It had been reported in the railfan press in the mid-50's that Nickel Plate planned to use steam until 1962, but the decline in traffic due to recession in 1958 made surplus C&O diesel power available to NKP. But not all was sorrow in 1958 - - - in the Fall of '58, the Union Pacific fired up (12) 4-8-4's for Council Bluffs-North Platte service, 10 Big Boys for Cheyenne-Laramie work and 4-6-6-4's for Cheyenne-North Platte plus helper service out of Ogden, UT. At peak, 50 UP steam locomotives were working in 1958. Steam returned briefly in 1959, with (6) 4000's running cheyenne-Larmie and (8) 3700's working Cheyenne-North Platte.
The other bright spots of steam operation in 1958 were DM&IR, IC, N&W, CB&Q, C&S, FW&D and GTW.
