Posted July 25, 200717 yr Note; This is a locomotive that was one of many produced at the old Lima Locomotive Works at Lima, Ohio. There's a video link at:http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/125527 Steam locomotive will return to Ohio Nickel Plate 763 going from Virginia to Coshocton Wednesday, July 25, 2007 4:30 PM By Sheila Ellis ROANOKE, Va. Railroad fans gave a bittersweet farewell to the steam locomotive Nickel Plate 763 as it began its journey from the Virginia Museum of Transportation to Coshocton, Ohio. I'm glad to see it's going to run again, Lawanda Ely, former employee of the Roanoke Transportation Museum at Wasena Park. But I'm sad to see it go. It has been part of the exhibit for a number of years. More than 100 rail fans came out Tuesday to witness the move and final act in the sale of the locomotive to the Ohio Central Railroad System, a network of short-line railroads in Ohio and Pennsylvania... http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/07/25/nickel_plate.html
July 26, 200717 yr One day I expect we'll get to see, and maybe ride, a double-header pulled by 763 and the other operable Lima-built S2 Berkshire, Fort Wayne Historical Society's NKP 765. Here's what 763 will look like restored:
July 26, 200717 yr I think 759 is on display in a Lima park. It ran in the 1960s or early 70s as I recall, but its status as display-only is probably permanent now. It was cannibalized for parts during one of 765's overhauls, and would take an extraordinary amount of work to return it to running condition. I don't know of any other surviving examples of the series. The last of the Nickel Plate S2 Berkshires were built in 1944, and they represent a high state of refinement in steam locomotive design and construction. They were stoker-fired and carried 23 tons of coal and 23,000 gallons of water in the tender. They were intended for the fast freight that enabled the Nickel Plate to compete with the bigger roads that parallelled most of their Chicago-Buffalo route, but proved to be such hot performers that they were used in passenger service too. 765 can top 70mph with a 20-25 car freight train, and has pushed 80 with a passenger train excursion.
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