NKP 757 to be Acquired by Bellevue Museum

Two museums have worked out an agreement that will result in a former Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive moving to Ohio.

The Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum said this week that the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania has agreed to send it NKP No. 757.

In Bellevue, the 757 will be placed on static display. NKP 757 is a 2-8-4 Berkshire-type that was built by Lima Locomotives Works in 1944.

“We are very excited to be able to bring the 757 back to Bellevue,” said Made River museum President Chris Beamer. “The absence of a mainline steam locomotive in our collection has been something we have wanted to correct for a long time.”

No. 757 last operated on June 15, 1958. The Nickel Plate had intended to donate it to the city of Bellevue, but it lacked a suitable place to display it.

The locomotive was stored in Bellevue for several years before being donated to the Pennsylvania museum in 1966.

Moving the 757 will cost $250,000 and the Mad River museum is raising funds to pay for that. It has launched a website http://www.bringback757.org to provide further information about the fundraising campaign.

The Mad River museum has more than 50 pieces of equipment displayed or stored on 10 acres of property and five buildings. It describes itself as having the most extensive collection of NKP equipment and artifacts of any museum.

Negotiations to bring NKP 757 to Bellevue began earlier this year. The Mad River museum will own the 757 once it has been removed from its current site in Pennsylvania.

Nickel Plate Road 759 at Conneaut

Before Nickel Plate Road 765 was restored, there was NKP 759. Here NKP 759 is heading eastbound over the Norfolk & Western (ex-NKP) trestle in Conneaut on Sept. 8, 1968. This was her first excursion after rebuilding in 1968.

Photograph 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.