The Nickel Plate Road 765

The Nickel Plate Road 765 is one of the more well known large steam locomotives in the country due to its long operating service hauling excursions since the late summer of 1979. Over the years the 2-8-4 Berkshire has been operated all across the Midwest and eastern United States. Following a 12-year period and 4-year rebuild NKP 765 returned to operation in the fall of 2005. Today, the steam locomotive, owned and operated by the Fort Wayne Railway Historical Society, finds itself used in a variety of showcased events and trips such as photo ops and other specials (including Santa Trains during the Christmas season). One of the most celebrated recent showings of the 765 was when she teamed up and double-headed with Pere Marquette 1225 for TrainFestival 2009.

The Berkshire locomotive came about because of the hope of the Lima Locomotive Works, an established and well-known manufacturer of steam locomotives, to improve the USRA Mikado design (2-8-2), which lacked sufficient speed and horsepower. Based initially from a New York Central Railroad H-7 Mikado design, what Lima ultimately came up with was a locomotive that included a larger, 100 square foot firebox that necessitated the need for an extra trailing axle giving the locomotive (designated a Class A-1) a 2-8-4 wheel arrangement.

The New York, Chicago & St. Louis (the Nickel Plate Road) quickly took a liking to these powerful and aesthetically pleasing locomotives. Between 1934 and 1949 the Nickel Plate took delivery of some 80 2-8-4s, all built locally by the Lima Locomotive Works. Nickel Plate Road 765 was part of the railroad's S-2 class and was assigned to hauling main line freight trains around Bellevue, Ohio (the Berks became the railroad's flagship locomotives hauling virtually all of its high priority freight and passenger trains).

NKP 765 survived the fate of most of her sisters and other steam locomotives when the railroad, as a gesture of good will, asked if the city of Fort Wayne would like one of its 2-8-4s to be preserved on static display. The city accepted the offer but received the 765 instead of sister 767 as it had requested. Efforts to return NKP 765 back to operational status began in October, 1975 after the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society had been formed in 1972 to restore the locomotive.

After about four years of work Nickel Plate 765 returned to steam on the first day of September, 1979. Between that time and 1993 she logged over 52,000 miles of excursion service in more than half of states east of the Mississippi River. Her most celebrated jaunts during these years was likely pulling the New River Train hosted by the Collis P. Huntington Chapter of the NRHS along the New River in West Virginia during the fall seasons of 1986 and 1993 (it was not long after this time that CSX disallowed steam locomotives to be operated on its railroad citing rising insurance costs).

After her 1993 operating season NKP 765 was shopped for a general overhaul of her running gear although her owners instead decided to give her a full rebuild. This effort took much longer than expected, mostly because of the astronomical cost involved in carrying out the rebuild. It took the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society eight years to raise the money needed for her rebuild, which began in 2001 and was completed by October, 2005 when she officially returned to steam.

With fewer states to now operate in due to CSX's policy NKP 765 has nevertheless remained successful hauling various excursions and participating in other events, where she continues to draw large crowds. If you would like to Nickel Plate Road 765 in operation please visit the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society's website to learn when her next scheduled excursion will be. For more information about the Nickel Plate Road's 2-8-4 Berkshires please click here.

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Nickel Plate Road's 2-8-4 Berkshires

Also, consider the book American Steam Locomotives from author Brian Solomon for a good history of steam. While this publication does not include quite as much technical data as Parker's book, How a Steam Locomotive Works, it is still a very good resource with lots of information and best of all, is loaded with photographs! If you're interested in perhaps purchasing either (or both) of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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