FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - A restored steam engine that once carried food from Ohio to Chicago will be back on the tracks this summer, making a round-trip run from Detroit to Fort Wayne that’s open to the public.
The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society and Norfolk Southern Corp. plan to run the Nickel Plate No. 765 during the opening weekend of the Three Rivers Festival on July 12-13, The News-Sentinel reported (https://bit.ly/1icnzzb ) Saturday. Tickets for the trip go on sale Wednesday.
It will be the engine’s only announced excursion open to the public this summer, said Kelly Lynch, rail society communications director. But Lynch said people will have plenty of chances to see the engine roll through northeast Indiana during “employee appreciation specials” for Norfolk Southern employees.
The locomotive will be making runs between Elkhart and Bryan, Ohio, on May 3-4 and Argos and Calumet, Ill., a week later.
In return for pulling employees on the 21st Century Steam excursion outings, the Fort Wayne rail society gets to use Norfolk Southern tracks for a few of its own excursion trips, Lynch said.
The 765 was built in 1944 and was considered a super-locomotive because it reached speeds of about 70 mph. The rail society was incorporated in 1972 to care for and restore the locomotive.
Rail society members hope to know by July if they can offer a round-trip excursion this fall departing from Fort Wayne, Lynch said. Tickets for last October’s two round-trip excursions to Lafayette sold out in two hours.
Lynch said the two Detroit excursion runs, which could include 20 passenger cars each, will bring a total of about 3,000 people to downtown Fort Wayne.
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Information from: The News-Sentinel, https://www.news-sentinel.com/ns
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