Steam locomotive 765 rolls back into Bellevue for Norfolk Southern’s 30th

The Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society’s steam locomotive No. 765 is coming back to Bellevue on Friday. Norfolk Southern hired the engine to help mark the railroad’s 30th anniversary, and it will spend the weekend running private trips for employees and their families.

A society spokesman said the train would leave for Bellevue after noon Friday and make five runs between Bellevue and Bucyrus on Saturday and Sunday before heading to Toledo on Monday. The crew sleeps aboard in a dorm car. The exact spot where the train will sit in town had not been set, but there should be time for rail fans to get a good look.

The 765 passed through Bellevue last fall on its way to and from an East Coast trip. From July through September it will pull anniversary specials across Norfolk Southern’s northern lines, one of its busiest seasons in years. The anniversary also falls in the historical society’s 40th year. The 765 was built in 1944 for the Nickel Plate Road, the same railroad that made Bellevue a division point. Schedules are posted by the Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society.

See the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum and Norfolk Southern’s Bellevue yard. More in Farm & Rail.