Steam & Excursion > One Last Nickel Plate Berkshire

I have been doing a series over on the video site that must not be named under the banner "Railfan Adventures."  This is the latest episode, slightly cut down for running time.  Come along with a pair of teenaged railfans as they head to Valparaiso, Indiana, to catch Nickel Plate Berkshires in action; only to find in the previous week the famous 2-8-4's had been replaced by borrowed C&O Geeps one at a time.

Rather than a parade of steam powered freights, they caught the last run of a 700 out of Chicago.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

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My notes say Calumet Summer 1958.  Might I be off by a year?

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June 1958 is correct. East of Bellevue, Ohio, there were some into July 1958.

Posted from Android

NKP779 Wrote:
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> June 1958 is correct. East of Bellevue, Ohio,
> there were some into July 1958.
>
> Posted from Android

Thank you.  I communicated with both Don and Mike before doing the script to make sure I got their story right.

Mary McPherson
Dongola, IL
Diverging Clear Productions

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for this video and story Mary. Kind of bittersweet for me as I grew up along the NKP in steam days and caught the last run of a Berkshire on NKP’s Buffalo Division as the 719 traveled westbound down 19th street in Erie, PA on July 1, 1958. I was so sad as the sweet sounds of that staccato exhaust and whistles were no longer to be heard on a regular basis. I would lay in bed at night and listen to the Berkshires accelerate out of Erie.
Jim Kreider 
 

Thanks for sharing Mary. That is a nifty story.

Victor Baird



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/25 20:08 by wabash2800.