An Alco S-4 in Brewster

Norfolk & Western Alco S-4 No. 2049 is framed by the turntable in Btewster in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The unit was originally on the roster of the Nickel Plate Road.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Two for Tuesday: N&W Pair in Brewster

Norfolk & Western EMD SW8 2107 and Fairbanks-Morse H12-44 2138 work in  Brewster in September 1972. To their right are Alco road switchers while just barely seen are EMD road switchers on the left.

The 2107 and 2138 are both former Nickel Plate Road locomotives.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Going Back in Time in Brewster

The wayback machine has landed us in Brewster in December 1972. We’re looking at a Fairbanks Morse H-12-44 that was built for the Nickel Plate Road in April 1958. By the time this image was made it had moved onto the Norfolk & Western roster.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Brewster in the 1960s

Brewster is best known today as the headquarters of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, a role that it also played for the original Wheeling before it was acquired by the Nickel Plate Road in 1949.

The NKP itself was acquired by Norfolk & Western in 1964. Throughout the ownership changes Brewster continued to serve its role as locomotive service facility for the railroads that served it.

In this post we present a selection of images made in Brewster between 1966 and 1967, many of them made from the same roll of black and white film.

It was an interesting time because of the variety of motive power that passed through Brewster.

The locomotives may have been lettered for N&W, but many of them had been acquired by such predecessor railroads as the NKP and the Wabash, which the N&W also purchased in 1964.

The top photograph is an example of that. N&W (ex-Wabash) F7A Nos.,3697, 3717, and 3712 sit outside the shops.

In the first image below, a cut of diesels are about to leave to hook onto their train. Shown are N&W 3901 (Ex-Wabash Alco C424), N&W 1005 (Alco C425), and N&W 2414 (Ex-NKP GP7).

Next up is N&W 2149, a former NKP Fairbanks-Morse H-12-44. FM motive power was a common site in the 1960s.

Alco S4 switcher No. 2066 is shown basking in the sun between assignments. This is another former NKP locomotive.

Around the turntable is a cluster of motive power that includes N&W 125 in full NKP paint (FM H10-44), N&W 2148 (Ex-NKP FM H12-44), N&W 2333 (Ex-NKP Alco RSD12), N&W 2539 (Ex-NKP Alco RS3), and N&W 2538 (Ex-NKP ALCO RS3).

Finally, N&W (Ex-NKP) 2414, N&W 1003, and N&W (Ex-Wabash) 3901 are shown in Brewster in 1966 or 1967.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

FtWRHS Reaches Pact With Indiana City on Moving, Restoring NKP Steam Locomotive 624

The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society has reached an agreement with the City of Hammond, Indiana, for the moving of former Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive 624 to an undisclosed site where it will be restored.

Hammond has owned and displayed the 624 since 1955. Deterioration caused by prolonged exposure to the elements prompted discussions between the FtWRHS and the City of Hammond about a new home for the 624, a Mikado-type built in 1922 by Lima Locomotive Works.

FtWRHS officials said that the 624 could be restored to operating condition depending on what the society finds when inspecting it.

Kelly Lynch, a FtWRHS vice president, said space limitations at the society’s shops at New Haven, Indiana, means that the 624 restoration work will be undertaken at a private site in Northeast Indiana.

A private donor is funding the move of the 624 to that site and the restoration work. The FtWRHS will offer technical support.

The 624 is expected eventually to be displayed at the proposed Headwaters Junction railroad park in downtown Fort Wayne.

In a related development, the FtWRHS is also working to preserve a former Nickel Plate Road SD9 diesel.

Overseeing that project is former Akron Railroad Club member Chris Lantz.

Thus far, the society has sought to stabilize the locomotive in preparation for cosmetic restoration and eventual mechanical operation.

Initial work has involved removing surface rust on the car body doors, cleaning, painting and installing door latches.

No. 358 was built in 1957 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. The NKP SD9 fleet was seen as a replacement for the railroad’s Berkshire steam locomotives, including No. 765, which the FtWRHS owns and operates.

No. 358’s original assignment was hauling coal trains on the NKP’s Wheeling & Lake Erie District.

It operated for NKP successors Norfolk & Western and Norfolk Southern through the early 2000s, often based in Bellevue.

FtWRHS officials estimate the cost of mechanical work and replacement parts at $100,000.