NKP 765 at 70mph

Now available on DVD and Blu-ray: "Dairyland Steam"
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Nickel Plate Road 2-8-4 #765 roars through Deerfield, IL on the way back from Janesville, WI with "The Varsity" passenger special. #765 was clocked at 72mph just a mile north of this location.

June 12, 2016

[travelingman]

Folks is it just me or I could watch that clip over and over again. Gets my adrenaline going every time.

[ARC]

Back in the day.. there were machines that can Drink water and feast on coal in their stomachs of fire, expelling clouds of smoke and steam, their steel bodies were more durable than cars, like body armor. if you stand next to one of these machines, you could swear it was alive, they hiss, rumble, and roar. they were Daunting, yet Captivating. Heavy and lumbering but faster than a Grayhound. Their rapturous cries can be heard for miles around like thunder on a dark stormy day. These machines were the most phonominal in all of human history. they were the Steam Locomotives.

[ToddReuterOutdoors]

Wow! A lengthy train, at 70mph, under her own power, no diesel help, all steam! Incredible!

[cannibalfan]

0:38 The best sound in my opinion.

Just the sound of the whistle as the engine races past the camera is just so satisfying.

[mikeggg]

This is how steam should operate! Like in the old days, when the PRRs Broadway Limited and NW's Roanoke to Norfolk runs usually averaged 80mph!

[jameswatson]

Perfect 10!!! What I liked about it no diesel assistance.

[markabbott]

I was lucky enough to see 765 in revenue service when I was 10 years old, hauling a long freight train into Buffalo on the last weekend the NKP ran steam locomotives (late June 1958). The end had been publicized in the newspapers, so the folks my family was visiting offered to take us kids down to the crossing when the late-afternoon run was due to arrive. We were at the Cloverbank Rd. crossing in Hamburg Township overlooking Lake Erie and well outside the city, so 765 was only beginning to slow down (it had another 5 miles or so before it reached the switchyards) -- but seemed to me like it was going almost as fast as it did in this clip.

[antpx]

409 Tons of sheer beauty at 70 MPH. And she has a voice. Sounds like music!

[f]

as my dad would say..." you kids get the hell back!!"

[ThomasZoey]

For years, I've been wanting to see a steam engine reach 70 mph, and now 765 has done it! This is awesome, thank you for capturing this moment.

[heidihersh]

Definitely felt like she has an attitude with that whistle as she flies past. 😂 I feel like she was basically shouting to any of the other trains around "pfft you guys are cute; let me show you how it's done".

[thediplomaticcatholic]

I was on that expedition! It was indescribable! It felt like we were traveling with a celebrity and when she’d scream we’d all shiver. It was amazing.

[greatamtrakrailwaystudios]

The NKP 765 will always be one of my favorites because,

-It can pull 18 passenger cars by itself, AT 70 MPH

-I love that whistle

-And because every year it comes yo my town.

[haroldfannin]

This video brings back memories, one of them with the 765 disguised as C&O 2765 in 1993, The CSX roadmaster asked engineer Tom Stephens if he could leave St Albans going east and be in Huntington in 35 minutes, Tom brought her in at the 32 minute mark.

[NERRP]

She was built for fast freight drags that why she can go at 70mph easily!, or haul 20 heavyweights at speed
Berkshires are perfect for everything unless if its pulling weight above their pulling power limit

[kimweaver]

Awesome.  63 years ago, I lived in Melrose Park in Chicago.  The rails ran about 100 feet from our house.  I watched the last of the Steamers blast by my house on the way to Gary, carrying coal from Wyoming.  I still remember it.

[michaeltesp]

This is American ingenuity! This train sounds proud and powerful! Can you just imagine the feeling the engineer must have operating this beauty and masterpiece along with the crew and the passengers?

[georgemallory]

That's right up there with watching a Saturn 5 launch or Secretariat at the Belmont. Rare and awesome as hell.

[TrainChaserscom]

What a site! I’m so glad I got to see her at full speed as well. Hopefully she’ll get to stretch her legs again in 2020

[JCBro-ygvd]

Listen to that stack and that whistle, it's a thing of beauty!