Following weeks of preparation and permit approvals, historic steam locomotive Nickel Plate Road no. 624 was successfully relocated from Hammond, Indiana between late September and October.
The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society reached an agreement with the City of Hammond to remove and rehabilitate the locomotive in late 2016. Click here for the press release.
No. 624’s boiler and frame were separated and shipped by truck, with the tender and Milwaukee Road refrigerated car shipped in a similar manner.
The Gramling Locomotive Works in Ashley, Indiana accepted the city’s South Shore caboose and the Milwaukee Road refrigerated car will remain with the 624 as storage for parts and tools. As part of the Society’s agreement with the City of Hammond, the remainder of the site was cleaned up and graded.
The FWRHS will be performing a mechanical evaluation of 624 in the Spring 2018. Plans call for the locomotive to eventually be housed at Headwaters Junction.
For more details, click here to check out WPTA 21’s story.
