Nick Ozark and The Roundhouse podcast joined us at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in September. Read More
Following the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s busiest Open House in history, The Journal Gazette published a powerful endorsement of Headwaters Junction:
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Headwaters Junction offers downtown identity
Plenty of good ideas have surfaced as residents have brainstormed over Legacy Fund spending or offered suggestions for Regional Cities projects. But many of the ideas borrow from other communities – a water park or a San Antonio-style river walk, for example. But something unique – something intriguing – was missing.
Until now. The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s proposal for a new riverfront destination, Headwaters Junction, might be just the project to ramp up strong revitalization efforts already in the works and also become the kind of attraction visitors will point to with envy when they return to their own communities.
The railroad enthusiasts released concept drawings by Design Collaborative last week. They show a vintage-style roundhouse between Harrison and Wells streets, just north of the proposed riverfront park on the north side of the St. Marys River. A rail yard park and train turntable would service an excursion railroad line to the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo. The roundhouse also would feature a 1940s-inspired restaurant and observation deck overlooking the rail yard and downtown Fort Wayne.
The historical society has programming ideas: regular excursions (Think “Thomas the Tank Engine”), holiday events (Think “Polar Express”), railroad camp, interactive displays, revolving exhibits and more.
A preliminary study suggests Headwaters Junction could draw more than 120,000 visitors each year. Imagine the potential of marketing the city for conferences and regional travel if Visit Fort Wayne had a one-of-a-kind attraction to promote, particularly one linking downtown to the zoo – Fort Wayne’s primary visitor draw.
Bold ideas often come with big price tags, of course. The project cost is estimated at as much as $18 million – a daunting fundraising task for a nonprofit organization and one that must be considered in the context of other efforts already under way.
But Headwaters Junction can make a strong case for support. The Railroad Historical Society’s excursions on historic steam locomotive 765 sell out quickly, and the very sight and sound of the locomotive draws crowds from afar. Trains have broad appeal.
In Headwaters Junction, northeast Indiana might finally have an attraction as iconic as San Antonio’s River Walk and as family friendly as a water park. Best of all, it could have an attraction unique to the region and true to northeast Indiana’s rich history.
Over 3,000 visitors took part in the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s Annual Open House on August 19th, 20th and 21st, shattering attendance records for the event.
The railroad society was featured less than eight local articles in local television and newspapers and over 250 members visited the society for its first annual Members Day activities on August 20th.
Members were able to take part in cab rides, a group photo, dinner and exclusive night photos session.
The organization also unveiled new renderings for its Headwaters Junction project and announced a ceremonious renumbering of steam locomotive no. 765 to “767,” after the engine that opened the downtown railroad overpass in 1955. Following the Open House, The Journal Gazette penned a powerful endorsement of Headwaters Junction, saying it offered “downtown identity” and called it “iconic, family friendly.”
Greater Fort Wayne’s Executive Vice President John Urbahns rechristened the engine during Friday’s press conference.
The engine will operate as “767” at the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in September. At times, the crowds were more than the society’s facility could handle, with traffic backed up to Ryan Road and visitors parked along Edgerton Road once the society’s parking capacity was filled. In response to the wait times for caboose rides, the organization will transition to pre-sales for future Open House rides as they have with their popular Santa Train events, which are held in December.
“We are grateful and overwhelmed by the attendance this weekend. Events like this make it impossible to understate the popularity of railroading and railroad preservation, ” said Kelly Lynch, Vice President of the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society.
For press coverage, visit the links below:
WANE 15: Historic Trains Opened to the Public
FOX 55: Train Enthusiasts Gather in New Haven
Though the 765 is the only surviving Nickel Plate steam locomotive operating today, she was once accompanied by 79 sister engines charged with moving fast freight and passenger trains between Chicago, Fort Wayne and Buffalo, New York.
On July 15th, 1951 fate would intervene on the 767’s behalf for the first of three times. That evening, the locomotive was pulling Nickel Plate Train no. 51 – a freight train nicknamed the Flying Saucer due to its timetable speed – and was headed westbound into Fort Wayne.
At the railroad’s new terminal in New Haven, the Nickel Plate crossed the Wabash Railroad’s competing line to St. Louis. At 10:22pm, Wabash passenger train no. 13 entered the crossing at a crawl, having mistaken the Nickel Plate’s green signal for their own!
As the 767’s headlight revealed the passenger train ahead, its engineer put the 60MPH train into emergency, immediately setting the brakes. Within seconds, the 767 tore into the passenger train, shredding the Wabash buffet car in half and derailing both trains.
Three passengers perished in the wreck, one later on. Two were Wabash Railroad employees.
Unfortunately, four passengers aboard the passenger train were killed and thirteen others were hurt. The 767’s front-end and left side where it came to rest were demolished. The locomotive required extensive repair – and its crew managed to escape, though not without serious injuries.
767 has been pulled away from the interior of the Wabash passenger train, its front end completely destroyed. Herb Harnish, Photo Art Schull Collection.
The 767 was returned to service after rebuilding and in 1955, found itself in the newspapers once again. On October 4th of that year, the locomotive was used in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of a decades-long effort to elevate the Nickel Plate Road through downtown Fort Wayne. The project, which removed a dozen grade crossings and unsnarled street traffic, lead to an explosion of development north of the St. Marys River. Despite the 767’s historic presence at the celebration, it was rumored to have developed an unusual “gait” after the 1951 wreck.
In July, 1958, the 767 and the railroad’s other steam locomotives were stored serviceable – waiting for another call to service that would never come. As the City of Fort Wayne continued to expand, fate and the 767 would intertwine a final time.
Recognizing the impact that the elevation project had, the City requested that the Nickel Plate donate the engine used in the opening ceremony for display. As railroads across the country retired their steam locomotives, it became somewhat of a ritual to place retired engines in city parks or museums.
The Nickel Plate, however, had a problem: the 767 had been stored outside, vandalized, and was generally not in good condition. The employees formulated a plan.
Only one steam locomotive in Fort Wayne had managed to elude outdoor storage for most of its retirement: no. 765. An engine favored by crews between Fort Wayne and Chicago, it had been kept in good condition and was mechanically complete. The order came to discretely renumber the 765 as the 767. The effort was meticulous enough that the real 767 was also renumbered in order to complete the swap. As far as the Nickel Plate was concerned, they were giving the city their 767.
Disguised as the 767, the 765 has been renumbered and a ceremony celebrating its installation in the park is being held on May 4th, 1963. That’s the North Side High school band playing at left.
As the 765-as-767 was installed in Lawton Park on May 4th, 1963 the original 767 was hauled to Chicago for scrapping, meeting its end sometime in 1964. Only ten years later, the locomotive would be removed from the park for restoration and operation – and its original number was returned since it had never operated as the 767.
Since 1979, the 765 has been occasionally cosmetically altered to resemble similar locomotives from other railroads, but 2016 marks the first time since its first restoration that it’s worn its “lucky number.”
The 765 renumbered as 767 – once again!
They don’t make steam locomotives – or plaques – like this anymore.
For a brief time, the 767 has returned to honor the engine’s special history and the unique legacy of a city with enough foresight to have saved it for generations to come.
The 765 will remain renumbered as 767 until the end of 2016. Other cosmetic changes, such as the Mars Light, will remain.
NEW HAVEN, INDIANA – The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society (FWRHS) made several important announcements today, revealing a major cosmetic change to historic steam locomotive no. 765 and releasing new renderings and information on its riverfront attraction project, Headwaters Junction.
“The 765 was preserved by the City of Fort Wayne to recognize how a successful railroad elevation project in the 1950s inspired a half-century’s worth of progress. Today the engine has become an international attraction and can be the centerpiece in a new era of development,” explained Kelly Lynch, Vice President.
With its planned annual programming and events and the popularity of railroad attractions like no. 765, the project was endorsed by Legacy Fort Wayne in 2012 and recommended by SWA Group as a catalyst for the riverfront development in 2014.
Local developer Don Steininger and the railroad society have created an advisory board of community leaders and a separate non-profit organization to pursue the project. Earlier in 2016, a preliminary study demonstrated that as a stand-alone attraction, it could easily draw 120,000 additional visitors to downtown.
“Our board is excited at the possibilities that Headwaters Junction represents for future riverfront development. We are aggressively pursuing ways to make this a reality, ” said Steininger.
Newly released renderings by Design Collaborative illustrate a mixed-use interpretive facility with event space, a 1940s-inspired restaurant, Cass Street station, rail yard park, turntable and a tourist railroad line connecting the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo to downtown. The roundhouse would be located between Harrison and Wells Street.
Planned events and programming at Headwaters Junction include regular and special holiday tourist train rides, a Rail Camp for children and young adults combined with other educational programming, visits from Thomas the Tank Engine and the Polar Express, interactive displays, exhibits and visiting historic equipment and much more throughout the year.
“Right now we’ll 4,500 people in sixteen hours during our events in December, to say nothing of the thousands more that the 765 draws when it operates. We could multiply our attendance numbers by being able to host regular events, train rides and programs right along the heart of downtown,” said Lynch.
The project has been organized into three phases:
• construct a 15-24-inch gauge railroad to the zoo ($3-5 million)
• acquire land and right-of-way, construct railroad, install turntable ($3-4 million)
• construct roundhouse and interpretive facility ($8-9 million)
Headwaters Junction’s advisory board is currently preparing grant requests and additional study work for this fall. Plans, rendering and additional information can be accessed online at headwatersjunction.com.
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On Friday, the railroad historical society also announced a major cosmetic change to the 765. In a move to honor its unique history and the reason for its preservation, the 1944-built locomotive will be temporarily renumbered “767” – the same number it wore while on display in Lawton Park from 1963 to 1974. “767” was chosen to reflect the locomotive originally used to open the railroad elevation at the conclusion of the Elevate the Nickel Plate Campaign. Prior to donation, the Nickel Plate Road discretely changed the number on the engine because the original 767 had fallen into significant disrepair.
The renumbering, which is planned to remain for the rest of 2016, compliments other alterations made to reflect the locomotive’s appearance before it was retired in 1958. Most noticeable is the addition of an extra headlight known as a Mars Light. Developed by the Mars Signal Light Company, the Nickel Plate Road added these to many locomotive in 1951 as a way to warn motorists and pedestrians of the oncoming train.
In 2013, the FWRHS was aided by a former Nickel Plate electrician from Frankfort, Indiana to repair the Mars Light, which had been removed in 1975 and used only sparingly since. Many railroad fans and historians recall the distinctive look of the Mars Light and have requested its reappearance for years.
For more information on the 767, we’ve posted the engine’s colorful history here.
The 765/767 will operate passenger excursion trains through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in September. In December, the railroad historical society will host its annual Santa Train events. Ticket sales begin in November.
For more more information, visit fortwaynerailroad.org. You can volunteer or become a member here or donate to support the organization here.