Hello everyone,
This past weekend, American Steam Railroad hosted a fundraising banquet at the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum of Bellevue, Ohio, featuring none other than Doyle McCormack as our keynote speaker! Take a look at all we had to offer at this exciting event!
Doyle McCormack got hooked on steam in its twilight on the Nickel Plate Road, where his father worked as an operator and dispatcher out of Conneaut, Ohio. As he entered adulthood, he hired on as an engineer with the Norfolk & Western, which had absorbed the Nickel Plate, and it was then that he would find the perfect opportunity to become involved with preservation with the restoration of Nickel Plate no. 759 in Conneaut.
Since then, he has been a catalyst behind the revival of dozens of iconic locomotives, including Southern Pacific no. 4449, Nickel Plate Road no. 765, Spokane, Portland and Seattle no. 700 and many more! At 78 years old, he has accumulated countless priceless memories on the high iron, and he was able to share some of those memories with an engaged audience on Saturday, September 18.
Aside from sharing his railroading stories at our event, Mr. McCormack has also helped the restoration of Reading Company no. 2100 by getting us in touch with a vendor who supplied hundreds of copper gaskets for the locomotive's staybolt caps, which are currently in the process of being annealed. We would like to extend our greatest thanks to Doyle for his generous assistance to our project, and we hope to see him behind the throttle of the 2100 one day soon!
The backdrop for his exciting presentation was none other than a member of the Nickel Plate's famous fast freight haulers, Berkshire no. 757. Built in August of 1944, the 757 was originally to be preserved in Bellevue, but without a proper museum or display site available, the locomotive was donated to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania as their first acquisition, and was moved to Strasburg, Pa., in the mid-1960s.
With the elements slowly eating away at her, there she sat until 2017, when the Mad River & NKP Museum launched a fundraising campaign to bring the 757 back home to Bellevue and cosmetically restored for display. In 2019, the locomotive was moved over 500 miles back to Bellevue, and since then, a restoration shop has been erected and light cosmetic stabilization has taken place. Heavy restoration work is expected to begin soon.
At the event, guests could get up close and inspect the 757, tour the museum's one-of-a-kind collection, and take rides aboard historic Nickel Plate cabooses. Guests also had the opportunity to chat with Mr. McCormack about his life on the railroad, and there were plenty who took advantage of the opportunity. An O-Scale model train display was also featured, including a Lionel Legacy Nickel Plate no. 757 and an MTH Premiere Reading no. 2100. Dinner included a wide spread of barbeque meats, corn on the cob, sweets and treats and much more!
Before Mr. McCormack began his presentation, raffles were drawn! A few lucky guests won prizes including prints, merchandise and a custom-painted HO-scale Reading no. 2100! Remarks were also given by ASR President Rob Gardner and Mad River Vice President Dwayne Fuehring.
The instant Mr. McCormack began his presentation, the audience was hooked as he recounted riveting stories from his lifelong railroad career! He shared his experiences from the High Iron Company, the American Freedom Train, Train Festival 2009, building the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, reviving a rare ALCO Diesel, various excursions with the Daylight and countless others! An audience Q&A session concluded the evening, and there was no shortage of questions from those in attendance.
Once again, we would like to thank Doyle McCormack, the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum and all of our volunteers and caterers for their effort to make this event a real home run! We would also like to thank those that attended and those who donate every day for their support of Reading no. 2100 and American Steam Railroad. We couldn't do this without you!
