Eastern Railroad Discussion > Nickel Plate Road - Merger 1964

October 16, 1964, 45 years ago

The NKP Nickel Plate Road, Wabash,
ACY - Akron Canton and Youngstown and
P&WV - Pittsburgh and West Virginia
merge into the N&W, Norfolk and Western.

Eddie Durnwald
Fostoria, Ohio

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Great catch on the history. 45 years. Where does the time go?? Not sure if I should celebrate or mourn..

Phil



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/09 09:26 by Phil.

I remember being in Conneaut, Ohio at the time (I was only 16 then) and seeing the first ugly N&W GP9's show up on property. 45 years later the NS paint scheme still falls short of the NKP's black & yellow. Duane

I grew up along the NKP in Fremont, Ohio
I would walk along the tracks to school everyday
and talk with the train crews. ( 1960 )

We just live a few houses from the NKP-LE&W.
LE&W, Lake Erie and Western

Every morning the loco from Sandusky
would arrive at 10:00 a.m and then head
to Fostoria, and Lima,
returning back at 5:00 p.m.

You could set your watch the same time everyday.

Early in the morning you could hear
the NKP on the main going through
Fremont, from Bellevue to Toledo, Ohio.

It was always around 6:30 a.m.
They would meet at Green Creek Siding.

One from Toledo and one from Bellevue.

At that time early 1960's the motive power
was EMD GP-7's and Alco's RS-11's.

You could hear them for miles as they
rumble into downtown Fremont.

It was always a early morning wake up call.

Something I will remember forever.

As I grew older I got my first job
working for the Toledo Blade newspaper.

The office was located on Front Street
next to the NKP main in downtown Fremont.

I would always show up at 6:00 a.m
to watch the trains. Then the Blade truck
would show up and it was time to
fold papers and do my route.

About the same time in life I was
on a baseball team. Every father's kid
had to play baseball.

Our team played at Atkinson school
east side of Fremont next to the NKP main.

I can remember being an out fielder
and the bases were loaded.

The other team hit a high fly and at
the same time a Westbound NKP with
three GP-7's came rumbling
behind home plate.

My one track mind became focus on the
train action and the ball went right over
my head.

Everybody threw their gloves down
as we lost the game. The coach said
Eddie you are sitting on the bench
the rest of the season.

That was the greatest thing that could
of happen for my baseball interest
had ended.

At 18, I started working for N&W June 1971
as a tower operator and the stories get longer.

1971 - 1975 - Bellevue, Oh. to Ft. Wayne, Ind.
1975 - 1980 - Conneaut, Ohio - Erie, Pa.
1980 - 1982 - Lorain, Ohio
1982 - 1988 - Norfolk, Va.
1988 - - - - - - Milan - Adrian, Mi - Ft. Wayne, Ind
1988 - 1990 - Norfolk, Va.
1990 - 2001 - Fostoria, Ohio


Retired for Norfolk Southern in 2001 and still love trains.

Eddie Durnwald
Fostoria, Ohio



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/09 10:33 by Eddie-Durnwald.

Eddie, looks like you really bounced around. Was that due to the shuttering of towers or wanderlust on your part. How did that sit with family life? Congratilations on a wonderful career.

I moved where the railroad wanted me to work.

My family did not like all the moving around,
but always moved with me until 1990 where
they stayed in Virgina Beach, Va. ( Norfolk )

I had a good position in Norfolk with NS
and had no reason to move back to Ohio.

Eddie

Eddie-Durnwald Wrote:
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> October 16, 1964, 45 years ago


I grew up living less than 50 ft from the IMC at the north edge of Kokomo IN. I was only 9 years old on 10/16/64, and while I was obviously aware of trains just by their daily presence in my life, I didn't really consider myself a railfan until I stumbled on the July 1966 "Trains" on a local news-stand, and I was instantly hooked. But even then, almost two years after the merger, NKP power was still overwhelmingly dominant -- mostly GP7s, GP9s, RS11/36s, an occasional GP30, and SW7/8/9 yard engines. Unfortunately, by the time I started photographing around 1970, almost all had disappeared under N&W blue.

Honorable mention...NKP 514 at Steamtown. And it still runs. Sad that NKP 329 doesn't.

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