Nickel Plate Diesel Roster (All-Time)

Published: October 28, 2026

The Nickel Plate dieselized from the yard out, and it kept the Berkshires on the fast freight until the new road switchers could see backward and pull as hard. The all-time list counts 440 locomotives, each frame once. A renumbering is the same locomotive. Five GP9 numbers were used twice, and both frames are counted. The 117 diesels in the 1950 glance are that year’s fleet. The company history is a separate page. The steam roster is another.

Nickel Plate Road GP9s led by 453 and 474 near New Haven, Indiana, in November 1958

GP9s led by 453 and 474 near New Haven, Indiana, in November 1958. H.F. Cavanaugh photo. American-Rails.com collection.

On this page: At a glance · Switchers · Road switchers · The Bluebird PAs · Roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	New York, Chicago & St. Louis, the Nickel Plate Road. Company history
This table	Diesels the railroad owned. Each frame once
American Locomotive	153. Switchers, eleven PA-1s, nine RSD-12s, 23 RS3s, 35 RS11s, one C420, and eleven RS36s
Electro-Motive	241, including four EMC switchers of 1940 and 1941 and 107 GP9 frames
Fairbanks-Morse	31. Nine H10-44s and 22 H12-44s
General Electric	1. The 44-tonner, No. 90
Baldwin	6. Two VO-1000s and four AS-16s
Lima-Hamilton	8. Four 1,000-horsepower switchers and four 1,200-horsepower switchers
Quantity column	440
1950 fleet	117. A year count
First diesels	EMC NW2s 95 and 96, 1940

Switchers

The first diesels were two EMC NW2s, 95 and 96, in 1940, and two more, 97 and 98, in 1941. EMD, the name the builder used after 1941, then delivered 7–10 in the fall of 1942 and twelve more, 11–22, in October 1947 and February 1948. There were no 62, 63, or 64 in the Alco switcher series. The S-2s run 1–6 and 25–45, twenty-seven engines. Nos. 1 and 6 later went to the Akron, Canton & Youngstown as 104 and 105, No. 32 as 106, and Nos. 38 and 42 as 107 and 108. No. 45 was kept. The thirty-five S-4s, 46–61 and 65–83, followed in 1951, 1952, and 1953. No. 79 was kept. One S-1, No. 85, came in 1950.

Nickel Plate Road H10-44s 127 and 132 at Bellevue, Ohio, circa 1960

H10-44s 127 and 132 at Bellevue, Ohio, circa 1960. G. Duecher photo. Rick Burn collection.

Fairbanks-Morse contributed nine H10-44s in 1949 and twenty-two H12-44s from 1953 through 1958. Baldwin built two VO-1000s in 1947. Lima-Hamilton built four 1,000-horsepower switchers in 1949 and four 1,200-horsepower switchers in 1950, numbers 305–312. General Electric built one 44-tonner, No. 90, in October 1949. The Electro-Motive switchers that closed the yard fleet were two SW1s, eight SW8s, three SW7s, and twelve SW9s. No. 106, an SW1, was kept.

Road switchers

The road freight fleet is the reason the Berkshires finally came off. Twenty-three RS3s arrived in 1954. Thirty-five RS11s followed between 1956 and 1960, in two number blocks, 558–577 and 850–864. Of the first five, 558, 560, 561, and 562 went to the Norfolk, Franklin and Danville as 201–204. No. 559 was wrecked in 1963. Nine RSD-12s, 325–333, came in 1957. No. 329 is displayed at the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum in Bellevue. Eleven RS36s, 865–875, came in 1962, and their construction numbers are not one continuous block. The last new Alco was C420 No. 578 in 1964.

Electro-Motive’s contribution was forty-eight GP7s, 400–447, twenty SD9s, 340–359, and the GP9s. The first GP9 orders of 1955 and 1956, and the later orders of 1958 and 1959, account for 102 frames. Five of those numbers were used again. Replacement frames for 448, 496, 497, and 503 came in June 1957, and a replacement for 482 came in May 1957. The first engine and the second engine of each number are both in the 440. Ten GP18s, 700–709, came in June 1960. Ten GP30s, 900–909, came in November 1962, without dynamic brakes. No. 900 is at the Mad River museum. No. 901 became Norfolk & Western 2901. One GP35, No. 910, came in May 1964 and was the last new road locomotive before the merger.

Four Baldwin AS-16s, 320–323, were the other road switchers. The first pair, built in 1953, was later repowered by Alco. The second pair, built in 1954, was repowered by EMD. At 12:01 a.m. on October 16, 1964, the locomotives that were still on the property became Norfolk & Western engines. The later numbers in the roster are that merger series. A unit sold or wrecked before the merger did not receive one.

The Bluebird PAs

The only passenger cab units the Nickel Plate bought were eleven PA-1s, 180–190. Seven came in 1947 and four in 1948. They wore the Bluebird blue and light grey, with a steam generator, and they led the Nickel Plate Limited, the City of Chicago, and the City of Cleveland. All eleven original frames were scrapped. The locomotive that runs as 190 is a replica on Santa Fe 62L, and it is outside this count. None of the eleven took a Norfolk & Western number.

Nickel Plate Road PA-1 185 in the Bluebird blue and light grey

PA-1 No. 185 in the Bluebird blue and light grey.

Nickel Plate Road PA-1 187 leading an eastbound passenger train at Conneaut, Ohio, circa 1955

PA-1 No. 187 leads an eastbound passenger train at Conneaut, Ohio, circa 1955. Mac Owen collection.

PA-1 No. 181, circa 1955. American-Rails.com collection.

Nickel Plate Road PA-1 187 with a heavyweight passenger train, circa 1955

PA-1 No. 187 with a heavyweight passenger train, circa 1955. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection.

Roster

Model	Road Number	Qty	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
S-2	1–6	6	Alco	69924–69929	—	1942	1 and 6 later Akron, Canton & Youngstown 104 and 105
S-2	25–26	2	Alco	73931–73932	—	1947	Later Norfolk & Western 2025–2026
S-2	27–28	2	Alco	74972, 74982	—	1947	Not a continuous pair. Later 2027 and 2028
S-2	29–30	2	Alco	75237–75238	—	1947	Later 2029–2030
S-2	31–33	3	Alco	75243–75245	—	1947	32 later Akron, Canton & Youngstown 106. Later 2031–2033
S-2	34–35	2	Alco	75250–75251	—	1947	Later 2034–2035
S-2	36–42	7	Alco	75364–75370	—	1947	38 and 42 later Akron, Canton & Youngstown 107 and 108
S-2	43	1	Alco	75388	—	1947	Later 2043
S-2	44–45	2	Alco	78015–78016	—	1950	Multiple-unit control. 45 is preserved. Later 2044–2045
S-4	46–53	8	Alco	78697–78704	—	1951	Later 2046–2053
S-4	54–60	7	Alco	78705–78711	—	1951	Multiple-unit control. Later 2054–2060
S-4	61	1	Alco	79520	—	1952	Multiple-unit control. Later 2061
S-4	65–73	9	Alco	79521–79529	—	1952	No 62, 63, or 64. Later 2065–2073
S-4	74–77	4	Alco	80468–80471	—	1952	Later 2074–2077
S-4	78–83	6	Alco	80447–80452	—	1953	Multiple-unit control. 79 is preserved. Later 2078–2083
S-1	85	1	Alco	78139	—	1950	Later Norfolk & Western 2085
PA-1	180–186	7	Alco	75330–75336	—	1947	Steam generator. Original frames scrapped
PA-1	187–190	4	Alco	75454–75457	—	1948	Original frames scrapped. The replica 190 is outside this row
RSD-12	325–332	8	Alco	81955–81962	—	1957	329 is at the Mad River museum. Later 2325–2332
RSD-12	333	1	Alco	82378	—	1957	Later 2333
RS3	535–557	23	Alco	80707–80729	—	1954	Later 2535–2557
RS11	558–562	5	Alco	81459–81463	—	1956	558, 560, 561, and 562 to Norfolk, Franklin and Danville 201–204. 559 wrecked in 1963
RS11	563–567	5	Alco	82832–82836	—	1958	Later 2563–2567
RS11	568–572	5	Alco	82863–82867	—	1958	Later 2568–2572
RS11	573–575	3	Alco	83541–83543	—	1960	Later 2573–2575
RS11	576–577	2	Alco	83580–83581	—	1960	Later 2576–2577
RS11	850–863	14	Alco	83014–83027	—	1959	Automatic train stop. Later 2850–2863
RS11	864	1	Alco	83394	—	1959	Automatic train stop. Later 2864
C420	578	1	Alco	84792	—	1964	Later Norfolk & Western 2578
RS36	865–868	4	Alco	83697–83700	—	1962	Automatic train stop. Later 2865–2868
RS36	869–870	2	Alco	84100–84101	—	1962	Later 2869–2870
RS36	871–872	2	Alco	84105–84106	—	1962	Later 2871–2872
RS36	873	1	Alco	84104	—	1962	Later 2873
RS36	874–875	2	Alco	84102–84103	—	1962	Steam generator and train stop. Later 2874–2875
NW2	7–10	4	EMD	1752–1755	E494	9/1942–10/1942
NW2	11–16	6	EMD	4985–4990	E854	10/1947	15 and 16 had dual control stands. Later 2011–2016
NW2	17–22	6	EMD	6088–6093	E854	2/1948	Later 2017–2022
NW2	95	1	EMC	998	—	1940
NW2	96	1	EMC	1089	—	1940
NW2	97–98	2	EMC	1422–1423	—	1941
SW1	105–106	2	EMD	13705–13706	6213	12/1950	106 is preserved. Later 2105–2106
SW8	107–114	8	EMD	16352–16359	4139	3/1952–4/1952	Later 2107–2114
SW7	230–232	3	EMD	12307–12309	6139	9/1950–10/1950	Later 2230–2232
SW9	233–237	5	EMD	13955–13959	6236	2/1951	Later 2233–2237
SW9	238–244	7	EMD	16360–16366	4175	5/1952	Later 2238–2244
SD9	340–359	20	EMD	23155–23174	—	1957	Norfolk & Western numbers in the 2340s
GP7	400–412	13	EMD	13692–13704	6209	1/1951	Later 2400–2412
GP7	413–422	10	EMD	17088–17097	5134	1/1953–2/1953	Later 2413–2422
GP7	423–447	25	EMD	18591–18615	5296	7/1953–8/1953	No dynamic brake. Later 2423–2447
GP9	448–476	29	EMD	20453–20481	5396	6/1955–7/1955	Includes the first 448
GP9	477–479	3	EMD	20482–20484	5397	7/1955	Steam generator and train stop
GP9	480–483	4	EMD	21908–21911	5463	8/1956	Includes the first 482. Steam generator on 480–482. Dual control on 483
GP9	484–485	2	EMD	21906–21907	5464	8/1956	Steam generator and dual control stands
GP9	486–509	24	EMD	21912–21935	5462	8/1956	Includes the first 496, 497, and 503
GP9	510–529	20	EMD	24501–24520	5578	3/1958
GP9	530–534	5	EMD	25073–25077	5592	1/1959
GP9	800–814	15	EMD	25078–25092	5592	1/1959–2/1959	Automatic train stop
GP9	448, 496, 497, 503 (2nd)	4	EMD	23756–23759	8048	6/1957	Replacement frames for wrecked engines of these numbers
GP9	482 (2nd)	1	EMD	23760	8049	5/1957	Replacement frame. Steam generator and dual control stands
GP18	700–709	10	EMD	26023–26032	5622	6/1960	Later 2700–2709
GP30	900–909	10	EMD	27894–27903	5647	11/1962	No dynamic brake. 900 is at the Mad River museum. Later 2900–2909
GP35	910	1	EMD	29167	7723	5/1964	Later Norfolk & Western 2910
H10-44	125–133	9	Fairbanks-Morse	10L103–10L111	—	1949	Later 2125–2133
H12-44	134–138	5	Fairbanks-Morse	12L721–12L725	—	1953	Later 2134–2138
H12-44	139–145	7	Fairbanks-Morse	12L1082–12L1088	—	1957	Later 2139–2145
H12-44	146–155	10	Fairbanks-Morse	12L1101–12L1110	—	1958	Later 2146–2155
44-ton	90	1	General Electric	30249	—	10/1949
VO-1000	100–101	2	Baldwin	72849–72850	—	1947
AS-16	320–321	2	Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton	75943–75944	—	10/1953–11/1953	Repowered by Alco. Later 2320–2321
AS-16	322–323	2	Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton	76028	—	6/1954–7/1954	The second construction number was not recorded with 76028. Repowered by EMD. Later 2322–2323
1,000 hp switcher	305–308	4	Lima-Hamilton	9324–9327	—	1949
1,200 hp switcher	309–312	4	Lima-Hamilton	9413–9416	—	1950

Sources

Electro-Motive order numbers and serials are the Nickel Plate list at trainweb.us/emdloco/nkp.htm. The four EMC switchers of 1940 and 1941, and the SD9s, are not on that list. Their serials are the railroad’s.
Builder numbers for Alco, Baldwin, Fairbanks-Morse, General Electric, and Lima-Hamilton are the railroad’s own classification lists. Later Norfolk & Western numbers are the merger series for engines still on the property.

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