Years of Progress, Miles of Celebration
Updated 8/20/12 – New dates for St. Louis deadhead
Updated! Track the 765 on its routes here!
On July 20th, steam locomotive no. 765 embarks on one of its busiest excursion season in recent history. July through September will see the 765 operating special passenger trains for Norfolk Southern’s 30th anniversary, hosting employees and their families across the northern routes of its system.
On each route, plans call for the 765 to carry a heritage whistle from the New York Central, Pennsylvania Railroad, Norfolk & Western, and Wabash Railroads with each whistle representing the route or territory that became part of Norfolk Southern’s system. Additionally, the railroad’s Nickel Plate Road Heritage locomotive no. 8100, will accompany the 765 for most of the season, while Wabash Heritage locomotive no. 1070 will travel with the 765 to St. Louis.
We’ll be releasing more news and special items to celebrate our 40th anniversary starting with the 765′s complete 2012 schedule. Discover the 765 trackside in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Missouri, and Illinois throughout the summer on the following dates below.
Please note that we cannot provide routing or times for deadhead moves as these are not scheduled and may change at any time.
July 20 – Fort Wayne, IN – Bellevue, OH (deadhead)
July 21 – Bellevue – Bucyrus, Ohio (3 trips)
July 22 – Bellevue – Bucyrus, Ohio (2 trips)
July 23 – Bellevue – Toledo (deadhead)
July 28 – Homestead Yard – Maumee (2 trips)
July 29 – Homestead Yard – Maumee (2 trips)
July 30 – Toledo – Portsmouth, Ohio (deadhead)
July 31 – Portsmouth, Ohio – Williamson, West Virginia (deadhead)
August 4th – Williamson, WV – Ought One (am) Naugatuck (pm) (3 trips)
August 5th – Williamson, WV – Ought One (am) Naugatuck (pm) (2 trips)
August 6th – Williamson – Columbus, Ohio (deadhead)
August 7th – Columbus, OH – Pittsburgh, PA (deadhead)
August 11th – Conway Yard – OC Bridge (2 trips)
August 12th – Conway Bridge – Homewood Junction (2 trips)
August 13th – Conway – Harrisburg (deadhead)
August 18th – Enola – CP Capitol (3 trips)
August 19th – Enola – CP Capitol (2 trips)
August 20th – Harrisburg, PA – Pittsburgh (deadhead)
August 21st – Pittsburgh, PA – Bellevue, OH (deadhead)
August 22nd – Bellevue – Fort Wayne, IN (deadhead)
September 5th – Fort Wayne, IN – Decatur, IL (deadhead)
September 6th – Decatur, IL – St. Louis (deadhead)
September 8th – Berkley, MO – St. Peters, MO (2 trips)
September 9th – Berkley, MO – St. Peters, MO (2 trips)
September 10th – St. Louis – Decatur, IL (deadhead)
September 11th – Decatur, Fort Wayne (deadhead)
September 29th, 30th – Open House, New Haven, IN
Help support railroad preservation by using this information safely and responsibly. Schedule is subject to change without notice.
Return on July 9th, 10th, 13th and 16th for more exciting news from the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society and the 765.
This is so awesome! What more can you say. I hope the weather cools a bit!
Will the general public be able to buy tickets for the st. Louis trips
Tim, these are employee appreciation specials for employees only. We are providing this information and will be releasing more in the next two weeks for the public to catch the 765 anywhere they’d like this year. It’s possible we’ll be able to operate some 21st Century Steam trips in 2013 and beyond.
What happened to going to Elkhart?
Elkhart and much of the Water Level Route may be on the table for next year. Originally much of the runs were planned for Indiana and the immediate midwest before it was decided to expand them to other parts of the system.
2 things.
1. What is a deadhead?
2. Will the NKP heritage unit still be on the deadheads?
A deadhead is a non-revenue move to position the train at the next location. The NKP heritage unit will be with the train at all times.
Wasnt part of the trip originally scheduled to go through northern indiana? My parents live in Valparaiso and I had told them about the 765 schedule but now it looks like it is further south.
Originally that was the plan but the logistics for Indiana and the Water Level Route at this time are too demanding. We expect the 21st Century Steam program to expand to Indiana in the near future.
It would be lovely for 765 to return to Chicago, as she did in early 80′s(I think) with the trips to Janesville. I know the roads have changed,so perhaps something with NS could be worked out for her to return.
What can be done to get the 765 to the east end of the former NKP (Buffalo)?
Steve – Norfolk Southern plans to expand their 21st Century Steam program to other parts of the railroad through 2015, so steam will likely reach New York state between now and then.
Hope to catch a photo on Horseshoe Curve on the deadhead leg from Conway to Harrisburg. Will it be under steam on deadheads? or will the Heritage Unit be the power? Thanks
The 765 will be the sole, leading power on each deadhead moves.
What day will the 765 go over Horseshoe Curve? (Please pardon the dumb question, but I am in California, and don’t know the area at all.) Hope all goes well for the 765 and all of you! Those look like wonderful trips!
The 765 will travel over Horseshoe Curve on August 13th (eastbound) and August 20th (westbound.)
When your talking about the Water Level Route do you the old NYC ?
Russ – Yes, chiefly between Toledo-Butler-Elkhart-Chicago.
Kudos to the FWRHS and NS for making this possible! Larry Randolph, Paul Bennett, Glen Brendal the Claytor Brothers and others will be watching down on you. Make them Proud!!!
Are the times aloud to be announced for when 765 is running around Toledo?
David – The best we can do now is how many trips per day.
The weekend of July 7-8 there are deadhead trips Roanoke-Bristol-Knoxville, and some tickets have been sold to the public. Any possibility of public tickets being available for any of the deadhead moves? Thanks
Mike – Not this year, as the deadheads are not running on a schedule.
Thanks Lynch for your replies. I understand you guies cant meet all the demands but what your are doing is a blessing. you guies make A
merica happy. I hope for smooth running this season so we can have more in the future. You guies do great work and should be proud of e
very blow of the whistle..
Wow. On Sept. 7-10, 765 will be running not 10 minutes from where I live! I’ll definitely make plans to go see it then!
Thanks for all the advance info this year, Kelly. It’s nice to know that 765 will be leading this year. Question is, will she be limited to 40 mph? I really hope 765 can make it to Buffalo in the next few years. I know a nice MoW siding here in Willoughby that might – repeat, might – be adequate for an overnight tie-down
Hope to see you in Bellevue on the 20th. – Jerry
Will the765 be going through Muncie, IN at any time this summer????
The Sept 6th deadhead from Ft Wayne to Decatur, IL will it go through Lafayette, IN??
Jim, yes we will be.
Curious if you will be passing through Latrobe on the trip between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg?
Kerry – it’s possible but ultimately up to the railroad to determine routing on the day.
Great news. Will 765 be going through Defiance OH on it’s way to Bellevue? Will there be info released that says exactly what tracks the train will be passing on and at what time??
Bud – Defiance is not on the old Nickel Plate. Our route is via Payne and Fostoria. There is no set schedule for the deadhead moves.
Where is Homestead Yard—Airline Junction?
ETO Arrival into Bellevue, OH on July 21?? Homewood Junction is where?
ET Depature from FWayne on July 20?
Ed, we don’t have scheduled departure or arrival times for deadhead moves. Homestead and Airline are in Toledo, Ohio:
If EVER there was an opening for “civilians” to catch a ride behind the 765, I would love to. My father was an engineer on the NKP and I remember when the railroad purchased those bit 700′s soon after WW2 and he engineered between Bellevue and Ft. Wayne on them..
Joanne Starr
I am from southwestern Ohio around the Washington Court House area that is home to Chesapeake & Ohio 2776. Fellow 2-8-4 Nickel Plate765 is my favorite locomotive active today. Glad to know that 765 will be back on the high iron and pulling these excursions on former Nickel Plate mainline. Hopefully NS can expand this program to include other locomotives and fan trips so that railfans can enjoy these trips as much as it’s employees. Just another dedicated railfan.
I want to say that its truly awesome that the 765 will be out on the NS mainline. I am so excited and cant wait to see it come to Harrisburg, PA. And kudos for NS providing this excursion for there employees! My only hope is that one day NS could provide the public with the same time of excursions. How spectacular that would be to ride the mainline behind a steam engine like the good old days!!! Be seeing you in, Harrisburg. PA!!!!
Good Luck on the trips guys. Kelly hope to see you in St. Louis in September and
hopefully you guys can lead the 21st Century program to KC in the next few years.
As a non-NS employee, I sure do miss the steam program that was open to the public years ago. I agree with what some other posters have said: We’re keeping our fingers crossed that this program might expand and once again offer trips to the general public. It’s a great public relations tool. If nothing else, if the public could ride just the deadhead (positioning) moves alone, it would come close to reviving what we remember about the NS steam program of years past. And kudos to NS management for that very successful public relations tool of painting those new locomotives in those heritage paint schemes! Good job, NS!
What happened to 765 running the dearborn line in michigan. ?
Jerry, there was never any announcement about the 765 running in Michigan, only on a portion of the Dearborn Division near Toledo.
Any chance of seeing the 765 run through NJ by 2015?? Particularly on the NS Lehigh Line between Croxton yard/ Newark, NJ and Allentown??
Thanks to NS for bringing this program back!!
Some one said it was coming to Mi. But i can i can go Toledo.
Does anybody know where CP Capitol is? Is that the Harrisburg train station?
Is there a map of the rail road track path the train will be taking to all of these destinations? I’d love to photograph it, but not certain if I’d setup at a track if it’d cross paths their. Also, with the time of day and lighting that could be for best angles.
We’d recommend the Norfolk Southern system map, specifically the line between Bellevue and Bucyrus, Ohio: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nscorp.com%2Fnscportal%2Fnscorp%2Fpdf%2Fsystemmap2008.pdf&ei=LPUGUMVcrbjZBZHypcIF&usg=AFQjCNEwz0ub5m6U9DXOOKMYUep-jhS8FA
On the Bellevue-Bucyrus trips on July 21-22, any basic schedule as to departure/arrival times? Thank you for your time and patience!
Mike – 9AM, 12PM, and 3PM Saturday. 9AM and 12 on Sunday.
Do they have a certain set time in the morning for when the trips will start?
Brad – 9AM.
What is the ETO Arrival at Bucyrus on the 21st?
Any idea what time the 765 will attemt to depart Ft. Wayne on July 20? I’ll have to drive a ways to see it pass by. Totally worth it : )
Likely not before 10AM.
How do you find pricing and buy tickets? I have looked all over….
Leigh – these are excursions for employees of the railroad only as specified above, though we are taking opportunities to invite the public trackside to see the engine and train with the posted schedule and our GPS tracker.
Will i be able to take my grandson to the TOLEDO YARD FOR PICTRUES
Bill, your best bet is to catch us trackside outside the yard.
Your schedule shows the cities, but how about publishing the route map so we can see extactly what RR you will be on?
Phil, we don’t know the routing for certain and because it could change on a day to day or even hour to hour basis, it isn’t possible for us to keep updating the routing while we’re on the road. Your best bet is to look at a Norfolk Southern route map between the cities, as our graphic on the homepage does.
The GPS tracker at http://www.fwrhs.org/locate.html hopefully helps in this.
Hi Kelly,
When do you folks plan to run more excursions up the Cuyahoga Valley Line again, between Cleveland and Akron or Canton, Ohio?
Hey Mike, CVSR is likely to host another steam locomotive in the near future. We’ll come when we’re invited and not so busy! Thanks.
Kelly, Thanks so much for keeping up with the comments, the information here is quite useful. I noticed you stated that the routing may change from day to day etc but do you know which river bridge you will be using over the Maumee on the Airline-Homestead legs? I’m going to try and see the train thundering over the river.
For what it’s worth I stumbled across this map here http://www.railfanguides.us/oh/toledo/toledoyards99.pdf and by looking at it i’m assuming the route for NS (green on that map) must go over the maumee at the further south rail bridge but wanted to know if you could confirm this or not.
Thanks!
Will there be a caboose? Cabooses need to make a come back!
Just wanted to say thanks for giving us all the info on finding 765 along the way. I plan to see the 765 a lot this weekend!
My husband, Neil, used to work on the Nickel Plate RR – he absolutely loved it – would LOVE to take an excursion on it again – hope we can
I see some excursions will run thru IL & MO (St Louis area). You stated these
are for employee’s only. Is it possible for a retired NS employee to ride??
Thank You!
The map looks pretty good, but i was wondering what some of the cities are that the Wabash route passes through, so i can try real hard to be present for some photo ops when y’all head from Ft.Wayne to Decatur? Thank you Kelly.
is there a list of projected routes or route map available for printing off?
Has a defined schedule for the Aug 4/5 trips out of Williamson, WV been created yet? I’m looking to see what time the first run is expected to leave Williamson to head east to Ought-One on Sat. am.
Regards,
Russ Goodwin
Russ, they are always subject to change but trips so far are running between 9AM and 11AM in the mornings and 12 and 2PM in the afternoon.
sure wish it would come to the Chicago area
Roger, Us too! Almost made it last year.
Will 765 be departing from Homestead Yard or Airline Yard for the deadhead move to Portsmouth on July 30th?
Bob P. – Homestead Yard.
Kelly, what are the chances that the return route from Decatur to Ft Wayne (Sept. 11) will be the same as the Sept. 6, departing route? And thanks for keeping us informed!
Mark, it will very likely be same route along the old Wabash. Anything else would be well out of the way.
Hi! What times will 765 be departing on the Harrisburg Trips?
Homestead and Airline are in Toledo, Ohio…Where in Toledo are these yards? My son would love to see a real steamy going chuff!!!!
Sandy, we’ll actually be traveling between Homestead and Maumee. Check the GPS locater under Track 765: http://fortwaynerailroad.org/track-the-765-online/
Glad to see that the train is up and running, really disappointed to see that it’s not a public event. Next time, please make that very clear on your website.
AW, thank you and we look forward to operating public trips again in the very near future, but we think of our operation of the 765 in general to be a very significant public event, hence the publishing of the schedule and GPS tracker so that anyone and everyone can choose to see the train where they want to.
The purpose of this comment is to ask if there would ever be a possibility that you would consider opening up the train rides to non-employees for a fee? I have several train enthusiasts in my family that would love the opportunity to ride this beautiful historic train.
Debbie
Debbie, we offer public trips every year except this one as these excursions are keeping us very busy. Please feel free to subscribe to our newsletter above.
Thanks Kelly! It’s been 2 years since my adult son and I chased it ( at Cuyahoga), so looks like another adventure is around the corner
Kelly do you know the schedule times for the Conway trips? Thanks in advance.
Not at this time, because they are subject to change and have with nearly every trip. Likely a mid morning and midafternoon.
Had a wonderful time watching it thunder through Massillon, Ohio this afternoon. What a great piece of history. Keep up the good work. Hope to see it again soon in our area. Are there any plans for it to pass through Alliance this year?
Saw the 765 coming into Conway yard this evening with my two rail canner boys. They were so excited to spot the smoke trail before we even spotted the train! Love the gps tracker. Watched it throughout the day! Going to have a full day of rail fanning on Sunday.
Hi Kelly: We are hoping to see 765 on Monday Aug 13 on her ferry run to Harrisburg. Our hopes are that she will be passing through Lewistown, PA and the preserved PRR station there on Monday. We know that plans for a move like this are always subject to change, but are you able to say whether or not the PLAN for Monday is to go all the way to Enola? Or is there an overnight stop planned for Monday night somewhere east of Pittsburgh but west of Lewistown? We are coming from eastern PA and can only get away on Monday….if we need to go farther west (say, to Altoona/Curve/Gallitzen/Cresson) we can do that, just trying to understand the planned logistics of Monday’s move. Any clarification of Monday’s plans would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks to all who are involved in making this tremendous event happen!
George, Monday will be a reverse of last week with a stop at Altoona with the exception being a stop at Cresson to change crews, and and we’ll be headed all the way to Conway. Estimated departure from Enola is 6AM.
Just saw the 765 out of Conway rail yard. What a sight to share with my dad. My nephews would have loved to have seen the steam locomotive. Looking to share more of these historic sights and treasures with others.
Hi, could you tell me what line 765 will take thought Cleveland?
That is my video you used as a example of what you want to see, thank you very much
David, we won’t be through Cleveland this year. Next Tuesday we’ll be running from Conway, PA to Bellevue, OH via Bucyrus on the old Fort Wayne line. Thanks!
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO PITTSBURGH FROM HARRISBURG? I WORK RIGHT ALONG THE MAINLINE IN SWISSVALE AND AM HOPING TO CATCH IT AS IT PASSES BY NEXT MONDAY. I JUST MISSED IT THIS PAST MONDAY WHEN IT WAS ON ITS WAY TO HARRISBURG!
Glenn, about six hours, give or take. Watch the engine on our GPS tracker for a better indication on Monday.
Will the public be able to view close up 765 while parked at Enola?
David, only during the trips this weekend.
What route can we expect when you do the August 21st – Pittsburgh, PA – Bellevue, OH deadhead move? I live in the Cleveland area and was wondering if you would be passing through Berea, OH during this deadhead move.
oops. sorry, I see that was answered in the comment/question right abouve mine.
I see on the schedule that 765 is supposed to be in the Pittsburgh region on Monday, Aug. 20. But a local story said it would be head to the Conway yard on Saturday, Aug. 18. Can you say at this point which timeframe is correct?
Sean, we are in Harrisburg this weekend, and will return to Pittsburgh/Conway Yards Monday.
what time are you guys leaving conway on tuesday?
Anthony, see our most recent news post…
Approximately what time on Monday, August 20th should we expect the train to be in Pittsburgh? Will it travel on the three sets of tracks on the North Shore of the river? (Same side as the Emsworth Dam and the Conway yards?
Jill, the route is located under Locate 765: http://www.fortwaynerailroad.org/locate.html – We don’t have any estimates for times, only the GPS.
Kelly, i checked the news section of the website.
It doesnt say anything about a departure time tommorow.
Im in the alliance area so i would like to know how much time i have.
Kelly,
I had heard that the route on August 21st would not go north to Cleveland because of congestion, but instead take the west route through Canon/Massillon. The route on the Insta-Mapper shows the Cleveland route. Can you confirm the route? Hope to see it again tomorrow.
Ted
Ted, yeah, we’re working on updating the route map. True routing is Alliance-Mansfield-Bucyrus-Bellevue.
I saw it going through Pittsburgh the other day. Love to see it again. Amazing, beautiful machine.
We need to use more coal / steam and less Diesel fuel. Save the Diesel for my old Mercedes
Thanks to all of you for bringing the 765 out this way with NS! I got to ride behind the N&W J-Class 611 many, many years ago between Decatur and St. Louis. I’m looking forward to seeing the 765 out on the same rails soon. And thanks to TRAINS magazine for running the article highlighting this. Without it, I wouldn’t have known and missed a great opportunity.
I was just wondering where the train will be in St Peters? Haven’t lived out in the area long & am not aware of any stations in St Peters. Do you know about what times it will be running from St Peters to Berkley?
Our route map has the locations: 765.org/locate.html – trips are at 9AM and 12PM both days.
Where will the 765 layover in Decatur IL on 9/10?
At the Norfolk Southern yard.