Nickel Plate Express took over about 12 miles of former Nickel Plate tracks from Noblesville to Atlanta, Ind., in 2018. An effort is under way to raise $12,000 needed for new parts and repairs to get the locomotive back in running condition. The city of Noblesville owns the locomotive.
Nickel Plate Express Director Dagny Zupin says all 16 head gaskets need to be resealed. There is also a crack in the air compressor. Parts needed to repair 426 were ordered in mid-October. Work will begin immediately after parts are received and are expected to take no more than three or four days. The locomotive will be leased to Nickel Plate Express once repairs are completed. Zupin says she hopes the parts will arrive in time for the locomotive to be used for some of the company’s Reindeer Ride Express excursions that begin Nov. 23 and run through Dec. 22.
“If for some reason the parts don’t arrive in time,” Zupin says, “work will begin as soon as parts are secured.”
The 426, built in 1953, was among Indiana Transportation Museum equipment that remained in the group’s Forest Park headquarters in Noblesville after the museum was evicted by court order. The city of Noblesville took ownership of some of the equipment that was left in Forest Park, including the 426. It was used regularly by Indiana Transportation Museum until the group was forced to stop running trains in 2015.
I thought Noblesville wanted to tear out the tracks and put in a bike path?
It’s good to know that not everything left on the ITM grounds was scrapped.