Jimmy420 Wrote:
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> Nice pics NKP 190 would of looked awesome in the
> Warbonnet scheme. One can only wish that a single
> ATSF PA SURVIVED. Amazing such an obscure railroad
> like the Nickel Plate would have the only
> surviving ALCO PA.

Obscure railroads include the Fernwood, Columbia & Gulf in Mississippi, the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway in Oklahoma, the Aroostook Valley in Maine, the Napierville Junction Railway in New York and Quebec, the Canton Railroad Co. in Baltimore, the Pittsburg & Shawmut in Western Pennsylvania, the Brillion & Forest Junction in Wisconsin, the Copper Range in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the Walla Walla Valley Railway in Washington State.

Unless one takes zero interest in railroads east of the Mississippi River, the Nickel Plate cannot be considered "such an obscure railroad." The Nickel Plate was known for fast freights and being the major Midwestern link in the Alphabet Route connecting Chicago with East Coast destinations. It was one of the last railroads to run steam on its mainlines. Indeed, it's fleet of Berkshires became legendary among 1950s railfans.

For anyone paying attention, the Nickel Plate legacy has continued after it was absorbed into the Norfolk & Western through steam locomotives such as 587, 759 and 765. The latter continues to delight fans and the general public on employee and public excursions on Norfolk Southern's lines. Another Berkshire, 763, is undergoing restoration.

While I like the Santa Fe, I think it's wonderful that Doyle McCormack painted a PA into one of the most appealing schemes to grace a PA. I hope someday to see this PA roll on the former Nickel Plate somewhere between Chicago and Buffalo.