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The Mad River & Nickel Plate Railroad Museum
 
  Having completed two days at Cedar Point, I wanted to take a drive out to nearby Bellevue, OH to visit the Mad River & Nickel Plate Railroad Museum. On the way there, I first stopped by the Breakers Express hotel that Cedar Point owns not far from the park itself so as to see the pieces of the Valravn coaster that were being staged on some land next to the hotel (I included a photo in the "Trains, Coasters & More" page in the Cedar Point section of this travelogue of the track pieces). I then made the drive to Bellevue and would spend a couple hours visiting this excellent railroad museum that I felt it would be a good place to visit having rode behind Nickel Plate 2-8-4 Berkshire Steam Locomotive #765 earlier this past summer (765 is not owned by this museum but that locomotive and this museum cover the same railroad). Also considering I haven't been to this museum in 5 years now, I was due to go back anyway! Special thanks goes to the museum for historical information found in select captions below the photos. Included here is a collection of photos (including some HDR time exposures) taken during my visit to this iconic museum. If you're a fan of the Nickel Plate, this museum is for you! Enjoy...
 
 
 
  This is a plaster and wooden model of the first locomotive in Ohio known as the "Sandusky". The original was built by Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor
Machine Works of Paterson, NJ in October 1837 for the Mad River & Lake Erie Railroad.		  
     
 
 
  Nickel Plate Caboose #1047 sits inside one of the museum's buildings. This car was retrieved from a farmer's field in Michigantown, IN and museum
volunteers restored it over a period of three years! This image and the next several are manual HDR images using only available light, the camera
mounted on a tripod, using a cable release. Lots of editing in Photoshop yields these results!		  
     
 
 
  Amtrak Vista-Dome Car #9401, which was originally built as a coach for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. Yes, you read correctly, this car started as a
coach! Originally built in 1945, the car was converted to a dome car and is the first car of its kind ever built. 		 
     
 
 
  This is some coach seating in the car which still retains its 1970's-era Amtrak decor.  
     
 
 
  Some lounge seating in the lower center of the car. The dome area is partially built in the ceiling of the lower level of the car as seen in this photo.  
     
 
 
  Manual HDR was the only way to get a photo like this! This is the dome area which features all seats on both sides of the aisle.  
     
 
 
  Still lettered in Amtrak Phase I is Dining Car #8002 which was built in 1939 for the Seaboard Air Line.  
     
 
 
  An interior view of the diner. Amtrak's Heritage Diners in service today have a similar decor to this car
(this decor is actually Amtrak), except that the chairs in those cars do not move. 		 
     
 
 
  Nickel Plate Road Coach #105. Built by Pullman-Standard, this was one of only a handful of cars from the Nickel Plate that went to Amtrak.  
     
 
 
  An interior view of NKP Coach #105, this is 1970's-era Amtrak decor.  
     
 
 
  Pullman Sleeper "American Life", built for the Erie Railroad and used on their train, the "Erie Limited".  
     
 
 
  A roomette inside the "American Life" sleeper.  
     
 
 
  A wide-angle view of the museum grounds, the road crossing in the foreground is Southwest St. in Bellevue.  
     
 
 
  Sporting a fresh coat of paint is former Baltimore & Ohio Wagon Top Caboose #C2424.  
     
 
 
  Donated to the museum by Norfolk Southern is former N&W EMD SD9m #2349. It was dedicated to the late Dale Elder who was Bellevue's Terminal
Superintendent for Norfolk Southern. This engine was originally a Nickel Plate engine and numbered 349. 		 
     
 
 
  Norfolk & Western Derrick Crane #514900 with a Southern car connected.  
     
 
 
  Former N&W nee-NKP Work Train Dining Car. This car served on the Bellevue Wreck Train.  
     
 
 
  This former New York Central freight station serves today as the museum's library and offices. It was purchased from the 7-Limers Corporation in 1984.  
     
 
 
  Built in 1943, this H.K. Porter 0-6-0 "Fireless Cooker" Locomotive #7 was built for the Avon Lake Plant of the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company.
With no firebox, this engine used a charge of superheated steam from a stationary boiler that would last about 4 hours. 		 
     
 
 
  Nickel Plate Road Bay Window Caboose #423.  
     
 
 
  The former Wheeling & Lake Erie Curtice, OH freight depot which was moved to Bellevue in 1976 and renamed "Bellevue".  
     
 
 
  Originally built in 1956 for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, this Alco S-4 #9096 was purchased by Central Soya Elevator to move
grain cars in Bellevue and was donated to the museum in 1997. 		 
     
 
 
  Norfolk & Western Caboose #518397.  
     
 
 
  Nickel Plate Caboose #700 with a NKP Dynamometer Car, lead by Alco RSD-12 #329 in the background.  
     
 
 
  Donated to the museum by Norfolk Southern, Alco RSD-12 #329 was dedicated in memory of Mr. Robert Claytor, former President of the N&W and
chairman of Norfolk Southern, and also a supporter of this museum from the beginning. 		 
     
 
 
 

Donated to the museum by Norfolk Southern in 1991, fully restored, EMD GP30 #900 is dedicated to Mr. BJ Hoops,
former Bellevue Terminal Superintendent in May 1992.

 
 
  After spending the afternoon here in Bellevue at this awesome museum, I drove back to Sandusky to get ready for the next leg of this trip as I will be heading to Chicago tomorrow morning. I did laundry at a nearby laundromat by the hotel as well as backed up photos and packed everything up as my plan was to get a taxi to the Amtrak station around 3:00am tomorrow morning. For more information on the Mad River & Nickel Plate Railroad Museum, check out the link below to their official web site. With that in mind, it's time to head out to the "Windy City" of Chicago, IL, so let's go!