Steam & Excursion > Forlorn Berkshire - NKP 755

NKP 755 sits at Conneaut, Ohio, not at her old stomping grounds but two and a half blocks north at the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern (NYC) depot alongside the CSX main. While a little forlorn on her short piece of display track and a bit misplaced, she still looks impressive. Said to be a "zero mileage" engine having had an overhaul in 1958, she apparently never turned a wheel nor felt another fire in her firebox, last operating in 1957.

A few photos from Sunday July 16, 2017 while waiting for some CSX traffic that just wasn't coming.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/17 05:52 by train1275.

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A few more....

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Long live the Nickel Plate !

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train1275 Wrote:
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> Long live the Nickel Plate !

Is that WHITE lettering on the tender?????

I think it was yellow and very much faded. The engine appeared to be in rather fresh paint, but the tender needs a paint job badly.

train1275 Wrote:
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> I think it was yellow and very much faded. The
> engine appeared to be in rather fresh paint, but
> the tender needs a paint job badly.

Yeah you can still yellow in the "d"

Posted from iPhone

Oh if I won the powerball, I'd bring back a fleet of berks. She does look in very fine shape, a sharp contrast to many of the C&O berks.

If she was completely overhauled in 1958 and never was operated again, I do not understand why someone did not pick her out before to run? Why was 759 chosen to pull the special in 1969? Why was 765 chosen over this engine 755? Can someone in the know explain?
Thanks
John in White Marsh, Maryland

> Why was 759 chosen to pull the special in 1969? Why
> was 765 chosen over this engine 755?

The 755 was donated to and moved to the Conneaut Museum
in 1964; therefore, no longer available. BTW, there are
components from the 755 that "live on" in the 765.

I believe 759 was also a zero mile engine and was still on active rails so it could be easily moved. 765 was chosen because most of the core group of founders of the FWRHS were from Fort Wayne, and the city was willing to part with the loco and it was only yards from a live track. #755 is kind of marooned, as is #779, which is the other Berk I would love to see operate. #763 and 757 almost got put back on the road, and #763 might still. #755 was sort of a lost opportunity, but in the time between overhaul and being sent to the park, who knows how much damage was done by the elements. I'm pretty sure 755 never had a fire in her after overhaul. I can't speak for the other five, but the saving of 765 is as much about pure chance and luck as anything. The fact that she is operable is even more amazing. I was told be a founding FWRHS member that if #767 had been saved (as the city of Fort Wayne requested), they likely never would have attempted to return her to service.

The 759 was a ZERO mileage engine. Plus after the 765 had a bunch of superheaters fail after the 1980 season they used the ones in 755 I believe and the FWRHS cosmetically restored 755 as a thanks. This is from the "Wheeling in the Rat Hole" dvd.

Posted from Android

Thanks for the information guys.
John

Here is a photo of the 755 just out of the shops on May 18, 1958
Conneaut, OH

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=757577

I believe this was the date of a steam powered excursion between Buffalo and Cleveland with Hudson #175.

Quite a few Berks were saved for us to admire. That always makes me sad to think that the NY Central did not see fit to preserve ONE Hudson.

Correct. I was on the 1958 excursion to Cleveland and back to Buffalo. Hudson 175 took us to Conneaut where we had a brief shop tour. 755 was on the turntable. We went on to Cleveland and back to Conneaut where 2-8-4 763 replaced 175 to Buffalo

YankeeDog Wrote:
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> Correct. I was on the 1958 excursion to Cleveland
> and back to Buffalo. Hudson 175 took us to
> Conneaut where we had a brief shop tour. 755 was
> on the turntable. We went on to Cleveland and
> back to Conneaut where 2-8-4 763 replaced 175 to
> Buffalo

That must have been one heck of an excursion !!

The excursion train was quite long. I don't remember how many cars. Even with part of the train running downhill westbound, 175 had all it could do to get the train moving when it left Erie. Coming back with the 763 and now with part of the train trailing downhill, 763 had no trouble in pulling away from Erie station. The stack talk when it crossed Parade St was something to be remembered. It was a striking comparison between a Berkshire and a light Hudson.
Jim Kreider

Yes, great memories, Jim.

You, Tom, and I were busy that day !

I saw 175 live in Chicago. She had a gon tied to her pilot with steel for the Calumet Skyway. She nudged to gon into position while a crane hoisted the steel-piece by piece-above. This must have been about Spring of 1957. Trip to the NKP roundhouse that summer yielded "only" berks, no other steam.

rusticmike6 Wrote:
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> I saw 175 live in Chicago. She had a gon tied to
> her pilot with steel for the Calumet Skyway. She
> nudged to gon into position while a crane hoisted
> the steel-piece by piece-above. This must have
> been about Spring of 1957. Trip to the NKP
> roundhouse that summer yielded "only" berks, no
> other steam.

Geez, that is too bad, "only Berks" .... sounds horrible !
Sure would be nice to suffer through that today.