Nickel Plate 765 comming to Elkhart, Indiana

[conrail7695]

765 trips this year per Railpace April issue.

NS Employee Trips

May 3,4 Elkhart IN to Bryan Oh
May 10,11 Chicago to Argos IN
July 5,6 Detroit to Toledo, OH


Public trips
June 20- 24 Train Expo Owosso MI
July 12, 13 Detroit to Ft. Wayne, IN
July 19 –August 9 Logansport IN and Kokomo In

[hoborich]

Just curious. Are there enough NS employees interested, to fill a train. Do they have to pay, or is it a freebee for the employees?

[conrail7695]

IDK this is just what I read. Maybe some one else will chime in with an answerer

.

Just curious. Are there enough NS employees interested, to fill a train. Do they have to pay, or is it a freebee for the employees?

[nathansixchime]

Trips are open to employees, who reserve seating through the company employee portal.

[Wrong Main]

Just try to get the day off so you can ride!

[GAP]

Does anyone have info about the departure or return times so railfans can watch? Will they be loading at the depot or elsewhere?

[BIG AMISH]

Heard its a 10:00am departure both days

[conrail7695]

I read the NPK #765 made a test run over the weekend of 26 or 27 April 2014 to Leipsic, Ohio and back to ft. Wayne Indiana. Has any one heard of when it leaving Ft. Wayne to come to Elkhart yard this coming weekend. If I had to guess it would be in Elkhart yard some time on Friday and get it set up for a Saturday and Sunday run out and east bound? Comments or Intel any one???

[DelayInBlock]

New video of 765 on her test run:

[alittlevanwerty]

We chased it also filming them at Payne, Melrose, Continental (go home foamers! Lol) west Leipsic, and each way across the diamond at Leipsic.

Photo at Payne
https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/alittleva ... 024425011/
Photo at Leipsic eastbound across the diamond.
https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/alittleva ... 047660793/
Photo at Continental.
https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/alittleva ... 047643533/


I am also curious if they plan on doing 2-3 runs each day Elkhart to Bryan like previous employee trips?

[esprrfan]

Just curious. Are there enough NS employees interested, to fill a train. Do they have to pay, or is it a freebee for the employees?

No its free for employee and 3 other guests. FWIW when it ran Toledo-Maumee I tried offering seats to a few fans that shot the first run in Maumee they kindly passed saying they wanted to catch its next trip into Maumee. Since they liked their spot for the first steam train.

[justalurker66]

I could have sworn I heard a steam whistle in Goshen Indiana around 1:30pm today.

[CSX_CO]

I could have sworn I heard a steam whistle in Goshen Indiana around 1:30pm today.

Don't know what time it arrived up there, but the D/H move from Fort Wayne to Elkhart was today.

Practice Safe CSX

[justalurker66]

A story and video from the Elkhart Truth:
http://www.elkharttruth.com/news/indian ... rnoon.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yCmLVu9iIM

(The Goshen News also posted a short clip but the quality is not worth linking.)

[MaintainerGary]

Saturdays run will have 500 people on it. The Sunday run has about 300 reservations so far. Three rental passenger cars showed up today because of the Saturday reservations being so high. I posted some pics in Foamer Nation on facebook.

[justalurker66]

Foam responsibly ... US 33 is a busy major highway with police patrols - especially between Elkhart and Goshen. The track side lane has a high curb and pull outs for emergency use only. (If one is old enough to remember the case where a Pinto broke down and was rear ended and exploded, it happened along this stretch of highway.) There are few legal places to stop along this busy road - most on the wrong side. Cross at the traffic lights and be warned that drivers do not expect to see pedestrians.

There is a county road (45) north of the tracks with a bicycle trail (please, no motor vehicles). I assume nearby parking lots will be filled with foam. The US20 bridge over the tracks at the north end of US 33 is a posted 65 MPH limited access highway. The County Road 17 bridge over the tracks is slower but is also limited access and not designed for pedestrian use. The State Road 15 bridge in Goshen has a sidewalk and would probably be the best place for an overhead shot.

Goshen itself is a pedestrian friendly city with a lot of people who walk (even in the rain without umbrellas - seemingly oblivious). I suggest that if you fan in Goshen you join the trend ... find a large parking lot away from the tracks and take a hike. Try not to overwhelm the local businesses nearer the track that need their parking for paying customers who come, buy and go. And be considerate to the neighborhoods along the tracks.

And if you expect to chase THROUGH Goshen be prepared for an expensive speeding ticket (assuming you're not stuck in slow traffic). Goshen police like to use their ticket books.

Good luck ... be safe!

[justalurker66]

BTW: For those that didn't see it ... Street Running Steam in Warsaw when 765 came through on Thursday (on TrainOrders).
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/r ... 24#3397424

[justalurker66]

May 10,11 Chicago to Argos IN

I heard it while out along the rails today and can confirm from the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society website:

"UPDATE: The May 11th trip has been combined with the May 10th trip."
So for those continuing the chase next weekend plan accordingly.

As for this weekend ... it seemed to go well. Clearer skies so one could see smoke against blue instead of clouds would have helped but no rain and not so crazy hot or cold that one couldn't be outdoors. Traffic was not bad along the route (except the obvious places). On Saturday I beat the train through Goshen because it slowed for the construction zone east of 412. On Sunday I followed all the way to Bryan (although that run seemed slower). (I had some camera issues ... primarily leaving the video camera on and recording for 38 minutes depleting the battery on the way to Bryan. But that was not NKP 765's fault.) I came back and waited at 417 to catch the return trip ... and got some shots at the station as well.

After dropping passengers on Sunday the train backed down the main past 421 and then used the yard tracks to enter the yard. On Saturday they ran forward on the main line (I caught it at SR 19 along with the local newspaper).

"Commodore Vanderbilt" consist:

Nickel Plate Road 765
FWRHX no. 701 -- Steam Support Vehicle
Mid America "Silver Larch"
Mid America "Bryce Canyon"
Mid America "Swift Stream"
Florida East Coast - St Augustine
Norfolk Western "The Powhaton Arrow" WATX539
Norfolk and Western "Ohio State University" MRLX1498
Norfolk Southern "New York" NS 26
Mid America MRLX8701 (Budd Cafeteria Car)
Norfolk Southern "The Powhaton Arrow" NS28
Norfolk Southern "The Powhaton Arrow" NS29
Norfolk Southern "New Jersey" NS46
Norfolk Southern "Louisiana" NS47
Norfolk Southern "Iowa" NS43
Norfolk Southern "Tennessee" NS42