Here’s a bit of worthless tidbit but never-the-less, part of the local lore of the Monson Railroad. Peanut roaster you say….what’s that got to do with the Monson?
Well it seems sometime after Vulcan 3 and 4 were purchased and after WWI, some of the locals started calling the train the “Peanut Roaster”. Someone must have got on the Monson Combine and rode to the junction, then the B&A, then the Maine Central, then the B&M and headed south…….way down to Dixie.
Down south they raise peanuts among other things. Raw peanuts aren’t really that good but ROASTED peanuts are. Now to roast those peanuts, you have to have a roaster. Attached is a picture of a 100 year old peanut roaster and the front end of No. 3. Now if you use your imagination, this roaster MIGHT look like the front end of the vulcans. Forget No. 3’s stack, turbo gen and headlight. See a similarity? I wonder if the peanut roaster was made by Vulcan too!
Anyway, the name caught on with the Monson folks and it stuck. Useless info right??? But kind of fun anyway.
