The keepers of infamous NKP 765 are recieving yet another Nickel Plate legend, 2-8-2 No. 624.
The FWRHS released this statement on Facebook:
“The Mikado-type locomotives were used in Nickel Plate freight service for over three decades and were the original workhorses for the railroad before Berkshires like the 765 came online. No. 624, pictured here, traveled more than one and a half million miles - the equivalent of more than 60 trips around the earth - before being donated to the city of Hammond in 1955. We think it could stand to go a few more. Stay tuned.”
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if the engine is in good enough shape, but it seems they would like to get it running again. Very Exciting.
It was so heart breaking to see this locomotive go from pristine condition to a rusting hulk in 61 years. But thats what happens when a locomotive is donated to a city and that city parks it in an open lot with absolutely no shelter of even fencing to protect it. I do hope that there is enough left to 624 for the FWRHS to restore, at least cosmetically.
Also, I would like to echo what “jumper” said in his post on the Restoring a steamlocomotive for operation wasteful? thread. I do believe that restoring an historic locomotive is a noble act. I salute the FWRHS.
Shovel all the coal in, gotta keep 'em rolling! John.
The USRA Light Mikado design was designated class H-6a through H-6F on the Nickel Plate Road. It was a good looking locomotive - 54,724 lbs tractive effort on 63 inch drivers operating at 200 PSI.
Nice to see it might be moved and preserved for the future generations to see. Rebuilding it is certainly possible. I would guess it will be cleaned up and put on display at their place.
Why someone would remove parts from a historical piece of equipment is beyond any thought. Those headlights and number boards are not easy to handle.
Supposedly, everything goes. The caboose has been burned, so its future is probably questionable. By that I don’t mean to imply that the car is hopeless, because I just don’t know. I’m sure the Fort Wayne folks WANT to save everything, but they also may be forced to make some difficult decisions. I trust them to do what makes the most sense.
Few, if any, NKP 2-8-2’s lasted to the end of the steam era with their original tenders intact. The tender on 639 was rebuilt and enlarged from the original USRA dimensions. It now has a Buckeye 6-wheel truck under the coal space, and a capacity of 19 tons of coal and 16,500 gallons of water. The other two preserved NKP Mikados, numbers 587 and 624, have 22RA tenders. There were a total of 25 22RA’s built by Lima specifically for NKP Mikados in 1934. They were very similar (but not identical) to the tenders on NKP Berkshires.
639 has the enlarged cab and Delta trailing truck of later NKP USRA Mike copies. At one time she carried a booster and Elesco feedwater heater.
I watched NKP 624 slowly deteriorate over the years, and I wouldn’t be too suprised if restoration to operating condition would be found to be economically impossible.
That would be unfortunate because a second operable steam locomotive for FWRHS would ensure that when unit one was in for the mandated periodic 1,472 day overhaul processes, the other could continue to pull excursions. That would particularly be of benefit if there are any regularly-scheduled excursions related to operation of their Headwaters Junction development.
But at the very worst, it will be a very-well-cared-for static exhibit for their Headwaters Junction complex, which would still be a good outcome.
We will all be crossing our fingers that they can pull this off, along with their SD9 restoration, and hopefully sending them a few contributions on occasion also.
Here is a link to an interesting document on NKP Mikados…
