Nickel Plate Road 765
Nickel Plate Road 765 is a preserved S-2 class "Berkshire" type steam locomotive, built in September 1944 by the Lima Locomotive Works for the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road". In 1963, No. 765, renumbered as 767, was donated to the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, where it sat on display at the Lawton Park, while the real No. 767 was scrapped at Chicago in 1964.
In the early 1970s, the newly formed Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society restored No. 765 and operated it in main line excursion service. During the 1980s to early 90s, No. 765 ran excursion trains on the ex-Southern Railway's CNO&TP division and ex-Chesapeake and Ohio's New River Gorge route. Taken out of service in 1993, No. 765 was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 12, 1996.
The locomotive was completely overhauled and returned to service in 2005. Since 2010, it visited the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, hauling several excursions every year. From 2012 to 2015, No. 765 ran excursions on Norfolk Southern trackage in Indiana, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, for the 21st Century Steam program. In 2016, it ran excursions on Metra's Milwaukee District North Line and even the Rock Island District Line in 2017 and 2018. Since 2022, it has operated on the Indiana Northeastern Railroad for the seasonal Indiana Rail Experience excursions.
History
Background
At the turn of the 20th century, railroads faced a surmounting problem: an increase in traffic and limited steam technology. Railroads commonly relied on drag freights with engines that could pull heavy tonnage but at low speeds. Following experiments with existing designs, Lima Locomotive Works developed a new wheel arrangement to accommodate an increase in the size of the locomotive's firebox. An increase in the firebox size allowed more coal combustion and subsequent heat output, improving the amount of steam developed and increasing horsepower. These and other modifications created the concept of "horsepower at speed" or "Super-power" in Lima's parlance.In 1925, this "Super-power" technology was successfully realized in a prototype designated the A-1, which was tested in the Berkshire Mountains of the Boston & Albany Railroad, hence the common name of the locomotive type. The 2-8-4 design was quickly adopted by the New York Central, Erie Railroad, Illinois Central, Pere Marquette, Boston & Maine, Chesapeake & Ohio, and the Nickel Plate Road.
The Nickel Plate Road was able to eventually employ 80 Berkshires on high-speed freight and passenger trains with the first order 15 were supplied by the American Locomotive Works in 1934 based on Lima's design. Eight years later, Lima began producing three more sub-classes, which differed from the S class in little more than weight. Class S-1 in 1942, class S-2 in 1944 and class S-3 in 1949. As a group, these engines were referred to as the "Seven Hundreds."
An additional number of Berkshires were acquired when the Nickel Plate Road leased the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad in 1949. As a direct result of the Berkshire class, the railroad earned a reputation for high-speed service, which later became its motto.
No. 765's construction was completed on September 8, 1944.
Revenue service
No. 765 was first assigned to Bellevue, Ohio, where it was used primarily on Nickel Plate Road's fast freight trains. After World War II, the locomotive worked primarily out of a classification yard in the east side of Fort Wayne, Indiana.Its final revenue run came on June 14, 1958, but was activated one final time to supply steam heat to a stranded passenger train that December, becoming the last Nickel Plate Road Berkshire under steam.
As evidence of their reputation, Fort Wayne's The News-Sentinel in a June 7 article remarked:
the Nickel Plate's massive Berkshires – steam engines that look like an engine should – have always been the special pets of Fort Wayne and area rail buffs. But not for long. The famed Berkshires carved an enviable record in railroad history and were the most colorful engines in this part of the country. On the Nickel Plate they were just as economical as diesel power, but the Berkshires are giving up in the inevitable face of progress.
Retirement
Though the Berkshires had competed with encroaching diesel-electric technology, they were largely retired by 1958 and kept in serviceable condition by the Nickel Plate Road. With the traffic reduction and the acquisition of new diesel locomotives, the steam locomotives were retired to be stored outdoors and scrapped by 1964. Because of No. 765's excellent mechanical condition and favorable reputation among local crews, the Nickel Plate Road maintained the locomotive indoors until 1961.In a move to honor the success of Fort Wayne's "Elevate the Nickel Plate" project, the city requested S-2 No. 767 for display in Lawton Park in recognition of it being the first ceremonial train to open the overpass. However, the No. 767 locomotive was discovered to be in deteriorated condition and was scrapped. So the Nickel Plate Road instead donated the No. 765 locomotive, now renumbered as No. 767, to the city on May 4, 1963, for display at 4th and Clinton Streets. A plaque commemorating the occasion read: "Nickel Plate Road Berkshire No. 767, used to break ribbon at dedication of track elevation on October 4th, 1955, donated by the New York, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad company to the City of Fort Wayne as a monument to a great period in the development of our country – the era of steam railroading."
Restoration
In September 1971 at the annual convention of the Nickel Plate Historical & Technical Society, Wayne York, Glenn Brendel and Walter Sassmannshausen, Jr. met to discuss forming a group to cosmetically restore former Nickel Plate no. 765/767 and Wabash No. 534, another locomotive that had been installed for display in Swinney Park in 1957.By November 1972, York, Brendel, Sassmannshausen, and John Eichman signed incorporation papers for the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, Inc. By 1973, the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society undertook a 25-year lease of 765/767 and in 1974 moved the engine to New Haven, Indiana to begin what was now a restoration to operation. In October 1975, No. 765 was returned to its original number and the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society held a press conference announcing their intentions to restore the locomotive to operating condition.
From 1975 to 1979, No. 765 was restored to operating condition at the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society located within the former Casad Military depot in New Haven. The restoration site lacked conventional shop facilities and protection from the elements, but on September 1, 1979, No. 765 made its first move under its own power in 21 years.
Later that winter, No. 765 ran under its own power to Bellevue and Sandusky, Ohio for heated, indoor winter storage. In the spring of 1980, No. 765 underwent a series of break-in runs and its first public excursion, making No. 765 the first mainline steam locomotive to be restored and operated by an all volunteer non-profit organization.
First excursion service
The popularity of restoring and operating steam locomotives on the general railroad system as marketing tools increased with Class 1 and regional railroads in the decades after steam was retired. Throughout May 1980, No. 765 visited the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway in Peoria, Illinois, where it hauled a series of excursion trains and assisted some freight trains, at the approval of then TP&W president Robert McMillan.In 1982, shortly before their merger with the Norfolk and Western Railway, the Southern Railway leased No. 765 to haul a series of excursions after Chesapeake and Ohio 2716, another 2-8-4 steam locomotive, suffered some firebox issues. The successful No. 765-led excursions would pave the way for Norfolk Southern to continue the steam program with larger mainline locomotives like Norfolk and Western 611.
In the 1980s, the locomotive appeared in the movies Four Friends and Matewan, and became an annual attraction in the New River Gorge operating the New River Trains from 1985 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 1993. These trips regularly saw No. 765 with close to and sometimes over 30 passenger cars traveling a round-trip during peak fall color season, with passengers from around the world. In 1985, the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society obtained ownership of 765.
In August 1991, 765 was paired with the recently restored Pere Marquette No. 1225 for that year’s National Railway Historical Society convention in Huntington, West Virginia. No. 765 ran side-by-side with No. 1225 while pulling twenty-five CSX hopper cars on the CSX mainline between Huntington and St. Albans. On September 19 and 20, 1992, No. 765 pulled excursion trips on former Illinois Central rails between Paducah and Central City, Kentucky, on the Paducah & Louisville Railway. In July 1993, No. 765 and Nickel Plate Road 2-8-2 locomotive No. 587 performed a doubleheader while pulling an excursion train, which arrived from Richlands, Virginia, by Norfolk & Western 611 at Fort Wayne, bound for Chicago, Illinois, for that year’s National Railway Historical Society Convention. Shortly after, the engine was briefly re-lettered and renumbered to Chesapeake & Ohio No. 2765 in recognition of the heritage of the route on which the New River Trains traveled.
No. 765 successfully operated over several Class 1 railroads in the Midwest and East Coast, including Conrail, CSX, and Norfolk Southern; pulled the New River Train a record of 32 times by 1993; and headlined 124 trips over the Norfolk Southern by 1994. No. 765 was given the title of "veteran excursion engine" by Trains Magazine in 1992 and named the reason "why boys still leave home" by Railfan & Railroad Magazine in 1994.
By 1993, the locomotive had accumulated since its last major overhaul by the Nickel Plate Road, of which were incurred during its excursion career alone. The locomotive had developed signs of wear and was originally slated for a running-gear overhaul upon completion of the excursion season that year.