The Nickel Plate Road No. 765 splits the westbound signals at CP 360 west of Butler, Ind., on Saturday as it pulled a Norfolk Southern employees appreciation special.
Nickel Plate Road No. 765 kicked off its 2014 excursion season on Saturday by pulling an employee appreciation special for Norfolk Southern that operated from Elkhart, Ind., to Bryan, Ohio, and return.
At one point in time, the NKP and New York Central were fierce competitors and both maintained racetrack mainlines across northern Indiana. But those days are past and those former mainlines are now under NS control. The NYC and NKP are just two more fallen flags among many.
My friend Adam and I traveled to Butler, Ind., to intercept the eastbound trip west of town on a bridge that carries a county road over the tracks.
It was mostly cloudy and very windy. We were hoping for a break in the clouds when the 765 showed up, but we had no such luck.
After the train passed, we grabbed some lunch in Butler and scouted for locations to shoot the return trip. We settled on the U.S. Route 6 grade crossing in Edgerton, Ohio, in large part because I wanted to get the train rolling past some flowering trees. Yes, spring seems to finally be getting here.
It was a mighty good show as the 765 handled the train easily without any diesel assistance. I don’t know what all of those former employees of the “mighty oval: would have thought of this NKP interloper running around on their railroad, but I’d bet even the most loyal Central main would have had a smile on his face at seeing mainline steam once again.
Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders
Approaching Edgerton, Ohio, on Track No. 1
The consist of the 14-car passenger train was a mixture of NS executive fleet equipment and Mid America cars.
Tags: Nickel Plate 765, Nickel Plate Road 765, Nickel Plate Road No. 765, NKP 765, NS employee appreciation specials, NS steam program
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