1. Along the Line
Information regarding
former Nickel Plate routes and equipment
Compiled by David Bender
Oregon Rail Heritage Honors NKPHTS
member Doyle McCormack
L ongtime NKPHTS member Doyle McCor-
mack (No. 180) has worked extensively
over the past 12-plus years with a group of
volunteers in the Oregon area to “restore” the
Nickel Plate PA-1 No.190. Although it is a proj-
ect of great importance to the NKPHTS, this
restoration project is just one small part of the
many rail projects and activities in which Doyle
is involved. Doyle is the official engineer for the
former Southern Pacific 4449, owned by the
City of Portland, and he is behind the restora-
tion of an NKP “fantasy” Alco RSD-4/5. Beyond
his personal projects, Doyle has been active in
one way or another in pretty much all of the rail
heritage projects in the Portland region.
All of Doyle’s hard work was recognized on
Sept. 22, 2012, when the Oregon Rail Heritage
Foundation unveiled a plaque dedicating a por-
tion of the new Oregon Rail Heritage Center
in Portland in his honor. The facility was dedi-
cated at a noon ceremony with the unveiling of
the dedication plaque above the engine door of
the “Doyle L. McCormack Engine House.” This
singular honor was bestowed upon Doyle by
a major donor to the project, Gordon Zimmer-
man, who insisted that the facility be dedicated
to Doyle. Fellow Portland area resident and Doyle McCormack’s ongoing NKP-related projects—the re-creation of NKP PA-1 No. 190 and “plausible
NKPHTS member Jennifer White Wolf Crock fantasy” NKP RSD-4/5 No. 324—were on display at the ceremonial opening of the new Oregon Rail
(No. 728) echoes these sentiments: Heritage Foundation on Sept. 22, 2012. trent stetz
“Doyle’s has been a real kingpin of all the
rail heritage efforts in the region. In my opin-
ion, it is only fitting that one of the largest con- The original 190 ran on trains that oper-
tributors to the facility ask that a portion of it ated between Chicago and Buffalo as well as New Life for ex-NKP
be dedicated to Doyle... Without his efforts it is
likely that none of this would be here today.”
between Cleveland and St. Louis. The NKP
PAs were based and maintained in Conneaut,
Line in Indiana
Along with the honor of the dedication
plaque, Doyle McCormack’s hard work on the
restoration of the NKP 190 will be continue to
Doyle’s home town. Unfortunately, none of the
real NKP PA locomotives survived the scrap-
per’s torch.
A deal with the City of Kokomo, Ind., Kokomo
Grain, and U S Rail will reopen about 12
miles of the IMC line from Tipton to Kokomo
be recognized by all who pass through the cen- In year 2000, Doyle was able to go to Mexico for rail use again.
ter, as the the 190 is now on display on the 2.75- to purchase the former Santa Fe PA No. 62-L This Norfolk Southern-owned section has
acre grounds of the facility. and 59-L, which had later become Delaware & been out of use and embargoed for nearly 15
On his restoration website, http://www. Hudson 18 and 16 respectively. The 62-L (18) years after then-operator Central Railroad of
nkp190.com/, Doyle puts forth that the PA-1 is was brought to Portland’s Brooklyn Round- Indianapolis (CERA) and its parent Railtex
perhaps one of the most beautiful diesel loco- house to undergo restoration as the “new” NKP was bought out by RailAmerica. At that time
motives ever built; but his affection for the PA-1 190. Locomotive 59-L (16) is bound for Frisco, CERA also operated the Cloverleaf between
and the 190 specifically goes well beyond the Texas, to be restored as a Santa Fe warbonnet. Kokomo and Frankfort of which the lease on
aesthetics of the engine. Doyle’s father worked At the Brooklyn Roundhouse, volunteers have both lines was pulled and both have sat mostly
for the Nickel Plate, and it was in the 190 that worked hard to rebuild this locomotive from the unused since.
Doyle had his first diesel cab ride. Doyle him- ground up, including the installation of a new Kokomo Grain will put $5.5 million into the
self later got his engineer’s certificate through prime mover, traction motors, cab controls and project which is said to include crossing reha-
the Nickel Plate. electrical cabinets. bilitation, ballast, and new rail. Of note is that
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2. above: The former-NKP line between Kokomo and
Tipton, Ind., has come alive again thanks to the
opening of a new grain facility at Kokomo; the
bad news is that the trackage down Defenbaugh
Street may wind up being removed in the process
of track rationalization. right: Looking west at the
Tipton depot along the old LE&W main line on
Oct. 8, 2012. The rehabbed line north to Kokomo
branches to the right. both photos, john norwood
this includes a new connection to be built from
NKP Tower Faces Uncertain Future
the old Kokomo Belt Line, a joint PRR-NKP
line that was last used in the early 1990s.
Trains will leave the IMC line (heading
T he need for a tower to govern rail traffic
at the intersection of the Nickel Plate and
Illinois Central at Ramsey, Ill., has long since
below: This view of the tower at Ramsey, Ill., look-
ing northeast in 1998 reveals a nicely restored
building guarding two abandoned rights-of-way.
north) north of the Hoffer Street crossing and
passed. Yet, drivers along U.S. Route 51 pass- The boxcar is on the former NKP R-O-W. mike
go onto a new southeast connector that will tra-
ing through this hamlet of some 1,000 residents schafer. bottom: A northward view of the tower in
verse part of the old Delco Radio GM plant site
in this south central Illinois hamlet can still see 1966 when it was still active. The NKP main line
that is now open after those plants were razed
the tower—and a boxcar and NKP caboose— runs left to right (west to east) in the photo, with
a number of years ago. It will rejoin the Belt
west of the Meridian Highway. the IC’s north-south Charter Line main at right.
line near the Bona Vista site near the Delphos
This restoration project was the work of the nkphts collection
Street and Defenbaugh Street intersection
Save The Ramsey Tower committee, but that
where trains will traverse this short section to
was several years ago and today work on the
join the ex-PRR line through the East side of
tower and nearby boxcar and caboose has di-
downtown Kokomo to access Kokomo Grain’s
minished to almost nothing. The tower once
facility on Kokomo’s north side. Very likely the
guarded the intersection of IC’s original “Char-
IMC from this point north toward downtown
ter Line” route between Cairo and Galena, Ill.,
will be removed, and that includes the old Mar-
and NKP’s Cleveland–St. Louis main line.
shall Yard, and remaining Defenbaugh Street
The project was the brainchild of Norris
street-running that remains on the old Belt,
Price, president of the committee, and he still
as well as the Belt line Home Avenue crossing,
remains the contact person for matters relating
and adjacent diamond as well as the street run-
to the project. The Ramsey Public Library holds
ning in downtown. Track will said to be main-
all the information about the railroad and the
tained for only 10 m.p.h. running just as it was
tower. Interested parties may contact Norris
before it was embargoed in the 1990s. A deal is
via the Ramsey News-Journal, 223 S. Superior,
suppose to be in the works to use NS power, just
Ramsey, IL 62080-0218.
as the current arrangement that brings trains
over from Marion via the Marion Belt and Clo-
verleaf over now CERA-owned tracks. Project
is set for completion in spring 2014.
Also of interest is the extension of the “Nickel
Plate Trail” which is now taking place. The trail
now ends at Cassville just north of Kokomo, but
the remaining rail from Gano Street north to
Cassville is in the process of being removed for
the trail extension. Kokomo is said to also be in-
terested in extending their “Industrial Heritage
Trail” south along the IMC towards Tipton, so it
will interesting to see how they mix the rebuild-
ing of the rail line and trail. The former Union
Traction of Indiana interurban line ran beside
the IMC through here, but most of its right-of-
way has been obliterated and it is unclear if it
will be used for the trail part.—John Norwood
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