NKP Express Box Car #8504

The Nickel Plate Road in the late 1940’s was looking for head end cars that would match their newly ordered Pullman-Standard passenger cars.

During WWII, the country developed a huge aluminum capacity, primarily for the aircraft industry. The NKP Frankfort shops in cooperation with the Alcoa Aluminum Company, built ten express boxcars completing the series in November and December 1947.

The car bodies (and much of the auxiliary equipment) were made completely of aluminum fashioned by Alcoa. The car bodies were not painted, but the aluminum bodies were clear coated. The under bodies and running gear were painted black. The cars were assigned numbers 8500 to 8509 and placed into service on Nickel Plate District passenger trains. These cars weighed 39,000 lbs. and were over 8000 lbs. lighter than standard boxcars due to the aluminum car bodies.

The cars were equipped with steam and signal lines and rode on A-3 Ride Control trucks. The cars survived the merger in 1964 but were not absorbed into the Amtrak fleet.   

NKP 8504 is uniquely NKP and was often seen on passenger trains 5/6/7/8 between Chicago and Buffalo.

NKP 532

Nickel Plate Road GP9 #532, builder # #25075. was built at the EMD plant in LaGrange Illinois in late 1958, being placed into service by the NKP on January 17, 1959 at Frankfort Indiana; It was assigned engine class # ERS17f and was considered a Phase IV GP9 with the two larger 48” radiator fans replacing the four 36” fans. These locomotives were numbered 510 to 534 and 810 to 814 by the NKP. This series of GP9s were the last purchased by the NKP.  532 became N&W 2532 in August of 1966. It became NS 1462 in 1983 and was retired by the NS on April 9, 1984. After retirement 532 was donated to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in December 1984 and later acquired by the Roanoke Chapter of the NRHS.