Towns and Nature: Fort Wayne, IN: NKP Depot (track elevation in 1955)

(Satellite, east of Calhoun on the north side of the tracks)

Marilyn Krupa-Burns posted

Caption from photo, ACPL collection:

ENTRANCE TO THE NICKEL PLATE RAILROAD PASSENGER DEPOT LOCATED AT THE EAST SIDE OF CALHOUN STREET BETWEEN SUPERIOR AND THE TRACKS. CLOSEUP OF ENTRANCE

Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana posted
A photo of the old Nickel Plate Depot in downtown Fort Wayne just prior to its razing in 1969.

Great Memories and History of Fort Wayne, Indiana posted
A photo of the Nickel Plate main track in downtown Fort Wayne prior to the 1955 elevation project.
Jim McKay I would guess that is Harrison Street behind the end car and Superior paralleling the tracks past Calhoun Street. Note the watchman's shed to guard traffic.

Kenneth Childers posted
HELP requested - please identify the name of this STATION [ORIGINAL CAPTION - An old Fort Wayne station [in 'Fort Wayne, we hardly knew ye' [Standish scenes] [Fort Wayne News-Sentinel 1976-05-22]]
Greg Michell Nickel Plate Passenger Station is what it was called. My first train ride was from there in 1960.

Howard Pletcher commented on Kenneth's posting
Station was on the north side of the tracks. The photo was taken from Calhoun. It was not razed for the elevation as you can see in this photo, but continued to be used until it burned in the 1960s.
Howard Pletcher Passenger service ended September 10, 1965.

Greg Michell commented on Kenneth's posting
Station photos from 22 Jun 1913 Journal Gazette.

Randy Harter posted

This article was written for and is courtesy of Fort Wayne Reader newspaper.

To the delight of those on the south side of Fort Wayne, the side-by-side Wabash and Pennsylvania railroad tracks running parallel to Baker Street through downtown were elevated during 1911 - 1913. This eliminated the street level bottlenecks on a number of thoroughfares from Hanna Street to Fairfield Avenue. While this opened the south part of town to ease of access and increased development, the Nickel Plate tracks situated between Columbia and Superior streets would continue to create a hindrance to north side development for another 40+ years.

By the 1940’s reportedly 51 trains every day came through downtown at street level on the Nickel Plate tracks, resulting in delaying an unbelievable 5,000 vehicles daily. For years, one mayor to the next heard from the constituents cry “No More Wait – Let’s Elevate The Nickel Plate!”

While it had been in the works for a number of years, it was during the administration of Mayor Harold W. Baals that the final agreement was made. This precipitated a grand speaker’s platform and groundbreaking at Ewing Street (which crossed the tracks in those days) on December 14, 1953 with the mayor turning the first shovel of dirt for the $8 million project.

Construction didn’t actually began until the next year (1954) and while the dedication for its completion was held on October 4, 1955, in actuality, at that point only one of the two tracks on the new elevation had been laid and total completion wouldn’t occur until 1956. For the dedication, about 350 officials and invited guests boarded the 12-coach train led by the old No. 767 steam engine at the Fulton Street Crossing (behind Henry’s restaurant). The “dedication” train then made the trip east to the new elevated Calhoun Street passenger loading platform where they disembarked for the speeches and a ribbon breaking by forward movement of the train’s engine.

The $8 million elevation ended up costing about $9 million and entailed building overhead train crossings at seven downtown streets from Coombs Street to Fairfield Avenue. In 1964 the Nickel Plate merged with several other Midwestern railroads and became the Norfolk & Western. That combine then merged with the Southern Railway in 1982 becoming the Norfolk Southern Railway. Today the Norfolk Southern has over 19,000 miles of track connecting 22 states and its Fort Wayne Division employs over 400 people.

This wonderful image was captured in December 1954 by Sgt. Ellsworth Crick, photographer for the Fort Wayne Police Department. Crick took the image from an elevated position at Harrison Street and is looking east. At lower center is the temporary track (later removed) that was laid next to the new concrete piers so that the Nickel Plate trains could still traverse Fort Wayne during construction.

At extreme upper left is part of the Wayne Paper Box Co. at Superior and Calhoun, currently being converted to the Superior Lofts apartment project. Across the intersection to its east now stands the Allen County Justice Center and County Jail. On the southeast corner of this intersection and facing us is the original Trolly (British spelling was used) Bar restaurant, now a vacant lot. Behind and above the restaurant can be seen the gas holder in what is now Don Hall's Gas House parking lot. The large dark building at upper right of center is the grocery wholesaler G. E. Bursley at the southeast corner of Superior and Clinton. The Bursley building is still standing and is now home to A Party Apart party and tent rentals.

(Image courtesy of ACPL)

A tip of the hat for use of research by Walter Sassmannshausen, and photo enhancement by Daniel Baker.

Randy Harter is a Fort Wayne historian, author of three books on local history, and the history/architecture guide for FortWayneFoodTours.com

Greg Michell posted two photos with the comment: "Nickel Plate Railroad Locomotive at the Fort Wayne Passenger Station, probably late 1940s. From my photo collection. I rode the Nickel Plate from Fort Wayne to Cleveland and return in 1960. As a youngster, this was quite exciting."
James Bergman Those are Alco PA locomotives

Howard Pletcher commented on a post
1936

This isn't of the depot, but it is before the elevation.

Rick Stabler posted

This view is looking west (circa 1953-55) from Clinton street along the original Wabash & Erie canal showing pier excavation for the elevated platform. Dock Street and the buildings to the left fronted the original canal under the railroad tracks (the canal was filled after service ended in 1878). During construction a temporary siding track was installed along Dock street for passenger service (today the covered platform for passenger service on the elevated tracks still survive). Everything in this view is gone today except for the last few buildings in the distance beyond Calhoun street. Amazingly, the Fisher Bros. Power Co billboard painting survives (partially obscured) on the side of the surviving building. The city parking structure replaced the buildings to the left. ACPL online collection.

Bob Stevenson When this work was being done the papers reported an elderly gentleman came each day and watched excavation. Eventually they dug down to what he watched for. They unearthed a round table used to turn the canal boats for return trips. He said, as I recall, as a boy he would watch the boats arrive, load and unload and be turned on that table. He knew right where it was, I doubt anyone else did. The story would be in one or both of the papers.

Tommy Lee Fitzwater posted

ca 1940

Thanks Creager Smith

This is the Clinton Street crossing of the Nickel Plate Railroad. The view is looking west toward Calhoun Street from Clinton Street. The rear of the Canal House can be seen in the distance and to the right

Dennis Boyd found a street view of the depot's location. It would have been to the left of the stair (escalator) case we see on the east side of the overpass.

Street View (source)

Judging from the platform roof that still exists, it could handle some pretty long trains.

3D Satellite

FWRHS posted five images with the comment:

This is one of our favorite throwbacks – and for good reason: it's the reason our organization and steam locomotive no. 765 exist today! 68 years ago this week, the Nickel Plate Road invited the entire community for the official dedication ceremony of the new railroad overpass and proudly claimed that the project will "make Fort Wayne an even more attractive city in which to grow." And they were right, as city development north of the elevation exploded in the 1950s as a result. Included here is the first train over the overpass - a freight train hauled by 765 - and a photo from the ceremony later that morning, featuring 767. When the City of Fort Wayne later asked the railroad for the 767 and got the better maintained 765 instead, they nevertheless secured the first locomotive which operated on the elevation and secured its legacy for generations to come.

FWRS shared with the comment: "The 68th Anniversary of Elevate the Nickel Plate is this week![Oct 2021]"

1
Ryan Dunn: That looks like a really low bridge for a railroad overpass.
Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society: Ryan, the track under the bridge was the shoo-fly track to keep the mainline intact before the bridge was opened. The bridge was set and the shoo-fly was closed.

Jonathan Hinely posted seven photos with the comment: "Partially abandoned. The railroad itself is active it’s the former Nickel Plate Road mainline Chicago-Buffalo. But the station itself is abandoned. In Fort Wayne, IN. I would love to know what the headhouse used to look like but can’t find it in Google anywhere."

Mark Egebrecht: We used to disembark and board the N&W steam excursions here!

Carl J. Marsico: NS steam excursions with 611, 1218, etc used that station

Troy Kleman: This was used in the last decade as a boarding platform during the last NS steam program. The FWRHS did a lot of clean up work to make it look presentable. This elevated railroad played a big role as to why NKP 765 survives today! 765 pulled the first actual freight train over the elevation, but 767 was the ceremony engine. After steam retired in 1958, the city requested 767 for display to commemorate the elevation, which was a cooperation between the city and railroad. 767 was in rough shape, damaged by a derailment in New Haven some years prior, but 765 was in good shape; having been steamed up to provide heat to a passenger train in early 1958. The numbers were swapped and 765 was donated instead, masquerading as 767.