionel electric train repairman. In addition, he was involved in clock repair work and was a member of the Bellows Falls Historical Society.