Nickel Plate Road No. 624

The Nickel Plate Road No. 624 is a class H-6d 2-8-2 Mikado type steam locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works in November 1922. It is one of three surviving NKP Mikado type locomotives and was recently acquired by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society who plans on restoring it cosmetically and evaluating it for a full restoration.
==History ==
No. 624 was built for freight service on the NKP's former Lake Erie & Western route between Frankfort, IN, and Peoria, IL, but also often worked on the NKP's mainline between Chicago and Bellevue, OH. It was retired in 1955 and donated to the City of Hammond, IN later that year. It was placed on display near the Hammond Civic Center later that year. In 1976, a Milwaukee Road refrigerator car, a South Shore Line caboose, and a watchman's shanty were added to the display.
Over the years, vandals and the elements started to do serious damage to the display. Several attempts were made to repair and protect it but nobody could keep up with the constant vandalism. In 2007, the Northwest Indiana Railroad Preservation Society was formed to repair and maintain the Hammond display along with other projects around the area. However, after a failed attempt to save a local interlocking tower from demolition, the group disbanded and No. 624 continued to deteriorate.
In 2017, the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society, owners of the world famous NKP 2-8-4 Berkshire type No. 765, announced that they had acquired No. 624 from the City of Hammond and were going to move it to their facility in Fort Wayne for a complete cosmetic restoration and evaluation for a full restoration. The locomotive was removed from the Hammond display in the fall of 2017 and is currently stored dismantled near Wabash, IN while preparations to move it to Fort Wayne are made.
==Trivia==
*The whistle that Sister locomotive No. 587 wore in the 587: The Great Train Robbery movie was 624’s Nathan 5 Chime movie whistle.
Category:Freight locomotives
Category:2-8-2 locomotives
Category:2-8-2 steam locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:American locomotives
Category:Lima locomotives
Category:Nickel Plate Road locomotives
Category:Eight-coupled locomotives
Category:Built in 1922
Category:Locomotives
Category:Preserved locomotives
Category:USRA locomotives
Category:Preserved steam locomotives
Category:USRA Light Mikado
Category:Standard gauge locomotives
Category:Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Category:American steam locomotives
Category:Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society