"C&O 2765" Nickel Plate 2-8-4 Berk on the former P&LE, 1993

2-8-4 765 Coraopolis, PA
Masquerading as a C&O Kanawha, 765 charges eastbound towards Pittsburgh at Coraopolis on the former P&LE. NKP #765 was put on display at Ft. Wayne's Lawton Park in 1963 as "#767", but was pulled out for restoration in the 1970s, and clocked up thousands of miles between 1979 and 1993. A rebuild began in 2001, and today 765 is running again.

Among the more successful steam locomotives ever built, the 2-8-4 Berkshire class only appeared in the 1920s, but the Nickel Plate Road kept theirs  up until the end of steam in the late 1950s. The 2-8-4 arrangement resulted from the need to produce a larger version of the 2-8-2 Mikado with a larger boiler and firebox, which meant that four trailing axles needed to be used to cope with the additional weight. the first 2-8-4s were built by Alco for the Boston & albnay, and their use taking freights over the Berkshire Hills earned them their name.

The Nickel Plate first bought Berkshires from  Alco in the 1930s, these being enlarged versions of the C&O 2-10-4 Texas type, which themselves were evolutions of Erie Berkshires. The fast, powerful S-class Berks soon proved a success, and were followed up in the 1940s for orders for S-1/2/3 class engines from Lima. the last of these, #779, was completed in 1949, marking the end of steam locomotive production by Lima.


NKP Berkshire  757 walk-around, RR Museum of PA

Nickel Plate #757 was donated to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1966 after the N&W takeover of NKP, and is seen here on outside display in 2006. Nickel Plate 2-8-4 757 walk around





Nickel Plate 2-8-4 757 walk around upper detail
Still bearing the NYC & ST. L. lettering, but showing the effects of the Pennsylvania weather.
Nickel Plate 2-8-4 757 walk around driver details



Nickel Plate 2-8-4 757 walk around tender truck detail
Tender truck detail

NKP Berkshire 759, Steamtown at Scranton, PA

Having been a part of the Steamtown collection since1962, NKP S-2 Berkshire #759 powered excursions under lease for a period in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but has been cold for over three decades after a reflueing project was not completed. It is seen here inside the Steamtown roundhouse at Scranton, PA
  NKP Berkshire #759 in the roundhouse at Steamtown, Scranton, PA





1949 Nickel Plate Berk Ad



Railroad References

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