NKP No. 587 is a Baldwin made Mikado that vanished from the rails a few years ago (about 6 years ago). Rumors have flown around that she was being refitted with new boiler tubes. The problem is, where? Rumors said that she was in Chicago, IL., Noblesville, IN., Indianapolis, IN., and other places. In an effort to find the truth I started poking around, and I found her in Noblesville, IN.! Here she is, most of the way done, but out of cao finihe job. Hopefully that will change soon.
Sorry the pics are kind of dark. It’s very dark in the barn she’s in and my flash just couldn’t keep up.
Click on any pic to enlarge
And there she is, just waiting for a chance to return to the rails.
Here she is a few years back, before she was shopped;
Some years back my office abutted the rail line used for the Indiana State Fair Train when it was being pulled by the 587. Needless to say, when we first heard that whistle blow off in the distance, we dropped what we were doing and wandered out the back door, watching the plume of black smoke approach. She’d roll by about 20 feet in front of us and let me tell you, that was a real thrill!
Feels like it’s been more than 6 years since it disappeared. I sure do miss it. That old Geep pulling the State Fair train is nice, but it really doesn’t compare.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it equipped now with a tender pulled from a Berkshire?
The ground shakes when she comes by, doesn’t it? She used to drive my Bassett Hounds nuts!
Feels like an eternity!
Not even close!
I believe so. She was originally ordered by the Lake Erie & Western RR. There is also a 22,000 gal. auxillary water tender on site that didn’t originally go to her, but it’s being restored also. Here’s a shot of it;
Not quite. The NKP did add a tender to her that was SIMILAR to those on the Berks, but they were actually different classes of rolling stock. The NKP ordered 25 of the 22RA tenders to put behind several of their Mikes, to increase their range. They looked VERY similar to the Berkshire’s 21RC tenders, but carried two tons less coal.
The NKP likes to swap tenders around, and at one point the 587 DID operate with one of the 22Ra’s. But that was only for a few months in 1949; she normally ran with the smaller 13RA or 16RC tenders. The tender behind 587 today isn’t the one that she was retired with (which was a 13RA). Of course, the shop crew in Frankfort liked to fiddle with exhibit engines: 587 has a different tender, 624 has a few appliances missing, and 639 is all messed up! None of the engines look much like they did when they were in service, which is a shame.
Again, not quite. 587 was originally one of 225 NYC H-6a class USRA light Mikes, which the US GOVERNMENT ordered for the NYC (the NYC really didn’t want them. In fact, MOST roads didn’t want them). The NYC owned the LE&W at the time and assigned 15 of the H-6a’s to the road as their mainline “superpower”. When the NKP absorbed the LE&W in 1924 they renumbered them to the 586-600 series and reclassed them as H-6o (the NKP had original USRA lights, which were already the H-6a class. Since the LE&W engines were built by Baldwin (and were thus different than the NKP’s Lima USRAs) they got the new class). 587 was one of only three of the original USRA Mikes to survive the NKP’s postwar power purge. 587, 599 and 602 survived into the 1950s, but the other 22 engines were sold off to the NdeM, where most of them ran into the mid-1960s. There’s a rumo
Ray,
I got my info from the Indiana Transportation Museum. I can’t verify it’s accuracy, but here is what they say;
"NKP No. 587
Nickel Plate Road No. 587 is a coal-burning steam locomotive built in September 1918 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Nickel Plate No. 587 was one of the 625 engines of its type commissioned by the United States Railroad Administration during World War 1 rearmament and one of 15 identical locomotives built for the former Lake Erie & Western Railroad. During 1922 the Lake Erie & Western and the Toledo, St. Louis & Western Railroad (bucolically known as the Clover Leaf Route) were acquired by the Nickel Plate Road. Operations of the three railroads were consolidated during the next two years and a systemwide renumbering program was adopted for locomotives and rolling stock. In 1924 Lake Erie & Western engines 5540-5554 became Nickel Plate Nos. 586-600. The second engine of this group, LE&W No. 5541, thus became Nickel Plate No. 587. All engines in this group were classified Nickel Plate Class H-6o and subsequently repainted and relettered.
Nickel Plate No. 587 is perhaps the best remaining example of a United States Railroad Administration (USRA) light Mikado steam locomotive, an outstanding design developed during World War I rearmament. This versatile and universally successful locomotive design was utilized in both freight and passenger service on railroads throughout the United States, and its design elements ultimately served as the basis of larger, more powerful locomotives built during the final three decades of steam locomotive construction in this country. Nickel Plate No. 587 escaped major modification during its 37 years of active service and thus represents the essential USRA light Mikado design in virtually original form. Of the 625 USRA light Mikados constructed between 1918 and 1920, No. 587 is one of only six known to exist in 1984, and of its original grou
There was a collection of NKP engines sold to someone in the South, but the fellow died before his dream could be realized and all engines were scrapped, which included a 4-6-4.
My name is Jeremy and I am associated with the Indiana Transportation Museum and while I’m not apart of the steam group I think I may be able to clarify some rumors/mysteries that I’m reading…
NKP 587 is currently at the Indiana Transportation Museum (ITM), undergoing her required FRA rebuild. ITM is located in Noblesville, IN. Crews have been working diligently on and off site on the restoration project. To date the boiler has been stripped down and an ultra sound test was performed on the boiler to measure the thickness of the boiler for compliance to the FRA rules. Upon completion of that test appropriated repairs have been made to assure the boiler is up to par.
There hasn’t been an official announcement or release of any information as to when NKP 587 will return to service. I know crews are working towards a goal of having her under steam by Late 2011/early 2012.
If you’re interested please visit our website as you can follow the details of the restorations efforts: www.itm.org
As far as the tender is concerned: When 587 was retired, 639 (Located in Miller Park in Bloomington, IL) was still in active service. 639 was in need of tender repair so it was decided to swap tenders between the two locomotives. 587 was retired with 639’s buckeyed tender and 639 continued operating with 587’s smaller tenders. 639 is on display in Miller Park with 587’s original tender.
I recall about late 1980s 587 doubleheaded with 1218 trainwatching in NW Indiana , well I swear it was 1218, it might have been 765. But when 587 passed yep the ground thumped madly. Not perfectly balanced maybe? anyways thats an experience.
