| Norfolk & Western History 101 / High Bridge, Last Hope of the Confederacy - Bob Flippen |
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The High Bridge near Farmville, Virginia, today.
(Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation photo) |
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This 1865 photograph shows the South Side Rail Road’s High Bridge crossing the Appomattox River near Farmville, Virginia, while under reconstruction. (T. H. O’Sullivan photo, Library of Congress collection) |
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This view of the nearly rebuilt High Bridge was taken in June 1865 after the end of the Civil War. It was put back into service on September 22, 1865. The wagon bridge to the right bottom was the scene of the desperate fight.
(Library of Congress collection) |
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This map and detail portion are from surveys done in 1867 and is known as the General Michler map. (The Atlas to the Official Records of the War of Rebellion) |
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The brick and stone piers from the Civil War-era bridge can be seen behind the steel trestle in this view of K-2 122 crossing the bridge heading west. They measure 8’ by 22’ tapering down to 14’ by 27’ at the base. Twelve and a half of the original 20 piers still stand. They were 112 feet apart on center and supported 21 spans of wooden superstructure. (N&WHS Archives collection) |
| The N&W Beyond the Appalachians / N&W’s NKP Locomotives - Ed Painter |
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The state of the union on the N&W in March 1967 is demonstrated by this photograph at Bellevue, Ohio. At left is ex-Nickel Plate GP9 2459 wearing a coat of N&W paint and its new 2400-series number. On the next track is high hood N&W original GP30 552 — the ex-Nickel Plate GP30s were low short hood in the 900-series and some had been renumbered into the 2900-series by this time. On the next track over in the distance is an ex-Wabash low-nose GP35 in its new
N&W paint. Under the coaling tower is NKP SD9 349 still in full Nickel Plate dress and not yet renumbered. On the far right is repainted ex-Nickel Plate Fairbanks-Morse H-12-44 2140, followed by an ex-Nickel Plate F-M still in NKP paint, an ex-Nickel
Plate low hood GP30, and another F-M in Nickel Plate paint. There are locomotives present from three builders and at least three railroads. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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Former NKP SD9 348 is in full N&W dress and has been renumbered 2348. It works a short train of 13 hoppers and a caboose just out of Adena, Ohio, on March 22, 1976. NKP SD9s 340–359 were renumbered to N&W 2340–2359 — and
all were repainted into N&W colors in 1966 and 1967 with the sole exception of NKP 357, which was wrecked on September 16, 1966, before it was painted. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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NW2s 2015 and 2017 have just received a fresh coat of N&W blue paint in this photo taken in July 1967. The 12 NKP NW2s (11–22) all were renumbered and all were repainted between February 1967 and February 1968. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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By the date this was taken in October 1974, at Brewster, Ohio, NW2 2017 has been repainted into N&W’s black scheme. (Ed Painter photo) |
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Of Nickel Plate’s first order of four S-2s (25–28), only the 25 was renumbered and repainted, as seen in this photo in 1967 after it was taken out of service. (N&WHS Archives collection) |
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Only one unit of the second order of Nickel Plate Alco S-2s (29–35) made it into N&W paint — the 2032 was repainted in September 1966 and was retired on November 4, 1967. Nickel Plate 35, shown here in Buffalo, New York, on August 25, 1962, was the last unit of the order and occupied a placeholder number in N&W’s roster that it never received (2035). (Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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Of Nickel Plate’s third order of eight S-2s (36–43), the only unit to be repainted into N&W’s blue scheme was 38, which became 2038. It was photographed in Brewster, Ohio, on February 10, 1967. It was retired on November 14, 1967, and went from the N&W to the Akron, Canton & Youngstown, where it was renumbered 107. S-2 2032 also went to the AC&Y, becoming the 106. (John Beach photo) |
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S-4 2053 is weatherbeaten and oil soaked in this view taken in December 1974 at Brewster, Ohio. (Ed Painter photo) |
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Former NKP S-4 67 was renumbered 2067 and was repainted into this N&W blue scheme in September 1966. It had been in blue paint for four years when this photograph was taken in September 1970 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Louis A. Marre collection) |
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S-4 2081 and 2079 behind it were part of Nickel Plate’s fourth order for S-4 switchers from Alco — an order for six units. S-4 2053 behind them is from the first order. They are parked at Brewster, Ohio, in July 1975. (Ed Painter photo) |
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Nickel Plate’s only S-1, 85, was a special-purpose purchase specifically for the Niagara Frontier Food Terminal in Buffalo, New York, which was jointly operated with the Erie, whose roundhouse was a very short distance from the terminal. The Niagara Frontier Food Terminal was on Erie property and the S-1 was Nickel Plate’s contribution to the partnership — it was likely serviced by both the Nickel Plate and the Erie. The low horsepower S-1 was all that was needed to pull and spot reefers. The unit was photographed at Brewster, Ohio, in December 1969 before being officially retired on April 5, 1970. (Dave Beach photo) |
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The Nickel Plate owned two SW1s (105–106), both of which served the N&W for many years. The 2105 served as the Roanoke shop switcher (mostly at Schaffer’s Crossing) even after it was officially retired. In this view in April 1981 it’s on the turntable in Roanoke doing its usual duties. (Dave Hyer photo) |
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The Nickel Plate bought eight SW8s from EMD (107–114), all of which received N&W paint. The rear handrail extensions seen in this view of the 2107 in November 1975 at Brewster, Ohio, were an added safety feature to prevent a crewman from flipping over the end handrails in the event of a hard coupling. (Ed Painter photo) |
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The Nickel Plate placed one order with Fairbanks-Morse for H-10-44 switchers (125–133). Three of these were never repainted (125, 130, and 131). The 2133 was photographed at Brewster, Ohio. All the H-10-44s were retired in 1967 and 1968 except 2133, which lasted until December 21, 1971. (Tom Chenoweth photo, N&WHS Archives collection) |
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The first of three orders Nickel Plate placed for H-12-44s from F-M included units 134–138. Though officially off the roster when retired on August 8, 1973, the 2138 was still parked in Brewster, Ohio, on November 22, 1973, when this photo was taken. (David Hamley photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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H-12-44 2139 was photographed in Gambrinus Yard in Canton, Ohio, in April 1974. It was originally part of Nickel Plate’s second order of H-12-44s, 139–145, built in March 1957. All survived to the early 1970s, and the 2139 was the last one of this order retired, on November 25, 1975. (Robert Farkas photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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H-12-44 2141 was working in Bellevue, Ohio, in this photo taken on December 18, 1970. Note the stacked “Norfolk and Western” lettering on the locomotive side — only H-12-44s 2140 and 2141 had this arrangement. Also note the Nickel Plate striping showing through on the pilot of this unit. (N&WHS Archives collection) |
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The final Nickel Plate order for H-12-44s from F-M included 10 units, 146–155, built in April and May 1958. In September 1971 the 2148 was in Norwood, Ohio. (David Nelson photo, Louis Marre collection) |
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The official N&W stenciling diagram for the H-12-44s. The 2140 and 2141 are the only ones that wore the stacked lettering shown in the upper right portion of this stenciling diagram. They also were the only ones to eventually receive N&W black paint. (N&WHS Archives collection) |
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The Nickel Plate only had three SW7s — 230–232. They all worked for the N&W and lasted to 1983 and 1984. They originally wore the standard blue scheme with yellow lettering, and later the black scheme with white lettering as seen in this photo of the 2230 at New Haven, Indiana, on September 27, 1981. (Ed Painter collection) |
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Nickel Plate’s first order for SW9s from EMD was for five units, 233–237, all delivered in February 1951. The first one to leave the N&W roster was the 2237, shown here on October 27, 1974, in Detroit, Michigan, wearing the standard black N&W scheme of the 1970s. (R.E. Minnis photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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N&W 2242, an SW9 from Nickel Plate’s second order (238–244) was in Chicago, Illinois, in May 1968 with transfer caboose 518747 in tow. The first SW9 of this order to leave the roster left on April 22, 1981 (2241). All were retired by April 22, 1985, when the 2240 left the roster. (Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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The Nickel Plate purchased two pairs of AS-16s from Baldwin. The first two were built in November 1953 (320–321) and the second pair in June and July 1954 (322– 323). In October 1959 all four were rebuilt, the first two by Alco and the second pair by EMD. The 2321 shows the Alco-Baldwin hybrid appearance in March 1967. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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The EMD’s version of the Baldwin AS-16 rebuilds is demonstrated by this view of the 2323 in a fresh coat of Blue Acrylic Enamel in March 1967. The Alcorepowered AS-16s were retired in 1972 and the EMD-repowered ones lasted several years longer, being retired in 1976 and 1977. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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The Alco-repowered AS-16s lasted long enough to receive black paint — the 7901 (former 2321) is seen here with yellow lettering and “NW” on its long hood on November 18, 1972, at Brewster, Ohio. (Ed Painter photo) |
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The EMD-repowered AS-16s also lasted long enough to receive N&W black paint. The 7903 (former 2323) was in blue paint in June 1974 but by the time this photograph was taken at Brewster, Ohio, in August 1974 it had received a fresh coat of black paint. (Ed Painter photo) |
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The Nickel Plate placed one order for RSD-12s. The nine units (325–333) were delivered between March and July 1957. Between December 1966 and April 1967 all were repainted blue and renumbered to 2325–2333. The 2329 was photographed in June 1970, shortly before being renumbered to 254. The RSD-12s wore blue in the 250–258 series, and then wore black in the same number series. (Larry White photo, Louis A. Marre collection) |
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The Nickel Plate ordered 20 SD9s (340-359) from EMD that were built in April and May 1957. One of the SD9s, 357, was wrecked on September 16, 1966, before it could be repainted. The remaining 19 all were renumbered by the N&W by adding 2000 to their Nickel Plate numbers. SD9 2358 was parked at Brewster, Ohio, in November 1973 coupled to SD9 2348. (Ed Painter photo) |
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The Nickel Plate placed three orders for GP7s from EMD. The first order was for 13 units, 400–412, built in January 1951. The 403 was renumbered 2403, and was repainted into N&W blue in January 1967. It worked for the N&W clear into the Norfolk Southern era, finally being retired on April 9, 1984. It was in Bellevue, Ohio, in July 1974 wearing its N&W blue paint. (Ed Painter photo) |
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Nickel Plate’s second order for GP7s was for 10 units, 413–422, built in January and February 1953. They were all repainted blue in 1965 and 1966 and all lasted to at least 1979. The 2415 was photographed at Brewster, Ohio, on April 8, 1975. (N&WHS Archives collection) |
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The final Nickel Plate order for GP7s was for 25 units, 423–447. They were delivered in July and August 1953 and all but one were repainted into N&W blue — the 424 was wrecked in August 1965 before it was painted. The 2445 was at Brewster, Ohio, on March 10, 1973. There were 12 of the ex-Nickel Plate GP7s that lasted to the Norfolk Southern merger but only wore N&W paint in the 1400 number series. They were retired before receiving NS paint. (Ed Painter photo) |
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By the mid-1950s the Nickel Plate was replacing steam en masse, and the first order of GP9s was for 29 units built in June and July 1955. They were numbered 448–476, but the first unit of the order was wrecked on December 6, 1956, and replaced by a second 448 built in June 1957. GP9 2468 was photographed in black in Brewster, Ohio, on August 19, 1973. (Ed Painter photo) |
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Ordered at the same time as the first 29 GP9s, the second order was for three GP9s, 477–479, with steam generators for passenger service. These carried consecutive builder’s numbers with the first order. The N&W used them in passenger service in the late 1960s, as seen here with 2477 on The Cannonball at Peru, Indiana, in March 1968, with a piggyback flat in front of the three-car passenger consist. (Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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Making sense of order numbers is often an exercise in futility, at least as far as trying to imagine what actually happened and why. After the first two orders for GP9s, the Nickel Plate placed three consecutive order numbers for more GP9s, all built in August 1956. The lowest numbered order number was for 24 freight GP9s (486–509), followed by an order for four GP9s with steam generators (480–483), followed by a final order for two more with steam generators (484–485). GP9 2482, from the lowest numbered group of units, leads a four-car passenger train at St. Louis, Missouri, in January 1968. This particular unit is a wreck replacement unit built in 1957. A wreck on December 6, 1956, destroyed GP9s 448, 482, 496, 497, and 503. All were replaced in kind by EMD in June 1957. (Warren Sunkel photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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GP9 2484 is one of two units from Order 5464 — an order for units with steam generators and Automatic Train Stop (ATS). ATS was in service between West Wayne and Pullman Junction in Chicago, where only ATS-equipped units could lead. ATSequipped units included NW2s 15 and 16, the Alco PAs (180–190) that didn’t survive to the merger, and all 800-series locomotives (GP9s 800–814, RS11s 850–864, and RS36s 865–875). The N&W got rid of ATS right after the last Nickel Plate-inherited passenger train was cut off in 1965. It was making a reverse move in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 4, 1967, wearing its N&W number and 11-month-old blue paint scheme. (Dick Kuelbs photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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GP9 2488 is a representative of the freight unit order delivered in August 1956, and rests in Brewster, Ohio, in January 1974. The 1956 orders brought the GP9 total on the Nickel Plate to 62 units numbered 448–509. Besides the five GP9s wrecked on December 6, 1956, at New Douglas, Illinois — the result of a head-on collision because one of the trains didn’t comply with a meet order — another GP9 was wrecked and not replaced by another GP9. The 507 was wrecked at Mt. Cory, Ohio, on September 10, 1963, along with RS-11 559. It was assigned an N&W number by mistake because by the time of the merger it was already on EMD’s books. (Ed Painter photo) |
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Wearing its late N&W-era black, GP9 2525 from the 20-unit order (NKP 510– 529) delivered in March 1958 rests in sunshine at Claycomo, Missouri, on the north side of Kansas City on April 18, 1976. The white line under the number on the cab side indicated that this unit had non-alignment draft gear, which led to several derailments. The white line was added to worn crews of this feature and included Nickel Plate’s GP7s, GP9s, and SD9s. This unit later wore black as an NS unit. (Dave Hyer photo) |
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The final order for GP9s was divided between number series — five units numbered NKP 530–534, and 15 units numbered NKP 800–814. The 800-series units were equipped with ATS while the 500-series units were not. Within a year of being repainted, GP9 2531 leads an 800-series GP9 and an ex-Wabash F-unit on an iron ore train at Decatur, Illinois, in June 1967. The train is bypassing the yard on the passenger main heading west. The ore is almost assuredly headed for Granite City Steel, an on-line customer for the Wabash and then N&W, and most likely originated on the C&NW in upper Michigan. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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The second part of the 20-unit order for GP9s built in January and February 1959 were numbered in the 800-series to distinguish the fact that they were equipped with ATS. The first part of the order included GP9s 530–534, and the second part included units 800–814. The 809 has just emerged from the paint shop and glistens in September 1966 at Decatur, Illinois. (N&WHS Archives collection) |
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In March 1954 Alco delivered 23 RS-3s to the Nickel Plate, 535–557. Four of them got retired in 1966 and 1967 by the N&W before being repainted into N&W blue. The 2547, shown in Bellevue, Ohio, in relatively new paint and lettering in its N&W number, shows what the rest of them looked like. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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Nickel Plate’s first batch of RS-11s. 558–562, went to the Norfolk, Franklin & Danville in 1966 and 1967 and none made it into N&W paint. The 559 had already been wrecked at Mt. Cory, Ohio, on September 10, 1963, and was traded in on C-420 578, following the Nickel Plate practice of trading in wrecks for in-kind replacements with the latest applicable model (the C-420 had replaced the RS-11 in Alco’s catalog by the wreck date). They became NF&D 201–204. The second Nickel Plate order for RS-11s consisted of five units, 563–567, built in March 1958. N&W 2567, renumbered from NKP 567, was photographed in one-month-old paint in September 1966. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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Nickel Plate’s third order for RS-11s was likely placed the same time as the second order, and added another five units, 568–572. By this October 1968 view of the 2571 and GP35 223 operating light, the Alco has been in N&W paint for nearly two years. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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Nickel Plate’s fourth order for RS11s fell out of numerical sequence because they were numbered in the 800-series to indicate they were equipped with ATS. The order was for 14 units, 850–863, and they were built in January and February 1959. All the units in this series worked for the N&W, numbered 2860–2863, and all but three survived to work for NS. Alco RS-11 2862 was in Melvindale, Michigan, in March 1968. Another unit in the same series and with a consecutive builder’s number was the 864, which carried a unique order number. (Harry Juday photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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The fourth and fifth orders for RS-11s have a different air filter and louver arrangement than previous orders, as seen here on the long hood of 2573 from the fourth order at Sloan, New York, on March 7, 1978. The two orders, for three (573– 575) and two (576–577) units, respectively, were all built in May 1960. They were retired between 1975 and 1978. (Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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Representative of the last order for two RS-11s delivered in May 1960, 2576 was in Bellevue, Ohio, on July 5, 1974. (Louis A. Marre photo) |
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The Nickel Plate’s only C-420 arrived on the roster as a wreck replacement for RS-11 559, which was wrecked in 1963 before the merger. It was built in June 1964 and wore Nickel Plate black and yellow until repainted in November 1966. In this view it’s in Conneaut, Ohio, in September 1968. It was retired on June 23, 1977, and was sold to Cycle Systems, a locomotive scrapper. Though it was the only low-nose C-420, the N&W did have eight high-hood C-420s it purchased in December 1964, numbered 413–420. (Louis A. Marre collection) |
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EMD delivered 10 GP18s to the Nickel Plate in June 1960, numbered 700–709. The ex-Nickel Plate units supplemented the N&W’s own roster of GP18s, which included 48 units built between December 1959 and August 1961 and numbered 915–962. In this overhead photograph the 2704 was at Bellevue, Ohio, in July 1974. (Ed Painter photo) |
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The Nickel Plate placed two orders for Alco RS-36s: one for four units, 865–868; and one for seven units, 869–875. One of the first four, 2868, wears black paint (it originally was repainted in blue) and its N&W number in this view at Norfolk, Virginia, in September 1977. (Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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Nickel Plate’s second order for RS-36s included seven units, five of which were low-nose units (869–873) and two of which were high-hood units with steam generators for passenger service (874–875). The builders dates for these units are not in sequence with the road numbers —the 2873 carries a build date of July 1962. Regardless, the seven units in this order were built between April and August 1962. It leads a pair of Pennsylvania Railroad RS-3s in December 1967 while on a short-term lease to the PRR that lasted from October 31 to December 31, 1967. (Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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Representing the high-hood RS-36s in Nickel Plate’s second order is the 2875, coupled to rebuilt AS-16 7902 in Bellevue, Ohio, on August 15, 1972. (Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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The final regular order for locomotives placed by the Nickel Plate was for 10 GP30s from EMD, numbered 900–909. The Nickel Plate roster was predominantly Alco and EMD, and even in later years the Nickel Plate bought locomotives from both builders. They sampled Baldwin and Lima, but almost completely left GE out — the exception being a single 44-Ton locomotive built in October 1949 (NKP 90). One wonders if Alco Centuries would have been the next thing ordered if the merger had been delayed longer. Regardless, in this photograph GP30 2905 is coupled to an original N&W GP30 in about 1966. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
| The N&W and the FP&E - Scott Nixon |
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The FP&E system map used in the ICC case when the N&W and NYC were fighting for control of the company. (National Archives collection) |
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FP&E S-2 106 was photographed at Fairport, Ohio, on May 3, 1978. The Nickel Plate received a two-unit order of S-2s, 44 and 45, built in June 1950. Both of these spent a short time in N&W paint as 2044 and 2045 — they were repainted in October and November 1966, respectively, and were retired on January 17, 1968. The 2044 was sold to the FP&E in February 1968 and renumbered 106. The FP&E’s diesel roster was comprised of six Alco S-2s (101–104 and 106–107) and two S-4s (105 and 108). Units 101–105 were bought new, but 106, 107, and 108 were all former Nickel Plate units. Their presence on the FP&E roster can be attributed to the fact that the N&W and Penn Central jointly took control of the FP&E in 1968. It continued to operate as the FP&E until merged into the N&W in 1984. Today the former FP&E is part of Norfolk Southern’s Pittsburgh Division and is known as the Fairport Industrial Track. (John Benson photo, N&WHS Archives collection) |
| The Last Locomotive Purchased by the Nickel Plate - Kevin EuDaly |
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The 2910 has received its N&W number and small “Norfolk and Western” lettering on its short hood in this undated view, N&W’s standard approach post-merger. (Jim Boyd photo, Kevin EuDaly collection) |
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The Nickel Plate’s final locomotive has been fully transformed into an N&W machine, wearing the paint scheme of its new owner in this undated image at Bellevue, Ohio. (N&WHS Archives collection) |
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