Any operational Niagaras in 1993?

Were their any operational NYC Niagra's located around the Detroit Area on or around August 3-17, 1993? I remember seeing what looked like a Niagra around this time, pulling about 7-10, older Gray passenger cars (Windows busted) on the what is now CSX Toldeo Div. headed south bound....

Anyone know?

Niagaras were gone to locomotive heaven for many years by that time.

ok, all I needed to know... thanx.

To say the least, this is an interesting post! What steam engine would be pulling a long string of passenger cars with broken windows in 1993??? Carl

Could have been NKP Berkshire 765.
she was running in the area in 1993.

any steam engine running in 1993 would not be pulling cars with broken windows..they would be "steam specials"..pulling nice cars.

so its quite possible there was a steam engine operating around detroit in 1993...but I dont know about "broken windows"..that doesnt make much sense..

Scot

I think I know what you saw. Grand Trunk Western 4-8-4 6325 was stored in Battle Creek, Michigan but was moved in September, 1993 to the Ohio Central Railroad in Coshocton, Ohio to be restored. Part of the move must have been over CSX south of Detroit, and maybe some old passenger equipment came with the locomotive. But it would have to have been pulled by another locomotive since it wasn't restored to operation till July, 2001. See http://www.ocsteam.com/6325/index.html .

As always James, thank you for the entertainment! A quick internet search might have netted you the same answer.

I don't know of any operational NYC steam locomotives anywhere... lots of wishful thinking, though.

-otto-

Hey,
I think if anyone who posts on this website wins the lottery they should contract one of them steam locomotive builders in China to build one!
Mike

Well, the date was around August 3-4, 1993... My Grandad dies on the 3rd, and we saw it with in 2 or 3 days. She was headed southbound, but to me (remember I was a kid) looked like UP #844.... only not in the 2 tone gray, but all black, and it to my knowledge had no name on the tender... any of ya'll got photos?

Some googling brought up:

"Nickel Plate berkshire #765, masquerading as Chesapeake & Ohio #2765, leads a fantrip eastbound at Ravenna, OH on August 28, 1993, enroute from Akron, OH to Pittsburgh, PA. The whistle shrieks a bit as the engineer pulls the cord a little too hard."
from: http://www.spikesys.com/Sounds/steam.html

further googling finds:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=122932

NKP 587 was also operating in the area in 1993!
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=146243

so thats two contenders, NKP 587 and NKP 765 (as C&O 2765)..so who was in Detroit on august 3??

"Howard caught the NKP #587 on a fan trip between Detroit & Bellevue on June 26, 1993"
http://nkphts.org/piccontest/winners/

hmmm..much googling cant seem to pin it down..
it must have been one of those two though..

Scot

Ok, thanks Scott. Cannot find much with this darned school server, with the home computer being down....

But, this was kind of a miracle for my family when we saw her.... with Grandpa, who had started working for NYC in the early 50's, the near end of the Steam locomotive era...... had been a fireman, and worked his way up.... kind of a final "I am ok" kind of thing...

But Google and many other searches have yielded nothing. The only last one I could think of would be (however I do not know when they moved her in) C&O #1601.....

Have been searchin for a long time now... and still cannot find a solid answer..... I do remember she was pulling old Heavyweight Coaches behind her (cars were gray with the windows I swear my parents will even tell ya they were all busted out....)

I get those old feelings when ever I talk about this.....

James, we went through this over in the Union Pacific forum in December and I PM'd you about it as well.

Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 765 hauled a round-trip between Livonia and Holland, MI on August 14, 1993. What you witnessed would have been a move ferrying the engine and some equipment south out of Plymouth on the CSX line down to Toledo. And, yes, 765 was cosmetically altered to "Chesapeake and Ohio 2765" complete with a gray smokebox and lowered headlight.

NKP 587 ran a roundtrip between Allen Park, MI and Bellevue, Ohio toward the end of June 1993, but it utilized the old Wabash out to Milan before swinging down the Ann Arbor to Toledo.

So, again, what you saw was the redoubtable NKP 765 in C&O garb, not a UP Northern and not an NYC Niagara.

Sorry, Lost that PM, and got around again.... my fault.