At the end of steam, why did the NKP have different number plates for some of their engines, most notably the Berkshires? Was it something to do with servicing, or was it just preference by crews? I’ve seen pictures of NKP 779 as delivered with an envelope styled plate (typical on most NKP locomotives, for example the 2-8-2’s, the 4-6-4’s, etc), but it’s displayed in Lima today with a plate that has its corners cut, similar to what most preserved NKP Berks have.

So this begs the question. Were plates modified? Or are these entirely new plates gifted to late serviced locomotives?

Some of the NKP RR locomotives had a somewhat five sided number plate that was riveted right to the headlight while others had the rectangular number plate with notched corners. The numbers were cut-out aluminum and riveted or bolted onto the number board.
Towards the very end many locomotives were re-numbered; some Mikes and the W&LE Berks. The new numbers were just painted on with the old raised numbers removed. I own a headlight from a NKP RR 2-8-2 that was re-numbered towards the very end of it's life.
It doesn't really answer your question, but gives an idea of what variety there was at the end of steam on the NKP RR.

Kevin K

possibly not the original plate. a lot of times park engines have had their lights,bells,number plates walk off, so it may be a replacement for a stolen one, or hopefully the original is locked away safe and sound with the group caring for 779.

NKP Front Number Plates

As delivered, after about 1922 all NKP steam locomotives had the standard, 8.25” X 24.75” rectangular front number plate with beveled corners. Using four heavy bolts and nuts, these 1/4”-thick sheet steel number plates were bolted onto the loco’s headlight bracket, just below the headlight. In most cases, NKP’s distinctive cast aluminum numerals were bolted onto the number plate from the back side, although some numerals were bolted on from the front, which was difficult to see under layers of paint.

Later, some of NKP’s locos (not just the Berks) received headlights that were bolted directly onto the smokebox door without the need for a separate headlight bracket. These headlights had special “bolt hole nubs” added onto the rear, four corners of the headlights so that they could be bolted onto the locomotives’ smokebox doors. However, having no headlight bracket, the older, rectangular front number plates on those locos had no way to be mounted onto the fronts of locomotives.

That’s when the NKP started using its 5-sided or “house-shaped” front number plates that were riveted directly onto the headlight with seven, 5/16” rivets. They had a circular, cut-out section at the top of the number plate so that the plate could be placed right up against the curved bottom edge of the headlight. These house-shaped number pates were made of 1/8th-inch sheet steel, with the NKP’s standard, distinctive looking 5”-tall cast aluminum numerals (with their usual hollow backsides) bolted on from the back of the plate. The bottom area of these 5-sided plates measured the same as the rectangular number plates, but with the added 3-inch section at the top containing the cut-out for the bottom of the 17” diameter headlight.

To prepare NKP 2-8-4 #779 for its 1966 enshrinement into Lincoln Park in Lima, Ohio (home of The Lima Locomotive Works and its successor, Lima-Hamilton), the Berk was spiffed-up. The #779’s original rectangular front number plate had been liberated previously by railfans, and an incorrect 5-sided replacement front number plate from NKP 2-8-2 #506 was substituted, but with the correct “779” numerals bolted on. About 35 years later, Wayne York made a new, accurate, rectangular front number plate for #779 and bolted it onto #779’s headlight bracket. That's the plate that you see today.

The #779’s original, diamond-shaped builder’s plates were also missing for its 1966 donation to the city of Lima, so new ones were cast using an old Lima Locomotive Works diamond from an NKP 4-6-2 as the pattern. They changed the 4-6-2’s serial number and date for the correct serial number and date for #779’s repro plates. However, the older Lima Locomotive Works had become the Lima-Hamilton Corporation by 1949 when the #779 was constructed as Lima’s last steam locomotive, and the new builder’s plates that were cast from the old 4-6-2 plates had the wrong company name, reading “Lima Locomotive Works.” To commemorate #779’s fiftieth birthday in 1999, retired Lima-Hamilton company photographer, Louis Thouvenin, and I made new builder’s plates for #779 that had the correct “Lima-Hamilton Corporation” name. That's what you see on #779 today. Be safe.

John B. Corns